PHIL BUTLER—Russia has absolutely no interest in Europe other than tourism and natural gas sales. Of course, a preemptive invasion to create a “kill zone” should NATO advance is a real strategic probability. But in general, all Europe has to offer Putin and Russia are more mouths to feed. Let’s be clear on this. Russia holds all the natural resource cards. Russia has all the free land left. Russia has been on the defensive since FOREVER. Point two. Besides an Eiffel Tower and some ancient ruins to visit here or there, the Russians pretty much have everything Europeans do. Let’s move on to point two.
READ ONCategory: RUSSIA DESK
DONALD TRUMP – DESPISED BY EUROPE, DESPISES EUROPE
ANDRE VLTCHEK—The entire U.S. liberal establishment is in disarray. It is totally Euro-centric. It seems to be more pro-European than Europe itself. It actually is Europe. Could the United States under Donald Trump become cosmopolitan? I am not sure. We will soon find out.
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The West’s real interest in Chechnya isn’t gay rights
MAX PARRY—Although its population had always been fundamentalist Sunnis and the conflict had already seen the use of brutal terrorist tactics, the secessionist movement gradually descended into a jihadist majority by the Second Chechen War (1999–2000). The cause had initially been mostly nationalist until foreign mujahideen volunteers began to be imported into the rebel forces by the thousands and its character was transformed to Salafism. The Second Chechen War catapulted Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and Russia responded in an uncompromising crackdown on the insurgency.
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On Helsinki Summit, fetid backlash, and sane reactions
BLAIR HOPKINS—We all know that The Nation is a respected liberal outfit, and that it is precisely mainstream liberals who have been leading the insane campaign to provoke Russia and topple Trump—at any cost, and yet, Cohen, perhaps because of his privileged position, is able, or manages, to get his dissident viewpoint out, which is certainly salutary for the country and the rest of the world, as sanity and fairness are in extremely short supply at this point in the homeland of the empire.
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The BBC digs itself a very, very deep hole: Russian TV SLAMS Trump ‘Documentary’
One’s got a feeling that BBC knew about a forthcoming leak well in advance and was preparing itself for its coverage by shooting in all the right places in Moscow like Kremlin etc. If so, the whole set up looks like a provocation by the US and UK security services to undermine the legitimacy of the US President Elect. Russian political analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky remarks that the documentary drives at tormenting a sense of fear of the ‘gang of hooligans’, aka European and US right wing conservative forces.
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Trump Treats EU Like Bozos by Finian Cunningham + NATO Needs To End by Pat Elder
PAT ELDER—Now, all of this is important in helping to understand the newest American monster. It was Lenin who said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” I would say a multitude of lies mixed with statements of truth and sincerity create a cocktail of confusion. People don’t know what to believe. It is too much for them to consume so they turn it off and it is in that vacuum where Trump operates best.
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Syria: ‘Rebels Played Russian Roulette, and Lost’
Even this far into the Syrian conflict and after many other such weapons seizures throughout the country, analysts and journalists have commented that the sheer numbers of advanced weapons — in most cases obviously externally supplied — are “staggering”. Meanwhile, all of this begs the question: where will all the surviving jihadists currently fleeing the Syrian battlefield go? (assuming Syria-Russia will hit the last major expansive jihadist bastion of Idlib next).
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