05 September 2017

Russian Sanctions and the US Energy Sector

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.


(The New York Times article is rather slanted but again no surprise as the NYT has been at the forefront of the Establishment's Anti-Russia campaign.)
As much as I appreciate Pilger I do not share his enthusiasm or analysis with regard to Corbyn and as far as Venezuela goes... he only hinted at what's really been happening.
The Russian section of the interview begins at 4:20.
In signing the sanctions bill Trump has not only escalated the diplomatic war with Russia but he risks antagonising America's European allies. Of course at this point Trump is not behind the sanctions but because his administration is in power and he's already burned so many bridges... the anger and frustration will be directed at him.
He's dirty and corrupt and yet more than this he's foolish in breeding and generating unnecessary enemies... and from virtually all sectors. His megalomania and sociopathic behaviour more than any action or policy will bring him down and at the very least render his presidency impotent and futile. For a person who lives to make a name for himself, he is vigorously labouring for the 'worst' president appellation that the history books are certain to give him.   
Once again America's allies are supposed to fall on their swords at the behest of their master. This has to be all the more irksome to someone like Merkel who faces elections later this month.
Don't miss the economic angle to the Russian sanctions. The US is hoping to force open a market for its ailing gas industry. The commodity glut and downturn in global demand have driven prices to an almost unprecedented low. As usual, even with the sword-rattling against Russia, there's more to it. This is an opportunity for the US to expand its economic power and influence. The Russians have pointed this out but almost no one in the West is paying attention.
Allies are being 'helped' but also more closely to bound to the US and its agenda. As Eastern Europe is militarised, the powers behind the EU have little choice but to go along. If Germany becomes dependent on US energy then its European aspirations have also been tethered.
Finally Pilger rightly comments on Trump's reversal with regard to US militarism and its foreign wars. Either he was a phony all along or in the end even a 'maverick' like Trump has little hope of combatting America's all powerful Military Industrial Complex. It is the very heart of what America is all about. In this case the parable about the swimming shark is true... if its stops, it will die.

7 comments:

  1. I wanted to leave a comment on your recent post on Helm, Augustine, and CoG:

    Most miss the fact that Augustine is not as otherworldly as people make him out to be. While Helm is right to say that Augustine considers the City of God as the Elect on Earth, he does not make a thick demarcation between the 'city' in the city of God and the city of Babylon. Both involve an intangible definition of a polity, one's allegiance is, and will always, be in the heart. However, this ethos of citizenship manifests itself in tangible, physical, artifacts. Cities are conceptual in nature, but people see them in their social structures, forms of government, walls, towers, markets, armies, etc. The same is true for the City of God, and hence we 'see' Christ's Kingdom in the local church. It's why Augustine was comfortable with talking about miracles, the lives of saints, even his convoluted theory of grace-by-touch in his doctrine of apostolic succession. It's for this reason Augustine provides a helpful way to understand how the Church is both visible and invisible, and how every congregation is permixtum.

    Another thought: You make a comment that no culture can be Christian, but I'm not really sure what that means. The effects of the Gospel and life of the church create a kind of overflow, a spillage into all corners of life. So, I'm not sure how you're defining it, but if the gospel spreads in a village where polygamy is common, a change in marriage customs would be a cultural effect and, in a specific way, said village's culture would be 'Christianized', at least as it exists within the confines of the local church.

    Perhaps, it's right to think that the patterns, figures, and forms of Scripture, as they belong to and constitute Christ, the Logos, are holy 'in se'. When these forms press into the contours of our life, our culture, then our culture becomes derivatively holy in as much as they resemble the originals. The mistake, as we've all to often seen, is when the tie is severed and a national ethos, whatever it is, becomes its own norming norm of the holy; this is the essence of sacralism. That's just food for thought. To put it bluntly, I think you're depending upon an anemic and vague definition of culture to base your criticisms; I think something more robust is needed to give vigor to your otherwise correct insights. But, then again, maybe I just don't understand what you're saying.

    cal

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    1. PS. I dug up a disseration I read awhile back, connecting Augustine and Yoder's theologies. I thought you'd find it interesting:

      https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/911/D_Collier_Charles_a_200812.pdf?sequence=1

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    2. Christian can be used in a cultural or sociological sense but in Biblical terms it's not legitimate. Christians can influence culture but that culture does not become holy or covenantal. Say a bunch of Christians form a village... it's a village of Christians but it's not a Christian village. Their social polity is not Christian and if Christianity is being genuinely lived out it will not have the marks of the wider culture.

      That .pdf looks interesting but I can't read 275pages on a computer screen at my desk. Sadly it doesn't look like it's available in print.

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    3. Skipping around the introductions and conclusions should give you a sufficient vision of his project. And, if you're really interested, you could email me your postal address and I could print it out, get it bound, and mail it to you!

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    4. I'll try the intro/conclusion skim method. But thanks.

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  2. "He correctly observes that once again the notion that Trump is some kind of Russian agent is patently absurd."

    That is a straw man argument -- nobody in their right mind has harbored the notion that Trump is some kind of Russian agent. The issue really is whether or not Trump has compromised himself with respect to oligarchs in the Russian Federation because of financial support from them for his projects both there and in the USofA.

    In an historic statement today, President Putin declared to the world that Trump is "not my bride" and "I'm not his groom".

    Perhaps as you give the impression of being a regular listener to "Fresh Air', you heard the interview with author David John Moore Cornwell (nom de plume John le Carré) and his sagacious comments on the matter of possible Russian collusion with Trump *and* his family.

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    1. No one in their right mind... now, that's something to consider.

      Actually quite a few people think he's either an agent or at the very least a collaborator/traitor. I have not listened to the le Carre interview.

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