Great article Julian, thank you. A guy under the pen name Batiushka mentioned that Putin means the Way in Russian. I'm not a Russian speaker, so did a quick google translate reference check as I could not believe the poetic-ness behind the meaning of his name. Here's the link to Batiushka's article if you're interested:
Putin is one of the all time greats. As a leader he has a spiritual depth sadly lacking in the West. An extremely capable and intelligent man of vision, in the right place at the right time, Russia (and perhaps the world) should consider itself very lucky.
Found your link at Sonar 21 Julian. Very good article. Have always considered myself a big picture guy too. I was one of those who couldn't find Ukraine on a map prior to Feb 2022. The events that unfolded closely thereafter really tied up the loose ends in my mind. I knew by the media's reaction and the swarm of trolls there had to be a bigger picture. Why all of a sudden does America care if two mostly white countries exterminate each other? The passion from the usual suspects gave it away. Risking nuclear escalation just to protect the giant ongoing grift in the Ukraine made no sense either.
By March of 2022 I came to the conclusion TPTB were trying to protect something else. Its all about the Western economy and monetary system. All that was ever important to America/West was that TPTB remain on top. No doubt this has been done many years not so much by making the West better but by making any challengers worse. I don't believe these so called power brokers have an invite to help run a Russian or Chinese Hegemony. Both countries have seen what happens when "their" system is released on society. This is why they have completely hitched their wagons to the West; particularly the USA.
Unfortunately its do/die, sink/swim for all of us now. This leads me to believe the threat of Nuclear Armageddon is all too real. Not dissimilar to a spoiled child smashing the gameboard he was losing.
Pfff there are so many inaccuracies that it would take hours to correct everything... For the main ones:
1) We can say that Putin took power at the right time, following the collapse of the USSR, the Russian economy rebounded, which has nothing to do with him. But if you want to think of putin as someone who straightened out a country, a good comparison is Adolf who arrived in a ruined Germany and wanted to revive his dream of antiquated imperialism. Germany and Russia were empires long ago, but in today's world they are just dwarfs.
2) If we can say that the world is becoming bipolar, it is centred between the USA and China (therefore bi- and not multipolar to be precise). India remains to be seen in a few decades. Russia has nothing to do with it, just like BRICS.
3) Autarkic Russia… well, most of its economy is based on the export of raw materials.
It struggles to provide certain key components, hence the problems in certain industries (automotive, aeronautics, etc.). And, while I have no doubt that they will succeed in recovering certain industries (they succeeded in replacing Mcdo and Zara), technologically, no longer being so integrated into supply chains such as semiconductors and the massive loss of advanced knowledge (10% of IT engineers who left, that is 100k people! it comes from Shadayev, Russian minister, so a low figure certainly) will not be recoverable.
Finally, the Russian economy is like the Kalibr missiles, supposedly invincible on paper, until the day they are used in real world and destroyed.
4) Rather than reading RT or Sputnik articles, it is better to read the source. In this case we see that the UN CPI report is not a ranking of places where it is good to live, but a study of 29 cities (29 cities are not the whole world) comparing their relative prosperity compared to the rest of the country (therefore GDP of the city vs GDP of the whole country and not a comparison between cities themselves)
5) The issue of dedollarization. This is what comes up every 10 years because a country has bought an oil tanker in a currency other than the dollar… There is no doubt that for your limited knowledge of economics, understanding the dollar and the debt must be complex. But to put it simply, between 60% and 80% of China's foreign exchange reserves are held in dollars, China has $1.5 trillion in US debt and even though they've been talking about this concentration risk for years, they have no alternative to the dollar.
Btw, USD is 60% of the world currency reserves, EUR 20% and JYP and GBP 5% each (so Western covers more than 95% if also including Canada, Switzerland, Australia). So your chart showing that USD decrease from 2013 is true but hides that the increase comes from other Western countries.
The collapse of the United States? It would take facts to demonstrate that an economy of 25,000 billion GDP which, over the last 40 years, has only experienced 2 years of negative growth (2008 crisis and covid) is in decline.
6) The Tao of Vladimir Putin. Nice story, David versus Goliath -like, you should work in Hollywood where the facts matter less than the narrative (ah wait, you're already doing the same thing as a good Kremlin propagandist). In fact, historically, hyperpowers are not defeated by dwarfs but by new hyperpowers, re-read Thucydides' trap.
USA the great satan, the west is collapsing, big pharma is controlling the world, the earth is flat. Blah blah blah. Nothing new in conspiratorial circles that I see.
Yes, the demographics of Asia, Africa and Latin-America do not seem favorable to the US and other NATO nations if you look at it from an imperialistic lens. Could that be one of the reasons why the US and some of its NATO allies are so eager to sow death and destruction in those regions?
ArFish is probably a CIA operative, sent out to attempt to debunk anything that's not pro-US imperialism. Until of course he/she/it can come up with some facts to support the critique.
In a nutshell, Putin was Yeltsin's protege. How it worked was that Boris realised he had become nothing but a stooge for the West who happily used him to rape and loot a drunk Russia, which explains why he himself drank himself to death, it was the only means by which he could free himself from their hold on him and also prevent the complete destruction of Russia. His CIA handlers asked who he would suggest as an equally plyable and easily manipulative successor, this is why he suggested Putin because he knew he was nobody's fool and was not corrupted but that he also knew the CIA would work overtime in promoting 'their man'. This was Yeltsin's parting gift to Russia and everyone would now agree he has fully atoned for his behaviour leading up to Putin's appointment.
Hiis longevity as a leader, is, in many ways, its own proof. A lot of the head honchos at the top are always cycling, but Putin has probably shaken hands with past heads of state one deep, maybe even two deep.
There are multiple "interpretations" of Mein Kampf, Some more accurate than others.
The claim about Hitler wanting to invade Russia, is in contrast to the claim of Hitlers intention to stop the spread of Bolshevism across Europe and then invading because he knew that Stalin was poised to sweep across the continent.
I'm also not convinced about the site it's on, given their strong left bias and their stance on "white supremacy".
There's no miracle in the economic "success" of the Nazi regime from 1933 onwards. It's a war economy that was largely supported by the United States, because Germany has always been a privileged ally of the United States; the entry into the war in 1917 would seem to invalidate this, but that would be to forget Churchill's maneuvers (already) to lure America into the war, and Wilson's ideology, which sought the downfall of the Empires. After 1918, Wahington put Germany back among his privileged allies, and the Dawes Plan and then the Young Plan were to clearly favor Berlin to the detriment of Paris.
France, which had suffered considerable material and human damage between 1914 and 1918, was to receive reparations from Germany. The aforementioned plans rescheduled the German debt, and in 1931, with Nazism looming large on the horizon, President Hoover imposed a one-year moratorium on German and French debts to the USA. At the end of this year, the German debt was simply cancelled, while France had to resume repayments to America. In the end, Germany paid France only 6% of the sums due under the Treaty of Versailles. This unpaid debt weighed heavily in favor of Nazi Germany against France. And that bastard Roosevelt had the nerve on June 17, 1940 to declare himself very disappointed that the French government had asked for the armistice. Then, for 4 years, he denied the existence of General de Gaulle and the Free French, sending an ambassador to Pétain, Admiral Leahy.
Indeed, behind the 1st World War, there is first and foremost Great Britain. And even then - and this is a constant feature of the French Republic, apart from General de Gaulle's years in power - the French government was already in thrall to its ally of the moment, in this case Great Britain, thanks to the Entente Cordiale.
Were the United States fooled? I'm not convinced of this, and the pigeons in the deal are the two turkeys in the entente cordiale. The French and British brought Washington into European affairs at little cost to America. World War 1 was won by the Allied armies, mainly French, commanded by Marshal Foch. Although the soldier was acknowledged to be very brave, he was poorly trained and untested, and carried little weight in the battle.
Moreover, Foch did not want to employ American troops, partly because of their inexperience, and partly because he understood that the American government would increase the size of its troops and profit from them. This is exactly what happened, as Clémenceau - one of France's most usurped glories - ordered the deployment of these troops, only to have Wilson walk all over him in Versailles. My compatriots like to be fooled. In 2017, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the United States' entry into the war, our Musée des Armées, housed in the prestigious Hôtel des Invalides, put on an exhibition paying tribute to the American army (which is legitimate) and the American government (which is less so). We still give credence to the idea that the 1st World War was won thanks to America, which is false, just as we are now erasing the USSR's part in the 1945 victory, and continue to claim that on the beaches of Normandy, America brought us freedom, when in fact it was merely defending its interests, interests threatened by the policy followed by Washington since 1918.
Politicians are indeed pathological liars. Fortunately, sometimes a true statesman emerges. Such as de Gaulle in France, under exceptional circumstances that have nothing to do with elective democracy, or Putin in Russia.
You make a point that most others miss -- Putin's "spiritual depth", which informs his vision. Need to write an article on this.
Great article Julian, thank you. A guy under the pen name Batiushka mentioned that Putin means the Way in Russian. I'm not a Russian speaker, so did a quick google translate reference check as I could not believe the poetic-ness behind the meaning of his name. Here's the link to Batiushka's article if you're interested:
https://globalsouth.co/2023/06/01/the-end-of-western-triumphalist-history/
Thanks so much for this link. Very interesting.
He is the most important and strategic leader of this era, hands down.
Feeding off Michael Hudson and similar minds larger than my peanut.
That was my impression also from reading comments from people who know him.
Putin is one of the all time greats. As a leader he has a spiritual depth sadly lacking in the West. An extremely capable and intelligent man of vision, in the right place at the right time, Russia (and perhaps the world) should consider itself very lucky.
Found your link at Sonar 21 Julian. Very good article. Have always considered myself a big picture guy too. I was one of those who couldn't find Ukraine on a map prior to Feb 2022. The events that unfolded closely thereafter really tied up the loose ends in my mind. I knew by the media's reaction and the swarm of trolls there had to be a bigger picture. Why all of a sudden does America care if two mostly white countries exterminate each other? The passion from the usual suspects gave it away. Risking nuclear escalation just to protect the giant ongoing grift in the Ukraine made no sense either.
By March of 2022 I came to the conclusion TPTB were trying to protect something else. Its all about the Western economy and monetary system. All that was ever important to America/West was that TPTB remain on top. No doubt this has been done many years not so much by making the West better but by making any challengers worse. I don't believe these so called power brokers have an invite to help run a Russian or Chinese Hegemony. Both countries have seen what happens when "their" system is released on society. This is why they have completely hitched their wagons to the West; particularly the USA.
Unfortunately its do/die, sink/swim for all of us now. This leads me to believe the threat of Nuclear Armageddon is all too real. Not dissimilar to a spoiled child smashing the gameboard he was losing.
Pfff there are so many inaccuracies that it would take hours to correct everything... For the main ones:
1) We can say that Putin took power at the right time, following the collapse of the USSR, the Russian economy rebounded, which has nothing to do with him. But if you want to think of putin as someone who straightened out a country, a good comparison is Adolf who arrived in a ruined Germany and wanted to revive his dream of antiquated imperialism. Germany and Russia were empires long ago, but in today's world they are just dwarfs.
2) If we can say that the world is becoming bipolar, it is centred between the USA and China (therefore bi- and not multipolar to be precise). India remains to be seen in a few decades. Russia has nothing to do with it, just like BRICS.
3) Autarkic Russia… well, most of its economy is based on the export of raw materials.
It struggles to provide certain key components, hence the problems in certain industries (automotive, aeronautics, etc.). And, while I have no doubt that they will succeed in recovering certain industries (they succeeded in replacing Mcdo and Zara), technologically, no longer being so integrated into supply chains such as semiconductors and the massive loss of advanced knowledge (10% of IT engineers who left, that is 100k people! it comes from Shadayev, Russian minister, so a low figure certainly) will not be recoverable.
Finally, the Russian economy is like the Kalibr missiles, supposedly invincible on paper, until the day they are used in real world and destroyed.
4) Rather than reading RT or Sputnik articles, it is better to read the source. In this case we see that the UN CPI report is not a ranking of places where it is good to live, but a study of 29 cities (29 cities are not the whole world) comparing their relative prosperity compared to the rest of the country (therefore GDP of the city vs GDP of the whole country and not a comparison between cities themselves)
5) The issue of dedollarization. This is what comes up every 10 years because a country has bought an oil tanker in a currency other than the dollar… There is no doubt that for your limited knowledge of economics, understanding the dollar and the debt must be complex. But to put it simply, between 60% and 80% of China's foreign exchange reserves are held in dollars, China has $1.5 trillion in US debt and even though they've been talking about this concentration risk for years, they have no alternative to the dollar.
Btw, USD is 60% of the world currency reserves, EUR 20% and JYP and GBP 5% each (so Western covers more than 95% if also including Canada, Switzerland, Australia). So your chart showing that USD decrease from 2013 is true but hides that the increase comes from other Western countries.
The collapse of the United States? It would take facts to demonstrate that an economy of 25,000 billion GDP which, over the last 40 years, has only experienced 2 years of negative growth (2008 crisis and covid) is in decline.
6) The Tao of Vladimir Putin. Nice story, David versus Goliath -like, you should work in Hollywood where the facts matter less than the narrative (ah wait, you're already doing the same thing as a good Kremlin propagandist). In fact, historically, hyperpowers are not defeated by dwarfs but by new hyperpowers, re-read Thucydides' trap.
USA the great satan, the west is collapsing, big pharma is controlling the world, the earth is flat. Blah blah blah. Nothing new in conspiratorial circles that I see.
Do you do any research at all or do you just live in your own mind-bubble?
More research than you or Julian anyway as all of his points are correct. Study demographics, it will tell you a lot.
Good to see you here, Steven. although as usual I don't agree with you! :)
Yes, the demographics of Asia, Africa and Latin-America do not seem favorable to the US and other NATO nations if you look at it from an imperialistic lens. Could that be one of the reasons why the US and some of its NATO allies are so eager to sow death and destruction in those regions?
ArFish is probably a CIA operative, sent out to attempt to debunk anything that's not pro-US imperialism. Until of course he/she/it can come up with some facts to support the critique.
Not CIA. Just an ignorant troll. So not feed trolls--they are not house trained.
In a nutshell, Putin was Yeltsin's protege. How it worked was that Boris realised he had become nothing but a stooge for the West who happily used him to rape and loot a drunk Russia, which explains why he himself drank himself to death, it was the only means by which he could free himself from their hold on him and also prevent the complete destruction of Russia. His CIA handlers asked who he would suggest as an equally plyable and easily manipulative successor, this is why he suggested Putin because he knew he was nobody's fool and was not corrupted but that he also knew the CIA would work overtime in promoting 'their man'. This was Yeltsin's parting gift to Russia and everyone would now agree he has fully atoned for his behaviour leading up to Putin's appointment.
An interesting idea. By that I mean Yeltsin's atonement.
Agree 100%.
A mutual acquaintance who has worked with him since St. Petersburg says he is as he appears: rather shy, modest, funny and likable.
Once dollar share drops to less than 40% then America May implode financially.
Interesting and wonder how Julian came up with this?
Michael Hudson.,
Hiis longevity as a leader, is, in many ways, its own proof. A lot of the head honchos at the top are always cycling, but Putin has probably shaken hands with past heads of state one deep, maybe even two deep.
Yes. The Russian people do not regard him so much as a "politician" -- but as a leader. One of their own -- who made good.
To be thought of as a leader and not just a politician is a rare honor.
The link to the UN–HABITAT City Prosperity Index is broken.
I have updated the link to an article.
Whoops. I better fix that or find a workaround. Thank you for noticing it.
A man named Adolf performed a similar miracle in 1930's Germany.
The West and their financiers appear not to have been too keen on that one either.
The West and their financiers are the ones that bankrolled him.
https://therealnews.com/d-day-how-the-us-supported-hitlers-rise-to-power
Interesting read.
Though there are a few bits I would query.
There are multiple "interpretations" of Mein Kampf, Some more accurate than others.
The claim about Hitler wanting to invade Russia, is in contrast to the claim of Hitlers intention to stop the spread of Bolshevism across Europe and then invading because he knew that Stalin was poised to sweep across the continent.
I'm also not convinced about the site it's on, given their strong left bias and their stance on "white supremacy".
Quite right about the orientation of the site and also the various interpretations of Mein Kampf, which surprisingly few have actually read.
Thanks for these links, which pretty much answer my previous commentor.
There's no miracle in the economic "success" of the Nazi regime from 1933 onwards. It's a war economy that was largely supported by the United States, because Germany has always been a privileged ally of the United States; the entry into the war in 1917 would seem to invalidate this, but that would be to forget Churchill's maneuvers (already) to lure America into the war, and Wilson's ideology, which sought the downfall of the Empires. After 1918, Wahington put Germany back among his privileged allies, and the Dawes Plan and then the Young Plan were to clearly favor Berlin to the detriment of Paris.
France, which had suffered considerable material and human damage between 1914 and 1918, was to receive reparations from Germany. The aforementioned plans rescheduled the German debt, and in 1931, with Nazism looming large on the horizon, President Hoover imposed a one-year moratorium on German and French debts to the USA. At the end of this year, the German debt was simply cancelled, while France had to resume repayments to America. In the end, Germany paid France only 6% of the sums due under the Treaty of Versailles. This unpaid debt weighed heavily in favor of Nazi Germany against France. And that bastard Roosevelt had the nerve on June 17, 1940 to declare himself very disappointed that the French government had asked for the armistice. Then, for 4 years, he denied the existence of General de Gaulle and the Free French, sending an ambassador to Pétain, Admiral Leahy.
Hitler could thank Washington
Interesting. Thanks.
Indeed, behind the 1st World War, there is first and foremost Great Britain. And even then - and this is a constant feature of the French Republic, apart from General de Gaulle's years in power - the French government was already in thrall to its ally of the moment, in this case Great Britain, thanks to the Entente Cordiale.
Were the United States fooled? I'm not convinced of this, and the pigeons in the deal are the two turkeys in the entente cordiale. The French and British brought Washington into European affairs at little cost to America. World War 1 was won by the Allied armies, mainly French, commanded by Marshal Foch. Although the soldier was acknowledged to be very brave, he was poorly trained and untested, and carried little weight in the battle.
Moreover, Foch did not want to employ American troops, partly because of their inexperience, and partly because he understood that the American government would increase the size of its troops and profit from them. This is exactly what happened, as Clémenceau - one of France's most usurped glories - ordered the deployment of these troops, only to have Wilson walk all over him in Versailles. My compatriots like to be fooled. In 2017, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the United States' entry into the war, our Musée des Armées, housed in the prestigious Hôtel des Invalides, put on an exhibition paying tribute to the American army (which is legitimate) and the American government (which is less so). We still give credence to the idea that the 1st World War was won thanks to America, which is false, just as we are now erasing the USSR's part in the 1945 victory, and continue to claim that on the beaches of Normandy, America brought us freedom, when in fact it was merely defending its interests, interests threatened by the policy followed by Washington since 1918.
Really interesting stuff here...thanks!
Politicians are indeed pathological liars. Fortunately, sometimes a true statesman emerges. Such as de Gaulle in France, under exceptional circumstances that have nothing to do with elective democracy, or Putin in Russia.
I do not think a President makes a nation or its political system. He is product of a political culture. Let us hope that changes in the US.