BRICS, Brazil, and the Dollar

https://www.agweb.com/markets/pro-farmer-analysis/brics-nations-accelerate-shift-away-u-s-dollar-global-trade

https://trt.global/world/article/b73a9e89ed67 

The lead-up to the July 2025 BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro was the source of a great deal of hype and speculation. Would the BRICS bloc make a more aggressive move against the dollar?

Smoke and Mirrors: Trump's Trade Deal with China

https://apnews.com/article/trump-china-trade-tariffs-rare-earth-minerals-cbd2482bd2b3a7ce8d47030c4ff1c3d4

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-china-2672360236/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/27/trump-says-us-has-signed-trade-deal-with-china

Trump will tout everything he does as supreme, the greatest ever. Every move is a triumph, a victory - but he's saying very little about the trade deal with China. For all the noise he made about China, his tariff plan, and all the rest, one would think he would want to trumpet this 'success'. And yet like his plan to annex Greenland - he's moved on it would seem.

The Real Purpose of DOGE has Been Revealed

I am hardly alone in following the coverage of the Trump-Musk schism which as of this writing continues to escalate. The media tends to focus on the dynamics of the relationship falling into all the 'bromance' talk of the present generation - a sign of the culture's decadence that has degraded friendship and has a tendency to cast all relationships and interactions into some kind of sexual terms. It's tiresome to say the least.

Türkiye and BRICS

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/turkey-applies-to-join-china-and-russia-in-brics-economic-bloc-kremlin-says

https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/turkiye-and-brics-step-toward-more-multipolar-future

https://www.trtworld.com/turkiye/turkiyes-brics-bid-is-response-to-eu-membership-delay-18210122

Erdogan announced that Türkiye would be joining the ever expanding BRICS bloc in 2022, but just last month (September 2024) he made it official and Ankara has now officially applied for membership.

Washington's Latest Moves Against Beijing

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/21/quad-leaders-meet-in-bidens-hometown-amid-growing-china-competition

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/china-testing-us-all-joe-biden-caught-on-mic-telling-quad-leaders-101726970216499.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/biden-proposes-banning-chinese-vehicles-us-roads-with-software-crackdown-2024-09-23/

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/09/economist-calls-trumps-threat-to-tariff-countries-that-shun-the-dollar-a-lose-lose.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-keeps-missile-system-philippines-china-tensions-rise-tests-wartime-deployment-2024-09-19/

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3279516/us-typhon-missile-system-philippines-has-china-facing-more-tense-security-situation

At the end of September, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD met in Delaware. This is the most comprehensive of the new network of alliances created by Washington to combat China. The Quad is comprised of India, Japan, Australia, and the United States. This is in addition to AUKUS which has a more robust security element. What's important about the Quad is that it incorporates India and as such is critical to the US 'Indo-Pacific' framing of geo-politics and strategy vis-à-vis Beijing. AUKUS has more teeth but the Quad has the potential to be more important.

The August 2023 Druze Anti-Assad Protests

With all eyes on Gaza and Southern Lebanon, there are other questions to consider. The US is still seething over its failure to oust Assad in Syria and it would seem US policy is to make the Syrian economy scream – once the policy of the US toward Allende's Chile.

Sri Lanka and Russian Oil

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/sri-lanka-is-open-buying-russian-oil-pm-tells-ap-2022-06-12/

As a country in a state of turmoil and caught between political and financial forces based both in China and the West, Colombo is looking for other options. And for obvious reasons Moscow is also looking for new markets. While the Russian oil industry has jumped through numerous hoops and played games with pricing to keep their markets open, the possibility of new markets must be appealing for those in Russia.

Moldova's Gas Crisis

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/gazprom-to-suspend-gas-supply-to-moldova-if-payment-not-made

https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/22/europe-s-energy-crisis-moldova-declares-state-of-emergency-over-gas-prices

Is Moscow using natural gas as a weapon, as a means of putting diplomatic pressure on Moldova? Is this punishment for Moldova electing Maia Sandu a pro-European president?

Probably. The articles keep focusing on the significant back payment that Moldova owes to Gazprom, the St. Petersburg based energy company that's majority-owned by the Russian state. And yet I think the salient issue is the contract deadline in December.

Trump and the Asian Pivot

The US Navy has been doing something unusual, carrier swapping. Usually when one enters the Navy you more or less spend your career either plugged into the Atlantic or Pacific fleets. But due to personnel problems, the need to re-fuel existing craft (that would be nuclear refueling) and in order to keep the active or cutting edge on the Pacific side, the Navy has been in the process of swapping ships and crews between locations like San Diego and Norfolk.

Trump's Economy and its Evangelical Apologists

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-untold-story-of-trumps-booming-economy/

There are different ways to read such articles. On the one hand one could read it with a sense of outrage and great umbrage at the crimes of the wealthy.

Others will read it and get angry and defend the status quo. Employing a multitude of Right-wing and Neoliberal arguments they will quash all complaints and morally denounce those who would dare to question economic and market orthodoxy.

But there's another way to read it. First, I reject the assumption of middle class norms. I don't judge the right or wrong of it for workers by the standards of the middle class. I realise the average worker expects vacation days, sick days, a pension and all the rest. I don't and I don't have any of those things... and I don't really care.

So do I disagree with the author of the piece?

A GWU Graduate in Caracas

It cannot be proved that Juan Guaido is an agent of the United States, or rather I would say that one would be hard pressed to conclusively prove such an accusation. However I find it more than coincidental that once again the political opposition is led by someone with connections to the US Establishment.

Orwell and the Bolivarian Dream: When the Law Becomes Sin

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/venezuela-zte/

This is of course a somewhat self-serving article on the part of Reuters as the news agency is in this case serving the Anti-Chavez/Maduro campaign that has been mounted by the West.

And yet, it is disturbing to say the least. As the Bolivarian experiment has collapsed, the rulers of Venezuela (Maduro and the military) wish to retain control and are apparently willing to open some dark doors to do so. I don't think Simon Bolivar would approve.

Atlantic Breakdown in Slow Motion

https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-china/news/eu-and-china-pledge-to-deepen-relationship-despite-trade-tensions/

Even though the EU and China have their own differences the actions of the United States are forcing both entities to look outward. Trump continues to antagonise Europe, driving them toward the pursuit of their own economic, diplomatic and military agendas.

The (Tel-Aviv – Riyadh – Washington) Triple Alliance and the Dangerous Game

http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2017/11/saudi-arabia-game-thobes-171105162806956.html

This is another story which seems to change by the day and the hour. This link while interesting is already outdated. Hariri is back in Lebanon and has rescinded his resignation and Saleh who broke with the Houthi's is now dead.

Russian Sanctions and the US Energy Sector

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfZKtpEi8Oo

This is short clip of an interview with John Pilger on RT's Going Underground. I post it because of his brief commentary on Russia and in particular his reference to the August sanctions pushed by the United States. He correctly observes that once again the notion that Trump is some kind of Russian agent is patently absurd. While momentarily attempting to reach out to Russia and find common cause on the geopolitical scene his administration has already in its short tenure escalated the tensions and antagonism vis-à-vis Moscow.

And just days ago further diplomatic moves were made by Washington in forcing the Russians to close three consulates.

Palantir the Harbinger of Doom

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/palantir-peter-thiel-cia-data-crime-police

Always cast as a means to stop figures like Bernie Madoff and child molesters, computer programs like Palantir actually represent an attempt by the Deep State to recapture the Internet.

The Forces Behind Latin American Unrest

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/11/lee_fang_on_how_a_little

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/atlas-network-alejandro-chafuen-libertarian-think-tank-latin-america-brazil/

Old patterns are repeated. Anyone familiar with the history of US activities in Latin America will not be surprised by this story. The United States has long sought to influence and manipulate politics south of the border.

Proxy Sanctions: THAAD and the Republic of Korea

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/07/04/2017070401462.html

Beijing is angry about the US placement of the THAAD missile system in South Korea. With valid reason they view it as a threat and one pointed more at them, than the North Koreans. The rulers of China have decided to punish South Korea through business sanctions.

Economic Warfare and the US Justice Department

 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4897228,00.html

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/31/deutsche-bank-fined-630m-over-russia-money-laundering-claims

There are so many stories like this floating around if you go looking. The US is waging a war against companies that do business in places and with people not liked by the Washington Establishment.