Tag: national interests

Book Review: How the West Brought War to Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

by David Gordon – September 07, 2022

Review of How the West Brought War to Ukraine: Understanding How US and NATO Policies Led to Crisis, War, and the Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe, by Benjamin Abelow, Siland Press

The Ukraine war has generated great controversy, but of one point there can be no doubt, and Benjamin Abelow, a physician with a longstanding interest in public affairs, has properly emphasized this in his brief and excellent book. The policy of the United States toward the war, and more generally toward the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, has been one of direct confrontation rather than peaceful accommodation. It is hardly a surprise that supporters of a noninterventionist policy have criticized the United Sates for this, but a number of those in the foreign policy “establishment” have done so as well, and Abelow has been able to secure the endorsement of some of these for his book. Jack Matlock Jr., for example, the last American ambassador to the Soviet Union, writes that the book is a “brilliant, remarkably concise explanation of the danger that U.S. and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] military involvement in Ukraine has created.”

How the West Brought War to Ukraine

How the US is Using the Azeri-Armenian Conflict to “Extend” Russia

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Sep 19, 2022 – Many have noted the suspicious and very convenient timing regarding Azerbaijan-Armenia hostilities which serve as an additional distraction for Russia amid its special military operation in Ukraine and its ongoing operations in Syria.

In addition to a recent visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Armenia, anti-CSTO protests promoted by US government-funded media organizations in Armenia point toward events being much more than convenient timing and instead similar to US-engineered unrest seen in Ukraine in 2014.

How the US is Using the Azeri-Armenian Conflict to “Extend” Russia (Rumble) via The New Atlas

“It’s Not Over”: While Biden Touts Rail Deal, Workers Have Yet to Vote—And Many Remain Skeptical

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A national rail strike could still be on the table if rank-and-file workers reject the tentative agreement announced by the White House this week.

“It’s Not Over”: While Biden Touts Rail Deal, Workers Have Yet to Vote—And Many Remain Skeptical

Related:

Democratic House Speaker Pelosi to rail workers: Accept a pro-company deal or we’ll force you to

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea): Full Text of Kim Jong Un Speech On Nuclear Weapons Policy

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

We are pleased to present to our readers a very significant policy speech given by Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of the Korean Workers Party and President of State Affairs. In this speech, he clearly warns the United States that he and his government are prepared to defend the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, known in the US as “North Korea”), including the use of nuclear weapons if the DPRK is faced with an invasion from the USA, the South Korean puppet regime of the US, or both.

The context of the speech is important. As we wrote in the previous article to this one, the United States has engaged in decades of deadly provocations against the Korean workers state in the form of constant “war games” in preparation for initiating an attempt to overthrow the DPRK and restore capitalist exploitation to North Korea. However, in the past several years, the United States has started to openly proclaim its intention to “decapitate” the leadership of the DPRK in a massive attack from South Korea which may include the use of nuclear weapons to destroy the defensive underground bunkers which the workers of the DPRK constructed to survive the massive bombing campaign the US launched against them in the Korean War, killing an estimated 3 million North Koreans. In response, North Korea has – in spite of crushing US sanctions that have caused immense suffering for the workers of the DPRK – embarked on a crash program to develop a nuclear arsenal capable of defending their country. We wholeheartedly agree with this heroic attempt by North Korea to defend itself from the psychotic warmongers of the US imperialist capitalist class and their murderous gangster regime in Washington. The US government is the #1 terrorist threat in the world today! Defend the DPRK! End All Sanctions Against the DPRK Immediately! US Out of the Korean Peninsula Now!

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea): Full Text of Kim Jong Un Speech On Nuclear Weapons Policy

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

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

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”

Washington’s Africa Strategy Seeks to Counter Russia and China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Geopolitical competition has no limits. This is especially the case when superpowers with global ambitions compete. As long as the competition is fair, it could drive development (although it might still have its socio-political and economic discontents). But when competition itself is projected as a phobia, it becomes more of an anomaly than a driver of growth and development. The most recent example of the super-power rivalry being framed in terms of ‘Sinophobia’ and ‘Russophobia’ is Washington’s newly revealed ‘Africa Strategy’ – a document that seeks to insert the US in Africa not as a competitor but as a country solely responsible for imparting ‘democracy’ and ‘openness’ to the so-called ‘backward’ societies of Africa. This is classical colonial statecraft reframed as a strategy for ‘engagement’ and ‘development.’ The document stipulates a US strategy to “foster … open societies”, “deliver democratic and security dividends”, and “support conservation, Climate Adaptation, and a Just Energy Transition.” This is an ambitious agenda with very ambitious objectives. But are these the real objectives?

Washington’s Africa Strategy Seeks to Counter Russia and China