Von der Leyen in the South Caucasus

https://www.euronews.com/2026/07/02/von-der-leyen-unveils-major-eu-support-initiatives-in-strategic-trip-to-armenia

Given Armenia's recent tilt away from Russia, and Azerbaijan's mostly pro-US stance, the moment seems ripe for the EU to sweep into the South Caucasus and do some bridge building. As I have long suggested, the EU offers a Western and yet non-American alternative, and one more attractive given the geographic proximity to the region.

American Media and the Nordstream Cover-Up

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/20/italy-to-extradite-ukrainian-nord-stream-sabotage-suspect-to-germany

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/nord-stream-sabotage-suspect-remains-in-custody-1768528278.html

In addition to Kuznetsov who was arrested and extradited from Italy, there is also news of another Ukrainian arrested in Poland who is accused of being part of the Nordstream sabotage.

Imperial Power and Central Asian Infrastructure

https://eurasianet.org/china-kyrgyzstan-uzbekistan-railway-project-gets-off-the-ground

The key statement this article is the reference to the Trans-Afghan corridor. This railroad and its relationship to the larger question of Central Asian infrastructure represents a strategic defeat for the US Empire.

The Now Less than Great Game: Extending Western Influence into Central Asia

https://www.euractiv.com/section/central-asia/news/kazakh-expert-central-asia-needs-a-transnational-electricity-grid/

Investment is always viewed through the lens of economic legitimacy – both as a means and an end. But it also needs to be understood that a flood of money invariably generates corruption.

Germany's LNG Infrastructure Pains

https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/is-germanys-lng-gold-rush-coming-to-an-end/

This article demonstrates the internal conflict that plagues modern Western capitalist economies. Germany needs Liquefied Natural Gas, all the more since the Nordstream pipelines were blown up and the gas supply from Russia has been cut off.

The Nordstream Sabotage and the Ukraine War Narrative

https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/claims-of-u-s-involvement-in-nord-stream-attack-draw-scrutiny

Mainstream media has all but ignored Seymour Hersh's latest Substack piece in which he states emphatically something that many of us have suspected all along – that the Nordstream Pipelines were sabotaged by the US Navy.

Libyan Gas and Italian Finance

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/italy-and-libya-reach-8b-deal-on-offshore-gas-development

Money is moving all around and when you take a moment and squint through the fog you realize that in the deal, Italy is getting more military cooperation to block migrants – Libya being one of the primary hubs for the refugee trails coming out of Sub-Saharan Africa.

A Ukraine Miscellany XVII: Orwell's Ghost and Western Double-Speak

The Orwellian nature and blatant contradictions of the Western narratives surrounding The Ukraine War continue to become more pronounced – sometimes to the point of being comic.

Croatia Rewarded: LNG Deals and Schengen Membership

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/austria-croatia-bavaria-team-up-for-adriatic-lng-project/

Croatia was quick to sign up to America's suggestion of creating an LNG infrastructure, and now in this new deal with Austria and Bavaria, that capacity is set to double. Croatia is set to become an energy hub for southern and central Europe as LNG can be brought in via the Adriatic.

New LNG Infrastructure Coming On Line

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/finland-and-germany-starting-lng-imports

It has been nothing less than impressive to witness the rapid development of this new LNG infrastructure. No doubt everything has been categorized as a 'rush order'. And even with the red hot production time-tables, their coming 'on line' isn't soon enough as ships are already piling up in the Atlantic and we read of other nations eager to export LNG – and get a piece of the lucrative European market and its high demand.

Turkey, NATO, and the SCO

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/21/turkey-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-membership-nato-west-alternative

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/9/turkey-resumes-gas-exploration-in-the-eastern-mediterranean

Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey continues to carve out what can only be described as an independent geopolitical course. Long viewed as an essential member of NATO, due to its unique cultural and geographical position, under Erdogan's AKP the Eurasian nation continues to anger its longtime allies and sponsors by reaching out to Western rivals and adversaries and in pursuing policies that the EU and NATO would describe as reckless, defiant, and even treacherous.

A Ukraine Miscellany XII: Thank You USA (I)

One feels as if the propaganda has reached a new level, and with it the stakes and danger have become even greater. At the end of September a series of explosions heavily damaged the Nordstream pipelines which bring natural gas across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. The two Nordstream 1 lines were rendered inoperable and apparently despite the explosions one of the two Nordstream 2 lines remains viable. In other words, three of the four pipelines have sustained serious damage.

All Eyes on Italy and Other Pressures Mounting in Europe

On the one hand the manipulations that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have proven very successful. NATO dissent has been largely quashed and the EU has been brought into a kind of subservience to the US. NATO is set to expand, and the US has forced Europe to shift its energy policy, in ways largely favourable to US interests.

The Myth of Energy Independence and the Agents of Mammon

Energy Independence. The words are inescapable if you turn the news on. It has become a battle-cry for the Right in 2022. Representing the interests of the petroleum industry they have used the present crisis as a means to bolster the interests of that economic sector and yet at a most basic level it's misleading.

A Ukraine Miscellany (IV): GOP Traps, MiG's, and Russian Oil

Putin fell for a geopolitical trap in the invasion of Ukraine, and US president Joe Biden has fallen for a series of traps set by his domestic political opposition. 

The Ukraine Crisis and the Energy Markets

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/qatar-sees-little-chance-of-replacing-russian-gas-with-lng-in-europe

Without a doubt the US Energy sector (as a component of Wall Street) is one of the driving factors in the US attempt to pull Russia into a war with Ukraine. The US has been sabre rattling for months though this has been ignored by Western media. It's clear the US wanted to break Nordstream 2, and at this point it would seem they've been successful.

Follow up on the Chechen Murdered in Berlin

https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/15/zelimkhan-khangoshvili-russian-man-convicted-of-2019-berlin-murder-of-georgian-chechen

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-geopolitics-of-dead-georgian-in.html

Accused Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov has been found guilty of the 2019 murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili – Chechen militant living in Germany. The verdict is no surprise and it has led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.

Cruz and Nordstream 2

https://news.yahoo.com/cruz-offers-swap-nord-stream-181728222.html

No one can seriously accuse the Democrats of being soft on Russia. If anything they've led the militaristic charge against Moscow since the late Obama administration. In 2014, the US backed a coup in Ukraine leading to the Russian annexation of the Crimea and Putin's open support for separatists in the Donbass – the already rocky relationship quickly soured. And when Russia intervened in the US proxy war in Syria, and thwarted plans to oust Assad, relations grew hostile.

Erdogan, Central Asia, and The Great Game in 2021

https://journal-neo.org/2021/10/14/erdogan-rushes-to-form-a-broad-coalition-of-pro-turkish-forces/

Turkey is still attempting to put its stamp on Central Asia. As expected with Erdogan, his programme is focused on Pan-Turkism with a veneer of Islam.

Visa Diplomacy

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/us-considering-adding-cyprus-romania-bulgaria-to-visa-waiver-programm/

https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-china/news/taiwan-delegation-irks-china-with-eastern-europe-tour/

This is a case of the United States rewarding faithful countries like Romania, which is fully on board with US foreign policy in Eastern Europe. Romania's inner turmoil and problematic bureaucracy have kept Washington somewhat aloof in terms of visas, but apparently they've found a way to make it work and it will open the door for easy Romanian business and travel in the United States. Washington wants to continue building strong ties with the nation that sits in a pivotal spot on the European map.