In 2022, the US kicked Russia out of the SWIFT system, causing significant losses for Russian businesses and ordinary citizens. Even Switzerland’s traditionally neutral banks joined this looting. The monopoly over the financial system and global currency once gave the U.S. and EU such capability, but at the 2024 BRICS summit, Western countries permanently lost this advantage.
Previously:
Russia outlines proposal for BRICS DLT cross border payment system
Did you know many African countries continue to pay colonial tax to France since their independence till today!
14 African Countries Forced By France To Pay Colonial Tax For The Benefits Of Slavery And Colonization
Let’s continue to follow the post-coup situation in Niger. We had Victoria Nuland travel to Niger, presumably to help organize the overthrow of the government since 1- that’s usually what a visit from Nuland portends and 2 – a “rebel movement” called the Council of Resistance for the Republic under the leadership of someone named Rhissa Ag Boula started just after her visit. If there is going to be a Western war over this coup, it is likely that Nigeria – the giant country in West Africa with 224M people, much bigger than all other countries in the region combined – will be a part of the intervention, as would France and presumably the US. Other countries of the region are lining up on one or the other side, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Algeria all lining up with the post-coup Niger government, so we are in a scary situation.
Why might Africa want France gone?
Related:
ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention
The US dollar is essential to US global power projection. But in 2022, the dollar share of reserve currencies slid 10 times faster than the average in the past two decades.
De-Dollarization Kicks Into High Gear
Related:
Emmanuel Macron wants to rebrand Paris’ presence in its former colonies as cultural and economic projects
French military bases in Africa will now self-identify as schools
Related:
Macron: ‘New era’ in economic, military strategy in Africa
Monday’s speech came at a time when France’s influence on the continent is facing its biggest challenges in decades. Growing anti-French sentiment has led to street protests in several West and North African countries.
In addition, historical economic ties that France had with the region are under pressure from the growing commercial presence of Russia, China and Turkey.
Macron acknowledged that Africa now is a “field of competition” and urged French businesses to “wake up” and get involved in the fight.
In the past year, French troops had to withdraw from Mali, which turned instead to private Russian military contractors of the Wagner group, and most recently from Burkina Faso, which also appears to increasingly look towards Moscow.
by Gilbert Doctorow
One of the first questions put to me by a reader via the Comments function with respect to Monday’s report of my initial impressions after arriving in St Petersburg was: and what is the general mood of people? I begged off answering, saying that I would have to speak to a lot more people before I could confidently answer that question.
Feet on the Ground in St. Petersburg: The Public Mood
Sanctions don’t seem to be effecting the wealthy or the middle class, in Russia, much.
By Michael Hudson
The reaction to the sabotage of three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in four places on Monday, September 26, has focused on speculations about who did it and whether NATO will make a serious attempt to discover the answer. Yet instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm. Disabling these pipelines ends the uncertainty and worries on the part of US/NATO diplomats that nearly reached a crisis proportion the previous week, when large demonstrations took place in Germany calling for the sanctions to end and to commission Nord Stream 2 to resolve the energy shortage.
The Euro Without German Industry
Berlin, Germany (World Express). War in Ukraine began on February 24. Since then, the sanctions imposed by EU countries against Russia have started to have a negative impact on European economies. The sanctions boomerang came as a surprise to the federal government, most politicians in the traffic light coalition and ordinary voters. However, as it recently turned out, these consequences of the anti-Russian sanctions were unexpected only for the Germans. The USA had calculated all the consequences in advance and, moreover, consciously decided to weaken the German economy.
The economic crisis in Germany is the result of a deliberate provocation by the USA. The Americans collapsed the German economy to destroy a competitor. (original)
WHCS = White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain. ANSA = Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan. CIA = Central Intelligence Agency. NSA = National Security Agency. DNC = Democratic National Committee/Democratic Party.
H/T: iEarlGrey
They’re counting on the collapse of the German economy to rescue the US economy—all to save the Democrats from losing in the midterm elections?! Interesting, if this document is authentic, considering that it was supposedly written in January. Germans are already protesting, demanding that the current government resign!
Today we will touch upon President Putin’s speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.
Just like back in June of this year, Putin trash-talked not only the dollar but the euro and the British pound.
He also announced that Russia and China would be bypassing the dollar from now on when dealing with natural gas.
Putin Throws Down the Gauntlet Again at Western Currency System via maneco64
U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Falls To 35-Year Low
According to the Institute of Energy Research, the SPR is expected to shrink to a 40-year low by the end of October, with inventories then at 358 million barrels, compared to 621 million barrels a year ago.
Related:
US oil exports to China and India jump as American crude heads overseas at a record pace
The only thing that climbed as high as gas prices earlier this year was the disapproval of US President Joe Biden 😂
Biden was wrongly blamed for rising gas prices. But he doesn’t deserve much credit for the drop
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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