VASSAL STATES

HIROYUKI HAMADA—That’s why so many people buy the idea that Russians are messing with their “democracy”.  It is not that they actually believe that Russians do stuff to them, but they sense the position of Russia in the imperial framework.  “How dare Russians get in the way of the United States of America!”.  How ironic is it that those who are going through the economic shock therapy now at the hands of those who inflicted an economic shock therapy against the Russian people after the destruction of USSR fail to see what is happening to themselves.  Needless to say, imperial gravity is global.  Some western proxy powers, on the other hand, are eager to comply and do extra miles in order to hold better positions in the imperial hierarchy.  Neoliberal restructuring of their economies, compliance with military strategic necessities, and demonization of “enemy countries” and so on can be more prominent in those countries than the US itself.  

FRANCIS LEE—Whether they obtain either is a matter of conjecture, however, as this would be almost certain to cross Russia’s red lines and result in a major geopolitical flareup. Europe’s centre of gravity is shifting. And while the process of joining the European Union is driving change within these countries, it is also changing the nature of Europe itself. Those Eastern European states which emerged from the break-up of the Soviet Union had been led to believe that a bright new world of West European living standards, enhanced pay levels, high rates of social mobility and consumption were on offer.

Unfortunately, they were sold an illusion: the result of the transition so far seems to have been the creation of a low-wage hinterland, a border economy on the fringes of the highly developed European core; a Euro version of NAFTA and the maquiladora, i.e., low tech, low wage, low skills production units on the Mexican side of the US’s southern borders. Moreover there are acute demographic problems confronting the ‘new Europe’.

W.T. WHITNEY Jr—Colombia acts as the local U.S. enforcer as regards Venezuela. That role grew out of U.S. Plan Colombia which after 2000 had the United States building up Colombia’s military, harassing leftist insurgents, and establishing a base for regional military operations – all under the pretext of combating illegal drugs.

Before arriving in Bogota, Pompeo had visited Venezuela’s other neighbors – Surinam, Brazil and Guyana. In Boa Vista, located 141 miles from the Venezuelan border, he met with Brazil’s foreign minister and commiserated with Venezuelan refugees.

DANIEL PENNUTO—Just like during the Skripal saga, the same media platforms, all connected to the corporate elite and intelligence agencies in the West, are acting again like a megaphone repeating the the same refrain: PUTIN DID IT! Also the same is happening in the complete absence of : motive, evidence. By the way, where are the Skripals? Those poor souls Putin allegedly tried to have killed 2 years back? With the ‘most toxic nerve agent ever created’ that seems rather ineffective!

VLADIMIR DANILOV—According to US magazine, The National Interest, “there has been a surge of alarming incidents between US and Russian military aircraft” over the past few months, and “most of the interceptions are taking place near Russia and thousands of miles away from the American homeland”. The article has also pointed out that “the undeniable reality is that the United States and its NATO allies are crowding Russia, not that Russia is crowding the United States”. In the meantime, the United States is seemingly continuing with its preparation for a global confrontation. On August 28, six US Air Force B-52Н Stratofortress strategic bombers, built to carry nuclear weapons, flew over all 30 NATO nations in Europe.