“The world system, and American influence in it, would be completely upended if Moscow and Beijing aligned more closely,” John Arquilla, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, wrote in the report, to which Defense Department officials and other analysts contributed." -- The world system is, in fact, the neoliberal capitalist system presently dominated by US imperialism and its allies and has spawned war and poverty and fascist regimes throughout the Third World under the guise of democracy and economic development. It's true that Russia after the collapse of its previous socialist economy had hoped to become a leading member of "the world system" and Putin early on even talked about Russia joining NATO and the EU but was rebuffed in no uncertain terms by the US which needs the "Russian threat" in the West as well as the "Chinese threat" in the East to justify its enormous military budget and the growth of its weapons industry at the expense of social and economic initiatives to improve the lives and well being of its citizens rather than the 1% of capitalists that constitute it actual ruling class. La Force des choses has pushed the Russians into the orbit of the Chinese communists and this has alarmed the NYT editorial board. Well, once upon a time communist Russia and capitalist America allied to defeat Hitler, perhaps communist China and capitalist Russia can work together to check US imperialism.
The opinions, views, thoughts, and ramblings of editors of PoliticalAffairs.net – and other stuff worth reading or viewing.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Russia and China Happy Together?
It's ironic that capitalist Russia and communist China have better relations and are working together to foil US imperialist interests than the USSR and communist China had.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Trump and the Fascist Threat
This resurgence of white nationalism (AKA fascism with American characteristics) has already practically taken over the Republican party and the 2020 elections will be a battle for the independent voters to determine just how much of this poison still remains 50 years after the great civil rights battles of the last century. Whichever side eventually wins out at the Democratic Convention (the progressives or the establishment) utmost unity of the anti-Trump forces will be the order of the day as the road being taken by Trump and the capitalist class factions backing him is taking us towards a qualitative change in the type of country we live in and a Trump victory will be a virtual spiritual Kristallnacht for our democratic traditions.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
37 Countries Send Letter to UN Supporting China's Human Rights Policies
37 Countries Send Letter Supporting China's Human Rights Actions
“UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses
22 Countries Decry Mass Detention, Seek Monitoring” The headline on Human Rights Watch's website. This NGO, often criticized for reflecting US government positions, ignored the fact that at the same UN meeting 37 countries praised China for the way it supported human rights and was handling the social problems in Xinjiang. While some of the 37 are despicable human rights abusers themselves most represent a cross section of the Third World and most of the Islamic countries seem to be supporting the Chinese efforts to restore social peace in Xinjiang. The 22 also have some despicable human rights abusers (the 22 represent the US and its European allies as well as some others). The US has set up child concentration camps along its southern border and many of the 22 have racist immigration policies against refugees fleeing war and famine in Africa and the Middle East that have resulted in thousands of drowning deaths in the Mediterranean. The 37 represent, by and large, those who think the Chinese are handling threats of religious fundamentalism and violence in Xinjiang in a rational and humane way and object to the US and its allies trying politicize the issue and misrepresent the facts.
22 Countries Decry Mass Detention, Seek Monitoring” The headline on Human Rights Watch's website. This NGO, often criticized for reflecting US government positions, ignored the fact that at the same UN meeting 37 countries praised China for the way it supported human rights and was handling the social problems in Xinjiang. While some of the 37 are despicable human rights abusers themselves most represent a cross section of the Third World and most of the Islamic countries seem to be supporting the Chinese efforts to restore social peace in Xinjiang. The 22 also have some despicable human rights abusers (the 22 represent the US and its European allies as well as some others). The US has set up child concentration camps along its southern border and many of the 22 have racist immigration policies against refugees fleeing war and famine in Africa and the Middle East that have resulted in thousands of drowning deaths in the Mediterranean. The 37 represent, by and large, those who think the Chinese are handling threats of religious fundamentalism and violence in Xinjiang in a rational and humane way and object to the US and its allies trying politicize the issue and misrepresent the facts.
Friday, July 12, 2019
U.K. Joins U.S. in anti-Iranian Provocations
U.K and NATO are cooperating with the Trump regime's slow but steady build up for a military confrontation with Iran. There will probably be no question about this at the next Democratic debate nor will any of the candidates issue a statement about this (maybe Tulsi Gabbard will). The U.K. says it wants to tone down the tension so it increases its military presence in the Gulf and seizes an Iranian oil tanker. "Britain’s already poor relations with Iran deteriorated further last week when the UK seized an Iranian ship, Grace 1, carrying oil destined for Syria, a contract that the UK said was in breach of EU sanctions. Tehran has denied the ship was heading for Syria and threatened to seize a British oil tanker in retaliation, if Grace 1 was not released." The EU puts sanctions on other countries but neither Iran nor Syria are members of the EU so what right has the EU to impose its rules on non-members. Isn't this a violation of their sovereign rights as independent states? One of the reasons the US fought the War of 1812 was because Britain tried to put restrictions on US trade. Today the US and its NATO puppet states as well as the EU put restrictions (sanctions) on any country they please as part of the failing attempt to keep Western imperialism running the show.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Progressives vs Wall Street Democrats
“Those freshman members are breaking through, and they’re building a movement, and the more power that movement gains, the more persuasive they will be to Pelosi,” said Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for Senator Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. " The Squad vs the Wall Street Democrats isn't really David vs Goliath as the Squad represents millions of grassroots Democrats and independents. It is that alliance that will defeat Trump and the Republicans. Pelosi represents those Democrats who are moderate and conservative and may hold a majority within the party itself but the progressive faction in the party and the independent progressives with no party affiliations are the majority of Americans who will decide the election. This progressive majority, however, is not politically disciplined and if the Pelosi group continues to collaborate with the Republicans by lipsticking the pig and voting for Trump inspired bills and foists Biden or a clone on the American people as the nominee of the Party, then the Party will fracture and we may end up with four more years of Trump. Pelosi's wing of the party is ultimately committed to the health and well being of monopoly capitalism, as are the Republicans, and they will sacrifice the 2020 election before nominating a real progressive (i.e., Sanders who is the closest facsimile -- they may stomach Warren who has "capitalism in my bones"). The Left needs a plan B just in case of defeat, which is to corral as many of the progressive Democrats and independents as possible and hammer together a left-progressive alliance to fight in local and state elections and stage a winning comeback in 2024. AOC will be 35 in time for the '24 election and in this best of all possible worlds would be the ideal fusion candidate. I needn't mention which party (comrades) should play the vanguard role.
Friday, July 5, 2019
NATO Ramps Up European Provocations
"The relationship between Russia and the West has spiraled downward since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine forced the alliance to reinforce its eastern flank with new troop deployments and military exercises." What a lame excuse to justify NATO expansion and to give more money to the private arms industries. Russia isn't about to attack Europe. The destabilization of Ukraine was not caused by Russia but by the US and EU who engineered the overthrow of the democratically elected president and replaced him with a nationalist regime that alienated the Russian speaking population in the east of the country as well the Crimea whose people overwhelmingly expressed a desire to rejoin Russia their historical motherland. Everyone knows that Russia will never give the Crimea to Ukraine anymore than the US will give the annexed Hawaii to its native population and Hawaii was never historically American. To demand the turning over of Crimea to Ukraine, knowing that is a non starter, shows that the US doesn’t want other than a hostile relation with Russia. This hypocrisy is underlined by the US supporting the annexation of the Golan Heights, a part of Syria, by Israel. Everything Putin has done since taking office has been a reaction to American provocation and the real international aggressor has been the US and its NATO puppet. These military provocations against Putin, as well the threats against other countries should be part of the presidential debates and all candidates should be quizzed on their positions re improving relations with Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela and whether they will demand that the murderer MBS crown prince of Saudi Arabia be held accountable for his actions.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Abolish ICE
There is no doubt that ICE should be abolished. The inhumane sadistic pleasure that its agents get in hunting down and deporting other human beings who fled to the US to escape the poverty and unlivable conditions that US policies have inflicted on Central and South Americans, the fact that they consider it "fun" to break up families and ruin the lives of others shows that there is something seriously wrong with an agency that not only recruits but breeds sociopaths to carry
out its racist objectives. Congress, by the way, is responsible for enacting the laws that the Trumpstapo operates under so let Congress enact more humane and less brutal laws directed at undocumented people fleeing the consequences of our meddling and interference in their homelands. The ''fun and games of today" have already resulted in child concentration camps and imprisonment of asylum seekers and others seeking refuge. The Obama regime stepped up this persecution with the greatest mass deportations in our history and his successor Trump has worsened the situation with even more inhumane policies. Don't expect real change from the current Congress full of Republicans and a split Democratic Party between the progressives and establishment flunkies. We have to work for a progressive victory across the board in 2020 routing the ultra-right and purging as many establishment Democrats as possible replacing them with progressives. Defeating Trump is the number one priority, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory if the winner is Biden or one of the other establishment flunkies and we have not created a viable and sustainable progressive-left coalition able to challenge the ruling class in the future.
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