The End of American “Exceptionalism”?

The End of American “Exceptionalism”?

This might have a decisive impact on the US currency as the drive to break with the petrodollar continues to grow and could produce something like a “perfect storm” impacting on the US economy. It threatens to drastically lower the standards of living of nearly all Americans within the next several years as the dollar loses value and purchasing power. As the US economy is heavily interconnected with many European economies, Europe is also likely to be a victim of the coming disaster.

The good news, of course, is that the United States will no longer be able to afford its endless wars and international interventions. Lacking its economic power, it will no longer be able to declare itself “exceptional” and the enforcer of a “rules based international order.” It would mean an ending of the funding of developments like the Ukraine proxy war and the troops will have to come home from places like Syria and Somalia. And it might even mark the ending of sending billions of dollars annually to a wealthy Israel.

Ending dollar supremacy would inevitably have an immediate impact on what passes for US foreign policy, making it more difficult for Washington to initiate and sustain Treasury Department sanctions on countries like Iran and North Korea. It could also create economic turmoil for many countries until the situation resolves itself by producing greater volatility in currency markets worldwide. The Federal Reserve Bank will no doubt respond to the unfolding crisis by acting as it always does by raising interest rates to astronomical levels, thereby hurting most the Americans who can least afford the shock therapy.

Two killed by Saudi shelling in Yemen [after Lindsey Graham visits MbS & Bibi]

Two killed by Saudi shelling in Yemen

The Saudi-coalition attacks came shortly after Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the Supreme Political Council of the Ansarallah movement, accused the US of obstructing peace efforts in Yemen by exerting pressure on the countries of the Saudi-led coalition.

During a speech on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, Mashat stated that “the United States seeks to obstruct peace efforts and does not want to solve humanitarian issues. It is not in the interest of Riyadh and the region to bow to American pressure.”

Related:

Lindsey Graham: [Israel] Normalization with Saudi Arabia possible by 2024

Sen. Graham met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, following a trip to Saudi Arabia last week, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers fight on the front line, acceptance grows in the conservative country (not really)

Instagram.

As Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers fight on the front line, acceptance grows in the conservative country

“My fellow soldiers are really impressed with what I’ve done in Bakhmut, the massive scale of work that I did there, and after that they just don’t care about who I sleep with,” Honzyk, whose medical unit evacuates wounded soldiers and provides emergency first aid, said in a hip café in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, while on leave from the front line.

That doesn’t sound like what Ivan told the following publication, three days later:

Against Homophobia, For Women’s Rights: Ivan’s Lonely Struggle (original)

Ivan Honzyk came out as gay in March last year. His sexuality is a problem for others. In Russia, he keeps appearing on television for propaganda purposes. In Ukraine, many homosexuals have a hard time in the army. Many live in hiding, says Ivan Honzyk. Soldiers don’t want to meet him for fear of being mistaken for gay themselves.

Regime Change Continues: Thousands Rally in Georgia’s Tbilisi Against Government

Thousands of opposition supporters rallied Sunday in the Georgian capital Tbilisi as the Black Sea nation’s government faces mounting accusations of backsliding on democracy.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian parliament for a rally organized by the country’s main opposition force, the United National Movement (UNM), founded by jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Protesters waved Georgian, Ukrainian and European Union flags and held a huge banner that read “For European future.”

Thousands Rally in Georgia’s Tbilisi Against Government

Related:

Regime change proceeds: State Departments sanctions Georgian judges, assassinations feared next

High Stakes as Uncle Sam’s Days of Impunity Are Finally Over

The edifice of American imperial power has never been challenged at its foundation. It is now.

High Stakes as Uncle Sam’s Days of Impunity Are Finally Over

Related:

No One Seems to Want to Investigate the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage Except Russia

Despite the UN’s apparent disinterest in pursuing a broader inquiry, Russia claimed this week that it would continue to pursue an international effort. “We will do everything in our power to continue to insist and to initiate such an international investigation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call.

3/24/23: Ted Snider on the Rapidly Changing World Order

Scott is joined by Ted Snider to talk about the real-time shift we are living through from a unipolar order dominated by Washington to a multipolar world where different blocs engage on more equal footing. They start with the war in Ukraine where western officials are doubling down on some of the choices that have thrown Eastern Europe into chaos in the first place. They then zoom out and examine how Washington’s recent foreign policy has driven Russia and China closer together. That leads finally to a discussion about the ramifications of this Chinese-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

3/24/23: Ted Snider on the Rapidly Changing World Order (YouTube)

IMF sets another condition for crisis-hit Pakistan to revive loan

Crisis-hit Pakistan has made various economic modifications including hikes in fuel prices, raising taxes, and others demanded by IMF to unlock the loan program.

IMF sets another condition for crisis-hit Pakistan to revive loan

Related:

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund:

In 2018, Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan. For this, they arranged friendly loans from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and China to avoid tough IMF conditions. In 2019, when economic conditions worsened, they went to IMF for the twenty-second time for a loan of US$1 billion. IMF gave loan based on conditions such as hike in energy tariffs, removal of energy subsidy, increase in taxation, privatization of public entities and fiscal policies to the budget.

IMF bailout package — rescue or trap for Pakistan?

“The IMF’s agenda is not to strengthen global economies because if it does that, then the Fund itself will be out of business,” he said.