How does one respond to repeated lies?
The Skripal Affair is a sham, as is Russiagate. How should Russia respond? It has chosen the high road. Lavrov dismissed the affair as "nonsense".
Monday, January 15, 2018
Trump's big mouth and the financial bubble
The U.S. government will run out of money this Friday. Unless Democrats and Republicans find an agreement beforehand, the U.S. government will shut down. This has happened before. But, this time it is occurring at a most inopportune moment. A financial bubble has been growing on Wall Street for a while. It is ready to burst. It only needs a spark. It may be Trump's big mouth.
Monday, January 1, 2018(1 comments)
Caught Between the Vietnam Syndrome and Irrational Exuberance
Every country has its demons. In the United States, they take the form of the Vietnam syndrome and the irrational exuberance; i.e., the inability to admit defeat and a blind faith in the market. These two bode ill for 2018 -- a year in which the world may witness a hot war and a financial crash, or both if the crash comes first.
Monday, December 11, 2017(1 comments)
Israel Palestine: For whom the bell tolls?
In 2008, John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt published "The Lobby and U.S. foreign policy" in which they reminded the reader that no two countries share the same vital interests. This obvious truth was ignored.
Sunday, November 19, 2017(10 comments)
Mohammed bin Salman: a useful idiot
Saudi Arabia has no business taking on Iran. Crushing Iran is part of the United States' hegemonic plan, and Israel's goal to dominate the region. Mohammed bin Salman is way over his head, a peon in a power game. He will come out as a hero if the United States and Israel succeed in achieving their goals or a fool if they fail.
Monday, September 18, 2017(7 comments)
$1,945 billion for what?
This is the cost of Overseas Contingency Operations* (OCO) over 16 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. $1,945 billion, the number is so large it is hard to fathom.
Monday, September 4, 2017(3 comments)
Syria: The Empire's Defeat
An ill-conceived strategy leads to failure. A strategy is defined by its objective. The Empire's objective is to dominate the world. But, several nations refuse to subject themselves to its will. The Empire is failing in these countries.
Monday, August 21, 2017
White Supremacists vs. Big Brother: Take your pick!
Charlottesville is an event which should not have happened. Donald Trump's first reaction was interpreted as an acquiescence of white supremacists' views. His second statement, meant to appease his critics, fanned the flames of discontent. Soon, America was embroiled in a war of words.
Monday, August 7, 2017(2 comments)
Are neoconservatives on their way out?
French journalist Renaud Girard recently published an article in Le Figaro announcing the decline of the neoconservatives. What surprises the reader is not his announcement but his description of neoconservative thinking. He sees it as a "messianic democracy".
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Janet Yellen, facing Ben Bernanke's boomerang
A lot has been written about quantitative easing -- a policy initiated by the Federal Reserve Bank in answer to the subprime crises. It is nothing more than an extremely lax monetary policy. The time has come to make an assessment.
Monday, June 5, 2017(3 comments)
Is the Empire over-extended?
Donald Trump is a loose cannon. This being said, the Electoral College voted him President of the United States. So, why is there such a campaign of slander and accusations against him without precedent in American history?
Monday, April 17, 2017(4 comments)
The road to world domination
Why on earth should you refuse to be the world's hegemon when your army is the most powerful and you do not believe in peace treaties? Because it will lead to a nuclear holocaust eradicating life on the earth, answer the pacifists and realists. But, it won't, object the neocons and neolibs. Our enemies will surrender to avoid annihilation.
Thursday, April 13, 2017(2 comments)
78 days to regain control
That's all it took for the neoconservatives to regain control of the White House. It was done in three steps: first, general Mike Flynn was fired, then Stephen Bannon was pushed aside and now Donald Trump strikes Syria with Tomahawk missiles. The last move is justified on humanitarian ground.
Monday, March 20, 2017(12 comments)
The neoconservatives' dismal performance
Remember the day the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989: a ray of hope arose in the sky. Two years later, when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone dreamed of peace and prosperity after forty years of Cold War.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017(1 comments)
A failure of the American democracy
Donald Trump is the object of a defamatory campaign in the media accompanied by street demonstrations. The underlying message is that Hillary Clinton would have been a better president. But, neither one meets the American people's expectations, their longing for peace and prosperity.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017(4 comments)
The Trump Revolution
Donald Trump believes the United States is in decline. His response is an economic, political, geopolitical and cultural revolution. The future will tell whether his diagnosis was correct and his prescription appropriate.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017(4 comments)
Theresa May's flawed strategy
Politicians love to bring up their country's prestigious past. Theresa May did just that when addressing the Republicans on January 26th, she referred to the "special relationship" binding Great Britain and the United States, putting the two countries on the same footing. Doing so, she is fighting the perception that Brexit signaled a retrenchment of British influence in world affairs.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Theresa May: Talking Tough, Grasping for Air
The Brits never felt comfortable in the European Union. Their unwritten, tradition-based democracy does not fit well into the normative, structured and hierarchical European Union. It is no surprise that a majority of them, admittedly small, followed their heart, not their reason, in June last year and decided to leave the Union. They must now bear the consequences of their decision.
Saturday, November 19, 2016(7 comments)
Will the United States become a "managed democracy"?
Trump blamed "global special interests" for "the destruction of our factories and our jobs" [They are] responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities." "This election will determine whether we are a free nation or whether we have only the illusion of democracy".
Monday, October 17, 2016(1 comments)
What will it be WWIII or 1929 redux?
With increased tension in Syria, commentators are understandably concerned about a Russian-American nuclear confrontation (Read "It's about World War III", "The warnings of a new world war", "Russia reads US bluster as signs of war", etc. See also "The Russo-American conflict behind Syria"). Yet attention should also be paid to the global economy. Here is why.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016(17 comments)
The Russo-American conflict behind Syria
The layman is at a loss trying to figure out what's going on in Syria. Why are we fighting? There doesn't seem to be an end to the conflict. Is this a new Cold War? Couldn't China intervene and work out an armistice before it's too late?
Wednesday, September 7, 2016(12 comments)
Is the American voter a useful idiot?
A useful idiot pleads for a cause which, unbeknown to him, hurts him. Voting is a case in point. It is viewed both as a right and an obligation. But, in a rigged political system, voting makes the citizen an accomplice of the system. Abstention is the non-violent way of refusing to partake in it.
Sunday, August 28, 2016(23 comments)
The 2016 American Revolution
The 2016 presidential election is a fraud. Voters are given a choice between a war-monger and a loose cannon. Neither is fit for the job. Voters must abstain to show their discontent. The time has come for a new Philadelphia Congress.
Saturday, August 20, 2016(28 comments)
Don't poke the Russian bear
Demonization is an age old formula to do away with an unwanted person or people. Jews were demonized for centuries in Europe. Today, it's Russia's turn. Hillary Clinton blamed Russia for hacking the Democratic National Committee computer. Vladimir Putin is vilified by main stream media. Shouldn't he be heard instead?
Friday, July 29, 2016(35 comments)
Is Russia a threat for the United States? Evidence says no.
To neoconservatives, Russia is a major threat to the United States. Such judgement is based on ideology, not on facts. A comparison of the two countries shows Russia lacking behind the United States in demographic, economic and military terms. Let's have a look.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
The United States in a unipolar world
On June 22, 2016, Gerard Araud, French ambassador to the United States, twitted: "The next President will face a multipolar world where the U.S. will be the main but not the only power. Realism is the only possible agenda." This is a bold statement for an ambassador. Is the statement accurate?
Saturday, July 9, 2016(1 comments)
Americans: Abstain on November 4th
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump offer a false choice to Americans. The time has come for a new Continental Congress.
Friday, July 1, 2016(2 comments)
Brexit: a wrong decision for the right reasons
A referendum that provides a simple "yes" or "no" answer to a question was not the appropriate tool for an issue as complex as the United Kingdom's membership to the European Union.
Unsubstantiated inflation worries
The Fed injected a lot of money in the economy in the last four years but most of it has been sterelized by the banks eliminating inflation risks in the process.
Obama Doctrine-- Repudiating Neocon Foreign Policy
The speech is an expression of the Obama doctrine which favors diplomacy over military conflicts. It is also a recognition of the United States' limited power.
The United States' Middle East policy is in shambles
The geopolitical mess the United States finds itself in is its own doing. The brilliant minds who devised its Middle East policy in the late 1990s are silent today.
Ukraine: crises have a life of their own
A propaganda war rages on between the protagonists to put the blame on the other side. What will it matter who started the crisis when nuclear missiles fly over our heads? Children should not play with matches.
Monday, April 28, 2014(3 comments)
Pushing Putin too far
If push comes to shove, if Russia is nothing more than a peon in a domineering empire, why not destroy that empire? Putin has the means to do it. He is no patsy. How will American officials react to his ultimatum? Will it be the end of times, Armageddon?
Tuesday, April 1, 2014(8 comments)
Blowback: the making of an anti-US coalition
In a previous note, I explained how Putin put a stop to a Western march of folly by annexing Crimea. In this one, I foresee either a nuclear or an economic holocaust if the West pursues its march.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014(2 comments)
Ukraine: how Putin put a stop to a march of folly
By reacting as he did, Vladimir Putin, bad as he is with all his shortcomings the Western media are so prompt to point at, may have put a stop to the neoconservatives’ march of folly towards world hegemony and an end to civil liberties.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014(3 comments)
Subversive ideas from the IMF
In her February speech in London, IMF’s Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, expresses ideas regarding energy subsidies, progressive taxation, entitlements, and a new ethos in the banking sectors which are anathemas in some circles in Washington DC, New York and London.
Inequality is the plat du jour
Inequality is an ever-recurring issue which will demand a new approach, a culture change among leaders.
Thursday, September 26, 2013(7 comments)
Is America exceptional?
On two recent occasions, Barack Obama stated that the United States was exceptional. Vladimir Putin contests this claim.
Sunday, September 22, 2013(1 comments)
Will peace prevail in the Middle East?
The Middle East is at a cross road. The case for war is stronger than the case for peace. Will peace prevail? Unlikely.
