A tragic incident unfolded at a bustling Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, when a vehicle crashed into a crowd of holiday revelers. The incident resulted in at least one fatality and left between 60 and 80 people injured, as reported by local law enforcement. The driver, who is currently under suspicion of terrorism, has been detained by the police, a fact confirmed by emergency services. Eyewitnesses captured the horrifying scene on social media, showing a ... Read more

A high-ranking executive of a Michigan-based manufacturing firm was gravely wounded in a stabbing incident that occurred during a company meeting on Tuesday. Erik Denslow, the president of Anderson Express Inc., was allegedly assaulted by a fellow employee. Although the police initially withheld Denslow’s identity, it was later confirmed by local media outlets. Denslow is currently hospitalized in critical condition, but is expected to recover, according to authorities. The alleged attacker, Nathan Mahoney, 32, was ... Read more

Kiev Regime Kills Russian General Who Exposed Western Big Pharma’s Crimes in Ukraine By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida, December 20, 2024 The choice of Igor Kirillov as a target is easy to understand. He was responsible for investigating Ukrainian … The post Selected Articles: Kiev Regime Kills Russian General Who Exposed Western Big Pharma’s Crimes in Ukraine appeared first on Global Research.

On December 18, the Kiev regime’s forces fired nearly a hundred missiles and drones at the Rostov oblast (region) in southwestern Russia. The attack also included six US-made ATACMS TBMs (tactical ballistic missiles) and four “Storm Shadow”/SCALP-EG ALCMs (air-launched cruise … The post Putin Points to Failures of NATO SAM/ABM. Nearly 100 Missiles and Drones Fired against Rostov Region. Retaliation Using Oreshnik? appeared first on Global Research.

A Pennsylvania man is in critical condition following a violent altercation that began over a request to pet his service dog. The incident occurred at a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop in Pittsburgh where the victim was employed. His co-worker, 33-year-old Tyree Blue-Murphy, reportedly initiated the dispute when he asked to pet the service dog. The disagreement escalated into a physical confrontation, with Blue-Murphy and another co-worker, 31-year-old Damon Robinson, allegedly assaulting the victim to the ... Read more

A Mississippi woman has been arrested for the fatal shooting of her ex-husband outside a bustling county courthouse, shortly after their divorce was finalized, as per law enforcement reports. Tanya Saucier, 49, was reportedly waiting in her vehicle for her former spouse, James Ray Saucier, to leave the Lenoir Rowell Criminal Justice Center in Poplarville on Tuesday morning. Following the conclusion of their divorce proceedings, she allegedly shot him, according to the Pearl River County ... Read more

Figuras públicas ucranianas estão a começar a admitir as suas intenções de causar uma catástrofe nuclear. Para os militantes nas fileiras do regime, a guerra nuclear não é algo que deva ser evitado. Eles acreditam que um cenário tão extremo … The post Líder neonazista ucraniano apoia escalada nuclear. appeared first on Global Research.

A crise política na Alemanha está a aprofundar-se. O Chanceler Olaf Scholz a confiança do parlamento em 16 de Dezembro, desmantelando o seu governo. Com o colapso da coligação e a necessidade de eleições antecipadas, parece claro que as políticas … The post Scholz perde voto de confiança no parlamento alemão, agravando crise política de Berlim. appeared first on Global Research.

The signs that something unusual was afoot in Maspeth, Queens, on Thursday morning could be seen even before reaching the hulking structure that is DBK4, Amazon’s delivery stations, where drivers load up their vans with packages for the New York metro area. As the sun rose over the industrial area, workers could be seen streaming

Britain’s new Labour Government has managed in six short months to reduce an economy growing at the fastest rate in the G7 group of leading economies to falls of -0.1% in both September and October with no growth in the … The post Britain: How to Destroy an Economy in Six Months. Rodney Atkinson appeared first on Global Research.

Full disclosure: Nicolás Medina Mora once did a mean tweet about my book. He hadn’t read it, but he criticized it publicly anyway, dismissing me as just another gringo who didn’t understand Mexico. This hurt my feelings. But I didn’t fight back. Instead, embarrassingly, I sent him a fan email. I admired his work, I

A U.S. Marine, currently on active duty off Florida’s coast, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder following the discovery of a woman’s body in Alabama. The Marine, identified as 20-year-old Willie Richard Ellington, was apprehended on December 18, the same day the body of 26-year-old Tshey Bennett was found in a pond in Mobile, Alabama. Bennett, who was reported missing on December 14, was known to be working as an escort, according to ... Read more

The Five Eyes spy network, an intelligence cooperation between the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, was established in 1956 at the height of the Cold War. Although Five Eyes is evidently an alliance of … The post Will Japan Join “The Five Eyes Spy Network”, Japan “Spy Eye” in Relation to China, North Korea, Russia and Southeast Asia? appeared first on Global Research.

As BRICS aims to expand, developing nations from Africa gear up to join the grouping, seeking to redefine their global engagement

A growing roster of countries lined up in the grouping carries implications for Australia’s minerals policy

It would be a big mistake for the West to dismiss the recent BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit in Kazan – Russia’s unofficial “Islamic” capital – as an anti-Western sideshow of little consequence. Western governments might like to believe that the gathering showed a lack of unity and substance, but the reality is more complicated

In a bold move, 18-year-old Bryce Martinez from Pennsylvania has taken a stand against some of the world’s largest food corporations. Martinez has filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against 11 major food companies, including household names like Coca-Cola, Nestlé … The post A Teenager’s Lawsuit: Taking on the Global Food Giants. Colin Todhunter appeared first on Global Research.

With the Ashkenazi-Zionist-Israel rapid expansion towards a Greater Israel, the sudden fall of Syria, the silence of Iraq, Iran scared to intervene, when Russia is folding up its tents in Syria and is getting the hell out of there — … The post Middle East – Towards Endless Chaos? appeared first on Global Research.

One of Karl Marx’s most persistent points, from “On the Jewish Question” forward, is that despite the formal freedoms that we enjoy in a liberal state — the right to freedom of speech, for example, or freedom of religion — we are socially and in fact unfree. (As Bruno Leipold reports in his Citizen Marx,

In certain respects, the Currier Museum’s Jean Michel Basquiat and Ouattara Watts: A Distant Conversation may be regarded as a modest exhibition, as it features only six works by Basquiat and seven large paintings by Watts. But the power and … The post A Painterly Dialogue: Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ouattara Watts at the Currier Museum appeared first on Global Research.

The Kiev regime continues to use terrorist tactics against Russia, carrying out targeted assassinations against public figures outside the conflict zone. In yet another provocative move, Ukrainian intelligence assets in Moscow killed Igor Kirillov, head of the Chemical, Biological, … The post Kiev Regime Kills Russian General Who Exposed Western Big Pharma’s Crimes in Ukraine appeared first on Global Research.

Mike Robinson and Vanessa Beeley discuss the events of the past week in Syria, including Vanessa’s escape from the terrorists who moved into Damascus and surrounding areas on Sunday morning. “This terrorist faction [HTS] has just been converted into rebels … The post What’s Really Happening in Syria Now? Interview with Vanessa Beeley appeared first on Global Research.

President Vladimir Putin suggested that NATO sends its best SAM/ABM systems to any location of their choosing in Kiev and prepare to intercept the incoming Russian hypersonic weapons.

In the year 1962 the American scientist Allan H. Frey carried out experiments with pulsed microwaves, which produced clicking, buzz, hissing or knocking sounds in the heads of people at a distance of up to several thousands yards. ... The post The Effects of Pulsed Microwaves and Extra Low Frequency Electromagnetic Waves on Human Brains? Governments Routinely “Classify Information” Pertaining to the Manipulation of the Human Nervous System appeared first on Global Research.

[First published on January 17, 2023, this outstanding text by F. William Engdahl provides an understanding of weather modification techniques.] *** In recent months [2023] the world is hearing unusual terms to describe extreme weather events. Now terms like Bomb … The post Bomb Cyclones and Atmospheric Rivers: Is Someone Messing with the Weather? appeared first on Global Research.

[This text was published on June 5, 2024] “Covid Jabs May be to Blame for Increase in Excess Deaths” If this report by The Telegraph had been published in early 2021, several million lives would have been saved. But in … The post After Four Years of Censorship: Mainstream Media Now Confirms that “COVID Jabs May be to Blame for Increase in Excess Deaths” appeared first on Global Research.

これは世界中で「キラー」ワクチンです：日本の研究者は、COVIDワクチンの副作用が201種類の病気に関連していると言います あなたは正しかった、ワクチンは私たちの愛する人の何百万人もの人を殺している」 Scroll down for Japanese Version of this article この記事の日本語版は下にスクロールしてください *** “You Were Right, Vaccines Are Killing Millions of Our Loved Ones”,  Kazuhiro Haraguchi, Former Minister of Internal Affairs (emphasis added) “You will find diseases of the heart, … The post It’s a “Killer” Vaccine Worldwide: Japanese Researchers Say Side Effects of COVID Vaccines Linked to 201 Types of Diseases appeared first on Global Research.

US Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis confirmed in May Washington’s resolve to annihilate the ISIS-Daesh terrorists. That was the “political narrative” of the Pentagon. The unspoken truth is that Uncle Sam had come to the rescue of the Islamic State. The post The 2017 Raqqa Exodus: The US Coalition’s “Secret Deal” to Allow ISIS-Daesh Terrorists to Escape… appeared first on Global Research.

In his stead, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar will attend the ceremony on January 27th. The post Netanyahu won’t attend 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation due to potential ICC arrest appeared first on World Israel News.

In his stead, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar will attend the ceremony on January 27th. The post Netanyahu won’t attend 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation due to potential ICC arrest appeared first on World Israel News.

openDemocracy readers share their thoughts on whether Assad’s ousting will lead to democracy

Polish Deputy Defense Minister said that his country’s aid to Ukraine has “hit the wall”.

'There is no other way to understand this decision than as a deliberate adoption of the Palestinian narrative.' The post Israel’s Diaspora Minister to Pope: ‘Jesus lived and died as a Jew’ appeared first on World Israel News.

'There is no other way to understand this decision than as a deliberate adoption of the Palestinian narrative.' The post Israel’s Diaspora Minister to Pope: ‘Jesus lived and died as a Jew’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Important article first published on November 19, 2024 This article is also available in Spanish. Scroll down for Spanish AI Translation ¿Biden realmente autorizó ataques de largo alcance más profundos dentro de Rusia? NYT Citando “Funcionarios Anónimos” por Drago Bosnic… The post Did Biden Really Authorize Long-range Strikes Deeper Within Russia? NYT Quoting “Anonymous Officials” appeared first on Global Research.

Japan says it wants to resolve its territorial dispute with Russia but act aggressively.

The Mayor announced the damage was 40 million shekel ($11 million) and that a replacement Ramat Ef’al elementary school building would be constructed. The post Ramat Gan Mayor: ‘We were lucky there were no children at school’ hit by Houthis missile appeared first on World Israel News.

The Mayor announced the damage was 40 million shekel ($11 million) and that a replacement Ramat Ef’al elementary school building would be constructed. The post Ramat Gan Mayor: ‘We were lucky there were no children at school’ hit by Houthis missile appeared first on World Israel News.

On December 8, Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane to Moscow. His flight marked the end of the Syrian Ba’ath Party and the end of over half a century of rule by the Assad family, who governed the country through torture and intense police surveillance. Since then, many Syrians have been searching for their abducted relatives,

There is no good scenario here, and one can only expect further domestic instability in the American superpower.

Our war-hungry leaders may have learned nothing, but recent history shows militaries cannot solve world’s problems

Sex workers rarely receive respect in film. Anora’s attempt to change that should be celebrated

When viewed in the current context, the war on Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing wars on Syria and Iraq, the war on Yemen, must be understood in relation to the Zionist Plan for the Middle East The post “Greater Israel”: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East appeared first on Global Research.

During the first Republican debate in 2015, Donald Trump positioned himself as a bold truth-teller, almost a whistleblower, about the corrupt influence he’d exercised on politicians as a wealthy donor. The moderators asked why he’d given money to Democrats in the past, and he replied: I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And

Mourab also criticized Iran for the destruction of its terror proxy. The post Lebanese sheik: ‘Israel has left nothing of Hezbollah’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Mourab also criticized Iran for the destruction of its terror proxy. The post Lebanese sheik: ‘Israel has left nothing of Hezbollah’ appeared first on World Israel News.

With Justin Trudeau’s cabinet in revolt, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre will likely be Canada’s next prime minister. Liberals and leftists lampoon him for his dorky anti-charisma, fearmongering about crime, and plans to overthrow the constitution. And yet his polling numbers are so high — nearly double Trudeau’s Liberals — that even a large sampling

Technocracy Rising: Why It’s Crucial to Understand the End Game By Jesse Smith, December 19, 2024 We have now arrived at yet another historical inflection point. The desire for political and economic reconstruction is being demanded globally as the … The post Selected Articles: Technocracy Rising: Why It’s Crucial to Understand the End Game appeared first on Global Research.

Newly released bodycam footage captures the intense shootout between Chicago police and Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, an illegal immigrant from Africa who was allowed to enter the US under the Biden-Harris administration, shot a Jewish man after shouting 'Allahu Akbar.' The post WATCH: New bodycam footage shows police neutralizing Chicago shooter who killed Jewish man walking to synagogue appeared first on World Israel News.

Newly released bodycam footage captures the intense shootout between Chicago police and Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, an illegal immigrant from Africa who was allowed to enter the US under the Biden-Harris administration, shot a Jewish man after shouting 'Allahu Akbar.' The post WATCH: New bodycam footage shows police neutralizing Chicago shooter who killed Jewish man walking to synagogue appeared first on World Israel News.

Autism, Made in the USA Richard Gale, December 18, 2024 Global Warfare: “We’re Going to Take out 7 Countries in 5 Years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran..” General Wesley Clark, December 14, 2024 Syria Left … The post This Week’s Most Popular Articles appeared first on Global Research.

By a 13-point margin (39% to 26%), independents reported decreased trust in government following the election. The post New post-election poll reveals why voters rejected Harris so badly appeared first on World Israel News.

By a 13-point margin (39% to 26%), independents reported decreased trust in government following the election. The post New post-election poll reveals why voters rejected Harris so badly appeared first on World Israel News.

Putin said the church was 'being tortured' — and blamed Jews. The post Vladimir Putin accuses ‘ethnic Jews’ of tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church appeared first on World Israel News.

Putin said the church was 'being tortured' — and blamed Jews. The post Vladimir Putin accuses ‘ethnic Jews’ of tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church appeared first on World Israel News.

These pure and beautiful children visited wounded IDF soldiers in the hospital and performed a heartfelt rendition of a popular Israeli song, lifting the spirits of the brave soldiers. The post WATCH: Israeli children sing to rehabilitating IDF soldiers appeared first on World Israel News.

These pure and beautiful children visited wounded IDF soldiers in the hospital and performed a heartfelt rendition of a popular Israeli song, lifting the spirits of the brave soldiers. The post WATCH: Israeli children sing to rehabilitating IDF soldiers appeared first on World Israel News.

Clark’s emphatic rejection of BDS followed some confusion caused by spurious student reporting which suggested that the university had taken steps toward adopting BDS and had even met with pro-BDS parties to discuss doing so. The post Clark University rejects anti-Israel BDS movement appeared first on World Israel News.

Clark’s emphatic rejection of BDS followed some confusion caused by spurious student reporting which suggested that the university had taken steps toward adopting BDS and had even met with pro-BDS parties to discuss doing so. The post Clark University rejects anti-Israel BDS movement appeared first on World Israel News.

Willis claimed that her intimate relationship with Wade did not begin until after she appointed him to the case in 2021, despite testimony from witnesses that it began in 2019. The post Fani Willis barred from Trump election case appeared first on World Israel News.

Willis claimed that her intimate relationship with Wade did not begin until after she appointed him to the case in 2021, despite testimony from witnesses that it began in 2019. The post Fani Willis barred from Trump election case appeared first on World Israel News.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, Candace Owens attempted to equalize the conflict in Gaza and the Holocaust's systematic extermination of Jews, despite Gaza's Palestinian population continuing to grow. The post WATCH: ‘Israel is intentionally executing a Holocaust,’ says newly crowned Antisemite of the Year, Candace Owens appeared first on World Israel News.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, Candace Owens attempted to equalize the conflict in Gaza and the Holocaust's systematic extermination of Jews, despite Gaza's Palestinian population continuing to grow. The post WATCH: ‘Israel is intentionally executing a Holocaust,’ says newly crowned Antisemite of the Year, Candace Owens appeared first on World Israel News.

The report noted that university leaders scorned officials investigating campus antisemitism and hoped a Democratic majority in Congress would end such inquiries. The post ‘We need accountability’: US House report condemns universities’ response to rising antisemitism appeared first on World Israel News.

The report noted that university leaders scorned officials investigating campus antisemitism and hoped a Democratic majority in Congress would end such inquiries. The post ‘We need accountability’: US House report condemns universities’ response to rising antisemitism appeared first on World Israel News.

While Biden is not the first president to pardon and commute sentences for fraudsters, both the dollar amounts and the number of victims in these cases are staggering. The post Biden frees men who scammed $5 billion with over 1 million victims appeared first on World Israel News.

While Biden is not the first president to pardon and commute sentences for fraudsters, both the dollar amounts and the number of victims in these cases are staggering. The post Biden frees men who scammed $5 billion with over 1 million victims appeared first on World Israel News.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezhkian in Cairo, marking the first Iranian presidential visit in 11 years, alongside a separate meeting with Turkish President Erdogan during the D8 Summit. The post WATCH: Egyptian president Sisi meets with Iranian president, Erdogan during D8 summit appeared first on World Israel News.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezhkian in Cairo, marking the first Iranian presidential visit in 11 years, alongside a separate meeting with Turkish President Erdogan during the D8 Summit. The post WATCH: Egyptian president Sisi meets with Iranian president, Erdogan during D8 summit appeared first on World Israel News.

She has also reportedly accused Israel of being a 'nameless monstrosity' and a 'fascist colonial entity' which 'lies every day,' and has described her keffiyeh as 'my superhero cape.' The post EU Lawmaker: Dual nationals must be able to join ‘Palestinian armed resistance’ if allowed to serve in IDF appeared first on World Israel News.

She has also reportedly accused Israel of being a 'nameless monstrosity' and a 'fascist colonial entity' which 'lies every day,' and has described her keffiyeh as 'my superhero cape.' The post EU Lawmaker: Dual nationals must be able to join ‘Palestinian armed resistance’ if allowed to serve in IDF appeared first on World Israel News.

Hassan shared a pro-ISIS video with the undercover agent 'that called for the killing of Jews,' per the affidavit. The post ‘Proof terror knows no boundaries,’ Israeli envoy in NY says of thwarted terror attack appeared first on World Israel News.

Hassan shared a pro-ISIS video with the undercover agent 'that called for the killing of Jews,' per the affidavit. The post ‘Proof terror knows no boundaries,’ Israeli envoy in NY says of thwarted terror attack appeared first on World Israel News.

Like any newly elected American President, Donald Trump must all too soon address international affairs that have been much ignored in the election.   Apart from competitors and adversaries he also faces allies, especially in Europe who, to put it politely, have evinced little appreciation for him and must now recalibrate their stance. Most strikingly, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called him “deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic” and a “neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” Now Lammy dismisses this as “old news.” Others have been less alarmist and, especially in France, some take Trump’s election as a sign that Europe would take a more serious role in world affairs, including increasing defense spending.  More alarmingly, America and Europe now face a novel situation, one they have not faced for centuries, if ever.   Russia is seeking to recover its control over its western borderlands, notably Ukraine. Iran now combines its millennia-old attempts at westward imperial expansion with renewed attempts at Shiite hegemony, including blockading the Red Sea through its Houthi proxy and the eradication of Jewish political presence in the region. North Korea seeks partners to support its sacred monarchy and is sending weapons and soldiers to Europe. And behind them China assiduously represses, blackmails, or coopts others in a long-term project to recover its historical status as the world’s Middle Kingdom.   None of these is itself unusual. What is unusual is that they are establishing real alliances. China and Russia claimed in 2022 to have achieved a “no limits” alliance, later described by them as a ‘comprehensive partnership’ and ‘strategic cooperation.’ Iran is supplying drones and missiles to Russia. What is most unusual is that some 10,000 North Korean troops, whose numbers appear likely to increase, are now waging war in Europe, and unconfirmed Russian reports say that Ukrainian missiles have been killed some, including generals.   There is a developing Russia/China/Iran/NK axis with a contiguous landmass stretching from Japan to Norway to the Gulf to the Mediterranean. Together with China’s expanding hegemony extending in the South China Sea as far as Indonesia and the Philippines this presents a massive alliance that has not hitherto been faced in American history. Three of these are nuclear powers and may soon become four.  This situation may be illuminated by some macro-historical geopolitical analyses.  In a famous 1904 paper, Sir Halford Mackinder argued that the world could usefully be divided into the ”World Island,” comprising the interlinked continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa. This was and is the largest, most populous, and richest of all possible land combinations. Beyond this he listed “offshore islands” including Britain, Japan, Madagascar, the Indonesian Archipelago, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. Finally, there were the ”outlying islands,” including North and South America and Oceania.  What he called the Heartland lay at the center of this World Island, stretching from European Russia to the Pacific and from the Arctic to the Himalayas. Later he postulated that whoever rules Eastern Europe commands the Heartland, whoever rules the Heartland commands the World-Island, and whoever rules the World-Island commands the world. At that time his principal concern was that European powers, notably Germany, might expand such control to the East, something that Hitler later attempted.  Most of us can probably critique this analysis in our sleep. No Eurasian hegemons have existed since the Mongols. With the exception of Russia, the relevant powers in the area have been relatively weak. While the Soviets controlled territory from central Europe to Kamchatka they could never “command the world” and only engaged with surrendering Japan in the waning days of WWII in order to grab the Kuril islands. That these countries share the world’s largest land mass is of course no guarantee of cooperation: in fact, it is more likely to lead to conflict. Hence, these powers have usually been at odds with each other. China and Russia have waged war. The Mongols from Genghis onwards dealt with this by giving offers that could not be refused. Its successors have lacked this ability. There are also the vicissitudes of history, such as the sudden collapse of Russia and Iran’s Syria satrap.  While this purported heartland has long been a divided area, Mackinder’s thesis of possibilities if it were not so divided has not been disproven. What if those in the area achieved greater unity, as now appears to be happening. Russia is drawing on Chinese munitions, Iranian drones and missiles, and now North Korean troops. Together they outweigh the US military and probably NATO.   Americans have usually been less than impressed with Mackinder’s views, perhaps exacerbated by his Eurocentric relegation of the Americas to third tier “outlying islands.” But this is not merely national pride since, as much of the 20th century has shown, the North American “outlying island” has shaped much of the globe.   Also, America’s overseas situation had already produced alternate geopolitical analyses, ones centered on sea power rather than land power, notably in the work of Alfred Mahan.  In 1890, Mahan, President of the Naval War College, published The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783, stressing the importance of naval power in the rise of the British Empire. In this and subsequent work, he argued that British control of the seas, and the relative decline in the naval strength of its European rivals, enabled the United Kingdom’s rise as the world’s dominant military, political, and economic power. Mahan and others thought these ideas should guide U.S. foreign policy, as indeed they have over the last half century, with naval power enforcing freedom of the seas and U.S. hegemony.  Maher’s and Mackinder’s rival conceptions can come together in a stress on “offshore balancing,” that the U.S. and other perimeter powers should avoid military entanglements on Asian land with its large populations and instead form regional, usually offshore, alliances backed by sea power to prevent the rise of any competing continental power. The term itself is only a few decades old, but its substantive theory and practice in has been American strategy far longer, and earlier has been a staple of British foreign policy vis-a-vis rival European powers.  Much of what these global geopolitical analyses might suggest is neither novel nor distant from much current foreign policy. To thwart the rise of hegemonic continental hegemonic powers we should stress tensions in opponents’ alliances, as did Kissinger with Russia and China, who have had wars over disputed territories in East Asia. To vivify alliances with friendly European and Asian powers, such as with AUKUS, Five Eyes, and the “Quad” as, to its credit, the Biden administration has been doing. To stress the need for major and militarily weak European countries to follow frontline nations such as in the Baltic countries and Poland to begin realistic defense expenditures as, to their annoyance, Trump is likely to pressure them again to do. To heed the growing significance of India as a balancing Asian power. Behind all these, a sorely needed reinvestment in military, especially naval, modernization and expansion.  One does not need Mackinder’s analyses to propose these policies. But his work suggests both novelty and urgency. It highlights the potential dangers of this budding alliance of Eurasian powers. Europeans need especially to wake up to the fact that soldiers from an East Asian country, the most repressive one in the world, are now engaged in war within Europe itself. The danger is not Asian countries per se, where there are great friends to democracy, but the current alliance of “world island” authoritarian and repressive powers.  The debates about whether we should pay more relative attention to China than to say Russia in Ukraine, or Iran or North Korea, are vital but now need now to pay more attention to the fact that they are now allies across Eurasia, the world’s largest and potentially most potent continent. This is a situation we have not faced before. 

A tense incident occurred in Phoenix on Monday when a man armed with a gun entered a fast-food restaurant, leading to a standoff with police that lasted nearly 40 minutes. The event took place around 11 a.m. at a busy intersection near Interstate 17 and Thunderbird Road, causing concern among the local community until the situation was resolved. The Phoenix police were notified about the armed individual inside the restaurant. The employees were able to ... Read more

A 22-year-old mother from South Carolina tragically lost her life after vanishing during a birthday trip. Before her disappearance, she had voiced concerns about her safety to her family. The body of Ta’Haley Payton was discovered in Charlotte, more than three weeks after she was declared missing, as verified by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Payton, who shared a 6-month-old daughter with her boyfriend, had journeyed roughly two hours from her Spartanburg residence across state borders ... Read more

Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of the snack and beverage giant PepsiCo, has issued a recall for its 13-ounce bags of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips. The recall was initiated due to concerns that the product may contain undeclared milk, which could potentially trigger a serious or even life-threatening allergic reaction in consumers with a milk allergy or severe sensitivity, as per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA issued a notice on Monday, stating that the ... Read more

Major shake-ups are occurring across the global stage. History is replete with examples of breaks with the past from major political, economic, technological, and social upheaval. Throughout the ages, many self-serving individuals and groups have positioned themselves as rulers, financiers, … The post Technocracy Rising: Why It’s Crucial to Understand the End Game appeared first on Global Research.

O regime de Kiev continua a utilizar táticas terroristas contra a Rússia, realizando assassinatos seletivos contra figuras públicas fora da zona de conflito. Num outro movimento provocativo, os agentes de inteligência ucranianos em Moscou mataram Igor Kirillov, chefe das Forças … The post Regime de Kiev mata general russo que expôs os crimes da Big Pharma ocidental na Ucrânia. appeared first on Global Research.

President William Ruto The move was revealed during a meeting between Ruto and Chinese government officials at State House

And why not when Brazil has over 200 million people and the world’s ninth largest economy, bigger even than Russia’s?

Three communiqués, two approaches, one global economy

Amazon workers in various warehouses across the United States, including locations in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, Illinois, began a strike early Thursday. The Teamsters union, backing the workers, has called this the most significant strike against the e-commerce giant, happening just before the Christmas holiday. The union also plans to set up main picket lines at several Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide. Sean M. O’Brien, the general president of the ... Read more

Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old man who was previously accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, now faces additional charges of attempted murder. The new charges stem from a car accident that occurred during Routh’s attempted escape from law enforcement, which resulted in serious injuries to a six-year-old girl. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the charges on Tuesday. The new charges are based on the premise that Routh committed a felony, specifically ... Read more

Pepe Escobar was spot on when he stated that the downfall of Syria signified the “death of a nation.” Is it premature to chant a requiem for that marvellous land and its intriguing people, not just their virtues … The post Syria: The Death of a Civilisation. Stephen Karganovic appeared first on Global Research.

When Northern Gaza was placed under a complete siege, the Biden Administration issued a warning that if conditions didn’t improve within 30 days, he would stop weapons shipments to Israel. At the time of the announcement, hundreds of thousands of … The post My Hunger Strike for Gaza: A 31 Day Experience. Engineered Starvation of the People of Palestine appeared first on Global Research.

The Amazon rainforest, vital for global climate regulation and biodiversity, faces escalating threats from deforestation, wildfires, and human activity, with over 88 million hectares lost between 1985 and 2023. Severe droughts and increased fires in 2023–24, driven by deforestation and crop burning, have not only accelerated carbon emissions but also jeopardized indigenous territories, pushing the

In Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere, the Arab people, including women and children, have suffered massive violence and cruelties in recent times. There is a famous Hindi poem by Dushyant Kumar which says—when the sorrow has become … The post Wounded Arab Pride Must Find Outlets of Firm, Sustained, Peaceful, Principled Resistance and Reform appeared first on Global Research.

In addition to economic cooperation, Tbilisi could reestablish direct ties with Moscow, which could lead to resolving regional security issues. This could help the country to deconflict with the two breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. And while it may seem too farfetched now, it might even result in the restoration of full ties with them, particularly if Georgia gives Russia feasible security guarantees.

Francisco Lezama is one of the most prominent names in contemporary Argentine independent cinema. With a distinctive style that blends absurd humor and social reflection, his works delve into the tensions of a generation shaped by precarity and the nation’s obsession with the dollar. Through a personal lens and with a touch of irony, he

Indian DM considers relations with Moscow as “higher than the highest mountain”.

Ukrainian neo-Nazis and public figures are beginning to admit their intentions to cause a nuclear catastrophe, harming their own people.

One compelling way to make electoral prognostication more authoritative is to incorporate historical precedent: Donald Trump is the second coming of Andrew Jackson; Bernie Sanders is continuing the work of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal; X is possible because Y already happened. But what about those who seek to do the unprecedented? What can, say,

Shawn, a thirty-five-year-old IT specialist who lives in Ohio, first learned about Klarna while shopping for a climbing tower to keep Memes, his American Shorthair cat, entertained. “It was at Petco,” he said, referring to a national chain of pet stores. “They had these little signs: ‘Split this into four payments.’” Klarna’s logo, rendered in

Politicians express concern after openDemocracy revealed EU gave €1.2m to group spreading reproductive disinformation

On January 19, 2017, tens of thousands of UTLA members, students, parents, and allies at hundreds of schools across the region protested the inauguration of Donald Trump. They carried signs in the shape of shields that would become iconic across Los Angeles — among them “Shield Against Racism and Sexism,” “Shield Against Homophobia and Transphobia,”

Over the past twelve months, much has been written about the ways in which German “memory culture” around the Holocaust has been used to silence artists and cultural producers who speak out about the genocide in Gaza. But what about Austria to the south — a German-speaking country also characterized by concentrated wealth, high taxation,

“Listen now, you don’t understand. That’s not the point of Christmasland.” — Jack Skellington, The Nightmare Before Christmas Every year around Christmastime, debates rage as to whether a given movie is a Christmas movie. Die Hard is a Christmas movie because it takes place during Christmas and Christmas decorations are seen throughout, according to the Christmas Movie Alignment Chart. A similar case could be made for J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: after all, its full of elves and the Quest of the Ring begins on Christmas Day. Perhaps it should be obvious, but Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (henceforth “Nightmare”) is a Christmas movie, and one of the best. While Burton self-consciously wanted to create a claymation Christmas special in the molds of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and The Year Without A Santa Claus, Nightmare excels them all in its ad fontes return to the themes and tone of the original Christmas story. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light.” — Matthew 4:16 Far from disqualifying Nightmare, the strange, scariness of Burton’s Christmas story captures the biblical setting perfectly. The dramatis personae surrounding Christ’s birth are terrifying: not just pagan practitioners of magic arts like the wise men, but Herod the child-butcher and even Satan too (per Revelation’s apocalyptic account). What are Burton’s Pumpkin King protagonist Jack Skellington or the sackcloth villain Oogie-Boogie to these? Christmas begins in the middle of a nightmare, even if it does not end there. Without the enveloping scene of death, the occult, and political machinations, it would be little more than a Hallmark card. Christ’s birth is a light that, like the wayfinding star above Bethlehem, pierces through the darkness. For “in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing,” as Tolkien wrote in his own Christmas story. Nightmare is not about Halloween, or at least not in the beginning. Importantly, neither the English title nor a single one of Nightmare’s various foreign language titles makes any explicit reference to Halloween. Time and time again, the titles are direct translations of “nightmare before Christmas,” or, as in the Latin American title, “The Strange World of Jack,” and, in France, “the Strange Christmas of Mr. Jack.” Each variation on the title provides an important key to the film as a whole. “The nightmare before Christmas” is not merely a calendrical observation, reminding us what we already know: that Halloween comes several months before Christmas. Halloweentown is a place that Christmas has never come— like C.S. Lewis’ Narnia under the White Witch, only substituting darkness for snow. “The strange world of Jack” is haunted by the absence of Christmas, much as the eyes of Jack and many other characters are absent, marked by nothing but empty holes. Christmas itself is not strange, only “the strange Christmas of Mr. Jack,” following an incursion from Halloweentown. From the very first song, we are invited to “see something strange” in “this, our town of Halloween,” but never in Christmastown’s purity.  “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” — Jack (also known as C.S. Lewis) If the film titles are a hermeneutic guide, so are the songs and musical score composed by Danny Elfman (written long before the plot was complete). After our introduction to Halloweentown (“This Is Halloween”) we proceed to “Jack’s Lament,” in which we learn that Jack has grown weary of Halloweentown. Alone among its residents he feels “somewhere deep inside of these bones an emptiness began to grow.” This longing “for something out there, far from my home” takes Jack wandering. And, by a literal felix culpa (happy fall), Jack stumbles into Christmastown, beginning the third major song of the film, “What’s This?” In Christmastown, Jack has finally left his desaturated cave of shadows (many characters like Jack’s dog Zero are literally that: not claymation but images projected on a wall). Here, at last, “there’s color everywhere.” Like Lewis’ heaven in The Great Divorce, Christmastown is more real, more solid, and even the snow there is a comforting warmth compared to Jack’s cold kingdom. But most importantly of all, Christmastown is a place where “the nightmares can’t be found” (the film’s sole mention of “nightmare”). “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven hassuffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” — Matthew 11:12 Upon returning to Halloweentown, Jack becomes engrossed with making sense of what he has experienced. He has all of the trappings of Christmas but lacks understanding: “simple objects, nothing more, but something’s hidden through a door. Something’s there I cannot see; what does it mean?” Jack’s obsession (the title of the quoted track) runs astray when he determined to manufacture his own Christmas by kidnapping and replacing Santa Claus. This, finally, is “The Strange Christmas of Mr. Jack,” complete with a skeleton sleigh, Rudolph-like ghost dog, and presents so terrifying that the police and then the military eventually get involved.  Jack’s intentions are good—he wants a Christmas “filled with laughter and joy”—but eyeless Jack is blinded by his ambitions. Only another felix culpa can set him straight, as his sleigh is struck by a missile and he plummets to the ground and into the arms of an angel in a graveyard. It is this symbolic death that restores Jack to life: “for the first time since I don’t remember when I feel just like my old bony self again.” But before Jack can enjoy this newfound vigor, he must first stop Oogie Boogie from eating Santa Claus (in what would have been the completion of Jack’s cannibalization of Christmas). Only then can Jack make full his repentance, asking and receiving the forgiveness of Santa Claus.  But Santa does more than forgive Jack. He sets everything right, even as he leaves Halloweentown forever changed. “‘What’s this?’ ‘Why it’s completely new.’ ‘Must be a Christmas thing.’ ‘What’s this?’‘It’s really very strange.’ ‘This is Halloween. This is Halloween’” — Finale / Reprise Santa’s second coming brings snow to Halloweentown (the film’s final happy fall), and the entire town joins in Jack’s song of Christmas wonder, weaving in their own Halloween melodies. With the fresh snowfall reflecting the moonlight, you can even detect new hints of color in the darkness. Halloween may remain “very strange,” but it is no longer a nightmare.  Because although the darkness may abide a little longer, once Christmas comes, the nightmare is finally over. No more the nightmare before Christmas, this is Halloween.

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, in the context of increasing outrage over the war in Vietnam and social movement ferment, the New Left in the United States splintered in a variety of directions. Some young leftists made the “turn to industry,” getting jobs in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries with the hope of

Amid a rapidly evolving global political landscape, the rise of BRICS represents a transformative shift in the worldwide political economy, promising a more equitable and multipolar world

Are we falling behind and getting left out again? Our close Asean neighbors Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have already been designated as “Partner States” by the economic bloc known as BRICS

Malaysia is committed to enhancing economic and trade relations with BRICS countries for shared prosperity and a more balanced global economic development, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

After NATO-backed terrorists took over Syria, the mainstream propaganda machine got the chance to do whatever it wants. However, they're still just as amateurish as ever (if not more). They're using the so-called "White Helmets" as a source, an organization that has been discredited long ago, specifically for its ties with US/NATO intelligence and various terrorist groups. The "hot story" now is the Sednaya prison, for which the political West claims it was a "horrifying torture chamber" used by the "evil dictator Assad".

Extra £20m of spending should be celebrated, but it pales in comparison to funding for hostile environment policies

Once again, Ukraine uses terrorist methods against specific Russian targets.

Russia's deployment of nuclear weapons is a deterrent to any NATO aggression.

The films of Luca Guadagnino tend to be so rapturously received, critical opinion will soon reach the reverent heights of Guadagnino’s own self-assessment. In interviews, the director tends to adopt the tone of an aristocratic genius stooping to discuss his artistry with some stupid peasant. When one hapless interlocutor asks a perfectly reasonable question about

Big Tech and Wall Street are deploying an on-demand “Uber for nursing” model that’s racking up hundreds of millions in investments while creating unsafe, high-stress conditions for nurses and patients — all to solve a nursing shortage that doesn’t really exist. The influx of patients and lack of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented

We’re all still sorting through the wreckage of the 2024 presidential election, but one thing has become impossible to deny: the Democratic Party has a serious problem with working-class voters and has increasingly become a party dominated by affluent middle-class professionals. This problem is connected to the fact that Democrats are seemingly unwilling and unable

Jordan Peterson is back with a five-hundred-plus-page book about, nominally, the Old Testament. It is the Canadian psychologist and culture warrior’s first volume of biblical exegesis, and he has promised to follow it up with at least one more on the “many other stories of the Old and New Testament.” Depending on who you are,

In 2011, then president Barack Obama announced to great fanfare that Navy Seals had killed terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. That night, crowds at baseball games and professional wrestling matches broke into chants of “USA! USA!” when they heard the news. There were spontaneous street parties in New York City and Washington, DC. I didn’t

The Israeli operation that led to the detonation of thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies in September 2024 shocked the world, eliciting admiration and condemnation alike. Yet, daring and creative tactics such as the pager operation are not an unusual phenomenon; in fact, they are a mainstay of Israeli strategic thought. It was the ultimate combination of “Jewish Chutzpah”, the Zionist pioneering (Haluziut) ethos, and the long-standing belief in self-reliance (as Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion put it: “What matters is not what the nations say, but what the Jews do,”), combined with creative, sometimes criminal, Jewish wit. The result is decades of Israeli cunning: the obtaining of a copy of Nikita Khrushchev’s secret speech to the Communist Party Congress by the Mossad (1956); the kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and his trial in Israel (1961); “Operation Diamond,” orchestrated by the Mossad, in which an Iraqi MiG-21 pilot defected to Israel with his plane (1966); the espionage saga of Eli Cohen in Syria (1960-1965); and Operation Entebbe, where an Israeli commando force rescued hostages from a terrorist-hijacked Air France flight in Uganda (1976). These are just particularly well-known examples of “out of this world” special operations. And they’re not just relics of the past: more recently, events like the Stuxnet Computer Worm that damaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2010, attributed to Israeli involvement; the operation to bring and expose the “Iranian Archive” that revealed Iran’s nuclear weapons program to the world (2018); and, lately, the “Pager Operation” and the subsequent killing of Hezbollah’s entire high command. And yet, despite the advantages that come with Israel’s ability to carry out such deft tactical feats, there are also downsides to a strategic overreliance on special operations. First, daring is “cool” only as long as it succeeds. When things go off the rails, the stakes are high. This is true for specific operations gone wrong, like the failed assassination attempt of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Jordan (1997), which led to a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Jordan, as well as a rift with the Clinton administration. But more broadly, since the image of cunning is now so strongly tied to the overall perception of Israeli strength, it takes a hard hit when there’s a perception of weakness, such as after the Yom Kippur War (1973) or, more recently, after the events of October 7, 2023. This points to an inherent disadvantage—the perception of Israeli cunning is, after all, a form of soft power, besides the hard power that comes with such capacity for tactical planning. This perception does indeed have genuinely positive effects on Israel’s maneuverability and is an important pillar of Israel’s geopolitical standing in the region. But at the end of the day, it is still soft power, with all its limitations and shortcomings. Moreover, Israeli daring has clear boundaries. The “superhero” aura surrounding Israel is bound to the moral framework of “purity of arms” and the proper use of power. The KGB also carried out daring intelligence operations, but in Western eyes, these were perceived as cruel and brutal. The use of cunning is, by its nature, limited to operations that can be framed—at least in the eyes of a neutral third party (as much as any such parties exist)—as actions conducted with moral restraint intended for a “greater good.” The need to limit special operations to “good causes” creates high expectations of what Israeli daring can achieve and what its side effects will be. For instance, the Hollywood-style daring operations of Israeli cunning set an almost impossible standard for “minimal collateral damage.” What’s astonishing about the pager operation, of course, is its surgical precision. Killing dozens of Hezbollah operatives and injuring thousands could have been achieved through the carpet bombing of Beirut. But the achievement was made in an unprecedented, targeted manner, with minimal harm to non-combatants. The downside is that this sets an unrealistic standard when the “cool operation” can’t deliver the same effect—either because it’s not feasible in the first place or because it is feasible but with much higher collateral damage. The very existence of the “cool operation” creates a strong illusion about how wars work and sets an impossible bar. This mistaken belief that the fantastic successes of Israeli special operations won’t be balanced out by its extremely damaging failures is the Sterility Fallacy. Furthermore, there are few cases where a “cool operation” can, by itself, create the necessary strategic effect and truly achieve political objectives, as 19th-century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz would put it. More often, a “cool operation” can complement a broader campaign which, in a holistic way, can achieve the strategic effect. However, viewing everything through the lens of the “cool operation” limits and restricts, ultimately playing into the enemy’s hands. In the long run, this creates Western standards of force application that are not only very high, but also do not necessarily achieve the intended goal. It’s the story of precision munitions in miniature. A technological development rooted in science fiction—GPS, for example, could not have been imagined just a couple of generations ago—and was designed to solve real operational problems the U.S. military faced in Vietnam. Thus, technological developments arose that enabled precise targeting to achieve operational objectives. The aim wasn’t to reduce collateral damage or avoid harming non-combatants—the goal was to achieve the ability to strike military targets accurately as part of a broader strategic context. However, 40 years after the development of precision-guided munitions (PGM), the standard created by the ability to hit a coin-sized target anywhere on the globe has spawned a series of operational constraints that tie the hands of Western armies. The idea that the level of precision of the pager operation and similar acts can scale to the level necessary to have a lasting strategic impact is the Elegance Fallacy. Similarly, precise operations create unrealistic expectations. For instance, why is the casualty rate for non-combatants high in Gaza if Israel has the ability to target terrorists with such precision? The anti-Israel campaign to halt the supply of precision bombs to the Israeli Air Force is partially fueled by this perception. In reality, the ability to kill a terrorist without any collateral damage is a boutique capability; it cannot be demonstrated in the thousands. Israel itself suffers from these fallacies as well. Israel is a country with a technological and special-operations orientation in its approach to all policy issues: While the senior positions in the U.S. government are often filled by political science and humanities graduates, their Israeli counterparts tend to have risen through Israel’s special operations units or are engineers and programmers. This naturally makes the Israeli mindset a problem-solving one, focused on solutions that conflate the messy, chaotic world of international relations with the precise, mechanical process of designing machines and planning military operations. And when tools as magical as “a terrorist organization’s dedicated communications devices that only terrorists use, which will explode exactly when and where we want” exist, there’s a strong tendency to believe that every problem can be solved through the framework of Israeli cunning. The problem is precisely that—when Israel is successful, its successes are so elegant that they create the illusion of a panacea. This often leads to them being carried out in isolation, or at least not tightly connected enough to a broader, holistic political framework. And, in international security, there aren’t only “cool operations”; there’s also a lot of grunt work, less “cool” actions, and certainly less elegant ones. In the summer of 1972, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September kidnapped eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics and murdered them following a failed rescue attempt. Israel’s then-Prime Minister, Golda Meir, vowed to avenge their deaths and ordered the assassination of all the organization’s leaders and members involved in the Munich massacre. The assassination campaign was successful, and within a few years, most of Black September’s members were eliminated. And yet, Golda ultimately won the battle but lost the war by not considering the broader political context in which Black September carried out its attacks. Within two years of the massacre, the PLO—under which Black September operated—was recognized by the Arab League as the sole representative of the Palestinian people (at the Rabat Summit in 1974), which, within a few years, paved the way for growing international recognition of the PLO and, ultimately, for a situation in which Israel was compelled to negotiate with the organization in the Madrid Conference and later in the Oslo Accords. Israel viewed the entire operation through the lens of the “cool operation,” rather than the strategic lens utilized by Arafat. In conclusion, Israeli cunning is a genuine asset that has made a notable comeback in after the blow it took on October 7th. But at the same time, Israel’s overreliance on its own cleverness enhances fallacies and misunderstandings of the reality of modern warfare, thus unintentionally exacerbating the pushback against Israeli action in battle and making it more difficult to carry out operations sequentially and simultaneously, be they elegant or not. We must keep our eyes on the ball—the strategic context is what truly matters here. If Israel can retain both its amazing capacity for tactical innovation while also recognizing that such abilities alone are not enough, it will be able to maximize its force on the battlefield and beyond.

Thailand and Malaysia are eyeing membership of the bloc of nations, including China and India, as a possible hedge against US economic dominance

India became the largest importer of Russian crude after the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports

Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan has said that the Armenian authorities are not considering the issue of joining the intergovernmental organization BRICS

You probably know that the fast-food business in the United States operates on a franchise model. It works like this: an entrepreneur, called the “franchisee,” pays a big corporation with a recognized brand like McDonald’s Corp for the right to use its name and likeness. In exchange, the franchisee usually gets exclusive rights to do

The US and EU/NATO are fighting tooth and nail to destroy the Russian economy, but this has been futile. Thus, they are now resorting to what they're best at – terrorism and total war.

The US government originally put sanctions on Syria as punishment for dictator Bashar al-Assad, his autocratic rule, and his brutalization of his own people. In practice, however, these sanctions primarily crushed the ordinary Syrians they were ostensibly meant to protect. So, with Assad finally gone, you would think now would be the ideal time to

As Brazil prepares to host COP30 next year, its government is embarking on a plan at odds with its climate aims

The German case shows that support for Kiev is a major destabilizing factor in the West.

More than 19,500 anti-Russian sanctions imposed on individuals and industries.

Watching the fall of Bashar al-Assad from Jerusalem, I couldn’t help but rejoice with the people of Syria. Decades of confinement, torture, and murder have ended. The Syrian people are free. But the collapse of the Ba’ath regime holds wider significance for those interested in the trajectory of this ever-changing region—and not all of it good. Some headlines are obvious. First, the Arab Spring isn’t over. The simmering resentment that burst forth 13 years ago has yet to run its course. Second, Arab nationalism is officially dead, now surviving only in the fossilized Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, which remains artificially alive thanks to wishful Western states against the wishes of the Palestinian people. Third, Islamism remains appealing for millions of Arabs fed up with the alternatives. (The rebirth of Islamic governance in Damascus exactly one hundred years after the fall of the last caliphate is serendipitous to say the least.) Assad’s fall is undoubtedly a good thing. It marks the liberation of the Syrian people. It strikes a major blow against Iran’s axis of resistance, which recently stretched through Damascus from Tehran to Beirut but now lies in ruins. It also strikes a blow against Iran’s ally Russia, whose own axis of resistance was already in retreat thanks to Ukraine. God willing, it also spells the beginning of the end of the Syrian refugee crisis, the greatest humanitarian disaster of our generation and the source of tectonic upheaval in the Near East and Europe. Only historians can judge how far-reaching this upheaval has been, but all can agree that a resolution of the refugee crisis will be good for everyone. +++ Yet Assad’s fall is also a bad thing. Such is the mixed nature of the world. That Damascus was conquered by Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda spinoff that aims to liberate Jerusalem from the Crusader-Zionist cabal that occupies it, may seem of marginal interest today—but ideas matter. Whether the militarization of these ideas comes at the hands of HTS or of others that take its place—and whether Islamist rule in Syria creates white space for more radical groups to assemble—is uncertain for now, but that militarization will almost certainly come.    Naturally, there is concern about the future of Christians and other minorities who relied on Bashar al-Assad’s cruelty to hold back the Sunni hordes. While HTS leader Muhammad al-Jolani has made positive gestures towards Syria’s non-Muslims, the self-righteous supremacism that undergirds his worldview is bound to manifest sooner or later. Perhaps he will surprise us, but we must be vigilant. Another concern is that Jolani’s victory will inspire copycat coups in other Arab states. The possibility that likeminded Islamist groups could rise in other hinterlands and march on other capitals is not as far-fetched as some would hope. No doubt the rulers of Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq were as shocked as the rest of us to see how fast Assad went down. Americans are especially concerned about the well-being of our Kurdish allies, brave warriors who fought valiantly against ISIS and defended Christians in the breakaway Autonomous Area of Northeastern Syria for the last twelve years. The AANES is one of the few places in the Near East that offers equality and protection for all, and it should be preserved. Most concerning in this regard is how Turkish President Erdogan, the renegade ruler behind HTS and other Syrian Islamist groups, will try to leverage Jolani’s victory to further his own imperial dreams. Given Erdogan’s desire to revive the Turkish caliphate, his expansion into Syria will bode ill for Kurds, Israelis, Armenians, and anyone else who dares to challenge his ambitions. President Trump would be wise to preempt him. +++ Yet the greatest concern for Americans regarding Syria is that our returning president will miscalculate the various factors and interests at stake there. President Trump twice tried to evacuate the few hundred US troops stationed in the northeast, famously describing Syria as nothing but “sand and blood and death.” It is likely that he’ll do so again, but permanently this time—and that would be a mistake.   No one can deny the preponderant challenges of the Indo-Pacific, and the need to take a strong stand against China. But we must give up fantasies about cutting loose of the Near East to execute a near-mythical “pivot to Asia.” The Near East can’t be fixed in the Western sense, but neither can it be abandoned. We have too many vital interests there. While the region will remain a problem, it can be managed through shrewd statesmanship and tighter coordination with allies. When it comes to Syria’s new regime, we have little choice but to let things run their course. We must give Jolani a chance. Most Syrians see his rule as legitimate, a not-insignificant fact in a region riddled with illegitimacy. But non-interference in Syrian affairs must be subject to, and set in the context of other priorities that may preempt it. First, we must marshal every mechanism of national power to increase pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran to curtail its export of messianic terrorism. Second, we must oppose the expansion of Turkish influence into Syria without carve-outs and concessions for the security of Syrian Kurds, the conclusion of a peace deal with Armenia, non-aggression against Israel, and the coordinated resettlement of refugees from surrounding countries.   Third, we must double-down on the Arab-Israeli axis as a counter-balance to Turkey and Iran. The expansion of the Abraham Accords is just the start of such a policy, which seeks the consolidation and full integration of a pro-Western bloc of nation-states committed to peace and prosperity.    Fourth, we should rally our allies and partners to invest in Lebanon as an independent haven for regional minorities and a bulwark against the Syrian interior. The failure to cut off Iranian money and weapons flowing into Lebanon and to provide the Lebanese people with alternative sources of support would be a colossal mistake that would result in renewed conflict with Israel and the extinction of non-Muslim communities in the Levant. Working aggressively and in partnership with allies, we can win here. Neither optimism or pessimism should have a place in our assessment of Syria. Statesmanship evaluates things in a different light. Realizing the high probability that chaos will return to Syria in the near future, we must take steps now to prevent the worst possible outcomes. Perhaps the situation will be more stable and durable than we expect, in which case we’ll thank God for an extra measure of grace. But at least we’ll be ready.

Nigeria saw a remarkable 189% surge in foreign capital inflows from BRICS nations in the first half of 2024, as the country intensifies efforts to join the expanded BRICS coalition

As BRICS convened its pivotal summit, in Kazan, Russia, Africa stands on the brink of an unparalleled opportunity. This meeting is not just a gathering of global powers; it is a moment of profound importance for Africa, offering the continent a unique platform to deepen its engagement with BRICS and strengthen its role in the global landscape

C. J. Polychroniou explores how Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa plan to counter the unipolar power of the US and Europe

While Donald Trump certainly doesn't want to see America blown up to kingdom come, he still has a massive political elite of warmongers, war criminals, plutocrats and kleptocrats to deal with. In order to make them happy, Trump will need to give them a "more manageable" war. And just like during his first presidency, Venezuela and Iran are "on the table".

A week into the scramble for Syria, Russia and Iran lose influence – while the USA, Turkey and Israel move in

As we sail through Amazon waterways, Indigenous leaders tell me how climate crisis is affecting their way of life

The Brazilian crisis generates a lot of instability and unpredictability in Latin America, Brazil being a natural leader at the region—and this at a time when the continent is once again in the spotlight, with the Venezuela crisis, and Donald Trump’s plans for Mexico as well as his choice of Latin America hawk Marco Rubio for Secretary of State.

UK Prime Minister called on his Western partners to “maximize Putin’s pain.”

Russia continues to cripple Ukrainian energy infrastructure following Kiev regime strikes.

Turkey boosts its role as a peace mediator in African affairs.

The Syrian civil war has shifted into a new phase, one that was unthinkable just a few short days ago. The rebels, largely led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, have conducted a lightning offensive through major cities, eventually taking the capital of Damascus on December 8th. The Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for over 53 years, suddenly collapsed as Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow. Suddenly, HTS have gone from ruling a besieged enclave to the kingmakers of a new Syria. Al-Jolani insists that his organization has changed, promising to protect human rights and minority communities. American policymakers should not be credulous. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s record, the consistent trend of deception in jihadism and western naïveté demands extreme suspicion until proven otherwise. Nevertheless, some analysts are optimistic. Charles Lister at the Middle East Institute points to some encouraging signs of a substantive shift in HTS’ ideology. For the last few years Lister has highlighted al-Jolani’s willingness to reach out to other opposition groups and promises to protect non-Arab communities. There could be something to this shift. When HTS distanced itself from al-Qaeda, it was accompanied by what appears to be a widespread purge, including arrests and assassinations of members reluctant to sever ties. Additionally, there are some signs that HTS has, for the moment, moderated its stance on various minority communities. For now, Christians in Idlib are allowed to celebrate mass publicly. HTS has also reached out to Druze communities to help them supply water to villages in areas like Jabal al-Summaq. Even skeptic James Jeffrey, our former Special Representative for Syria Engagement admitted in his PBS interview that al-Jolani is likely our least bad option among various Sunni opposition groups. However, the facts on the ground should caution the US from reaching out to al-Jolani and HTS. His record belies the likelihood of a lasting shift away from radicalism. Al-Jolani got his start as an al Qaeda operative fighting American forces, ironically as part of an Assad regime program to send jihadists to Iraq. There he worked with longtime Osama bin Laden associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and later Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the eventual leader of ISIS. He returned home with al-Baghdadi’s blessing to found al-Nusra Front, the official al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. His stated goal was not only the overthrow of the Assad regime but also the establishment of sharia in Syria. Even after al-Nusra Front ostensibly split with al-Qaeda, he continued to admonish his forces to reject the West. Unsurprisingly his tenure as an al-Qaeda leader was not a moderate one. While under al-Zarqawi’s command in Iraq, they conducted a campaign of sectarian killings, sparking a Sunni-Shi’a civil war. While HTS was still known as al-Nusra Front, they were responsible for shooting and beheading Christian, Druze and Alawite civilians in 2013. What’s more likely than a professed “road to Damascus” moment, is that al-Jolani’s rebrand is deceptively tactical. For jihadist organizations, dishonesty is an acceptable strategy of advancing the jihad under the concept of taqiyya. While originally an obscure Shi’a tenet about surviving persecution, Sajjan Gohel points out in his book Doctor, Teacher, Terrorist: The Life and Legacy of Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, that it developed into a doctrine of advancing their goals while professing moderation. Analysts like Thomas Joscelyn believe that this supposed split with al-Qaeda is a ruse. Al-Jolani’s own statement highlighted al-Nusra’s Front relationship with al-Qaeda had justified outside military involvement in Syria. Rather than a split over ideology, al-Jolani’s reasoning was they needed to change their affiliation to better achieve their aims. Even referring to al-Qaeda as an “external entity,” was likely worded to give his fighters wiggle room on future cooperation. This move was likely influenced by longtime Syrian jihadi Abu Jaber, who advised that,”The Jihad must be a popular jihad,” to justify garnering more support for their cause. Even if the split is real, it does not mean that they have abandoned their goal of an authoritarian Syria. Too often policymakers presume that disagreement among jihadists must mean that one faction is more moderate. In reality this type of infighting between two extremes is quite common. FBI agent Ali Soufan argues in his Black Banners that it goes back to al-Qaeda’s roots. A classic example of this naïveté is how the split between al-Qaeda and ISIS was portrayed in western media. Newspapers like the Guardian wrote of al-Qaeda’s concern that ISIS was too “brutal” and “hardline,” when in reality it was again simply tactical. Even if HTS is no longer interested in al-Qaeda’s specific brand, it still remains a deeply violent organization that will pose a threat to Christians and other minorities. Aaron Zelin, researcher and author of The Age of Political Jihadism: A Study of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, does not believe that the core of HTS’ philosophy has meaningfully changed since their days as an al-Qaeda affiliate. He reminds us that we need to listen to what, “HTS are saying to their local audience and not merely following their public pronouncements aimed at the West.” While it is true that HTS has transformed into a full blown government, this has not moderated their philosophy.  For al-Jolani, the entire purpose of his government is to implement, “benevolent sharia…the foremost of our priorities.” Zelin’s research indicates that despite their moderating public statements, everything from education to the criminal justice system is about the “rule of Islam.” As such HTS remains predictably brutal to those who are not Sunni Muslims. As of 2022, over five hundred Christian properties were confiscated by HTS in Idlib. Druze and Alawites face similar property confiscations as well as continued executions and forced conversion. Additionally, HTS have instituted religious police to, “beat up, flog, or imprison violators,” especially women who are dressed improperly or traveling without a male relative. Reporting on dissent within HTS territory can be difficult as they have forcibly shut down news on the basis of, “the channel’s bias and hostile policy toward local factions.” There is not much evidence that terrorists who avoid overseas attacks and begin governing their territory become more just to the people they rule. Zelin notes that this trend is not unique. Since the early 2010s, organizations like the Afghan Taliban, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan all have gone down similar paths only to remain as extreme as ever. The parallel to Afghanistan is especially troubling for Syria’s religious minorities given that al-Jolani has gone out of his way to praise the Taliban as a model in his 2021 “Blessing to the Taliban.” For the moment, the US should not expect HTS to turn over a new leaf. Despite substantial changes HTS has gone through in the last few years, policymakers should be extremely skeptical of any professed changes regarding religious minorities. While this does not mean anyone should mourn the fall of Assad’s regime which was ruthless to Syrians to all faiths, it does mean we cannot afford to be overly optimistic. HTS’ own background, their double-dealing, and how they currently govern their own territory does not demonstrate a truly changed organization, despite al-Jolani’s recent statements. 

Global interest has long been focused on Eurasia, a region of tremendous geopolitical significance because of its strategic position and abundance of natural resources

Russia is pushing for a major comeback in the global tech race, leaning on its BRICS+ partners to build a united front in artificial intelligence (AI) development

Britain's development finance institution has appointed the former finance chief of the China-headquartered Brics bank as its new CEO

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered a swarm of drones to be launched at Pyongyang in order to provoke an attack from North Korea. President Yoon was to use this as a pretext to declare martial law. It's perfectly clear that the disgraced defense minister didn't do this on his own volition. Worse yet, it's extremely likely that the US ordered Yoon to launch the operation to ensure escalation with North Korea and possibly even China.

The neo-Nazi regime is not interested in any kind of dialogue, trying to take the conflict to its ultimate consequences.

Predators are walking free thanks to a broken system. The Crown Prosecution Service and civilian court must step in

On December 2nd, 1859, John Brown was executed for attempting to foment a slave revolt by seizing an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, the crescendo of two decades as a militant opponent of slavery. Seen in his own lifetime largely as a fringe figure associated with brutal acts of violence, such as infamously murdering the families of pro-slavery settlers in Kansas, in death Brown came to symbolize moral resistance to slavery. Described by the biographer Louis DeCaro “as a product of the Congregational Church and the Reformed confessions,” his compatriot Charles Robinson, who once compared Brown’s execution by Virginia to that of Jesus by the Romans, declared that “the soul of John Brown was the inspiration of the Union armies in the emancipation war.” Thousands of Union troops sang “John Brown’s Body” in the 19th century and his memory has long been the subject of fierce debate among historians. Even today, socialist gun owners organize under the banner of the “John Brown Gun Club” in an attempt to build an alternative to the NRA, while dozens of historical sites honoring Brown dot the American landscape and renditions of “John Brown’s Body” have racked up millions of listens across streaming platforms. However, Brown cannot be understood apart from his theological context. Indeed, it was the murder of abolitionist preacher Elijah Lovejoy that led Brown to “consecrate [his] life to the destruction of slavery,” likening Lovejoy’s killing to that of John the Baptist and its catalyzing effect on Christ’s ministry. Brown, like Lovejoy, was a product of the rock-ribbed Calvinism that first brought the Puritans to the New World, and a fire and brimstone evangelist before he took to the political path. In this vein, biographer David Reynolds argues that Brown understood his role in politics in Old Testament terms of divine retribution, Brown having remarked: “wherever there is a right thing to be done, there is a ‘thus saith the Lord’ that it shall be done.”  Today, the idea of mixing religion with politics has become increasingly controversial amid discourse over the alleged rise of “Christian nationalism.” Though propagators of the term “Christian nationalism” claim to be describing an anti-democratic, theocratic vision of America, the term increasingly seems to include any contact between religion and politics at all. In Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood’s Baptizing America, the allegation is brought beyond the religious right to include a sermon given at the United States Capitol in 2022 from the liberal, LGBT+ affirming Episcopal Church. Kaylor and Underwood, in a 2023 interview, include under the “Christian nationalist” banner both President Lyndon Johnson’s impassioned plea to Congress to move forth in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and, to our original subject matter, John Brown’s violent abolitionism.  Despite representing an apogee of political organizing on explicitly Christian lines, John Brown and company are rarely brought up in modern discourse surrounding Christian nationalism. Instead, Christian nationalism is usually cast as the product of segregationist Southern Evangelicals led by Jerry Falwell and his “Moral Majority.” Falwell represented, however, a minority position among even Evangelicals of his day and certainly among clergy as a whole; the Catholic Church endorsed the Civil Rights Act, and, of course, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. emerged at the forefront of the American civil rights movement. Rather than looking to Falwell, historians and sociologists should peer back to the age of abolition for a more nuanced picture of American Christian nationalism and its effects on our society. The opinion that the United States ought to be a Christian nation was found by a 2022 Pew Research poll to be held by 45% of Americans. Contrary to the usual image of a white Christian nationalism, 62% of Black Protestants agree with this view, 51% of whom further say that, if in conflict, the stance of the Bible ought to overrule the will of the people, numbers not significantly different from those of their white Protestant brethren. The latter view, in particular, would certainly strike a chord with Brown, whose willingness to break the law in his crusade against slavery was directly derived from his acknowledgment of “no master in human form.” In 1847, Brown had written in a letter to his son Lucian that Jesus represented “the end of the law.” Later commenting to a family giving him refuge while a fugitive, Brown lamented that “it seems strange in a Christian country that a man should be called a monomaniac for following the plain dictates of our Savior.” In a prison letter to the Presbyterian Minister Alexander McLeod Milligan, Brown denounces the fact that “this nation, in its Constitution, makes no submission to the King of Kings.—Pays no regard to the requirements of His law—never mentions his name even in the inauguration oath of its chief magistrate.” Indeed, presented at John Brown’s trial was one of hundreds of copies of a provisional constitution of the United States, drawn up in the home of Frederick Douglass, for the government Brown hoped to build in the aftermath of the slave revolution. Brown’s constitution notably shrugs off the idea of a separation between Church and State, referencing “Almighty God” and calling for the federal government to establish churches alongside schools as a means of public education. At this trial, Brown admitted to breaking the laws of Virginia and the United States, yet plead innocent on the grounds that the court had sworn him in on a Bible that taught him to “remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them,” citing Hebrews 13:3. An obituary in the Cleveland Daily Herald utilized equally explicit terms, decried the execution of an abolitionist, even a violent one, “in this Christian nation.” From the pro-slavery side, the Baltimore Herald wrote with disgust of Northerners who hailed Brown as a “Christian hero,” stating that it served as final evidence that the slaveholding states ought to take their own course. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, when asked about the French Revolution in 1972, famously (though somewhat apocryphally) responded by saying that it was “too early to tell.” Similarly, is it perhaps still too early to judge the legacy of John Brown, ever more important in death than life. Yet, any observation of Brown may assuredly tell us that the roots of “Christian nationalism” lie much deeper than many modern observers gauge. Contrary to the myth that Christian nationalism is fundamentally a response to desegregation, “Christian nationalism” in the 19th century was an animating force in the demise of slavery.

Indonesia has officially become a new BRICS partner, joining countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Türkiye, Nigeria, Cuba and Kazakhstan. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono announced this shift at the most recent BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia

Planning a trip to Russia? Well, it might be hassle free in the coming months. As per the latest news reports, Indian travellers will soon be able to enjoy visa-free travel to Russia, potentially as early as spring 2025

Indonesia's formal application to join BRICS, confirmed recently by Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Roy Soemirat, highlights the bloc's increasing appeal among emerging economies

But he cannot stop the global trend of using national currencies.

The news about China's retaliatory measures certainly comes as an unpleasant surprise for NATO's favorite Neo-Nazi puppets. They'll now have to find other ways to acquire components for their asymmetric drone strategy, although it's virtually a given that their ability to launch saturation attacks on Russian positions will be greatly diminished, as it's quite clear that nobody on the planet can match China's production volumes.

Appeal to raise sentence of Martin Roberts, who abused seven-year-old while living on British Army base, was denied

Ukraine’s “nationalist-oligarchic dilemma” in itself already is a recipe for turmoil. Add to it corruption scandals, blackouts during winter time and a draconian draft, with a President who tries to downplay more realistic figures pertaining to the number of people killed and maimed. The risk of domestic unrest in Ukraine is very real.

Problems of Syrian migrants in Europe and the expansion of the Schengen agreement will have a lasting negative impact on the future of the European continent.

Syria appears to be heading towards political and territorial fragmentation.

It seems as if we are constantly hearing about so-called Christian nationalism, critiques from the ideologues of the Left and, strangely, proposed as a healthy alternative by a small cadre of non-mainstream academics on the Right.  It is the arguments of this latter group that I will focus attention on, but first we must look at the history and meaning of the word “nationalism” and then the phony, anti-Christian pseudo-history being promulgated by the Left.  This latter is the real threat as progressives brand American Bible-believing, theologically orthodox Christians as fascistic ‘Christian nationalists.’  Whether on the Right or the Left, the use of the term is bad terminology, bad history, and bad theology.1    This essay begins with four different ways of looking at nationalism: (1) the classic approach rooted in the disciplines of history and the social sciences; (2) the recent framing of a fascistic, Right-wing Christian nationalism; (3) the confused embrace of the term by some patriotic Christians in America; and, finally, (4) the academic Christian nationalism of a small group of theologically orthodox American scholars.  Because any form of contemporary nationalism is typically statist, the critique and way forward of the final section focuses our attention on Christian Realism’s emphasis on human sin, institutional fallenness, and, therefore, the need for limits on state power. An alternative to any form of state-mandated religion is the robust religious freedom of America’s founding, and this is both a moral good in accord with human nature and a necessary check on state power.  Nations, Nationalism, and U.S. History  The term “nationalism” is largely alien to the American context.  Nationalism is an idea coined in the 1800s to describe the movement by cultural-linguistic groups seeking political autonomy. Perhaps the best expression is Ernst Renan’s famous 1882 lecture, “What is a Nation?”  The basic idea was that a religious-cultural-ethnic-linguistic group, a group of people with a shared history and culture, should have an independent polity. When Lord Byron died at the siege of Missolonghi, he was participating in the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire.  The unification of dozens of smaller principalities into the modern German state (1871) and the unification of the Italian peninsula into modern Italy (1861) were examples of cultural and political – national – cohesion into a single polity.  So too was Norway’s independence from Sweden in 1905.  All of these national movements looked to geography and the mists of ancient history for symbols, often pagan in origin, to emphasize ethno-nationalist distinctiveness.  Thus, arts and literature abounded with mystical and folk themes (Romanticism) tying blood and national consciousness to non-negotiable geographical sites, from the Teutonic (German) themes of Wagner to the most famous of them all, Biedrich Smetana’s symphonic poem, The Moldau, from his masterwork My Country (Má vlast), which he called, “musical pictures of Czech glories and defeats.”  World War I was the death-knell for Europe’s large, multi-ethnic empires: the sprawling Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires shattered, resulting in new or revitalized governments based primarily on ethnic identity, including independent nation-states for the Finns, Hungarians, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Bulgars, Romanians, Serbs, and others.   The contemporary study of nationalism, with a focus on the break-up of some countries and ethno-nationalist and ethno-religious rivalries, took off after the fall of the Soviet Union, and especially, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.  In the 1990s there was a host of new work on localism, national religious revivalism, cultural nationalism, and even civilizational forms of shared identity.  Wars in places such as Azerbaijan-Armenia, the successor states to Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and elsewhere suggested a new, virulent nationalism based on blood and soil.2  Does any of this sound like the United States of America?  No.  “Yankee Doodle went to town … and called it macaroni…” is just not in the same cultural universe as the nationalist anthems of Europe.  For instance, the song most associated with the movement for Italian Independence, the “Royal March,” declares:  All of Italy puts her faith in you, believes in you,  glory of our race, sign of freedom,  of freedom, of freedom, of freedom.  When the enemy comes seeking  our flourishing fields  where heroes fought  in the bygone ages  as long as our fervent patriotic love lasts  as long as our civilization reigns  The American War for Independence resulted from the colonials defending their customs and rights “as Englishman,” not as something different.  The American sensibility, as it deepened and expanded, was and is a nation of ideas, not of blood and myth.  It has always been forward-looking, not resting its legitimacy on fables from pre-history.  Those who share the ideas and values found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are eligible to voluntarily join the American nation, regardless of blood, language, or religion.  As John Adams famously wrote, the war was not the American Revolution.  Rather, the real revolution was a “revolution of the mind,” a centering on key ideals of freedom, ordered liberty, and equality.    Mainstream America, despite some radicals on the extremes, has not been chauvinistically hyper-nationalist.  Indeed, if one looks at the statements of our great leaders, from Washington and Lincoln through Grant, Cleveland, Coolidge, FDR, Truman, Reagan, and Bush, one simply does not find the language of ‘nationalism’ because it is not part of our way of thinking about our national identity.  The ideas of rightful patriotism, perhaps best described by C.S. Lewis in his The Four Loves, is a better way of thinking about American national identity and patriotism.  Progressives’ anti-American Re-Write of U.S. History: Chauvinistic Nationalism  Fast forward to 2006. As Mark David Hall has documented, in recent years, a group of progressive academics have willfully rewritten US history to say that American Bible-believing Christians have been a regressive, anti-equality, anti-freedom force, akin to fascists. I witnessed this first-hand at a scholarly conference in France, at which an academic got up and told a fabricated saga of American history that started with rabid slave owners and racists in the 1600s and led directly, from 1619 to the Civil War and segregation to Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich.  It was a masterful conspiracy theory akin to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion featuring white, male Christian dominance as a three century-long project of exclusion, patriarchy, militarism, and racial hierarchy.  However, it was entirely without serious historical references and citations.  This cottage industry of false history is represented by a plethora of pseudo-histories and conspiracy theories.  One of the worst examples, criticized by renowned historians such as Allen C. Guelzo, is the widely discredited, yet still in print, 1619 Project, which is buttressed by pseudo-social science justifications found in “new theories,” including critical race theory, queer theory, and the like.    All such “critical theories” and alternative histories emphasize some form of Christians-as-the-boogeyman. According to writer Andrew Whitehead, Christian nationalism is an existential “threat to American democracy and the Christian church in the United States.”  Andrew Seidel, vice president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, claims that it is an “existential threat” to this country. Amanda Tyler, president of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, contends that Christian nationalism is the “single biggest threat to America’s religious liberty.” Finally, and many additional examples could be given, Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry recently informed us that white Christian nationalism is a “threat to American democracy.”  Perhaps the most famous of these writings is Taking America Back for God by Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry.  They define Christian nationalism as  An ideology that idealizes and advocates a fusion of American civic life with a particular type of Christian identity and culture [that] includes assumptions of nativism, white supremacy, patriarchy and heteronormativity, along with divine sanction for authoritarian control and militarism.  Upon a closer look, this misuse of labels and data has a partisan character with strong anti-Christian overtones. For example, Whitehead and Perry’s research, based on flawed survey results, seems to suggest that if someone believes Biblical teaching to be true, then that person is a potentially violent Christian nationalist. Such a conclusion brands hundreds of millions of faithful Protestants and Catholics across the Western world as fascists.  Here is a recent example: the character assassination of Mike Johnson.  In autumn 2023, Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana, an evangelical Christian who previously served as an attorney for the faith-based legal firm, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), became Speaker of the House of Representatives.    A Washington Post opinion headline said, “Mike Johnson is a pro-gun Christian nationalist. Yes, be afraid.” The author says Johnson’s “ideology” may encourage violence. A New York Times opinion piece calls the friendly, smiling Johnson “The Embodiment of Christian Nationalism in a Tailored Suit.”  The bogeyman created by radical progressives is a blend of racism, militarism, and fascism.  Thus, we should not be surprised to find Whitehead and Perry writing the following in TIME magazine: “When we say Speaker Johnson is a Christian nationalist, we mean he provides a near-perfect example for each element.”  As scholar Mark David Hall has written, although there is a small minority of Americans who do hold expansive views about the role of Christianity in American public life, very few are white supremacists or militarists. He reports on survey data from Pew, PPRI, and Brookings, none of which suggests a mass movement rooted in Christianity that is violent and fascistic.  Indeed, such caricatures simply do not correspond to the generations of charity, compassion, and liberty movement initiatives that have Christian roots, from humanitarian groups such as the Salvation Army and World Vision to the abolition movement.  Christian Nationalism vs. the Patriotic Christian  Thus far we have seen two uses of the word “nationalism,” one from the academic social science and historical literature, and a second that is a recent polemical war against people of traditional Christian faith in America.  Both are problematic in that the first is a powerful explanatory tool for understanding European and other histories, but its “blood and soil” approach is far from the American experience.  The second is a caricature of the type of Christian people who have been part of mainstream American society since the seventeenth century, and thus, equally problematic.  With the attacks, since 2006, on American history and the role of Christian people and institutions in that history, a third problematic use of the term “Christian nationalism” has arisen.  This is when patriotic Christians, who are genuinely worried about the direction of the country, own the label given to them by the progressive Left.  In other words, as more than one friend has said to me, “I love this country.  Isn’t ‘Christian nationalist’ just another label for ‘Christian patriot?’  Don’t they mean the same thing?”  There are three reasons that it would be better for Christians to avoid self-identifying as “Christian nationalists.”  The first is a simple matter of semantics.  The word “Christian” should always be used as a noun: it is a label of identity meaning “Christ follower” or “Christ’s disciple.”  It is far weaker to use the word “Christian” as an adjective when we are thinking about identity.  One is not a “patriot” or “nationalist” first, but a Christian first and foremost.  Second, it is not useful to play into the hands of Christianity’s critics by trying to appropriate a label that they have turned into a brand of derision.  Why play into their hands?  I think that doing so is particularly confusing when one is trying to discuss patriotism and religious faith to students and young adults.  It is a far harder battle to get down to serious business when there is all the clamor about “nationalism” in the press.  Third, it would be best to focus attention on the Christian and rightful patriotism, or one might call, for lack of a better term, being a “patriotic Christian.”  As noted earlier, C.S. Lewis’ discussion of rightful patriotism in The Four Loves can help us.  As I have described in more detail elsewhere, Lewis describes several ways we can think about love of country.3 At the bedrock of this is love of home.4 Home means all that is familiar, from familiar faces to familiar places.  Home is the sense that I am part of a community.  I share life and experiences with my neighbors and kin.  Such love of our immediate neighbor helps us recognize that our primary obligations are, first and foremost, to those closest to us.  God put us in a specific time and place to reflect Him and serve others.  We simply cannot exercise the same degree of neighbor-love to everyone, everywhere, all of the time. To do so would be to neglect those for whom we are responsible at home.  At the same time, our love of the neighbors should, according to Lewis, elevate our view of our fellow man as bearing the image of God. It should help us lift our eyes away from narrow parochialism to lovingly see God’s design in all of humanity.    Lewis argues that we have expanding circles of what is shared, and part of this is our common national story.5  This is a building block of patriotism.  That story helps us to understand where we came from and how we got here. It is a narrative that looks at our history with a sense of thanksgiving but also with an eye of critical discernment.  We should be inspired by what is noble and special in our nation’s history and ideals while striving to overcome our nation’s shortcomings.  Love of home and love of country should not be culturally chauvinistic.  C.S. Lewis says that we should recognize that just as it is right for me to love my home with its idiosyncrasies, so we should naturally expect a Frenchman to love and be proud of his home and the Japanese to love and be proud of their homeland.6  Rightful patriotism includes respect for difference.    Appropriate love of one’s homeland differentiates proper patriotism from inappropriate or even violent forms of nationalism.  The term “nationalism” has become confused in recent years.  It used to mean the simple idea that the cultural identity of a people was or should be tied to a specific geographical place, such as the Kurds in Kurdistan or Koreans in Korea.  But when nationalism goes beyond that simple idea to embrace some form of chauvinistic ethnic or ideological political program, it is badly misdirected. These forms of love-my-clique are sinful because they categorize the ‘Other’ not simply as different, but of lesser moral value or worth. This is a gross violation of Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor.  We can see how the sin of hyper-nationalism is related to a form of political idolatry.  Many extreme social and political “isms” such as Communism, Fascism, hyper-nationalism, or ethnocentrisms such as India’s violent Hindu nationalism are idolatrous in putting a government, ethno-religious identity, or ruling ideology at the center of meaning and existence.  Making a political ideal the centerpiece of worldview is a theological move, one that displaces God and his transcendent moral order in favor of human power and will for a particular place and time. Hyper-nationalism whitewashes the sins in a nation’s past. This is collective self-adoration, whether expressed at Babel, or the hubris of Athens and Rome, or the idolatrous systems of the French and Russian Revolutions.  These are wrong loves.    It is not surprising, therefore, that in places such as China, North Korea, and elsewhere today, Christians are seen as obstacles for their unwillingness to bow to the maximizing demands of the state.  Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego all faced this challenge of allegiances. Christians in Rome faced this when confronted with mandatory emperor worship.  Today’s Christians in Communist countries face it when restricted from worshipping or when government policy mandates abortions. The Christian may love his community and love his country, but his or her highest allegiance is to something above the political party or the government.  A Christian’s first allegiance, his or her first love, is devotion and obedience to Jesus Christ.  Love of Christ, informed by the Holy Scripture and led by the Holy Spirit, must be the essential loyalty and animating motivation for the Christian.    It is not only right but also admirable to appropriately care for the good of the community and nation where God has placed us.  Patriotism loves what is good in our own country and respects the patriotism of others.  Our nation should never be set up as the ultimate center of truth and authority.  That is reserved for God and his Word.  The lyrics of “America” (“My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) express this affectionate balance well:  My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.  Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’ pride,  From every mountainside let freedom ring!  My native country thee, land of the noble free, thy name I love.  I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills;  My heart with rapture thrills like that above.  Our fathers’ God to Thee, Author of Liberty, to Thee we sing.  Long may our land be bright, with freedom’s holy light,  Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.  Christian Academics Espousing a Confessional State  Should we be worried that a chauvinistic, racist, anti-woman Christian nationalism is taking over our churches?  The answer is “no.”  Recent surveys, by those who are not necessarily friendly to orthodox Christians such as The Brookings Institute and PPRI, nonetheless demonstrate that only a small percentage of Christians in America embrace the term.  In fact, most people who signal support for the term “Christian nationalism” are simply trying to argue that they are patriotic Christians who are deeply worried about the moral fabric of our country. Christian leaders and intellectuals have a responsibility to inform them of what it means to be a patriotic Christian while clarifying the problems with hyper-nationalistic rhetoric.  Nonetheless, there is a tiny group of academic Christian nationalists, many of which identify it as an intellectual project for moral renewal.  Although there is a potentially wide spectrum here, from Catholic integralists to proponents of a fusion of Church and State (the historic Christendom model), those who are making the argument that is most likely to capture the evangelical imagination are those like Stephen Wolfe and his allies, who argue for a confessional state.  Here is a brief overview of that argument.  This form of academic Christian nationalist, found in some seminaries and Christian college campuses or writing without peer-review in online magazines, typically make this form of argument.  In sum, although the institutions of religion (the Church) and societal government (the State) are distinct institutions with their own spheres of influence, nevertheless both have overlapping roles in promoting law and morality in society.  In contrast to those who say that the Church is responsible for the first table of the law (e.g. love God, refrain from idolatry and blasphemy) and the State is responsible for the inter-personal relationships of the second table of the law (do not steal, lie, or murder), these academic Christian nationalists argue that the government has a role to play in enforcing all of the Ten Commandments.  Let’s take a step back and think about some of the presuppositions here.  Most Protestants and Catholics recognize that society has a number of natural institutions such as the family, the church, and government (see Romans 13).  Due to human innovation responding to the cultural mandate to steward the earth, we have developed a number of other institutions and social sectors over time. Abraham Kuyper called these “spheres” and his model of “sphere sovereignty” remains a useful description for thinking about a healthy society, where different sectors (spheres) have their own models of governance and expertise, such as the agricultural sector, the economic sector, the education sector, the government sector, etc.  The family and the religious sector are indispensable institutions for society.  A society needs all of these sectors, working like the gears of a clock in cooperation but with some independence, to function well. Each of these institutions or sectors, and the people that make them up, are responsible to use their God-given talents and abilities, for the glory of God and for the betterment of mankind.   Moreover many Christians, particularly American Christians, also embrace some form notion of subsidiarity.  Subsidiarity, an important term in Catholic social ethics, is the idea that the responsibility for handling problems should happen at the most local of levels, e.g. the family, the neighborhood, the local community, the nearby church.  Larger issues that need more collective power, such as law enforcement and military defense, should happen at different levels of collective authority.  I mention sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity because we typically think quite differently today about Christian political ethics than Luther and Calvin did.  In the early decades of the Reformation, those thinkers typically wrote about the jurisdiction of just two entities, the institutions of Church and State.  This was largely a reflection of the key issue of their time, as the medieval consensus was breaking down and Christendom models of Church-State fusion were being challenged.  Today’s academic Christian nationalists draw their inspiration from those early decades of the Reformation, particularly places such as Calvin’s Geneva.  Their view of societal renewal means a far greater integration of the institutions of Church and State.  The American model, developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is far different.  It suggests that church and state, or to put it in more comprehensive and realistic terms for a large society like that in the U.S., the religious sector and that of [political] government, which has as its primary duty to protect and defend the citizenry, should be distinct spheres, even if they inform one another. America’s Founders understood, as George Washington wrote, that “religion and morality” are indispensable for society and the elements of Christian religion would inform our politics and laws but without the national establishment of an institutionalized church or by imposing a theological orthodoxy by force.  John Adams concurred that a society of ordered liberty was rooted in religion and morality: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  To be fair, those academic Christian nationalism proponents such as Stephen Wolfe do not seem to be arguing that the Church should take over the State nor that the State should take over the Church (e.g. theocratic Iran), but that both spheres have a role to play in a mutual reinforcing way to propagate, defend, and even punish on behalf of both tables of the law. In other words, the government should punish wrongdoers when it comes to matters of faith and worship, such as in matters of apostasy or blasphemy. They envision a confessional state, one where there is a majority religion that has the power of the state to enforce religious worship and religious dictates. One could imagine a constitutional monarchy being laid out upon these lines, or, as many of the proponents argue, something resembling Calvin’s Geneva.  Religious dissent, non-conformism, and agnosticism would all be criminalized.   These self-styled academic Christian nationalists are responding to a real problem. That problem is the decadence and the degradation of Western civilization. They, like Catholic Integralists, suggest that the emphasis of the American Founders on limited government and a reliance on the family and religious institutions to promulgate righteousness was misplaced. They argue that a more explicit state-sanctioned Christianity, with mechanisms for promoting and defending the faith, is necessary to overcome the immorality and social disintegration of our time.   Christian Realism Counters Christian Nationalism: Limited Government and Religious Freedom  This form of Christian nationalism-as-a-confessional state is deeply problematic and it is the anti-thesis of an approach called “Christian Realism.”  Christian nationalism is a utopian, idealistic vision.  Like any utopian vision, it requires revolutionaries who are willing to “do whatever must be done,” such as burning down the old order and imposing a new one by force.  To be clear: the only way to get to the Christian Nationalists’ view of a Christian society is to follow the advice of Vladimir Lenin.  A small group acts as an “elite vanguard” to seize power and then use the police, the military and the courts to impose their views on society.  Idealists must use coercion, exclusion, or exile to push out those who refuse to conform.  They must purify society for the sake of the revolution.  What we have found throughout history is that the accumulation of power into the hands of a small elite never ends. Well. This is how the French, Russian, Chinese Communist, and other revolutions, led by a small elite zealously committed to their blueprint for the world, imposed it by force on their fellow citizens.  This is not authentic Christianity.  There is a long tradition of anti-utopian Christian thinking, from the Bible through Augustine, Aquinas, and many other thinkers in our present day.  We often call this way of thinking “Augustinian” or “Christian realism,” and many important thinkers have operated from this general approach over the past several decades when thinking about politics from a Christian worldview, including Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Ramsey, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Carl Henry, George Weigel, and many others.  For specialists, I have laid out a longer explanation of Christian Realism here.  Christian Realism is the antithesis to the Christian nationalist vision. Christian Realism is authentically Christian and realistic in that it recognizes the sinfulness of humanity, both in terms of individuals and our institutions. We are sinners and we live in a fallen world.  The solution is not to put more power into the hands of a small group of flawed people. Indeed, Christian realists recognize that what we must do is divide and separate power, creating balances of power through mechanisms that we in the United States call separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections, the distinction between government and the private sector, and the like.   Christian Realism counters Christian Nationalism, because Christian Realism emphasizes a rightful patriotism that does not idolize the state, an ideology, a party, or a demagogue. Christian nationalists are prone to fall into all of these traps. Whether by anointing a secular prophet, such as a candidate or office holder, or a political party, or even an individual Christian mega-star as having all the answers for law, politics, and society, Christian nationalists run into the problem of putting tremendous power into the hands of sinful human beings. In contrast, Christian Realism recognizes that there are a number of potential unintended consequences and unforeseen outcomes by the accretion of power, particularly when that power is justified by a revolutionary ideology, even one that is rooted in religious conviction.  In the American context, the principle of religious freedom has been championed by those who clearly operate from the perspective of Christian Realism.  These are people, from many of the Founding Fathers to contemporary writers such as Jean Bethke Elshtain, George Weigel, Robert P. George, Marc LiVecche, J. Daryl Charles, and many others, who have articulated a patriotic Christianity bounded by a realistic approach to human fallenness and the need for limited government.  Interestingly, in every case that makes them great champions of religious freedom as a social good and as a check on government power.  According to Thomas F. Farr, religious freedom “the right of all persons to believe, speak, and act – individually and in community with others, in private and in public – in accord with their understanding of ultimate truth.” Farr’s capacious view of religious freedom is particularly important as we think about its theological, philosophical, and prudential foundations.  Note his four dimensions: individual, community (institutional), private, and public.  Farr writes that religious freedom is an individual right “to believe, or not to believe, in religious truths without coercion. Those who do believe have the right to order their lives in accord with religious truths, without undue coercion from the government or any other human agent.”  But, it is also an institutional right: “the of right religious communities to establish and gather in churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other houses of worship without undue interference. It also entails the right of individuals and communities to found and run religious organizations such as schools, universities, homeless ministries, adoption and foster care agencies, hospitals, clinics, and more consistent with their faith tenets.”  In practice, then, religious freedom is both a private and public right.  Farr concludes, “Religious freedom encompasses the right of religious individuals, institutions, and communities to express religious truths in their private lives, and to bring those truths into political life through their respective claims about justice, peace, equality, and freedom on a basis equal to all others in society.”   To be clear, religious freedom in American history and culture is far different from academic Christian nationalism.  It has been both a social good and a check on power.  Religious freedom has allowed for a vast space for faith-based organizations and charities to serve the common good.  At the same time, the fact that there is an authority and morality above and beyond the state is a limiting principle on government.  Both have been important in U.S. history and culture.  In conclusion, we have looked at four different ways of thinking about the term “nationalism” in contemporary political discourse.  Much more needs to be done in our churches, schools, and civil society to reconnect with how past generations defined love-of-country, rightful patriotism, just statecraft, ethical thinking on justice and public defense, how doctrines of human sin and human potential should affect our sense of public responsibility and much more.  We also need faithful witnesses to how calls to impose Christian government always end up as anti-Christ tyranny.  Just look at the example of the Spanish Inquisition. The good news is that only a tiny minority accept the idea of a powerful statist Christianity in our time.  A better approach is a robust, hopeful, sober Christian Realism, founded in the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, defending the value of the human person and calling for human responsibility, and attuned to the realities both spiritual and temporal, of the world in which we live.  Earlier versions of this paper were presented to a meeting of the board of directors of the Institute for Religion and Democracy (April 2, 2024) and at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in San Diego, CA (November 21, 2024).  The author gratefully acknowledges advice from Emilie Kao, Mark David Hall, and Jennifer Patterson and expresses gratitude to Regent University for travel support. ↩︎There are many books on this phenomenon, but here is a representative sampling.  The author recommends beginning with Liah Greenfeld’s Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Harvard University Press, 1992); also see, Liah Greenfeld Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience (Harvard University Press, 2013); Catherine Baker, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2015); Michael Ignatieff, Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism (New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 1993); and, for an expression of a civilizational form of shared identity that is a macro-expression of shared civilizational culture leading to conflict, see Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996/2011). ↩︎ See Eric Patterson, A Basic Guide to the Just War Tradition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023), chap. 5. ↩︎C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (‎New York, NY:  HarperOne, reissued edition on February 14, 2017, originally published in 1960 by Harcourt Brace). ↩︎Ibid. ↩︎Ibid. ↩︎

The BRICS-Asean partnership contains immense potential that cannot be ignored, says Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap) chairman Datuk Dr Pamela Yong

Bilateral trade with India booming as Russia pivots east

While BRICS must be taken seriously, it would be wrong to interpret it as one pole of a two-sided geopolitical competition between China and Russia and the West

Even though the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky "confirmed" that North Korean troops are allegedly in Ukraine, the Pentagon debunked such claims – twice in two weeks.

Ukrainian army in the worst situation since the beginning of the conflict.

In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus tells how a demon is expelled only to be replaced by seven new demons. Is this Syria’s fate? The Assad regime, father, and son, across 54 years, murdered, tortured, and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of their victims. And that was before the 2011 uprising and civil war, itself killing hundreds of thousands more. They governed under the Baathist ideology to which Saddam Hussein, whose victims exceeded the Assads, adhered. Thousands of Assad’s prisoners are now emerging from dungeons, some not having seen daylight in years or decades. Of course, the Assads, who besides tormenting their people, also massively stole from them, as longtime despots nearly always do. The just discovered presidential fleet of luxury vehicles was extensive, including a Cadillac Escalade. Perhaps the footage should appear in a Cadillac commercial:  Buy American! Apparently, the Assad family is now in the capital of their Russian patrons. Fortunately for Putin, Assad will be a cheap date. He has many bank accounts of looted funds that will sustain him indefinitely. The Assads, who enjoyed some very brief friendly moments with America in the early and mid-1970s, have nearly always aligned with Russia and the Soviet Union. They also relied on Iran’s mullahs, especially with the 2011 revolution, after which Assad joined Hezbollah as Iran’s virtual proxy. Both Iran and Russia poured tens of billions into Assad’s crumbling regime, for which they now have nothing to show. Under the Assads, Syria was an enemy to America, to Israel, and to the West. Syria was a prison, impoverished, fearful, and, for the last 13 years, racked by endless civil war leaving the country split into fiefdoms. There seems to be in Syria widespread relief over Assad’s overthrow and the end, mostly, to the worst of the civil war, though skirmishes among factions presumably will continue. The main insurgency overthrowing Assad, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is Islamist but so far has mostly signaled it will not try to impose strict Islamist rule. They are smart to seek international legitimacy and support. But as they solidify power they could of course swiftly change. Pessimism about the Mideast is usually justified. There have always been some who argued for Western tolerance if not support for the Assads because they were ostensibly “protecting” the Christians and offered a “secular” alternative to Islamist rule. The Assads governed under an Arab nationalist ideology, and they belonged to the Alawite minority sect, which many Muslims do not accept as legitimately Islamic. So, the Assads, even while depending on Iran’s mullahs, governed against Islamism, which they feared. Christians were tolerated unless they challenged the regime, in which case they were repressed like anyone else. I have personally heard some Syrian Christians describe Assad, whom they have met, as a “nice” man. He was in fact a murderer, tyrant, and thief. But it’s human nature to imagine the best of whatever person or force we see as a guard against more malevolent forces. In the end, the Assads were not good for Syria’s Christians. They were maybe ten percent of Syria before the civil war, and now they are maybe two percent. That war was generated by Assad’s ineptitude, intolerance, cruelty, and refusal to compromise. There are now consequently maybe over 600,000 dead Syrians. As a percentage of the population, that’s equivalent to about 9 million Americans. Millions more fled Syria, politically disrupting much of Europe and fueling the far right, especially in Germany. Turkey alone has perhaps three million Syrian refugees, whose presence partly motivated Turkey’s backing for HTS’s successful overthrow of Assad. There are some who want to blame the West for undermining Assad, paving the way for Islamist rule. But Assad’s disastrous rule ensured his own ruin. He was both wicked and incompetent. And for now, his overthrow is a strategic gain for the West, America, and Israel. It’s a huge defeat for Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah. Maybe Lebanon can now regain sovereignty against Hezbollah. Israel now seems to have the upper hand against Iran. Putin boasted of Russian power in Syria, which has imploded. It’s the biggest defeat for Russia in the Mideast since Anwar Sadat expelled the Soviets from Egypt fifty years ago. Now there is a potential opportunity for wider Mideast stability. The Russia-Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis is broken. Turkey is the main patron of HTS. Erdogan for all his terrible faults is preferable to Iran as a powerbroker. We can hope HTS is more pragmatic than theocratic. Of course, Syria could face entirely new calamities, more warfare, more despotism, more refugees. We do not yet know. But where there is opportunity there is hope. When prisoners unjustly imprisoned are freed, we should rejoice. Assad’s stunning and quick overthrow recalls another miraculous Christmas overthrow, in 1989, when the similarly brutal and seemingly unassailable Ceausescus were suddenly overthrown and executed in Romania. Christmas reminds us of hope. But it never promises comfort. Seven demons may yet plague Syria, replacing the demon of Assad. Or Syria might, in God’s own time, slowly recover from its decades of nightmares, and emerge into a relative stability. Christians there, and hopefully around the world, will pray it is so.

The BRICS Summit held in Kazan from October 22–24, 2024, brought attention to several defining factors regarding Latin American countries that will be important for the continent’s political and economic development in the near term. With the admission of two countries from this region as associate members of the bloc, the Latin American presence in the pool of developing countries seeking to increase their weight in shaping the new world order is set to grow

“The media plays a critical role in shaping global narratives, and its impact is particularly significant in the context of Africa's emerging position in the global development landscape

The 2024 Brics summit is now in the books. To better understand its significance, one should turn back the pages of history and reflect on the lessons of the past. The 1955 Bandung Conference stands out in this regard, not only because it provides the proper historical foundation for the modern-day Brics phenomenon, but also because the underlying principles of that gathering never went away

Unfortunately, gentlemanly agreements with the world's most vile racketeering cartel and its warmongering overlords in Washington DC are all but impossible. They only understand the language of raw power and that's how the actual world will communicate with them from now on.

Interview: Activist Mariela Castro Flores tells openDemocracy about struggle for rights in highly conservative state

Plus, how Peter Mandelson might find common ground with Trump in rumoured new role as UK ambassador to Washington

EU economy could face ‘emergency levels’ over US trade war.

The situation in Tbilisi is escalating, with anti-government protests becoming increasingly violent and dangerous.

Coca cultivation fuelled environmental degradation and violence in the Amazon. Now, locals turn to a greener future

Trump’s win gives a green light to torturing states. Now the UK must lead by example by meeting UN obligations

What are we to expect of a second Trump administration? Given his wide-ranging campaign promises, raucous (if not contradictory) collection of cabinet officials, and disruptive political instincts, this is an open—and pivotal—question for American politics as the meaning of the GOP electoral triumph takes form. To better understand new presidencies, it is common to look at presidents before, like how Reagan (successfully) and Biden (unsuccessfully) modeled themselves after FDR. With Trump, there are several obvious antecedents: Andrew Jackson, whose portrait Trump placed in the oval office in 2017; Grover Cleveland, the only other president to win nonconsecutive terms; and, of course, Trump (POTUS #45) himself. After all, a developer, entertainer, and now politician, Trump is experienced in the art of reinvention.  Yet there is another president after whom Trump has already to a large degree styled himself: William Jefferson Clinton. Beyond their interpersonal bond, reputations for sexual indiscretion, and rises to national prominence in the 1990s, Trump also mirrors Clinton in terms of presidential style. His approach to polarizing issues, sources of political power, and key dimensions of his foreign policy could be ripped straight of the Clinton playbook.  First, Trump displays the same ruthless focus on eliminating sources of electoral weakness that Clinton famously displayed after the “Republican Revolution” engineered by Newt Gingrich in the 1994 midterms. Having won the 1992 presidential victory in no small part due to the good fortunate of Ross Perot splitting the conservative electorate, Clinton set about being the “change candidate” he had promised on the campaign trail. He raised taxes, implemented the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed limited gun control laws, and proposed significant healthcare reform. Yet after 1994, Clinton famously “triangulated” to remove Republican-leaning issues from political contention. He oversaw welfare reform, set about balancing the budget, and proclaimed “the era of big government is over” in the 1996 State of the Union address.   While Trump has scrambled the established lines of partisan combat on a range of issues since coming down the golden escalator in 2015, he demonstrated a particular drive to undercut lines of political attack in the 2024 campaign. He strongly moderated his stance on abortion, so much that he had to walk some of it back to placate pro-life GOP voters. He approved the removal of all language referring to traditional families or traditional family structure in the GOP platform, a move that accommodated “Log Cabin Republicans” and apparently earned him one in five LGBTQ votes nationally. He earned a bewildering array of endorsements from actors across the political spectrum, including Arab American community leaders in Dearborn, Elon Musk, Israeli cabinet members, and Teamsters Union officials.  These points suggest that such dealmaking and moderation on polarizing cultural issues may well continue into Trump’s second presidential term. And since Trump will be term-limited on his first day in office, I expect him to avoid unpopular decisions like the plague and triangulate often, such as by appointing the union-friendly Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor.  Second, presidential rhetoric is vital to understanding the political power of both Clinton and Trump. Oftentimes the communicative dimensions of political leadership are downplayed as mere ornamentation. However, this perspective misses how at every step politics involves (1) strategy, (2) ideas, and (3) interpretation, which are all mediated through language. As former Clinton speechwriter Stephen A. Smith writes:   “Public discourse is not ‘mere rhetoric.’ It is the process by which we learn of the world, understand our past, construct social reality, articulate our humanity, shape our values, build our dreams, reach collective decisions, perform civic responsibilities, guard our liberties, transmit our culture, and speak to one another about the small events and grand schemes in the public sphere.”   While it might be more typical to think of Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama as premier political communicators, it is this area of presidential leadership that perhaps most explains the success of Clinton and Trump.  Clinton’s ability to convey empathy and inspiration on the 1992 campaign trail—pairing “I feel your pain” with announcing “a new season of American renewal”—sharply contrasted with the rhetorically wooden George H.W. Bush, who famously disavowed “the vision thing” as well as the wider rhetorical aspects of the presidential office (“I am not a mystic, and I do not yearn to lead a crusade”). Trump similarly uses his oratory to develop a strong sense of identification with his followers as an FDR-esque “traitor to his class” who is willing to tell unpopular truths. While Trump’s speeches are hardly Rooseveltian in their eloquence, they function like Clinton’s rhetoric by generating genuine identification and affective investment with voters. Contrasted with a rhetorically weak president like George H.W. Bush or Joe Biden, neither of whom were particularly effective at building the same kind of emotional support base, and it becomes clear how rhetoric has offered a source of strength for the presidencies of Clinton and Trump, enabling them to endure scandals, build support for policies, shift public conversations, and imbue certain issues with political salience.  Finally, it appears there will be significant overlap in the approach of Clinton and Trump to one key arena of foreign policy: the Middle East. To be clear, Clinton’s overarching foreign policy strategy of “democratic enlargement” stands in sharp contrast from Trump’s “America First” mindset. Yet in the Middle East, their differences are not so stark. Both prioritized the personal and relational elements of foreign policy, such as Clinton’s tireless efforts hammering away at an Israel-Palestinian peace treaty. Trump likewise oversaw the Abraham Accords as a framework for a broader Arab-Israeli rapprochement, and his warmer ties with Saudi Arabia could lead to a diplomatic breakthrough. Each president’s penchant for high profile dealmaking speaks to the fundamentally personal approach to geopolitics that they share.  Their similarities extend beyond trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a gambit to unlock greater alignment among (the numerous) American Middle East allies. Like Clinton, whose Dual Containment strategy entailed the “aggressive” containment of Iraq and “active” containment of Iran, so Trump also seems likely to ratchet up pressure on unfriendly regimes of the Middle East with the selections of Marco Rubio, Elise Stefanik, Pete Hegseth, and Mike Waltz to run his foreign policy. Like Clinton, whose “active containment” of Iran entailed a trade embargo, extensive sanctions, hostile encounters at sea, and covert sabotage efforts, Trump’s election heralds at minimum a resumption of the “maximum pressure” campaign of his first term and perhaps even more. Hence despite the difference with Clinton’s international grand strategy, Trump seems prepared to employ similar tactics in the Middle East.  And since Clinton’s open-ended commitments to disciplining Iraq and Iran as “wayward nations” outside the fold of the international order helped generate an appetite for a more expeditious solution—George W. Bush’s freedom agenda—figuring out a sustainable Middle East security posture will be a critical dimension of Trump’s foreign policy and presidency.  In short, in determining a presidential model for Trump’s second term, there are few better points of comparison than Bill Clinton. From image management and a focus on economic growth to charismatic leadership and a pragmatic attitude to policy disputes, Trump appears likely to not only echo many elements of Bill Clinton’s presidency—an abiding irony given his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton—but also mirror his approach to political problem solving, with all its attendant potential pitfalls.  

In a meeting in New Delhi, Indian officials and their Russian counterparts discussed, among others, collaboration on the training of Indian sailors for polar navigation, joint shipbuilding projects, and the development of the Northern Sea Route

Around 40% of Turkey’s annual natural gas demand of 56 billion cubic metres is supplied by Russia. However, payment disruptions caused by the Ukraine war and US sanctions have created significant risks for Turkey’s energy security, making the search for alternative supply routes a necessity

In the previous decade and a half, Russian and Indian political and expert circles have shaped consistent narratives describing the present and future of bilateral relations

In less than ten years, China’s nationalized healthcare system has killed over fifty thousand people through peaceful, lethal, injection. These deaths are not random but befall those who have become a burden upon society – the poor, terminally ill, and clinically depressed. The Chinese rationalize these policies according to the belief that these individuals have nothing else to contribute to civilization. Other nations may help these people by giving them purpose and validation, but that is not the Communist way.  All of this is true. Except those deaths are not the product of China’s Communist government. Instead, this is happening in Canada according to a well-meaning but entirely warped sense of compassion. Nor has there been a significant international outcry against the fundamental violation of human rights happening just north of the United States. Since the Canadian government passed the “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD) in 2016, the number of deaths caused by the MAID program has risen significantly, beginning with just 1,018 in 2016 and ballooning to 13,241 by 2022, the latest year for which data is available.  Likewise, these deaths have expanded from attempts to bring peace to the terminally ill to welcoming a wide swathe of the population, including the impoverished and medically depressed, to an early grave. In short, despite the well-meaning intentions of the Canadian government, a dystopian nightmare has followed in the wake of assisted dying with no end in sight. To make matters worse, Canada’s program has expanded to other nations. Just last week Britain adopted its own assisted dying bill that risks bringing forth the dystopian nightmare of its former colony – once again with no significant international outcry. Since the advent of Christian Civilization, Western society has been based (with varying degrees of sincerity) on the simple premise that all men are created equal. This equality derives not from an equal distribution of intelligence, looks, talent, and so on, but from the idea that all lives intrinsically have dignity; that within each human is a divine spark that makes him worthy of protection and affection. The Enlightenment took this largely Christian understanding of human nature and made it culturally universal. Philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau made a more purely rational argument that all humans are equal because of the fact that no one is entitled to rule over anyone else – that no one is born to be at the top of human society. This is because no amount of raw talent or even trained skill can make one man’s life more valuable than another’s. We are all equipped with reason and can all live according to the light of that reason. Thus, the purpose of human life is to increase our capacity to govern ourselves – to become the true kings of our lives, theologically through the grace of God and politically through limited government. To put all of this another way, human dignity is found in our equal ability to enjoy and participate in life itself – to govern our existence and live as we see fit. The most sacred ethical principle of Christianity and liberal philosophy is that human life is innately sacred and should never be ended lightly.  So where did the Canadians and British go wrong? In recent years, a strand of modernity that originates with materialists, such as Thomas Hobbes, has grown stronger. This materialist view of the world views physical pleasure as the end of human life. It argues that humans exist to feel good. In practice, this means all are equal because all are equally capable of experiencing pleasure. So it is the duty of government – perhaps even the purpose of government – to intervene when someone deprives us of our ability to seek pleasure. But what happens when we are consigned to not just intermittent displeasure but to near-constant pain and suffering? The materialist answer is simple: life has been deprived of its joy and so it must end. The fact that these killings inevitably target those people seen as a burden on society – the elderly, the (mentally and/or physically) ill, the poor – should by itself suggest that these deaths are not from compassion. And, as healthcare budgets tighten, it bears reasoning that those most burdensome on society can always be persuaded to “choose” MAiD. Thus, there is no real problem with ending that life. Human existence is for pleasure, nothing else, and so as that pleasure dissipates, so too does our purpose. By this account of humanity, assisted dying is not remotely dystopian – it is the greatest act of charity. A cursory familiarity with this worldview makes it obvious that the terminally ill are not the only ones whose lives have lost meaning. Anyone who lives in ceaseless pain – mental or physical – has lost the dignity of human life. As such, it is simple mercy to take it away.  What is happening in Canada is not a fluke, it is not one country taking an otherwise good policy too far. The MAiD program is the logical end of all assisted dying programs. Other countries who are considering their own assisted dying initiatives should remember this fact. It should not be misunderstood; these programs come from a well-meaning place. The Nazis slaughtered millions out of hatred and bigotry – assisted dying is not that. Though in the final analysis, mass murder is still mass murder – even when it comes from a place of misguided love and compassion. 

Whether it's Wahhabism and other forms of Islamic radicalism, unadulterated Nazism, narco-terrorism, extremely violent criminal groups such as drug cartels, repulsive ideologies (ultra-liberal extremism and moral depravity), etc, NATO is behind it all and stands fully committed to supporting it. The people of Syria are now the hostages of this evil empire of lies, serving as the tragic showcase to all of us what the loss of sovereignty can cost an entire nation.

The US has consistently aided, funded, armed and trained Fundamentalist rebels who operate in Syria for over a decade and there is no reason to assume anything is different now with the newest developments. With this, Christians and other minorities are now in danger.

NATO countries want to prevent growth of anti-war political wave.

Biden admin prepares new $988 million military aid package for Ukraine.

Israel may defeat Hamas and Hezbollah – but it is losing the real war and its longer-term security

The announcement comes after the nation and three Southeast Asian neighbors were anointed BRICS “partner countries.”

The year 2024 has already made BRICS history with the admission of new members. It seems that further expansion is only a matter of time. This change in membership numbers has effectively overshadowed the substantive agenda of Russia’s presidency at the media and socio-political levels

A proposed BRICS currency could reshape global financial markets and reduce dependence on the dollar. But there are massive challenges …

The German leader seems absolutely desperate due to recent escalation between Moscow and the West.

The genius of Russian military specialists becomes all the more apparent when one realizes that the "Zircon" was made to fit not just into the previously mentioned 3S14 VLS, but also the K300P. Back in 2023, along with my KRN colleagues, I had the chance to analyze the size of the P-800 "Oniks" supersonic cruise missile and determined that these missiles fit into identical launchers, both on naval vessels and land-based platforms.

Anti-Russian sanctions take its toll as tens of thousands of German workers are laid off.

Plus, are we witnessing revolution in Georgia? And what do you think of Australia’s under-16s social media ban?

Russian expertise also extends to flight suits, couches, rate sensors, and space-capable materials, enhancing India’s capacity in human spaceflight

In recent years , Chinese cars have rapidly gained a foothold in the Russian market, steadily replacing many Western brands

Malaysia, a fast-growing Southeast Asian nation, has often sought to balance maintaining good relations with Western nations while fostering deeper connections with emerging economies

South Korea is home to at least nine major US military bases and no less than 24,234 military personnel, and President Yoon Suk Yeol seems to be no fool. One may assume he would have consulted with his American “allies” and gotten their “okay” before proceeding with any power-grabbing endeavors.

Owing to its magnificent Confucian traditions that stress the importance of patience and self-control, the millennia-old Chinese civilization is famous for these qualities. However, even this has its limits, particularly in the face of barbaric arrogance.

The Kiev regime does not dare to ignore any Western orders, which is why the war effort is likely to worsen and a change in the mobilization law is expected, making Kiev's military measures even more draconian.

The situation has become untenable for the besieged Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk, which will lead to Russia liberating the remaining occupied territory at a rapid pace.

How should "Greater BRICS" be understood? In the future, what role is BRICS expected to play, in terms of world governance and safeguarding the common interests of emerging market countries and developing countries? The Global Times (GT) invited experts from countries that are either members of BRICS or interested in researching this grouping to share their insights

Despite its non-membership in BRICS, South Korea shares many of the coalition’s aspirations, particularly in diversifying economic partnerships and reducing dependence on a Western-centric international order

The 16th BRICS Summit has taken place in Kazan, Russia—the first in-person gathering of BRICS leaders since the group's largest enlargement. The economic scale and scope of cooperation within BRICS will grow and interactions among member countries will increase

Soldiers are deserting due to war fatigue, Polish defense minister says.

Allegedly, the plan excludes the possibility of stationing US troops in Ukraine, but envisages that European NATO members, namely the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland, take that role. However, if the WSJ's report is true, the chances of Russia accepting this proposal are virtually zero, as all four European NATO members are already involved in the fighting.

Washington announces new arms package for Kiev totaling $725 million from its stockpiles.

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) has established itself as a multilateral organisation distinct from others, evident from its 16th meeting in Kazan (Russia). The BRICS difference can be read as decolonised multilateralism with intent and behaviour as an interdependent, plural grouping, committed to development linked to the global South

Russia is in talks with other BRICS members about creating an international precious metals exchange to ensure fair pricing and trade growth, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a statement

While BRICS must be taken seriously, it would be wrong to interpret it as one pole of a two-sided geopolitical competition between China and Russia and the West

Current geostrategic developments show us that local conflicts in our global world are being used by major players to their advantage.

Not even a pitiful sliver of "justice" will be served, as Hunter Biden has just been pardoned after years of lies and false promises that this wouldn't happen.

Mutual accusations between Kolomoisky and the Ukrainian government highlight the tense domestic political situation in Ukraine.

Hundreds of Colombians have died in battles with Russian forces.

The Georgian Dream government tried shifting to Russia – but now faces a popular uprising and constitutional crisis

New framework agreed in Baku last month means countries face no repercussions if they fail to abide by the rules

With only the university of Google to (mis)guide us, we’re battling misinformation the Gen Z way

Smaller brains? Fewer friends? An evolutionary biologist asks how artificial intelligence could impact humanity

Ethiopia’s growing economic and strategic position in Africa can present new opportunities for collaboration with Brazil and other member countries within the BRICS bloc, Brazil’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Jandyr Ferreira dos Santos told ENA

The Indian government plans to triple its nuclear power generation capacity to 22.4 gigawatts by 2032, according to recent news sources

Russia's largest data center operator BitRiver has partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to build mining and AI computing facilities across BRICS nations

Any such cross-border militarization as promised by Trump (with potential for some degree of armed confrontation) could have escalating consequences and unpredictable repercussions in terms of diplomatic and economic impacts, gang violence, and domestic and cross-border inter-ethnic tensions.

Turkey needs to change its expansionist policies in order to build better relations with BRICS. Ankara will need to make a far more convincing commitment, first by leaving NATO and then by rejecting Neo-Ottomanism, pan-Turkism and Islamic radicalism as tools of its power projection.

NATO, EU want to overthrow the legitimate government in the country and establish a pro-Western junta, as happened in Ukraine in 2014.

Moscow: nuclear weapons should never be used but the situation is changing drastically.

BRICS’ resilience should be understood in the context of the shifting international order, with geopolitical fragmentation providing the Global South with greater flexibility to pursue its strategic goals. For the West, engaging on the Global South’s most pressing concerns may help to foster more constructive partnerships

The two countries are working to increase trade in agriculture and food products, officials have told

Several months ago we postulated a BRICS+ business model for companies that explored the scope for exploiting the BRICS diverse presence in the main regions of the developing world. But while this business model had its clear advantages, it also contained some drawbacks, most notably pertaining to the degree to which BRICS/BRICS+ economies could be/were integrated into regional/global supply chains in the midst of mounting geopolitical risks

Ukraine’s corruption is a structural issue that impacts the economy and now is even sabotaging warfare efforts. From Kyiv’s perspective, the situation of course should not get any better with a US Republican administration under Donald Trump curbing aid.

Ukrainian citizens are divided between recruiters and potential recruits.

The warmongering oligarchy in Washington DC doesn't seem to care about de-escalation. On the contrary, the US and its NATO (and non-NATO) allies, vassals and satellite states are pushing for global destabilization, targeting nuclear-armed powers such as Russia, China and North Korea, as well as other sovereigntist nations such as Iran and Venezuela, among others.

Georgia’s slow reconciliation with Russia faces major backlash from pro-Western opposition

On the sidelines of the economic forum Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin made it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Belgrade is a strategic partner and "ally of Russia".

The BRICS summit in Kazan today featured the meetings of the leaders of the bloc and the adoption of the BRICS Summit Declaration. In our view, there is a tangible shift towards creating new platforms in the sphere of economic cooperation

Russian companies are ready to increase fertilizer supplies to India, but the EAEU and India could conclude a free trade agreement to remove existing barriers

The Ukrainian president was betting on a Democratic victory.

American tariffs on Europe could collapse German industry.

Vitor Dominguez de Moura, a participant in the Valdai New Generation project, explores the evolution of Russia's rhetoric on BRICS from 2009 to 2023, analysing key speeches and policy statements from the Kremlin and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

BRICS has arguably become the most dynamic group on the international stage as its core expansion is coupled with a significant rise in the number of developing economies that have expressed their desire to join the platform

How the objective strengthening of the continent’s global position will correlate with these pragmatic demands and whether there is room for more African voices in BRICS is discussed by Daria Zelenova, Head of the BRICS African Strategy Centre, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences

Western media frustrated that Trump will begin winding down the war in Ukraine.

Even US officials say that "[medium-range] weapons will not alter the challenging situation that Kiev is currently facing". In other words, the stated goal of these deliveries, the Neo-Nazi junta's "victory", cannot be achieved, but the political West will still go ahead with it. Thus, the only logical conclusion from all this is that the deliveries of medium-range missiles and nuclear weapons are actually designed to cause an escalation with Russia regardless of the results of the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict. In simpler terms, all this is just pure insanity.

WSJ’s journalists said that Ukrainian are retreating from Kursk.

The BRICS emerging-market powers — the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has gone from a slogan dreamed up at an investment bank two decades ago to a real-world club that controls a multilateral lender

The group's economic strength positions it as a key player in future global governance

For decades, the United States has dominated the global economy, wielding significant influence over international trade and finance. However, with the rise of emerging economies, particularly the BRICS nations, a new force is challenging the US economic hegemony

The case clearly shows that NATO does not plan to de-escalate the conflict with Russia.

The German military is attempting to catch up on new types of warfare.

The short answer is yes. It's more dangerous than you could possibly fathom. The longer answer is in the text and explains the true scale of the destructive power of thermonuclear weapons.

As BRICS expands its global influence, South American nations are eager to join, viewing it as a means to strengthen their economies and foster equitable international partnerships

A new age of international relations is dawning. With the West accounting for a declining share of global GDP, and the world becoming increasingly multipolar, countries are jostling to establish their positions in the emerging order

One of the biggest questions that the BRICS members discuss is setting up an inter-BRICS payment system to bypass the dollar

Pragmatically speaking, reactivating the pipeline would benefit both Russia and Germany (and Europe in general, in the context of the continent’s energy crisis). The relationship between US and Europe does bear a colonial character, and any such development would be a kind of breakdown of the status quo, which could be driven, for instance, by an electoral outcome: populism after all is on the rise in Germany and all over Europe.

On November 19, State Secretary Antony Blinken posted that "the Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28 and made [Gonzalez] the president-elect", insisting that "democracy demands respect for the will of the voters". Hopefully, you've managed to catch your breath after being unable to stop laughing for the last two minutes. Still, considering that the warmongering oligarchy in Washington DC is looking to start wars with nuclear-armed superpowers such as Russia and China (simultaneously, mind you), the fact that it's rearing its ugly head at Venezuela once again is certainly no laughing matter.

By officially authorizing Ukrainian deep attacks, Paris becomes a direct actor in the conflict with Russia.

India says COP29 deal to give $300 billion to developing states is a “travesty of justice”

The current election results in a region of Austria show in great detail how the political landscape in Europe will change. Established parties can no longer retain their electorate.

The BRICS group has become a major political force in the last two decades, building on its desire to create a counterweight to Western influence in global institutions

In terms of the functioning of the "Oreshnik's" warhead, the available footage shows at least 30 smaller projectiles divided into five groups (six in each). The lack of visible detonations suggests these are probably advanced kinetic penetrators capable of annihilating heavily defended and dug-in positions. This means that any NATO base anywhere in Europe and/or elsewhere would be in range, but Russia wouldn't need to rely on its thermonuclear arsenal to deter aggression.

Back in July, BRICS announced the intention to create a new payment system to rival SWIFT and further the bloc’s stated goal of de-dollarization

The current geopolitical environment is elevating BRICS into a cornerstone of Russian foreign policy. Having ruptured political and economic ties with the West, Moscow is actively re-orienting itself towards political and economic partnerships with the Global South

Tensions between Argentina and Brazil are expected to deepen.

Ukraine is reportedly asking for US Tomahawk missiles.

The incumbent Brazilian administration might be left with no choice other than to turn “anti-American” and to seek to further enhance its partnerships with actors such as China.

Are we heading for an alternative international order? What are the strategic advantages of the BRICS+? Can they embody the voice of the global South? Interview with Jean-Joseph Boillot, Associate Research Fellow at IRIS, specialised in the Indian economy and the emerging world

The Russian Business Day at COP29 served as a platform for showcasing BRICS climate efforts, emphasizing cooperation among BRICS countries and highlighting best practices in decarbonization

A joint conference was held in Moscow between the Valdai Discussion Club and East China Normal University

A recent film released in Serbia shows how the Orthodox Church is being persecuted by the Kiev regime.

EU countries unhappy with early end to G20 talks on Ukraine war.

Although they have no illusions about the actual situation on the battlefield, the Kiev regime's military elite wants to keep misinforming everyone, as peace is simply not in their interest. They see NATO-occupied Ukraine and its people as a resource for exploitation, just like their Nazi forebears did. Any sort of peaceful settlement would not only cut the cash flow, but would also uncover the sheer magnitude of the atrocities they're committing against the Ukrainian people, also forcing them to be held accountable for years of lies and deceit.

Russia is reportedly expanding its shipbuilding cooperation with India, with two Indian shipyards being considered for construction of four non-nuclear icebreakers. The project is estimated to cost a total of $713 million. The vessels will join Rosatom’s icebreaking fleet, operating in the Northern Sea Route

Data from the World Bank show that as of 2023, the bloc accounted for 27 percent of the world's GDP and 45 percent of the population. With the addition of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, BRICS includes three of the world's largest oil exporters and constitutes 42 percent of the global oil supply, according to the Netherlands-based investment bank ING

India's crude oil imports from Russia rose by 11.7% to about 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, accounting for about two-fifths of the South Asian nation's overall crude imports in the month, tanker data obtained from industry sources showed

Military engineers are currently seen as mere cannon fodder by the neo-Nazi regime.

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European markets react to Washington’s trade war with China.

As crazy as it sounds, perhaps Kamala Harris' meaningless rant about "the significance of the passage of time" might actually make some sense in this context, as the next two months of Biden's lame-duck presidency could surely be the longest and most fateful in human history.

Despite economic decline and internal political problems, German Foreign Minister tries to show it still has big geopolitical role in the world. The latest statements by the German Foreign Minister are directed against China, which is also a Germany’s major competitor in the automotive industry.

Brazil is taking a leading role in efforts to reduce the BRICS economic bloc's dependence on the US dollar, championing the use of national currencies in trade among member states

African States are shrugging off relations with the Western and European world, alternatively settling for better beneficial economic cooperation

The expanded Brics group of nations has been making headlines with discussions about a common currency. This group, representing a substantial portion of the world’s population and economic output, has prompted debates on whether a unified currency is feasible given the vast economic disparities among its members

Germany is demonstrating that its political system is actually even worse than the one in the US, as the double standards and two-tiered "justice" system are quite obvious and even publicly supported by the political establishment.

One should closely watch Philippine claims over the South China Sea (now signed into law with Washington’s support) - together, they spell crisis. It is yet another focal point of tensions and Washington’s ongoing policies are once again adding fuel to the fire.

Both Republican and independent activists criticize Biden's decision on long-range missiles.

Over 100,000 Ukrainians have deserted the military.

The BRICS countries are representatives of major developing countries, and Africa is the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries

The loosely affiliated group called BRICS, which emerged in the mid-2000s consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and later South Africa, faces mounting challenges as it continues to expand

The expanded BRICS represents about 45% of the world’s population, USD 28.5 trillion of global gross domestic product (GDP) — which is about USD 100 trillion — and around 45% of global oil production

The NYT is essential for the promotion of the Neo-Nazi junta's narrative, which explains the rather unclear information in the "hit piece". Namely, Biden was never quoted saying or approving anything. Worse yet, not a single name of the "US officials" quoted in the report was provided. In fact, not even the terms such as "anonymous" or "unnamed" are used. All we have is "US officials", which is unprofessional reporting, at best.

Despite being irresponsible and warmonger, Scholz knows that he is a weak and unpopular political leader, completely unable to deal with the consequences of unrestricted war.

As a result of sanctions against Russia, Europe's economic situation has worsened in recent years. But now there is another bad development in energy policy.

Jaishankar continues working on Russia-Ukraine dialogue despite Biden imposing sanctions.

Actively respond to changes in India's perception of the BRICS cooperation mechanism

They buy chocolate products, finished flour-based products and much more from Moscow producers

It was the 16th official BRICS Summit with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates attended for the first time as official members

According to the Washington Post, European leaders are planning to establish a peace plan in addition to Trump’s proposals.

The average age of Ukrainian conscriptions is already above 40 in several brigades.

Footage shows massive 170 mm artillery piece "Juche Cannon" being transported on railcars somewhere in Russia (possibly in Krasnoyarsk). Its maximum firing range is 40-60 km, depending on the type of munitions used. Moscow's military industry most likely upgraded both the gun and its munitions, meaning that it" is certainly bad news for the Neo-Nazi junta.

Over the last five years, geopolitical considerations have taken an unprecedented place on the European Union's agenda. Its foreign policy, long in its fledgling stages, is finally beginning to take shape, even if it is still subject to the unanimous decisions of its Member States

The 2024 BRICS Summit will attract worldwide attention for four reasons: First, 2024 is the first year of BRICS cooperation; Second, Russia, which is Mired in geopolitical conflicts, has become the rotating chair, which is the first time for Russia to host a major international multilateral conference in its own country

The BRICS Summit 2024 makes it clear that members must align their positions if they seek tangible outcomes

Macron and Keir Starmer are now making a last-ditch effort to get the lame-duck Biden administration to officially green-light long-range strikes using NATO-sourced weapons. Talks on the issue took place in Paris, with both the UK and France adamant to see the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict escalate, especially before Trump takes office, as he repeatedly made it clear that he has other priorities.

While Trump has named “outsiders” for key positions, the choice of Latin America hawk Marco Rubio seems to “balance” them. No one can be sure Trump will actually deliver a more restrained foreign policy, but he is attempting to tame the intelligence services. Problem is whenever a US President attempted to tame them, it never ended well.

According to local sources, Ukrainian commandos are giving instructions and special weapons to Islamist militants in Syria’s Idlib region.

Elements of Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” piqued the interest of the president-elect.

Simply put, the majority of the world does not want or accept U.S. hegemony, and is prepared to face it down rather than submit to its dictates

There is a strong possibility of India-Russia bilateral trade attaining the $100 billion target by 2030, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said

The Bank of Russia held a seminar for BRICS central banks in Brazil and presented possible areas of their cooperation in financing sustainable development

"There's one promise left that [Biden] could fulfill: being a transitional figure. He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris President of the United States," Simmons said, adding: "Democrats have to learn drama and transparency and doing things that the public will want to see. This is the moment to change the entire perspective of how Democrats operate."

Despite his public change of speech, Rubio is unlikely to act in favor of peace with Russia.

Trump will take aim at Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor production.

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Brazilian former president talked about dollar US hegemony, BRICS Bank and growing far right

Russia, currently holding the rotating presidency of the BRICS group of emerging economies, has urged member countries to create an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to counter Western political pressure

After expanding from five to 10 member countries, BRICS has entered the "Greater BRICS" cooperation track. Recent reports in dicate that Cuba and Syria have applied to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism

Unfortunately, since the political West is led by warmongering oligarchies in Washington DC and Brussels, the possibility of total annihilation of NATO is the only way to ensure global peace, as Bauer himself admitted.

Trump is seen as an enemy by all established liberal politicians in Europe. It is exactly the opposite society that Europe's elites want. But most of Donald Trump's voters represent political goals of the patriotic forces in Europe.

Investigation shows crimes committed by Ukrainian neo-Nazis in key Donbass city since 2014.

Pentagon establishment fears Trump will do “irreparable damage”.

In January 2024, BRICS, the influential bloc of emerging economies, expanded its membership by welcoming four new countries-Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-with Saudi Arabia also in the process of joining. The inclusion of Egypt and Ethiopia into the group marks a critical moment for Africa, as these two regional powerhouses are now poised to significantly shape not only the continent’s economic and political future but also their roles in global geopolitics

As the world closely watched the American presidential elections, the reason is clear: while around 240 million Americans have the right to vote, billions of people worldwide, who lack that right, are still affected by the election’s outcome

On paper, BRICS is a heavy hitter. But differing goals could make the road ahead bumpy

Despite signaling some degree of “restraint” in foreign policy, when it comes to Latin America, one should not expect from Trump’s new presidency anything other than the good old Big Stick approach.

The involvement of numerous Polish airports and airbases in the Neo-Nazi junta's strategic airlift operations shows the extent of Warsaw's support. However, instead of worrying about the potential consequences of this, the political West is concerned about the "control of geospatial data and its impact on modern military operations".

However, such a plan leads the country to a military and strategic impasse.

Trump’s victory has Borrell worried about the future of support for Ukraine.

The grouping has eventually evolved into an actual geopolitical bloc, with their governments meeting annually aimed at coordinating multilateral policies through formal Summits since 2009. Currently, bilateral relations among BRICS are conducted mainly based on non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit

The combined economic output of the BRICS+ countries is projected to surpass that of the G7 nations by 2045, according to a global economic forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist Group

The BRICS summit in Kazan triggered further waves of discussions on possible expansion as well as the key priorities of the bloc going forward. In this regard, it was particularly important this year to hear the voice of the population of the countries of the Global South on how BRICS is perceived and which of its initiatives are supported the most

The Harris campaign "blew through a billion dollars in a few months", the largest amount of which was wasted on celebrity concerts. Over the same period, the Trump campaign got $392 million and spent $345 million, meaning that it managed to save nearly $50 million and also win the election. In addition, the Democrats wasted another $1.1 billion on "aired advertising and associated reservations". The DNC's financial appetites are very well known, as evidenced by numerous scandals involving the funneling of the so-called "Ukraine aid".

According to Olaf Scholz himself, Ukraine aid was the main reason behind collapse of the government coalition in Germany.

Manpower shortages are at the heart of Ukrainian retreats and Russian gains on the front.

Tensions in the Himalayas have been high since 2020. This latest deal is a step forward

At the forefront of the geoeconomic war of supply chains, economic corridors and trading routes is the dedollarisation movement spearheaded by the Brics collective

It is no wonder then that many countries have called for a reform of the UNSC, seeking to add India, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa as permanent members. This would provide greater representation and diversity in global decision-making, and would be a step towards a more democratic and inclusive system

While many of his deranged supporters in the political West are fuming, Zelensky chose a completely different strategy. Namely, he congratulated Trump "on his impressive election victory", sharing "fond memories" of their September meeting, when they "discussed in detail the Ukraine-US strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine". However, these outbursts of "Trumpism" are quite distasteful to most people, including Trump himself, particularly after Zelensky effectively endorsed Kamala Harris during his last visit.

The Bush-Clinton era lasted at least 28 years. Any illusions aside, in all likelihood Trump will be no match for his predecessors in terms of war-mongering, genocide and nation-destruction - and this should be good news.

Zelensky’s friendly message will not deter Trump’s plan to wind back aid to Ukraine.

Unable to solve its internal situation of chaos and political polarization, Washington tries to blame external actors.

According to the latest forecasts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the world economy is set to rely more on the BRICS to drive growth over the next five years, and China alone will contribute 22% of global growth, bigger than all the G7 countries combined

The much-awaited BRICS heads of state meeting in Russia's Kazan did not disappoint. The multilateral institution has finally brought bite and substance to many of the global financial and political conundrums that have long-challenged a genuine reshaping of the global order

The creation of the BRICS “partnership belt” during the BRICS summit in 2024 is in some respects no less significant than the expansion in the BRICS core during the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa. While it may be too early to discuss the exact ramifications of the BRICS expansion associated with the “partnership belt”, in sheer quantitative terms the near doubling of BRICS core membership in 2023 was followed by a more than doubling of the circle of developing economies associated with BRICS/BRICS+ in 2024

Russia continues to gain valuable experience in Ukraine while the US sits on the sidelines.

Attempts to denigrate the jet have been quite persistent, but these PR "victories" have lately become more of a burden than any real advantage. Either way, trash-talking will in no way hamper the Su-57, while its missiles will certainly trash any NATO target in Ukraine or beyond.

BRICS Summit failed to announce alternative to US dollar-dominated global payment system as Global South still deeply dependent on US markets

China's approach to smart city development offers valuable lessons for countries in the Global South

The agenda of the Youth Council’s meeting of the association includes the implementation of the Kazan Declaration of the BRICS Summit for the young generation

The exemptions are related to energy and include gas, oil, "other products capable of producing energy" (specifically coal, wood or agricultural products used to manufacture biofuels), "uranium in any form", as well as the "development, production, generation, transmission, or exchange of power, through any means, including nuclear, thermal, and renewable energy sources".

The West can very quickly turn against India as happened with Russia and China.

The opposition did not recognize Sandu’s victory due to many cases of violation against basic democratic standards.

Macron’s foreign policy turn, using the recognition of a disputed territory as a kind of quid pro quo, has further aggravated local tensions, as has Donald Trump’s decision on the same matter. From a Global South’s point of view, it is hard to describe both leaders’ decisions as anything else as Western arrogance.

The Hungarian Prime Minister's last visit to Vienna opens a new chapter in the history of the EU. From now on we will work on reforming this political construct.

The Polish government immediately reacted by suspending the very concept of so-called "military aid" and downgrading it to what Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called a "defense loan". Namely, in an interview with Polsat News, published on November 1, Sikorski stated that the Kiev regime could "buy weapons from Polish factories on credit".

What is happening now is just the beginning of a long moral crisis that will at some point certainly lead to the collapse of the Kiev regime.

Moscow doubts Trump’s election will change much in Ukraine.

Azerbaijan’s announcement to formally apply for membership in the BRICS bloc promises mutual gains for both the oil-rich nation and the group of developing economies. It also highlights Azerbaijan’s rising influence as a pivotal player in regional trade networks bridging the West and Asia

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his country intends to buy shares in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) for $1.5 billion

“One of the pillars of BRICS is politics and security. It is one of the potential areas that we will look into with our cooperation with the Russian Federation. … So our collaboration with BRICS and Russia in peace and Security of Marine security of the coastal area is very important,” new Ethiopian Ambassador to Moscow, Genet Teshome, told

Ramokgopa said the expansion of the Brics membership was a clear affirmation of the group's growing significance

The 2024 expansion is the most important milestone, after which BRICS found itself at a fork in the road. It will either preserve and strengthen the quality of cooperation amid the new composition and turn into a genuine institute of global governance and dive into the formation of a more just world order, or it will become a loose and non-decision-making discussion club, participation in which is prestigious, but does not oblige its members to make any obligations or compromises, which are necessary for genuine multilateralism, Dmitry Suslov writes

Iranian nationals visiting Moscow show a strong preference for cultural sites while also engaging in shopping at the Russian capital’s markets, according to the deputy chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee

One Kiev regime official told Politico that he was puzzled by the negative coverage, as the US actually encouraged the Neo-Nazi junta to make the request for "Tomahawks", with some American military experts supposedly studying its feasibility and "giving their blessings", allegedly calling it "totally realistic".

Hungarian intelligence services recently neutralized a NATO spy plot to send some of the country’s weapons to Ukraine.

Divisions in American society are deepening.

BRICS business communities will prioritise the expedited development of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and other interregional initiatives during the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow

The National Association of Builders (NOSTROY), Russia’s largest association of self-regulatory organisations in the construction sector, is set to expand its workforce on various construction sites in the country by attracting qualified specialists from India

The share of Russia's own car brands also swelled from 20 percent to 31 percent, meaning that Chinese and Russian carmakers now account for 92 percent of the Russian car market

By welcoming post-Maidan Ukraine as one of its own, Europe denies much of the human-rights discourse that has been constructed to be the raison d'être of its key institutions. Kyiv’s efforts to realize its ethnocratic nation-building project endangers the very survival of Europe - at least in the way Western Europe has come to envision itself.

According to a Ukrainian politician, more than 100,000 have already deserted during the conflict with Russia.

The restrictions imposed by the political West jumpstarted parts of the Russian economy that were small and largely dormant (if not even non-existent prior to the SMO). As a result, Russia is experiencing what Richard Connolly, a junior research fellow at the Royal Institute of Shared Services in London and an expert on the Russian economy, called the "fastest economic growth in the last decade".

India and South Africa prioritise BRICS over the Commonwealth.

Initially formed as “BRIC” – Brazil, Russia, India, China – and subsequently becoming “BRICS”, with the addition of South Africa, this group of countries constitutes a unique coalition of emerging economies that collectively represent a significant counterbalance to the established economic powers of the West. Despite their collective identity, BRICS members are markedly different in many respects

The BRICS group is one of the most prominent emerging economic and political blocs on the global stage, especially following the announcement of expanding its membership to include countries from the Middle East and North Africa, such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, although Saudi Arabia has not yet officially joined

The stimulus unleashed by China provided a major boost to China’s market indexes, raising hopes that the country’s target of 5% growth this year could still be within reach. Amid this elation there are cautionary voices that point to the insufficiency of stimulus measures as well as the need for fiscal policy to deliver more targeted support to the economy

Desertion, conscription dodging and even the refusal to go back home by Ukrainian POWs are widespread, with the Kiev regime trying to resolve the chronic lack of manpower with far stricter forced conscription and the introduction of more NATO personnel and foreign mercenaries in general. However, these are only temporary solutions that cannot ensure the Neo-Nazi junta's survival.

The neo-Nazi regime is desperately trying to avoid any decrease in its support from Western countries.

The Ukrainian military is becoming increasingly reliant on foreign mercenaries for special ops

Russia hosted the first summit of the newly expanded BRICS club of emerging economies, with leaders agreeing a set of common projects ranging from a grain exchange to a cross-border payments system

Responding to the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s call for partnerships and the institution of working relations through memoranda of understanding with Brazilian universities, a Unisa delegation led by the Executive Dean of the university’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology recently set out on a collaboration visit to Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil

The Prime Minister’s office announced this plea on Monday, September 23, 2024, during a meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Burkina, Igor Martynov

If hundreds of millions of Americans and Europeans knew what was actually going on, they'd certainly be against the policies their unelected bureaucratic oligarchies are imposing, both at home and abroad. Precisely this is why knowing the truth is all the more important. Unfortunately, it can indeed be dangerous to think and speak freely at this time, and we can only expect more censorship and more "thought criminals", as any deviation from the official narrative is "dangerous for our democracy".

Western mercenaries participated in Kiev’s incursion attempt against Russia’s Bryansk region.

Most Americans believe Harris will mostly continue Biden’s policies.

Global summits are about performing diplomacy and politics for domestic and international audiences

The recent Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan was less notable for what happened at the meeting than for what happened before, on the margins, or not at all. Among the notable things that did not happen was another expansion of the organisation

The expansion of BRICS into countries that are close to the West shows how many states are hedging their bets on this non-western group of powerful economies

Controversy aside, Brazil has shown that it is possible to force BigTech into compliance. Moreover, the topic has prompted a larger national conversation on having a national social media platform - or, for that matter, a national engine search. Ultimately it is about digital sovereignty - and BRICS needs a #BricsStack too.

The current political division in European societies has created forces on the right and left. There is a lot that separates these parties, but they also have a lot in common. This situation opens up new perspectives for cooperation.

Both Turner and Kirby suggested that "if they deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game". Neither specified what exactly the Pentagon would do (much less how), but if they were indeed suggesting direct military action, the only logical conclusion is that the warmongering oligarchy in Washington DC is more out of touch than previously thought.

According to John Healey, the UK's Defense Secretary, the previous British administration affected the defense capacities of the country.

Orban blasts EU’s support for Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” and says they want to replace him.

Short of war, defamation is the Deep State's last-ditch effort to (ab)use the Trump derangement syndrome, although it seems extremely unlikely this will work. Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election, next week will surely be the most faithful in recent memory, as the warmongers, war criminals and plutocrats are desperately trying to claw their way back into the halls of power in the US.

In the 21st century, the Arctic region has become highly significant in terms of strategy, geopolitics, and economics. Science is playing a substantial role in the Arctic, raising global awareness about its distinct ecosystem and the ongoing geopolitical maneuvers by both Arctic and non-Arctic states

The idea of policy coordination among BRICS has clearly become more popular in the past several years and yet there is still a lack of detail and focus with respect to the possible modalities of such cooperation in the sphere of trade and macroeconomic policy

Unfortunately, bilateral trade in national currencies may impede the deepening of economic ties among BRICS countries. Hence, establishing an alternative medium of exchange is both essential and urgent

BRICS are proving to be efficient in bringing together major emerging powers and creating a multipolar geopolitical platform.

North Korean troops could be used to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia’s Kursk region.

Uruguay’s elections have the potential to change the ideological power balance in South America, and thus pave the way for a Venezuelan come-back out of its relative isolation.

" We reiterate the importance of further enhancing BRICS solidarity and cooperation based on our mutual interests," the declaration reads

Saudi Space Agency Vice Chairman and CEO Dr. Mohammed Altamimi led the Saudi delegation to the fifth edition of the G20 Space Economy Leaders Meeting, held in Foz do Iguaçu

The Automotive Business Council’s BRICS+ Research Report 2024 has found that South Africa has not substantially benefited from its membership of the bloc, but this could change should membership be expanded

Researcher in psychology was criticized by Estonian authorities for investigating Ukrainian nationalism.

Satellite imagery shows that the "Typhon" Weapon System is deployed in Laoag. From there, "Tomahawk" cruise missiles armed with W80 thermonuclear warheads can reach some of China's most important cities, including Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai. This is absolutely unacceptable for Beijing, particularly as most of central China would also be in range.

The declining US economy weighs heavily on voter decision-making.

Although PM Anwar could have rested on his laurels to lead Malaysia as the Chairman of Asean and the East Asian Summit in 2025, he chose to pitch Malaysia's aspiration to join BRICS

Western-led order’s unraveling on full display as BRICS gathering in Russia gives IMF meet in US an economic reality check

Turkey tends to march to its own drum in international affairs

The BRICS economic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are sitting in the catbird seat as the world’s wealthiest nations spend billions of dollars to transition their economies away from fossil fuels

The Guardian argues that "Putin returned to the world stage by hosting 36 leaders at the BRICS Summit". However, this "return" exists only in the "parallel reality" of the political West's microcosm. In our actual timeline, the Russian president never left the stage.

Desertion and surrender are becoming commonplace among troops.

Only two polling stations were opened by Moldovan authorities in Russia.

As the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia approaches, attention is focused on how the group will balance its growing geopolitical influence with core economic objectives. Following the 2023 expansion when six new members were invited to join, BRICS now faces the challenge of integrating these countries while refining its broader strategy

The railways of Russia, Mongolia and China have confirmed plans to increase freight traffic. The protocol on approval of plans to increase freight traffic through the Russia—Mongolia—China railway corridor was signed by the heads of the neighboring railways of the three states in the Chinese city of Hohhot

If Malaysia keeps its card close to its chest and plays it right, it has every chance to benefit from joining BRICS, a grouping of countries comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

China, Egypt cement partnership in infrastructure, connectivity, new energy: ambassador

While the idea that 12,000 North Korean troops will replace "massive Russian losses" (obviously proving that, in that case, the losses aren't really massive) is ridiculous, the possibility of Pyongyang sending special forces shouldn't be ruled out entirely. North Korea has a sizeable SpecOps Corps, but lacks combat experience. Thus, it's not outside of the realm of possibility that Pyongyang itself asked Moscow to send some of them to Ukraine or at least Russia, where they could train with Russian special forces.

The Kiev regime is destroying the demographics of Ukraine.

The country is absolutely polarized, mainly due to aggressive Western influence.

PODCAST | ep16 | with Damir Kapidžić, Denisa Sarajlic, and Nace Zavrl   One room. One locked-down camera. One roll of film. A group of famous directors from the 1960s took the challenge: they would make a short film with these parameters plus one more—their dialogue must include the sentence “I Miss Sonia Henie.” The result was a bawdy, ludicrous compilation that became an international classic. It’s featured in a new film retrospective called The Yugoslav Junction: Internationalism in the SFRY: 1958–1988. The Weatherhead Center is cosponsoring this program of short and long films from socialist Yugoslavia, which takes place at the Harvard Film Archive beginning November 9. Today we’re talking to the curator of the series along with two Weatherhead fellows from Bosnia and Herzegovina who will set up the political and cultural background for these rare films, and they’ll discuss three of them— one each from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Listen to episode #16 (38:39) by clicking the play button below: ... Read more about Rare Films from Socialist Yugoslavia

BRICS today leaves no one indifferent; its polarising influence extends to the remote corners of the world. For some, it is definitely a “bone in the throat”, while for others - the only beacon of hope in the raging ocean of our world. For still others, it is a complete working tool for reforming the existing world order. Regardless of the polarity of the assessments, no one ignores or denies the strong place of the association in international relations

Q&A with Mihaela Papa of MIT's Center for International Studies

Malaysia, as an independent and sovereign nation, is focused on maintaining diplomatic relationships with various countries across the globe, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Despite the Freedom Party's victory in the Austrian elections, leaders of other parties and the Federal President are trying to exclude the winners from participating in a government.

Pertaining to the “Israel-Ukraine dilemma”, the Jewish state is clearly the winner. The US goal thus far has been to contain the Islamic Republic of Iran without actually going to war - and it has therefore worked hard to curb the Israelis. This tension management policy is risky and may end up untenable.

As all of its other programs failed, the US is now desperate to at least match regional powers such as North Korea and Iran. What's more, the latter very likely also gave its hypersonic missiles to allies in the Middle East (specifically in Yemen), making America's embarrassment all the worse.

Kiev would never be allowed to have such weapons, neither by the West or Russia.

Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” receives mixed reactions from allies.

The BRICS summit will be held in Kazan, Russia on October 22-24, in which an important meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected. There has been no direct conversation between the two leaders after the Galwan conflict of 2020. Russia's mediation may be important in this summit

BRICS, initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. As an alliance of key emerging economies, BRICS plays a significant role in the global economic landscape

“…There was another club called G7 and you won’t let anyone else enter the club. So we went on to form our club…As it started it gained a life of its own over the period of time. Others saw value in it as well…,” said Jaishankar at an event at the Global Center for Security Policy in Geneva

Even if the political West doesn't provide the means for the Kiev regime to acquire nuclear weapons, it may help them make the so-called "dirty bomb". Russia has been warning about this for years.

According to Vaclav Claus, the US should avoid the “Thucydides Traps”.

Kremlin describes Zelensky’s Victory Plan as “a collection of incoherent slogans”.

The Russian city of Kazan will host guests from 33 countries at the BRICS summit from October 22 to 24. This is the largest historical event for the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia and the entire democratic world, which is impossible to ignore — even if you really, really want to

At its forthcoming summit in Kazan, BRICS will once again reiterate that it was founded for shaping an international order that is more fair, just, inclusive, equitable and representative

Member nations are unhappy with the systemic bias against the Global South and want to reform the current order such that mutually agreed upon norms are applied equally to all nations

At the current meeting of defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the new Secretary General faces a major challenge. This challenge is called “Ukraine’s NATO accession”

After years of trying to build the image of the Neo-Nazi junta as the "beacon of democracy", it seems that Zelensky, whose lionization was the primary task of the mainstream propaganda machine, is now being thrown under the bus.

With today’s Ukrainian leadership and state of affairs, the task of nation-founding with all its territorial ambitions does not seem to be achievable. And it would not be a desirable outcome in terms of local security or the human rights of a large part of the population.

Scholz’s recent words about peace sound hypocritic and banal.

Canadian PM prioritises external issues instead of his country’s many domestic problems.

BRICS+ presents India an opportunity to assert its role as the leader of the Global South to shape a multipolar and more equitable world

As is well-known, de-dollarisation has become a hot topic since 2022, when the United States and Europeans decided to block a large part of Russia’s international reserves in response to the invasion of Ukraine

Fresh of the success of its successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, India is now reportedly interested in joining Russia’s lunar nuclear power plant project. The initiative, spearheaded by Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, is part of Moscow’s bigger project of building a base on the Moon in partnership with China. But what do we know about the proposed power project?

Closer ties are being built in the cases of Russia-China, Russia-North Korea and China-North Korea. This is very reminiscent of the way the Entente was formed in decades and years before WWI, when Russia, France and the UK agreed to keep the then-nascent German expansionism in check. If the pathologically Russophobic London was able to find common ground with Moscow (or, to be precise, St. Petersburg back then), imagine the ease with which Russia, China and North Korea could form an Entente-like alliance.

Amid current tensions with Russia, Western countries are launching a major nuclear exercise, putting local security at significant risk.

The EU is slipping from being considered a great power like the US or China.

Interest countries show in bloc signals vote of confidence in it

Baku’s strategic position and aspiration to diversify its economy aligns with Beijing’s vision for Eurasian connectivity

In a move aimed at strengthening ties and boosting tourism and trade, India is prepared to introduce direct flights from Russia to two of its most popular destinations – Goa and Mumbai

As Russian forces keep advancing, they're finding evidence of war crimes by the Neo-Nazi junta. Perhaps the most concerning is the disappearance of around 1000 locals. The Kremlin has issued a formal accusation that the Neo-Nazi junta forces kidnapped 1,000 residents of the Kursk region. Russian authorities confirmed this after the relatives of the missing locals pleaded with the government to help find them.

US president says he is ready for nuclear diplomacy, but his foreign policy is actually putting at risk the entire world security architecture.

Muslim Americans begin turning their back on the Democrats.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi announced that the decision regarding the country’s potential membership in the BRICS economic bloc will be made during the next government term under President-elect Prabowo Subianto

The Western-centered post-Cold War world order resulted in the development of hierarchical state perceptions of their role and influence in the international system

Malaysia has the potential to emerge as a significant source of tourism for BRICS countries, according to Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil

It seems already impossible to avoid a crisis of legitimacy from starting in Europe, considering local people’s high level of discontentment with their states’ international policies.

The Western propaganda notion that there is no such thing as an (often neo-Nazi) radical ethnic nationalism problem in Ukraine has no basis in fact. The problem is real - it has also been aided, armed, funded and whitewashed by the West and it has been a huge part of the crisis since 2014.

The support that NATO provides to the Kiev regime, especially in terms of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) would be severely disrupted (or even negated entirely) by the Russian military, meaning that the Polish military would be effectively blind in such a conflict. This would greatly increase casualties for NATO, which is precisely why its top-ranking military officers are planning for such an eventuality.

Powerful figures in Ukraine still remain staunchly opposed to peace talks.

Minimising the number of one’s enemies while multiplying one’s number of friends is a basic principle of diplomacy that has existed for centuries. The simplicity of the principle itself is more than compensated by the complexity of its practical implementation. In international relations, the price of friendship may be too high, limiting freedom of manoeuvre, while open hostility brings existing contradictions to the limit, radically resolving them in favour of one side or another

The world appears to be increasingly moving towards a multipolar future as Western sanctions on Russia have hastened the de-dollarization trend. According to one think tank, the world order could soon see a major shake-up as BRICS countries consider using the ‘petroyuan’ for oil settlements

South Africa is introducing a new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS), with effect from January 2025, to facilitate tourists from China and India, said the Department of Home Affairs

Despite non-functioning systems for returning illegal migrants and reintroduced border controls between EU states, an early expansion of the Schengen zone is being considered.

Poland pledges to more than double the number of professional soldiers

The Presidential Office, headed by the infamous Andriy Yermak, which is responsible for preparing such gatherings, confirmed there won't be a 'peace summit', neither this month nor the next. An adviser to Yermak also stated that the plan was simply "no longer feasible".

This measure could significantly worsen the current tensions between Russia and NATO.

Our progress in combating the global climate crisis has stagnated. This is not due to a lack of effort but because our technology for managing greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions has not kept pace with the tech advancements in other resource-intensive fields

Bolivia has reaffirmed its significant interest in becoming a member of the BRICS group, as confirmed by the country's Foreign Minister, Celinda Sosa

Azerbaijan's trade turnover with the BRICS countries saw a significant rise during the first seven months of 2024. The total trade volume between Azerbaijan and BRICS countries increased by 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year, surpassing $5.8 billion

Europe might not even be up for such a task - but in any case, off it goes. It is increasingly expected to bear all the burden and risks while the US benefits from it. And the European elites cheer such a scenario. It is no wonder political radicalism keeps rising in the continent.

The French military started a "profound transformation to be ready for a high-intensity conflict similar to the war in Ukraine" and it has "new marching orders from NATO: By 2027 it should be able to deploy a war-ready division in 30 days, including ammunition and supplies". In NATO, a division has anywhere from 10,000 to as many as 25,000 troops.

Orban shows pessimism towards Europe and calls on leaders to act immediately for peace.

Zelensky understands making any concession to Russia “would be fatal for him”.

Recently, more countries, including Azerbaijan, Malaysia, and Thailand, have applied to join the BRICS bloc, which represents the leading emerging economies worldwide. The growing prominence and appeal of this group are attracting significant attention, especially from nations in the Global South, as the BRICS Summit is set to take place at the end of October

The five BRICS nations have signed an MOU that sets up conditions for a partnership between the members of the block to establish joint carbon markets projects and targets

As geopolitical tensions escalate and new security challenges emerge, the upcoming 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan promises to be a critical turning point

Military sources indicate that Pyongyang is now building its first nuclear-powered submarine, an unprecedented development for a small country. North Korea has already accumulated significant experience in operating all sorts of submarine types, including conventionally powered ones, but armed with nuclear-tipped SLBMs.

In a recent statement, Kamala Harris emphasized she will not support any kind of dialogue with Russia without Ukrainian direct participation.

UK’s migrant numbers top those of Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

According to media reports, the German federal government is significantly reducing its economic expectations for 2024. Economics Minister Habeck expects a decline of 0.2 percent.

UAE strengthens energy ties with BRICS, driving global collaboration and sustainable growth in emerging markets

Officials from China and Africa gathered in Shanghai to launch a new initiative aimed at accelerating green development and combating climate change

Bloc set to discuss expansion at summit in Russia in October

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico promised not to accept Kiev in NATO as long as he stays in office.

For years, the mainstream propaganda machine has been reporting that Iran is a "week, month or year away from acquiring nuclear weapons". Back in July, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that "instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, [Tehran] is now probably one or two weeks away". Such speculation is so common that most people simply don't pay attention to it.

Milei contradicts Argentina’s efforts to reclaim the Falkland Islands.

From April 19 to June 1, India conducted its general elections to select 543 Lok Sabha members. These elections, regarded as the world’s largest festival of democracy, involved 969 million eligible voters, approximately one-eighth of the global population. India is the fifth-largest economy and a rising global power, so its polls carry significant global importance

We have extensively covered the BRICS expansion as well as its key implications for the world economy, most notably from the viewpoint of which categories of countries would benefit the most from the enlargement of the BRICS core. One aspect, however, of this expansion that has not received sufficient attention in the discussions was the rise in the consolidated share of the expanded BRICS grouping in international organizations such as the IMF

The development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is currently one of Russia’s key strategic projects for the Arctic region. Given its scale and significance, developing the NSR also requires expanding international cooperation and participation in the project. Russia has been actively attracting Indian partners to find areas where the two can work together to expand the project

Already out of office, Stoltenberg finally feels free to say what he really thinks about the current war with Russia.

Turkish attempts to project itself as a regional leader (as the “voice of humanity’s conscience”, in the words of its Foreign Ministry) are part of larger ambitions that have been described as a Neo-Ottomanist agenda. Such has always faced opposition in the Middle East and beyond.

The fact that the S-70 'Okhotnik-B' was lost during a covert strike mission involving a Su-57S shows that this UCAV justified the very purpose of its existence – it's a far more expendable aircraft than a manned jet, a sentiment shared by prominent military analysts. And while the drone was lost, it provides the Russian military with invaluable combat experience that will allow the implementation of various improvements to the design before it truly enters mass production (a rather unnerving prospect for the Neo-Nazi junta).

Stoltenberg says Kiev should consider recognising the reality of territorial losses to Russia.

The volume of sunflower oil exports from Russia to India in 2024 could increase to 40% of the total import volume of this product by India. This was stated by the President of the International Sunflower Oil Association, Sandeep Bajoria

South African state logistics group Transnet agreed a 5 billion rand ($283.53 million) loan from the New Development Bank set up by the BRICS group of emerging economies

'During the meeting, both sides signed a working plan of the commission which will be implemented during 2025-26'

In her new book, Amy Austin Holmes recounts how a multiethnic coalition stopped a genocide, defied Bashar al-Assad, and then created a statelet to govern their region. Interview by Michelle Nicholasen... Read more about Survival and Self-Determination in Northeast Syria

Estonia and Finland are planning to blockade the Gulf of Finland against Russia shipping, amid an increase on NATO activity in the Baltic Sea.

Leaked documents show that several high-ranking American officials and at least one think tank took part in planning the Neo-Nazi junta's attack. Apparently, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul had his email hacked, revealing "peculiar" papers on the Kursk oblast incursion. Along with former US ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine John Herbst, McFaul was invited to take part in a wargame organized by the Atlantic Council, a rabidly warmongering think tank based in Washington DC.

Zelensky once again called on NATO for an increase in the military assistance program.

Yet the Kiev regime claims that it is the Kremlin who is not opening to negotiations.

South Africa, as a key player in the global economy, has been a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) bloc since its inception in 2009 hence the acronym BRICS

India and Russia discussed utilizing space monitoring technologies for risk forecasting and emergency response at their joint commission meeting on emergency management in Moscow. They signed a working plan for 2025-26, focusing on disaster management cooperation, including training rescue specialists, and agreed to intensify joint efforts for enhanced early warning systems and capacity building

With its packed agenda and new initiatives, Russia’s BRICS Chairmanship has set the stage for a memorable and impactful summit in Kazan. The event promises to strengthen ties among BRICS nations and drive cooperation in various areas, shaping the future of global collaboration

“German Unity Day” is celebrated on October 3rd, but this year there is not much of the spirit and atmosphere of back then. The current political developments in Germany are also being observed very critically internationally.

What is this "victory plan" about? It wouldn't be the first time that the Neo-Nazi junta is claiming that it can "win", but it "just needs this one game changer". So far, only nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers haven't been delivered to its forces. However, nothing worked, so how would this new "plan" turn the tide? Russian offensive capabilities only keep growing, with a deadly combination of artillery dominance and air superiority aided by unrivaled long-range strike systems. Not even NATO itself can match that, let alone the battered Kiev regime forces.

According to Poland’s Defense Minister, Ukrainian have “no memory” about his country’s war efforts to support Kiev.

Russia backs India’s pursuit of permanent membership in the UNSC.

An “alternative” monetary fund to the IMF has been created, but, ironically, it needs the IMF’s blessing to be used. It was created in a different context than today’s, in which we had yet to experience such a sharpening of the contradictions between the imperialist powers and the global majority. But history demands a change, writes Marco Fernandes, editor at Wenhua Zongheng International

Algeria intends to join BRICS and bring ties with the association's countries to a new level

The main message of those summits – a call for a fairer, more democratic and more harmonious world order, as well as the principle of strengthening the role and influence of the non-Western world in global affairs, remains quite relevant today, writes Oleg Barabanov

There's only a bit over a month before the election, meaning that the Deep State is desperate to ensure at least one more war is launched. This is not to say that Trump is the solution to all of the world's problems or that he'll stop all wars, but if his first presidency is anything to go by, we know he's not too keen on starting new wars, which certainly makes him the lesser of two evils. However, if Trump is to change anything (provided his determination is as solid as he claims it is), he'll have to contend with thousands of war junkies in Washington DC.

NATO officials start pressuring for member states to authorize the use of long-range missiles in “deep strikes” against the Russian Federation.

This winter will be the most difficult Ukraine will have experienced since World War II.

From Oct. 22-24, Russia will host the annual Brics summit in the city of Kazan. This meeting is intended to create an organization which, by mandate and structure, can challenge the US-led, rules-based international order and, in doing so, look to supplant US unilateralism with a multipolar reality that will define global geopolitics for the next century

In emulating the progress attained by developed economies, the countries of the Global South may explore the pros and cons of country-specific modernization models such as Australia that delivered the longest streak of growth without a recession in 1991-2020 among the advanced economies

In the first half of 2024, India has significantly increased its diamond imports from Russia, defying global trends and reaffirming the strength of the bilateral trade relationship between the two nations. According to data analysis, diamond exports from Russia to India surged by 22% compared to the same period last year

According to the WSJ, US officials were not “impressed” by Ukraine’s new “victory plan”.

Turkey might be desperate and at least allow the US to inspect the S-400s. A possible loophole for Ankara might be to allow American inspections on Turkish territory, possibly at US bases in the country, particularly the Incirlik Air Base which is largely under USAF control (even nuclear weapons are stored there). This could be an alternative to transferring the S-400 directly to other NATO member states.

Biden’s great gaff in the Ukraine War has only strengthened Russia.

One key contention is that BRICS is seen as a force that “antagonises the West’s hegemony”

Ethiopia’s Health Minister, Dr. Mekdes Daba, met with a delegation from India, led by Ambassador Anil Kumar Rai, to discuss deepening cooperation in healthcare between the two nations

Several months ago we postulated a BRICS+ business model for companies that explored the scope for exploiting the BRICS diverse presence in the main regions of the developing world

Contrary to Western propaganda, Moscow has actually sought to cooperate with the West since the nineties, time again being betrayed by the West in the process.

Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank admitted that NATO will be unable to maintain air superiority over the frontlines in a conflict with Russia, which is the cornerstone of the political West's military strategy. He explained how it would be completely different from the illegal NATO invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

International organizations are becoming unable to keep humanitarian assistance due to prolongation of the conflict.

Even if the FPÖ does not enter government, the party has a strong opportunity to do a good job in parliament. It can now continue to build up its structures and will also have good position in the regional elections.

Zelensky insists on pushing the delusional 10-point “peace” plan.

During January-July 2024, Azerbaijan's trade turnover with BRICS countries amounted to USD 5 billion 837,895 million, according to calculations made by APA-Economics based on the report of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan

India is paying increasing attention to the Arctic region, as evidenced by the discussion of Arctic issues during the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia in early July

Flight HU765 departed from Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou City, south China's Hainan Province, marking the launch of a new air route linking the Chinese city with Moscow

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is whining about Sino-Russian ties and laments about drones and unmanned technologies in general, saying that "we see the role of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and other capacities that are penetrating the Ukrainian airspace", insisting that "much of that has been supported surreptitiously by China" and that this "raises serious concerns". Obviously, the US and NATO nearly causing thermonuclear war is "far less concerning" than Beijing selling FPV drones.

In a recent interview with local journalists, the Ukrainian Defense Minister accidentally admitted that Ukraine's war situation is absolutely unviable, given the high level of foreign dependence.

Controversy over lifting restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Kiev divides the West.

In recent years, the BRICS coalition-comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-has garnered significant attention from the Global South. Countries from various regions, particularly in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, are increasingly expressing interest in joining this bloc

Yevgeny Primakov’s idea of India, Russia and China playing a balancing role in the post-Cold War era was ahead of its time. But as recent moves show, it’s worth revisiting now

Chile's government has expressed willingness to join BRICS

Poland is angered over Ukrainian offensive attitudes towards the topic of Volhynia massacre victims and burial. Post-Maidan Ukraine is already a far-right regime while Poland is undergoing its own nationalist revival and once again this ideological factor is bound to cripple Ukrainian-Polish relations.

Only when it's faced with the prospect of complete annihilation, the political West starts behaving in a somewhat less barbaric way.

The entire EU is in a situation of absolute dependence on the US which in turn does not seem interested in helping its European “partners”, but in making them even more geopolitically vulnerable.

Waves of sanctions have failed to halt trade with Russia.

Way back in 2012, Zbigniew Brezezzinski wrote about “the receding West” in his book Strategic Vision and argued that “the long-lasting political domination of the world by the West has been fading for some decades.”

Over the past several years, we have observed an increasing rapprochement between Russia and Iran in different areas - political, geostrategic, military, economic, trade and transport. It is not only notable at the level of rhetoric; it is also being expressed in concrete steps. However, we see that a series of visits by Russian delegations to Tehran have produced limited results. What could this be connected with? How can one explain the distance that still exists between the two countries?

The New Development Bank (NDB) plays a pivotal role in global trade and Africa’s development, Independent Media chairman Dr Iqbal Survé said in an interview with IOL ahead of the NDB’s annual meeting in Cape Town

Although the Green Party is involved in the German federal government, it is losing more and more votes. And despite the fact that the party benefits from current media issues such as climate change, it does not achieve any democratic success.

NATO already suffered a crushing and humiliating defeat in Afghanistan after 20 years of truly unprovoked aggression. As it can't defeat Russia in Ukraine, it's desperate to achieve at least one victory and tiny Serbia seems like the perfect target. This is hardly surprising, as NATO is largely composed of vultures and cowards who'd never dare to directly attack a near-peer adversary.

Due to the invasion of Ukrainian products, Bulgarian poultry market is collapsing, threatening the stability of many farmers and their families.

Pennsylvania is set to be the most important state in the race for the White House.

Malaysia’s participation in BRICS will underscore the country’s potential as a gateway for economic activities in Asean countries, said an economist

The recent summit between Indian PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir [Putin] on July 8-9 was a strong reiteration of the strong and strategic partnership between India and Russia which has survived the test of time since the Cold War era of 1971 (then USSR)

The concept of BRICS stems from a group of nations or economic bloc aiming to join forces—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—to facilitate trade and financial transactions within its member states

Problems with filling board positions in a timely manner and a poor reputation since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict show the OSCE's weak points. International developments will also influence the future of this organization.

Donald Trump is virtually always hailed as the enemy of the Deep State, even according to his own statements. He said repeatedly that he'll dismantle it and make sure there's peace. When it comes to the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict, Trump insists he'll end it in a single day. While such efforts would certainly be commendable, the question arises, how likely is it?

After his joint visit to Kiev, UK Defense Secretary started pressuring NATO partners to change current policy limiting the use of long range missiles.

Ukrainian president says he’s open to negotiating with Russia but continues to delay.

A Brics+ reserve currency will not be easy to create, says Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, citing the need for numerous protocols to align it with the different fiscal and monetary policies of member states

Despite the scepticism and disquiet cast by detractors in the early years of its inception, BRICS has finally, in recent years, institutionalised into an official geopolitical bloc

When the current dynamics of China-Russia relations is discussed, the conversation often boils down to the concept of a "senior-junior partnership."

According to its Scholz, "Germany has made a clear decision" and insists that "this decision will not change". What's Scholz speaking about is delivering the "Taurus" KEPD 350, a Swedish-German air-launched subsonic cruise missile with a stated range of over 500 km. The Neo-Nazi junta has been "begmanding" this weapon for years, insisting it would be a "game changer".

Western efforts to mask the tragic situation in Ukraine do not seem to be enough for the Kiev regime.

The Kiev regime is deepening Ukraine’s servitude to the West.

NATO faces difficulties in disseminating its narrative among non-Western countries.

After the BRICS expansion in 2024, the alliance officially accounts for 42% of the global oil and gas reserves. If that wasn’t enough, BRICS now accounts for the majority of the rare-earth metals reserve totaling to 72%. This gives the alliance an added advantage in global trade in the oil and rare-earth metals sectors

Western leaders who are currently condemning Russia are losing popularity and legitimacy both internally and externally, as demonstrated in the recent European Parliament elections. Concurrently, the so-called "global majority" has been assuming an increasingly prominent role in crucial issues of international security. These developments have prompted a reflection on why the pursuit of support from the Global South has become central to the maintenance of the conflict in Ukraine and, moreover, why these countries do not support Western efforts to destabilise Russia and China through a proxy war in Ukraine

From October 22 to 24, 2024, a BRICS summit will be held, with a key agenda discussing the potential use of a gold-backed common currency

It's in both NATO's and Zelensky's interest to keep the war going for as long as possible, only for very different reasons. The world's most vile racketeering cartel needs it because it can't fight Russia directly, while the Kiev regime frontman knows he'll stay relevant only for the duration of the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict. However, in order to achieve its goals, the political West doesn't really need him and can easily place another figurehead to continue his "work".

The US uses EU’s irresponsibility to test Russian patience.

Azerbaijan wants to join BRICS, the issue is being worked out. This was stated by the Ambassador of the Republic in Russia Polad Bulbul oglu

In a recent report by TASS, a major state-owned news agency in Russia, Valentina Matviyenko, the Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, announced significant progress on the BRICS digital payment platform, an initiative that could potentially revolutionize global financial transactions

Malaysia's participation in BRICS, alongside India's established presence in the intergovernmental organisation, presents significant opportunities for both nations to deepen their economic collaboration through this influential trade platform

US Ambassador categorically says there has been no explicit support for Brazil to join UNSC.

According to Le Figaro, Western officials now see the diplomatic solution as the most appropriate for the conflict with Russia.

The American grip over Europe is colonial in nature and it is about time to acknowledge that.

On September 4, a precision strike was launched at the positions of NATO personnel in the city of Krivoy Rog. Upwards of 250 soldiers (French and Polish mercenaries among them) were neutralized. The Neo-Nazi junta and the mainstream propaganda machine tried hiding this with claims that the Arena Hotel in the city was "packed with civilians" and that "the attack damaged a civilian facility, injuring 5 people, including one child".

Under the Modi regime, India's foreign policy has seen considerable changes in geopolitical strategies, economic development, and power shifts in the global arena

Economy minister Rafizi Ramli says it will not affect its international relations as Malaysia practices neutral principles in dealing with global issues

The BRICS group of emerging-market nations will discuss deepening the use of local currencies in trade between member states at a summit in South Africa next week, the nation’s ambassador to the bloc said

However, the (acting) SS Director and the failed assassin aren't the only ones pushing for WW3. Namely, the outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg openly supports the Kiev regime's use of Western-made weapons to strike targets deeper within Russia.

According to the Ukrainian president, by using terror against Russians, Kiev would be able to make local people turn against Putin.

Germany has ignored Israel’s weapons purchase request since 2023.

Ultimately, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has established itself as an informal association pursuing a comprehensive and multi-dimensional cooperation. It has also, in the course of its operations, created the platform for discussing important topics relating to economic growth, developing trade and economic exchanges, ensuring security as well as promoting education and culture

E-commerce is a key part of global shopping, offering huge opportunities for traders and consumers everywhere

With Malaysia and Thailand recently launching their bids to join the BRICS group of developing economies, there are intensifying discussions about the prospects and possibilities of a broader cooperative framework that could involve BRICS+ and ASEAN

In recent years, the Neo-Nazi junta got directly involved in pro-terrorist operations. Reports indicate that it's working together with HTS and several other (mostly Turkish-backed) terrorist groups. Major sources in Turkey, such as the Istanbul-based Aydinlik, also covered this in a report that actually predates Lavrov's statements. The outlet claims that "Ukrainian government officials recently traveled to Idlib and met with members of HTS to discuss a drones-for-fighters deal".

Western countries could retaliate against recent Georgian decision not to engage in anti-Russian hostilities.

The introduction of 100% punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars takes the economic war between the USA and China to a new level. Will China have to look for new business partners in the long term?

US may lose the ability to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

Amid focused debates and high optimism to establish an economic clout, BRICS are steadily looking forward to a new era of de-dollarizing the global economic system by introducing a new currency

The emerging countries that comprise the BRICS group are leading a geopolitical paradigm shift towards a fairer and more equitable global economic balance, as opposed to the dominance of the G7 in an increasingly multipolar world. While there is still a long way to go, the pillars of a new world order are being formed

India and Russia are exploring the idea of a dynamic reference rate to start a rupee-rouble market, along with allowing greater deployment of the rupee balance that has accumulated in course of trade between the two countries since outbreak of the Ukraine war

For the first time in 22 years, German Navy ships are sailing through the Taiwan Strait. The frigate "Baden-Württemberg" and an accompanying ship sail through the strait.

One of the major reasons why RT is being targeted is its coverage of the Biden crime family's illicit dealings, reported extensively by numerous independent media.

Snowden reasons that “with alleged Trump shooter’s personal and public participation in military activity in Ukraine, it is hard to imagine this White House’s agencies can claim zero contact”.

According to Le Monde, French officials fear the beginning of a “third world war”.

The Biden administration opposes RT for criticising its neoconservative worldview.

BRICS+ is emerging as a catalyst for a new type of international relations to ensure diverse voices and interests are respected, contributing to a more stable and just global community

The civilisational paradigm has reappeared in the political discourse of many countries, accompanying the emancipation of the world majority and the transition to a multipolar and democratic order. China and Russia are at the forefront of this epoch-making transformation, and the leaders of the two countries have recently adopted the civilisational perspective with regards to both domestic and international development. In analysing the conceptual dimension of this civilisational turn, Valdai Club expert Ladislav Zemánek concludes that, despite certain differences, the paradigm is supportive of creating synergies between Beijing and Moscow at the moment

India and Russia are working on a contract for the supply of nuclear fuel and key components for two new power units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant ( NPP ), and are also considering the possibility of creating a joint venture (JV) for the production of NF

President Vladimir Putin just made it very clear that the entire NATO will be held accountable.

The Pentagon started a study to assess the impact of a nuclear war in Eurasia.

The Global South can be seen as a 21st-century version of the non-aligned movement.

> “Malaysia has sent a letter of application to join the (BRICS) organisation to Russia as the BRICS chairman, besides expressing openness to participate as a member country or strategic partner,” Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced

The IV Eurasian Women's Forum (EWF) will be held in St. Petersburg from 18 to 20 September

Imagine a world where five powerhouse nations are redefining the global economic landscape. BRICS—an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—is not just a coalition of emerging markets; it is a formidable alliance shaping the future of global finance and investment

Democrats particularly have, among other things, consistently funded and armed the far-right in Ukraine, and thus have poured gasoline on the fire, which is rather ironic, considering how the Democrat Party is fond of throwing accusations of Nazism as a political weapon.

The neo-Nazi junta is desperate to get support for its irresponsible plan to use long-range missiles against “deep” Russian territories.

Moscow and Tehran already have a very successful military cooperation, particularly when it comes to drones. The most prominent of these are certainly the "Shahed-131" and "Shahed-136", better known as "Geranium-1" and "Geranium-2" in Russian service. These unmanned systems provide the Kremlin with a robust and cost-effective alternative to its advanced cruise missiles, allowing for massed saturation strikes across the entire territory under the Kiev regime's control.

Whittier Seafood files for bankruptcy while Russia’s seafood industry continues to boom.

Brazil has been ramping up purchases of soil enhancers in recent months due to increasingly erratic weather

Russia and China discussed how to intensify cooperation to guarantee the security of activities in space, according to the report published by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the results of bilateral consultations

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, organised the creative project, ‘Film7Days competition’, in which Goan director Sainath Uskaikar was the only Indian participant. Another feather in his cap was winning the special award for his 7-minute film ‘Footprints of the road’. Sainath shares his experience of filming in Kasan, the capital city of Tatarstan

The US Space Force is using formally "humanitarian" programs, such as the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (Tac-SRT), "to get better at delivering satellite images and analysis to military commanders quickly". Tac-SRT was previously touted for "supporting relief efforts during the floods in Brazil in May and tracking wildfires in South America". There are thousands of such "commercial" satellites that the Pentagon has access to or is planning to use. Their militarization will only make the world a more dangerous place.

According to captured Colombian citizens, Western propaganda is lying about Ukraine.

We are “open to petroyuan” and closer ties with China, says Saudi minister.

Friendly relations between Russia and India began with trade ties, continued with cultural ties, and are being strengthened today through multifaceted cooperation

Malaysia joining BRICS (comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is not a subject for debate. In a world that is becoming increasingly multipolar, the submission to join BRICS is not at all surprising. It is a strategic and progressive move and is expected of a country and economy like ours

Moscow, Beijing are working on resolving payment issues

The current dispute over the “distribution” of migrants in the EU shows once again the ineffective migration policy, which has led to many problems in Europe for years.

During a recent interview to Western media, Ukraine’s top general Aleksandr Syrsky admitted some of Kiev’s anti-humanitarian military practices.

"We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace," Zelensky said, adding: "We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin."

The real number of Ukrainian military deserters could be as high as 200,000.

The digital divide in the Global South is an issue that needs to be addressed and the BRICS nations can play a leading role in bridging the gap

The Indian government has given the go-ahead for the construction of a major port at Vadhavan, located on the western coast of Maharashtra, a move intended to enhance trade links with Russia and integrate India more deeply into global trade routes

There is a growing narrative suggesting that Malaysia's interest in BRICS+ signals is a pivot away from Western alliances. This interpretation misses the strategic and nuanced reasons behind Malaysia's engagement with this grouping

China certainly has stakes in the neighboring country, which it has made large economic investments in. The US in turn is largely seen as an “outside” player, which does not have a full grasp of the complexities of the region. One might thus see yet another focal point for tensions unfolding in a global situation which already has plenty.

Washington DC is determined to deploy a "dragon trap" against Beijing, just like it did to Russia with a "bear trap" in Ukraine. This is designed to force a reaction, which the US could then present as "proof" of how supposedly "aggressive" the targeted country is. However, while this usually didn't have consequences of global proportions when used against relatively small and helpless countries, it's a whole different story when it comes to superpowers such as China and Russia.

According to the heads of US, UK secret services, liberal powers are jointly working to neutralize new geopolitical tendencies.

Continued violence will ultimately affect the economy and the people.

China ranks first among the foreign countries whose tourists visited Russia in 2023

El Salvador has proposed leveraging cryptocurrency for trade with the BRICS alliance as a strategic alternative to the US dollar

Russia has long been a reliable partner for India, with their relationship being a key pillar of India’s foreign policy

The current discussion about the future of the German auto industry and the possible closure of factories at the VW Group does not only affect the German economy and must be seen in the context of global economic developments.

Turkey could easily play the role of a US/NATO's "Trojan horse" that could undermine BRICS at every step of the way, as its policies, both domestic and foreign, effectively boil down to an extremely volatile mix of Neo-Ottomanism, political Islam and pan-Turkism.

Philippines breaks promise to China on not supplying contested islands.

US deliberately harms Europe to prevent EU from becoming a relevant bloc in the multipolar world.

The activities being underway to bolster the trade and investment partnership between Ethiopia and China have been showing tangible results, Investment Commission Commissioner, Hanna Arayaselassie remarked

BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is gaining momentum. At the beginning of this year, BRICS expanded, and now, no fewer than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining

As the next chair of the Southeast Asian grouping, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will likely share the concerns of his new BRICS partners

Reports indicate that many of the neutralized NATO personnel were Swedes, sent to train Ukrainian personnel to use the Saab 340 AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning & Control) aircraft, two of which were promised by Stockholm and are supposed to be delivered in the near future. Interestingly, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom resigned in the immediate aftermath of the strike and announced that he's retiring from politics.

European states are paranoid about “Russian invasion”, launching new defense policies to increase military capabilities.

A declining overstretched superpower is scary enough - but an overburdened superpower with no plan is nightmarish.

Argentina will likely purchase German or French submarines.

Russia’s defence production continues booming despite sanctions.

An expert discussion“Israel: Between the Collective West and the Global South” was held in Tel Aviv, organized by the Dor Moriah Think Tank as part of The Haifa Format project

The deputy foreign minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Ryabkov, has stated that under Russia’s chairmanship of Brics in 2024, the bloc should consider creating a form of mutual settlements similar to the European currency unit (ecu) that served as the precursor to the euro

Experts say the continuous expansion of the group boosts momentum and confidence for the common development of emerging economies

The plan is merely symbolic, but at the same time it reveals the advanced level of racist mentality among Ukrainian officials.

"The political and strategic objectives of the United States and its measures to intervene in Ukraine can be confirmed by numerous official and unofficial documents. These include, for example, the President's published National Security Strategies, US laws and other legal acts that relate to Ukraine and US financial support for Ukraine with the intention of influencing the policy and party landscape in Ukraine," the Austrian court noted, adding that Washington DC's persecution of Firtash gave it the reason to question the professed democratic principles of the United States, "a country with sham traditions of democracy and legal statehood".

Algeria has received approval to join the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), according to the bank's president, Dilma Rousseff

BRICS economies are increasingly moving towards coordinating their policies on the international stage, including in the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ayman Ashour welcomed Lin Xin, China’s Vice Minister of Science and Technology, to explore collaborative efforts in scientific, research, and technological fields

According to John Helmer, who has been based in Russia since 1989, making him the longest-serving foreign correspondent in the country, the Russian military is keeping operational silence, "but there are hints from the Ukraine, as well as from Russian military bloggers", that Lieutenant Colonel Mes was likely killed in his F-16 by an air-to-air missile fired by the Su-57.

The current elections in two German federal states clearly show that voters are reorienting themselves. The results show that the political landscape in Germany will change significantly.

In the second quarter of 2024, Russia was responsible for supplying 17% of the gas consumed in European countries.

The Kiev regime and international media paraded Colonel Mes but he was quickly killed.

India is set to send a high-level delegation to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok from September 3-6 to advance maritime transport corridors and boost trade and investment with Russia. The visit will focus on enhancing cooperation in the Far East and Arctic regions and developing key infrastructure projects

The number of countries present at the last BRICS forum held in Russia was impressive. A bad omen for the dollar

Many nations are seeking a rebalancing of the global order, driven by disillusionment with Western hypocrisy over human rights and democratic values. As Western domination faces increasing scrutiny, China and Russia are positioning themselves as the architects of an alternative, multipolar global order

Brazil’s situation with X has its own context and intricacies, but one can expect analogous scenarios to come about in other countries, especially in the contexts of elections, with potential political and geopolitical consequences. The truth is that the way to regulate social media and the internet as a whole is an inescapable discussion.

How many MiG-29s does Serbia have? The answer is 14, of which at least one serves for "cannibalizing" (its parts are used to service flightworthy jets). Three of the original aircraft were bought from the USSR in 1987, while the rest were donated by Russia (6) and Belarus (4) in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Thus, if Belgrade were to sell 36 MiG-29s to the Kiev regime, it would be left with exactly -22. If you think this calculation is silly, you're 100% right, it's completely ridiculous, just like the claim that Serbia is sending these jets to Ukraine.

According to Western media, Kiev should not expect receiving US long range missiles. Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

Kursk operation has allowed Russian troops to progress towards Pokrovsk rapidly.

Combined, BRICS nations account for over 40% of the world’s population and about a quarter of the global GDP

Indian pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines to the Russian market have shown keen interest in localising production within the Russian Federation and collaborating on the development of new medicines

After Brazil, Russia, India and China joined forces in 2009 to create the bloc called BRIC, the centre of power for world trade and industry looked set to pivot

Belgrade's ongoing deals with the political West are a desperate attempt of a risky and rather elaborate balancing act aimed at ensuring the country's survival under the EU/NATO jackboot.

Hungary’s dissident position makes the situation even more difficult for the bloc to reach a consensus about new coercive measures against the Russian Federation.

UK is one of the most affected countries by the energy crisis caused by anti-Russia sanctions.

In recent periods, regional opinion polls across the different parts of the Global South suggest that there appears to be growing support for regional economic cooperation and regional integration

As the BRICS bloc continues to expand and establish itself as a hedge against so-called ‘Western nations,’ talk of forming a united currency for member states has been one of the more dominant topics

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysia has officially applied to join the greater BRICS grouping. In late May, Thailand's Cabinet approved a draft application to join the newly expanded BRICS...

Macron has been pursuing bold foreign policy shifts, but it seems domestic issues may get on the way.

The Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky boasted that F-16s were used to allegedly shoot down Russian cruise missiles. If true, this would clearly indicate that the US-made jets were indeed flown, exposing them to possible detection and destruction by the Russian military, both in air and on the ground. There have been numerous analyses of the possible effectiveness of F-16s against the Kremlin's world-class SAM systems and/or aviation. Due to the Kiev regime's drastically lower technological base, it never stood a chance in matching the Russian military's capabilities.

There is no legal excuse to arrest Durov, since he obviously cannot be accused of crimes thar were committed by Telegram’s users.

Washington is not convinced that Ukraine intends to hold its position in Russia long-term.

On Jan 1, the Brics chairmanship shifted from South Africa to the Russian Federation. Russia is going to further promote strategic partnership on the basis of continuity and consensus, increase the role of Brics in global affairs, which is reflected in the motto of Russia's chairmanship: "Strengthening multilateralism for just global development and security"

New Development Bank: a bank for the global south by the global south

Jeffrey Sachs says countries are gravitating towards BRICS in response to the US weaponising the US dollar-based monetary system

America is the only country on Earth that has a plan to wage a simultaneous nuclear war with three nuclear-armed states – Russia, China and North Korea.

According to Ukraine’s top commander, the main goal of the operation was to divert Russia’s attention from Donbass frontlines.

After the victory of the Patriotic Forces in the EU elections in Austria, many people also expect a political change in the national parliamentary elections. These elections could also have an impact on the political landscape in Europe.

Biden has only made the US debt significantly increase.

Russia and China have planned to launch five joint missions to place modules in orbit and on the surface of the Moon

BRICS was originally created as a constellation of the regional leaders of the developing world. The economic imperatives of BRICS development and the opportunities offered by its unique cross-continental/regional format imply that BRICS is in a position to co-integrate the respective regional integration platforms and development institutions, in which BRICS economies are playing a leading role

Southeast Asia is witnessing a potential power shift with Malaysia’s application to join the BRICS+alliance confirmed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. With Thailand’s application under way as well, the grouping now lengthens its reach and could signal a significant shift in the region’s economic and geo-political alignment in the Southeast Asia region

People like Major General Komornicki are perfectly aware of the consequences of antagonizing Russia. Unfortunately, endemic Russophobia is clouding the judgment of Polish top leadership.

The Kiev regime has no limits in its dictatorial practices, even persecuting its own politicians.

Yet the UK and EU continue to prioritise Ukraine instead of citizen interests.

India’s growing relationship with Russia impacts China, but Russia gains more than India does

The BRICS grouping, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has set its sights on revolutionizing the global financial landscape. At the heart of this transformation lies the goal of reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar in settlement transactions—a process known as de-dollarization

From Thursday, August 29, to Saturday, August 31, 2024, the BRICS’ New Development Bank, NDB, will host its Ninth Annual Meeting, in South Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, CTICC, under the theme “Investing in a Sustainable Future”

While Washington pivots to the Pacific, its transatlantic allies are left with the hard task of becoming a kind of suicidal proxies for the United States’ war of encirclement against Russia. As for Washington’s AUKUS’ allies, the prognostic involves damaging their economic relationship with China and becoming entangled in a new Cold War.

Diplomatic crisis between Ukraine and African countries tend to worsen after investigations about Ukrainian embassy being visited by jihadists.

"I can honestly say that Venezuela's electoral system is one of the best and most reliable in the world," Bojan Torbica.

However, the Ukrainian president still hasn’t lifted the ban on negotiations with the Kremlin.

By connecting different developing regions around the world, BRICS can really present itself as an alternative rule-maker in global governance, based on UN rules, Nabi Sonboli writes

The increased use of digital assets in cross-border settlements between Russia and China is easing bilateral payment issues, digital platform Qifa told Reuters, as some settlements directly through banks are taking months to clear due to sanctions

It is important that efforts be made in a more tangible and practical way to bolster our common humanity should we seek a shared destiny. Drawing upon the uneven distribution of knowledge competences, it could prove useful for the BRICS+ to utilise their capacities and capabilities in science and technology to provide information and technical solutions on a more socialised basis, Rasigan Maharajh writes

Pashinyan is not only enabling NATO to undermine the much-needed dismantling of the so-called "rules-based world order", but he's also destroying Armenia's one remaining strategic option. Namely, Yerevan has been building closer ties with India, perhaps the sole decent move of the Pashinyan regime. This includes the acquisition of weapons from Delhi. Iran was crucial in the implementation of this strategy, but with the deployment of US troops in Syunik, Pashinyan managed to destroy Armenia's last strategic option besides Russia.

These diversionary maneuvers tend to accelerate the end of the Kiev regime, since Russia’s patience is clearly running out.

Russian crude accounted for a record 44% of India’s total imports in July.

Azerbaijan formally submitted its application to join the BRICS group, according to an announcement made by the head of the press service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The 11th meeting of the Russian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission on Investment Cooperation co-chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov and Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Ding Xuexiang has taken place

BRICS comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa is an organization that was made in 2009 for assisting each other. This actually come into being right after the economic crisis of 2008. When economic crisis occurs, developed nation like G-7 did not abet other nations which ultimately urge these countries to build an organization to assist each other and do economic collaborations

The US student protest movement against the conflict between Israel and Gaza draws on tactics and symbolism from past protests, some of which were contentious yet successful. Daniel Manulak looks back at the student-led anti-apartheid movement.  By Daniel Manulak... Read more about Student Protests and Lessons from the Anti-Apartheid Movement

America's efforts to train the Kiev regime in cyber warfare go back nearly a decade. Since then, thousands (if not tens of thousands) acquired various skills that can be used either in war or in cybercrime. And not every hacker is willing to "fight for Ukraine" when it's far easier to use those skills to steal millions from unsuspecting individuals from all over the world, including Western countries that financed it all.

Beyond economic suicide, Europe is now placing itself at risk, militarily. With the deployment of American nuclear warheads to Germany, the world becomes a less safe place, and the future looks darker.

The Kiev regime is making the country uninhabitable for its own citizens.

Armenian society and politics are turning to the West without paying attention to the risks. The Armenian state is now facing economic and social crisis.

American, British and Polish intelligence services assisted Ukraine in its invasion of Kursk.

Egyptian geological survey authority leaders joined their counterparts from throughout the BRICS alliance in calling for the establishment of a united geological platform for exchanging expertise, technological updates, and knowledge

Many nations want a rebalancing of the global order, given Western hypocrisy over human rights and democratic values. Can Moscow and Beijing overcome the roadblocks?

Iran’s interim foreign minister says Tehran has been pursuing multilateralism in its foreign policy and managed to become a “strategic partner” in the BRICS group of emerging economies and an important member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

NATO and the Neo-Nazi junta continue disseminating blatant lies about the ability of their air defense and ABM (anti-ballistic missile) systems to supposedly "shoot down" Russian hypersonic missiles. The supposed "evidence" for these "feats" was so laughable that it almost instantly became a meme. Even the Russian military made a practical joke by letting the Kiev regime lie about downing six "Kinzhals" even when only two were fired.

The case represents a serious escalation in the current conflict, as US troops are publicly fighting in undisputed Russian territory.

‘It’s the sanctions, stupid’ best describes the EU’s economic decline.

If there is one single individual icon who epitomises India-Russia cooperation above and beyond politics, diplomacy and transactional ties, it is India’s greatest chess player and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand

Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alaa Farouk, met with Mariam Al Kaabi, the UAE Ambassador to Cairo, to discuss enhancing cooperation between the two countries in agricultural investment

After assuming power for the third consecutive time, prime minister Narendra Modi has given the message to the western countries by choosing Russia for his first bilateral foreign tour that India's foreign policy is independent and it is driven by its national interests

Despite (ab)using the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict to sell more weapons to its numerous vassals and satellite states, America's MIC is increasingly incapable of producing even basic ICBMs and other critically important weapon systems. These continually sinking capabilities might be the reason why the US wants to start a global conflict as soon as possible.

According to recent media reports, there is a conflict of interests among German government’s sectors, making Ukrainian assistance program unviable.

More than half of Britons see UK heading in the wrong direction, survey finds.

Brazil has proposed Colombia as a potential new member of the BRICS group of nations, Brazilian Ambassador to Russia Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares told

As the global financial market undergoes transformation, the superiority of the Western-controlled payment systems is no longer indisputable.

Ethiopia could successfully capitalize on BRICS membership to drive economic growth and development, a development advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Gedion Jalata

US continues to deny its involvement in attack on Russia.

Washington DC is still trying to maintain "plausible deniability". No doubt that this is not only yet another attempt by the US to deny its responsibility, but also a way to further enrage Moscow in order to create the illusion that NATO is a "defensive alliance protecting Europe from aggressive Russia".

This crime corroborates Russia’s correct decision not to continue any peace talk with the neo-Nazi regime.

For many centuries, Europe was the leading power in the world, but for decades the European states have been faced with more and more challenges that they have not been able to solve successfully.

Trend reflects desire of Global South to counter Western dominance, analysts say

The Global Trade Research Initiative believes India can boost its trade with Russia through steps such as increasing exports, using local currencies, and formalizing a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. Despite a significant trade imbalance due to increased crude oil imports from Russia, strategic measures could help India achieve its $100 billion trade target by 2030

China and Russia have inaugurated the Arctic Express No 1 Rail-Sea Cargo Service, marking a notable milestone in their trade relations

A new crisis is now unfolding in North Africa and it once again has Washington’s fingerprints all over it. Now France is also potentially contributing to further destabilize the region.

The sheer number of examples of blatant Nazi affiliation among the NATO-backed troops in Ukraine couldn't fit into a book. Whether it's the infamous swastika, Nazi salutes and uniforms, the German Totenkopf or the Wehrmacht's Balkenkreuz, the Kiev regime forces have it all. It's so prevalent that not even the mainstream propaganda machine could hide it, with countless instances of soldiers talking about how Nazism in Ukraine is just "Russian propaganda" while sporting at least some of the aforementioned Nazi insignia.

The narrative invented by the WSJ is absolutely ridiculous, being even disrespectful to its readers.

Footage shows British-made tanks used in Kursk destroyed by Russian forces.

Russia and China are discussing the possibility of Russia increasing its electricity exports to China, but taking into account the growing power demand in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Energy Ministry has said

Malaysia aims to enhance economic cooperation opportunities through the BRICS platform as an alternative to reducing dependence on traditional markets

Russia has suspended BRICS expansion. It happened on the eve of the XVI summit under the motto “Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security” when a multitude of countries with interconnected interest are scheduled for converge in Kazan

The sole reason the highly unpopular Kishida stayed in power for three years is the lack of remotely serious challengers, both within the opposition and his LDP.

According to recent intelligence reports, Western backers are once again plotting to replace Zelensky, this time betting on former minister Arsen Avakov as a “candidate.”

EU does not want to increase aid to Kiev but current support gives no chance of victory.

As a unit of account the Brics currency would not need to circulate as a medium of exchange. It would simply facilitate pricing and contracts

Iran is seen as an emerging economy with the great potential in the BRICS group of the emerging economies as it [Iran] offers constructive economic, cultural and geographic dimensions to the bloc’s expansion, an analyst said

Southeast Asia has long been observing BRICS’ expansion from the sidelines, but in recent months, more and more ASEAN countries are considering joining the group in search of new trade opportunities and as a hedge against geopolitical risks

Beijing confidently believes Brazil will continue to adhere to the ‘One China’ principle.

The most disturbing development is how Germany and its Bundeswehr have embraced their Nazi past right at the time when Berlin is getting ready to be the spearhead of the new EU/NATO-led crawling invasion of Russia, including by allowing previously banned medium and intermediate-range missiles on German soil, once again bringing Europe (and the world) to the edge of an abyss.

According to a captured Ukrainian soldier, many foreign mercenaries, including from NATO countries, are among Kiev’s troops involved in the invasion of Russian Kursk region.

In a strategic move to bolster economic ties with Russia amid Western sanctions, India is intensifying efforts to achieve an ambitious USD 100 billion annual bilateral trade target by 2030

The new expansion of BRICS into Southeast Asia could transform the global energy landscape. According to a recent analysis by Rystad Energy, the alliance could trigger a $100 billion increase in the oil industry by 2028. This development is drawing significant interest in the context of redefining global economic dynamics

Rouhollah Mousavi from the Iranian Parliament's Internal Affairs and Councils Commission, told local Iranian media's correspondent in an interview that Iran is capable of selling oil and gas to BRICS countries in exchange for banking and trade services

There will be no further diplomatic dialogue, with the objectives of the special military operation being achieved only by force.

There has been a copious amount of malevolent glee among high-ranking politicians in the United States, European Union and other pathologically Russophobic countries. All of them are quite happy to see that Russia is supposedly "losing". Which begs the obvious question – is it really "losing"?

Washington has sanctioned more than 300 people worldwide for violating the Magnitsky Act

Although Austria has always been the place for mediation between rivals in Europe, that has changed radically with the support of sanctions against Russia.

His ability to unify people around him is a serious competitive advantage not only in the political struggle, but also in the governance of the country and society in the future.

As urbanization and climate change impacts converge, local governments need a range of innovations to mitigate suffering, especially in the cities of South Asia. Rajshahi city in Bangladesh has taken promising steps.  By Mohammad Tarikul Islam... Read more about Cities in Bangladesh Must Refocus to Combat Climate Change

PODCAST | ep15 | with Jacqueline Bhabha, Monique Nguyen, and Maggie Sullivan  Massachusetts has long been a welcoming state to immigrants and migrant families. In the summer of 2023, its one-of-a-kind “right to shelter” law was put to the test when emergency shelters reached capacity. It was called a humanitarian crisis, and images of families sleeping on the floor of Logan Airport flooded the media. Although it is most noticed on a local level, migration is an ongoing global process that requires a structural response at all levels. In this episode, we speak to a lawyer/scholar, a nurse practitioner, and a city government official deeply involved with immigrant services and policies to better understand the scope of migration, the needs of newly arrived families, and also the varied responses of host communities. Listen to episode #15 (52:24) by clicking the play button below: ... Read more about Migrants Bring Opportunity to Boston and Beyond

Although the rules of entry and exit are quite nebulous, states get both real and perceived benefits from joining international organizations.     By Hazel Genieser ('27)... Read more about Members Only: How States Favor Friends and Exclude Rivals

A close look at Harvard’s complex relationship to an ancient Indigenous monument.  ... Read more about The Serpent Mound of the Ohio Valley

PODCAST | ep14 | with Arthur Kleinman, Hong-Tu Chen, Ann Forsyth, and Fawwaz Habbal  People aged sixty-five and older make up the fastest growing population around the world, posing unique challenges to societies. A Harvard initiative called Social Technology for Global Aging Research is founded on the belief that there’s a great potential for technologies and interventions to benefit the elderly, but only if they are developed with a deep understanding of day-to-day life. In the scope of this collaboration, technology for the elderly covers a wide range of needs—from engineering hardware for mobility to designing living environments and even tackling the logistics of meeting friends for tea. It’s an expansive collaboration between Harvard scholars and their Chinese counterparts. We speak with four collaborators who share fascinating examples of their work. Listen to episode #14 (44:28) by clicking the play button below: ... Read more about Social Technology for Aging Societies

The ataman (head) of the “All-Russian Cossack Society,” Nikolai Doluda, addressed a meeting of the Atamans’ Council, in Krasnodar Krai, on February 4, and instructed those gathered that “the time has come when the Cossacks are once again becoming a stronghold and reliable shield of Russia, a guarantor of unity and protection of its national interests” (Vsko.ru, February 4). The … The post As Ukraine Crisis Simmers, Russian Cossack Movement Tightens Integration With Military Reserves appeared first on Jamestown.

Judi Bola Sbobet Bonus New Member Poker QQ Idn Poker Slot Dana PKV Games PKV Games Idn Poker Mix Parlay Mix Parlay BandarQQ PKV Games Over the last several years, Ukraine’s leaders have expressed grave concern over the dangers posed to regional energy security by Russia’s Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline. From Germany and, more broadly, from Europe, the … The post The Many Faces of Nord Stream Two appeared first on Jamestown.

Judi Bola Sbobet Bonus New Member Poker QQ Idn Poker Slot Dana PKV Games PKV Games Idn Poker Mix Parlay Mix Parlay BandarQQ PKV Games On July 28, Ukrainian Orthodox Christians celebrated the 1,033rd anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus—a remarkable annual event for Ukrainian history and another reason for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political speculations. After the Ecumenical … The post Religion as a Hybrid War Weapon to Achieve Russia’s Geopolitical Goals appeared first on Jamestown.

On May 25, just ahead of the 103rd anniversary of the First Georgian Republic’s (1918–1921) independence, Georgian protesters paralyzed the streets of the capital city of Tbilisi in the largest rally to date against the Namakhvani Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) project (Civil.ge, May 25, 26). Relatively small demonstrations against the planned dam, by locals organized under the banner “Guardians of … The post Namakhvani HPP: Georgian Hydropower Between Energy Security and Geopolitics appeared first on Jamestown.

Judi Bola Sbobet Bonus New Member Poker QQ Idn Poker Slot Dana PKV Games PKV Games Idn Poker Mix Parlay Mix Parlay BandarQQ PKV Games The Russian Cossack movement is emerging as one of the key social pillars supporting the regime, and increasingly it is taking on the mold of Kuban Cossackdom, found in the southern part of the country. … The post All Russian Cossacks Increasingly Resemble Krasnodar Movement appeared first on Jamestown.

On April 21, Vasily Piskarev, the head of the State Duma’s commission to investigate the facts of interference in the internal affairs of Russia, announced that his body was preparing legislative initiatives to combat foreign interference in Russia, including in its elections, by non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGO). Piskarev said that “insults against Russia” will receive a “worthy response, including … The post Russia Cracks Down on ‘Foreign Threats’ appeared first on Jamestown.

On February 20, Ruslan Ablyakimov was walking in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, with two friends when he was stopped by six young men who proceeded to beat him. “Where did you come here from?” they asked, “You are from Moscow, right? What are you doing here?” Before the men left Ablyakimov, they told him, “You have until tomorrow to … The post Alexei Navalny’s Support in the North Caucasus: More About Corruption Than Navalny appeared first on Jamestown.

The foreign and security policy expert communities in Georgia (Neweurope.eu, November 17) as well as both the outgoing and candidate Lithuanian defense ministers (LRT, November 16, 19) have called for a permanent presence of United States military forces in their respective countries. These calls indicate a hope that the incoming administration of President-elect Joseph Biden will bring greater attention to … The post Georgia, Lithuania Call for Permanent US Troop Presences appeared first on Jamestown.

In the first week of August, cellphones across Russia lit up with surprising text messages. They came from different numbers, but each said the same thing in Russian: “The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information about interference in the US elections. If you have information, contact rfj.tips/bngc.” The State Department confirmed the messages were authentic … The post US Messaging to Russian Citizens: Time to Step It Up? appeared first on Jamestown.

Recent comments by former vice president of the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia Valery Arshba indicate a split between the older political elite and the current administration of President Aslan Bzhania (Gazeta-ra.info, October 19; Civil.ge, October 23). Arshba called for the breakaway republic to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus, “without losing [its] sovereignty.” Arshba himself has a … The post Former Abkhazian Separatist Official Calls for Joining Russia-Belarus Union State appeared first on Jamestown.