Tag: quid pro quo

“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

21-04-2025: Since February, Indonesia has been beset by protests largely led by students, so-called civil society organisations, some labour unions and K-pop fans. Protests emerged in many cities throughout the Indonesian archipelago including Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Solo, Semarang, Bali, Samarinda, Banjarmasin and South Sumatra. The protestors were reportedly delivering a “red report card” on the first 100 days of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. They also condemned Prabowo’s “Ndasmu!” remark towards critics of the Free Nutritious Meal program.[1] “Ndasmu” is an impolite Javanese word meaning “your head”, which perhaps implies that the protestors’ actions were the result of something that existed in their heads only. The slogan “Dark Indonesia” under which the protests took place, is a stab at Prabowo’s election slogan of “Golden Indonesia” (Indonesia Emas), which aims to advance the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) to a sovereign, prosperous nation by 2045, the centennial of its independence won in 1945.[2]

“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion

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Philippines sides with Vietnam in South China Sea dispute, hoping it will ‘return the favour’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Analysts believe that while Vietnam appreciates the gesture, it is unlikely to influence Hanoi’s strategy in the disputed waters.

Philippines sides with Vietnam in South China Sea dispute, hoping it will ‘return the favour’

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BowerGroupAsia: Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran

Prashanth is concurrently a fellow at the Wilson Center, a senior columnist at The Diplomat magazine and an instructor for institutions including the U.S. State Department. He is the founder of the twice-weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter, which offers research insights and analysis on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. 

Stratbase ADR Institute Non-Resident Fellow: Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran

Dr. Parameswaran has held various roles across think tanks, governments, media and companies, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Associated Press. In those capacities, he worked on various issues including geopolitical and geoeconomic statecraft, Southeast Asia foreign and security policy, regional institutions, major power engagement in the Indo-Pacific as well as alliances and partnerships.   

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Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and MA focused on international business, international relations, Asian affairs, and U.S. foreign policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia, where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies with a focus on Asia. He regularly advises groups and individuals seeking to advance conversations on Indo-Pacific affairs and serves on the board of several institutions.  

Global Times: China and Vietnam capable to handle law enforcement conflict in S.China Sea properly; Philippines’ intention to stigmatize China ‘won’t work’

SeaLight document

Kenya: Lives Sacrificed in Western Backed Colour Revolution + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

15-07-2024: The East African nation of Kenya was rocked by deadly protests mainly composed of youth during June, ostensibly in response to the Kenyan parliament’s Finance Bill 2024. By the end of the month around 30 protestors had lost their lives, despite forcing the government to withdraw the Bill, which contained some $2.7 billion in tax hikes.[1] The protests were mainly composed of “Gen Z” youth (those born during the late 90s and early 2000s) which gives the impression of young people fighting for their future. Kenya has a population of some 50 million, with 5 million inhabiting the capital Nairobi, and 4 million in the city of Mombasa on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Those aged between 15 and 29 make up roughly 30% of the population,[2] meaning such protests can draw in larger number than is generally the case in the ageing populations of the West. In the wake of the violence, Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii urged the Gen Z protestors to give dialogue with President William Ruto a chance. Despite goons and looters infiltrating the protests and causing mayhem, Bii conceded that the protestors have genuine issues that need to be addressed.[3]

Kenya: Lives Sacrificed in Western Backed Colour Revolution

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Welcome to Kenya’s Gen Z Revolution!

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Lyrics

Welcome to Kenya’s Gen Z Revolution!

Kenya had been praised to the heavens by the West in yesteryear: it was a beacon of hope and prosperity; East Africa’s most prosperous nation; a success story of capitalism and “development”; and (most important of all) a bulwark of the West amidst encroaching Chinese influence on the continent.

Kenya is a member of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and Ruto just sent the Kenyan Police to Haiti. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Related/Notes:

Gen Z Will Lead the People’s Revolution in Kenya (The Elephant*)

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NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

By Roger D. Harris on October 26, 2022

NATO recently expanded to Sweden and Finland, has been de facto incorporated in Ukraine, and may extend to Georgia. Now, NATO’s entry into the Amazon is in the works under the aegis of newly elected President Gustavo Petro of Colombia.

NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire

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The US warns Petro of the danger of falling into the hands of China:

The Government of Colombia replies to Washington that if it wants to prevail over Beijing, it must finance the purchase of land from ranchers to distribute among the peasants

Quid pro quo?!

Biden Is Running U.S. Energy Security Into The Ground

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The White House divulged late on Tuesday its plan to release 15 million barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to be delivered in December, as the last tranche of the emergency 180 million barrel release that the Biden Administration announced in March.

Biden Is Running U.S. Energy Security Into The Ground

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Biden Manipulates Oil Price To Buy More Votes

Since its inauguration the Biden administration has sold more than 220 million barrels from the 650+ reserve. Refilling it at $70/bl, nearly $50 per barrel more than Trump was going to pay, will be quite costly.

How JFK Sacrificed Adlai Stevenson and the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

How JFK Sacrificed Adlai Stevenson and the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis

In those interim years, the fictional story of how the missile crisis was resolved became foreign-policy folklore. None of the early memoirs by top Kennedy aides, such as Schlesinger and Sorensen, contained the real history. These incomplete accounts became the basis of the foreign-policy models and paradigms in political scientist Graham Allison’s highly influential book, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. A full generation of scholars, analysts, foreign-policy makers, and even presidents learned the wrong lessons from the most significant superpower conflict in modern history.

Sixty years later, however, the Biden administration at least has a more complete record of history to draw on as U.S. policymakers and the world confront another time of crisis in the nuclear age. How applicable the lessons of the missile crisis will prove to be in preventing an escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war remains unknown. But the mantra of reason that Stevenson shared with Kennedy in October 1962 seems more relevant than ever: “Blackmail and intimidation never, negotiation and sanity always.”

Related:

The Cuban Missile Crisis @ 60 How John F. Kennedy Sacrificed His Most Consequential Crisis Advisor