The return of the two-state solution illusion

For Democrats in the United States and the political “centrists” in Israel—represented by Joe Biden and Yair Lapid, respectively—the loss of credibility for the two-state solution has meant losing more and more support for Israeli policies. As the respected polling site 538.com noted recently, among many other sources, younger Democrats are increasingly supportive of Palestinians and less so of Israeli policies.

The return of the two-state solution illusion

[2014] Stratfor CEO George Friedman on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis

Stratfor [shadow CIA] CEO George Friedman on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis

– What is the goal of US policy in the Ukrainian direction?

– The Americans have had a very consistent foreign policy for the past 100 years. Its main goal is to prevent any power from concentrating too much power in its hands in Europe. At first, the United States sought to prevent Germany from dominating Europe, then they prevented the strengthening of the influence of the USSR.

The essence of this policy is as follows: to maintain the balance of power in Europe for as long as possible, helping the weaker side, and if the balance is about to be significantly upset, to intervene at the very last moment. So the United States intervened in the First World War after the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917, preventing Germany from strengthening. And in World War II, the United States opened a second front only very late (in June 1944), after it became clear that the Russians were gaining the upper hand over the Germans.

At the same time, the United States considered the most dangerous potential alliance between Russia and Germany. It would be a union of German technology and capital with Russian natural and human resources.

The United States was interested in forming a pro-Western government in Ukraine. They saw that Russia was on the rise and sought to prevent it from consolidating its position in the post-Soviet space. The success of pro-Western forces in Ukraine would make it possible to contain Russia.

Russia calls the events of the beginning of the year a US-organized coup d’état. And it really was the most overt coup d’état in history.

– And what, from your point of view, is the meaning of American sanctions? Russian authorities say the US wants to bring about regime change.

“The purpose of the sanctions is to hurt Russia with minimal damage to the US and a little more damage to the EU so that it capitulates to American demands.

“The interests of the Russian Federation and the United States in relation to Ukraine are incompatible with each other”