Posted by seumasach on September 13, 2016
13th September, 2016
“I will be charting a [new] course [for the Philippines] on its own and will not be dependent on the United States,” declared Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ firebrand president after winning a landslide victory earlier this year. Under the leadership of newly-minted president, the Philippines is rapidly transforming its foreign policy predisposition.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: End of empire, post-American world, Rodrigo Duterte | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on August 27, 2016
The loss of the Turkey “vassal” secures the failure of the state Department’s Syria policy. At the same time, China has made a bold move in supporting Damascus militarily showing that they cannot be “contained” in the Asia-Pacific. The writing is on the wall for US hegemony as it has been for some time: the question really is can the USA abandon exceptionalism and enter into power sharing agreements with it’s rivals. Such leadership is badly needed but as the USA fragments into a chaos of interest groups, lobbies and identities where can it come from? Both Clinton’s neoconservative revival and Trump’s anti-China isolationism look like the pure fantasy of a nation unable to realistically assess it’s own status.
Mike Whitney
25th August, 2016
The main architect of Washington’s plan to rule the world has abandoned the scheme and called for the forging of ties with Russia and China. While Zbigniew Brzezinski’s article in The American Interest titled “Towards a Global Realignment” has largely been ignored by the media, it shows that powerful members of the policymaking establishment no longer believe that Washington will prevail in its quest to extent US hegemony across the Middle East and Asia. Brzezinski, who was the main proponent of this idea and who drew up the blueprint for imperial expansion in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, has done an about-face and called for a dramatic revising of the strategy. Here’s an excerpt from the article in the AI:
Posted in Global peace process, Multipolar world | Tagged: End of empire, retreat from empire | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on August 15, 2016
15th August, 2016
Russian military officials say Moscow is close to reaching an agreement with Washington on how to coordinate fight against militants in Syria’s war-ravaged city of Aleppo.
Posted in Global peace process, Syria | Tagged: End of empire, Obama agenda, Obama's realist turn, Russian diplomacy, US Russia cooperation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on August 10, 2016
Britain’s post-Brexit foreign policy: detente with Russia, containment of China. This, presumably, is merely a reflection of US foreign policy- the culmination of the Obama doctrine and the policy basis of the next US presidency. There is a logic here: just as confrontation with both Russia and China is unrealistic, so is detente with both together. If we are to finally bring an end to the Cold War then this is to be applauded. Russia and China cannot be turned against each other: this is not 1972. At the same to “containment” of China may turn out to be just a posture, although a very expensive one, especially for the UK. Washington intends to hold back, Canute-style, the incoming waves of China’s economic development model, partly by mimicking it with a neo-Keynesian policy shift. Neo-Keynesianism in one country is not possible: it has to be carried out globally on the basis of a new global financial architecture, a reset of the global currency system. In the end , constructive engagement with our main creditor and the world’s productive centre is inevitable.
Theresa May speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since becoming Prime Minister
10th August, 2016
Theresa May has spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin for the first time since she became Prime Minister.
The Kremlin said both leaders expressed dissatisfaction with UK-Russian relations and pledged to improve ties.
Posted in brexit crisis, Containing China, Global peace process | Tagged: Chinese soft power, End of empire, New Cold War, new global financial architecture, Obama agenda, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on August 2, 2016
Cailean Bochanan
2nd August, 2016
“Brexit means Brexit!” but what is Brexit? Well, now we know. It is the alignment of the UK with the policy which will dominate the next US presidency: the strategy of containment or isolation of China.
Posted in brexit crisis, Containing China | Tagged: bankrupt Britain, brexit agenda, Chinese soft power, End of empire, the brexit disaster | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 30, 2016
30th July, 2016
Donald Trump’s flurry of offhand remarks and abrupt zingers on Russia — praising Vladimir Putin, dismissing NATO — have jolted the world, not to mention the U.S. presidential campaign.
Posted in Disband NATO!, Global peace process | Tagged: End of empire, retreat from empire, trump agenda | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on July 23, 2016
Johnson’s “everything will remain the same despite Brexit” argument reflects either that he is completely delusional or that he is strongly hinting that Brexit is not going to happen at all. Regarding passporting rights, that will be in the hands of the Europeans and it is no secret that Paris and Frankfurt are vying to succeed London as Europe’s financial sector. His assurances lack all credibility and reflect the bizarre post-Brexit limbo into which we have been cast. Meanwhile, as the incoming capital flows on which we are dependent dry up, the perspectives for the UK economy and living standards are dire in the extreme.
23rd July, 2016
London will remain a global financial centre, according to Boris Johnson, the UK’s newly appointed foreign secretary. Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Johnson dismissed fears over the country’s financial services sectors losing its passporting rights amid the Brexit vote.
Posted in British economy, UK economy | Tagged: bankrupt Britain, End of empire | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on June 28, 2016
Projet Ayrault-Steinmeier de Nouvelle Europe
27th June, 2016
The decision of the British people marks a watershed moment in the history of Europe. The European Union is losing not only a member state, but a host of history, tradition and experience, with which we shared our journey throughout the past decades. France and Germany therefore take note of this decision with regret. This creates a new situation and will entail consequences both for the United Kingdom and for the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon sets out the procedures for the orderly departure of a Member State (article 50). Once the British Government has activated these procedures, we will stand ready to assist the institutions in the negotiations clarifying the future relationship between the EU and the UK.
Posted in Battle for Europe | Tagged: End of empire, Projet Ayrault-Steinmeier de Nouvelle Europe | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on April 24, 2016
M.K.Bhadrakumar
22nd April, 2016
President Barack Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday has boomeranged. His good intentions were never in doubt – mend fences between the two countries. But what emerges is that it will need much more than one visit – maybe, even one full presidency cannot fulfill such a mission. According to Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief, all the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: End of empire, Obama agenda, US-Saudi rift | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 29, 2016
24th February, 2016
Asia Times top writer George Koo recently interviewed Martin Jacques, the author of the global bestseller, “When China Rules the World.” The British journalist and scholar was a guest speaker at a Feb. 18 forum in Palo Alto, Calif. hosted by the Committee of 100 and the Commonwealth Club. The topic was “Why the UK sees China as a friend and the US doesn’t.” Koo moderated and afterwards spoke with Jacques in an exclusive interview for Asia Times.
Posted in British economy | Tagged: bankrupt Britain, China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership, Chinese soft power, End of empire | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 29, 2016
28th February, 2016
MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Many Americans regard the ceasefire in Syria as a defeat, Chairman of the State Duma committee for foreign affairs Alexey Pushkov said.
Posted in Syria | Tagged: End of empire, Obama agenda, Obama's realist turn, Russian diplomacy, US Russia cooperation | Leave a Comment »
