If there were any genuine principles of justice, Biden should be in the dock facing war crime charges in connection with America’s illegal wars.
Continue reading Arresting Putin, Or Arresting All-Out Western Public Revolt?
If there were any genuine principles of justice, Biden should be in the dock facing war crime charges in connection with America’s illegal wars.
Continue reading Arresting Putin, Or Arresting All-Out Western Public Revolt?The psychopathy of “conservatives” in the UK, and their criminally insane neocon counterparts in America, represents a serious and growing threat to humanity.
Continue reading UK to Send Nuclear Weapon to Zelenskyy RegimeIn Moscow this week, the Chinese and Russian leaders revealed their joint commitment to redesign the global order, an undertaking that has ‘not been seen in 100 years.’
Continue reading In Moscow, Xi and Putin Bury Pax AmericanaPolice clashed with over a million demonstrators opposed to President Macron’s pension reform. Unlike the US State Department instigated unrests, the ongoing French Revolution is not on TV.
Continue reading Over A Million Demonstrators Took to the Streets Across FranceAs Ukraine sinks into collapse from Russia’s invasion the US provoked, the death and destruction has made no dent on Uncle Sam’s inhumane conscience.
Continue reading For Second Time, US Seeks to Sabotage a Russo-Ukraine Negotiated PeaceThe former senior executive says the Fed must cut rates and guarantee deposits held by regional lenders.
Continue reading Another 50 US Banks Could Fail | ex-Lehman VPTwenty years after the unlawful and destabilizing US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington must face the ultimate consequence of that war: UNSC powers China and Russia laying the foundation for a genuine, UN Charter-based system of multipolarism.
Continue reading Multipolarity was Triggered by the 2003 US Invasion of IraqIf today’s geopolitics were a tennis match, this would be a 6:0, 6:0 for Russia. It is almost surreal to contemplate the changes that took place over the past 12 months.
Continue reading West’s Contempt for Truth is Leading Us to RuinThe reconciliation between Saudi Arabia, leader of the Sunni Muslim world, and Iran, leader of the Shiite Muslim world, finally makes possible an era of peace in the Middle East. It was made possible by Russia, ally of the two enemy brothers, and negotiated first in Iraq and Oman before being concluded by China, Iran’s millennial ally, acting impartially. This agreement closes eleven years of wars and Western influence.
Continue reading The Middle East frees itself from the WestThere are many conspiracy theories – some believe that reptilians are running the US government and others believe that Coca-Cola uses the blood of Christian babies to produce its soft drinks.
Continue reading Bill Gates, Vaccinations, Microchips, and Patent 060606Many other lenders are also sitting on unrealized losses caused by the rapid rise in interest rates.
Nearly 200 American banks face similar risks to those that led to the implosion and bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), according to a paper posted this week to the Social Science Research Network. SVB, a major US lender focused on the tech and startup sectors, was shut down by regulators last week after massive deposit outflows.
In the study, four economists from prominent US universities estimated how much market value the assets held by US banks have lost due to recent interest rate hikes.
“From March 07, 2022, to March 6, 2023, the federal funds rate rose sharply from 0.08% to 4.57%, and this increase was accompanied by quantitative tightening. As a result, long-dated assets similar to those held on bank balance sheets experienced significant value declines during the same period,” they wrote.
Although higher interest rates can benefit banks by allowing them to lend at a higher rate, many US banks have parked a significant portion of their excess cash in US Treasuries. This was done when interest rates were at near-zero levels. The value of these bonds has now greatly decreased due to the rate hikes – investors can now simply purchase newly issued bonds that offer a higher interest rate. The decline in the banks’ portfolios is unrealized, meaning the value of the securities has declined but the loss is still only ‘on paper’.
The problem arises when customers request their deposits back and banks are forced to sell their securities – at a significant loss – in order to pay depositors back. In extreme cases, this can lead to a bank becoming insolvent, or as happened with Silicon Valley Bank, the loss of confidence can trigger a bank run.
The report’s authors looked into how the amount of US lenders’ funding that comes from uninsured deposits: the greater the share, the more susceptible a bank is to a run. For instance, at SVB, where 92.5% of deposits were uninsured, the deposit outflow caused the bank to collapse in a span of only two days. The authors of the study calculated that 186 American banks do not have enough assets to pay all customers if even half of uninsured depositors decide to withdraw their money.
“Our calculations suggest these banks are certainly at a potential risk of a run, absent other government intervention or recapitalization… Overall, these calculations suggest that recent declines in bank asset values very significantly increased the fragility of the US banking system to uninsured depositor runs,” the economists concluded, noting that the number of banks at risk could be “significantly” larger if “uninsured deposit withdrawals cause even small fire sales.”
SVB’s failure sent ripples across the entire US banking industry and caused the closure of another lender, Signature Bank. Many other financial institutions have seen their stocks plunge, with the six largest Wall Street banks losing around $165 billion in market capitalization, or some 13% of their combined value. Earlier this week, the ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its outlook for the US banking system from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, citing the “rapidly deteriorating operating environment.”
The growing number of institutional failures is a signal that the entire economic system is under pressure.
Continue reading How The US Banking Crisis Could Lead to The Collapse of The Western Financial SystemLast week, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a landmark deal, brokered by China in Beijing, to formally restore diplomatic relations. The agreement saw the two sectarian arch rivals in the Middle East agree to put aside their differences and to normalize ties.
It was the first ever deal of its kind overseen by China, framing itself as a peacemaker, and showing that its commitment to have good relations with every country in the region is not just based on rhetoric but actual substance. Some have described it as a sign of a “changing global order.”
To put it mildly, it is bad news for the United States and deals a massive blow to the near-unlimited geopolitical sway Washington has long held over the region via its strategic relationships with countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, it effectively ruins a US led campaign to pressurize and isolate Iran and hinders American efforts to shape regional politics in Israel’s favor via the Abraham Accords. It is no surprise that the Western media is calling the Chinese-brokered deal a “challenge” to the international order, but what order is that? The ability of the US to dominate the Middle East? Perhaps brokering peace is a good thing.
Since the decline of European colonial empires, the United States has been the sole military hegemon in the Middle East, using a network of partnerships from Israel to the Gulf States to sustain domination over the region and allowing the US to exploit its energy resources. In order to maintain this position, the US has long needed adversaries in order to perpetuate an ongoing security dilemma and force reliance on it as a security guarantor, which is also beneficial to the US military industrial complex. These policies have accumulated decades worth of wars, insurgencies and attempts at regime change.
Detractors to the US agenda have included revolutionary Arabist regimes, such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Bashar Assad’s Syria, terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and of course the post-1979 Islamic Republic of Iran. It was after the US gave up on its botched attempt to topple Assad that policymakers in the Trump administration decided to focus on Tehran, tearing up US participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and imposing a crippling sanctions regime. In retaliation, Iran has waged a series of proxy conflicts against US partners in the region, most notably assisting the Houthis in Yemen against the Saudi-backed government, which has overseen the carpet-bombing of occupied regions.
Unlike the United States, China’s policy in the Middle East is non-interventionist, and assumes a neutral posture in regional conflicts, taking a position of respect for national sovereignty. However, this does not mean Beijing has no interests in the region. As it grows and develops domestically, its need for secure access to energy resources has increased, leading it on a diplomatic push to build good relations with every country in the region, and this has only accelerated as the US has pushed to isolate China from the West. Despite the intra-regional power struggle, in the past two years, Beijing announced strategic partnerships with both Iran and the Gulf States.
Because China did not have the same military footprint or stakes in the Middle East as the US, many analysts were dismissive of Beijing’s ability to seriously act as a diplomatic mediator in the region. They believed that its attempts to build good ties with everyone were spread too thin. However, the Saudi-Iran deal shows this assumption was wrong. But how did it happen?
First, it should be noted that the Gulf States are not “value” allies to the US in the way European countries are, and not “morally obligated” to follow the American cause. Rather, they are self-interested monarchies with very different ideological and value systems (strict Wahhabi Islam) and have seen the US as a “patron” in guaranteeing their economic and security interests (oil for weapons). This is not a “marriage”, just business.
It should be understood that the world has changed in ways which now lead these states to perceive that unparalleled US dominance, which is its unequivocal foreign policy goal, is no longer in their best interests. They have found a new, bigger partner in Beijing who not only can buy more of their oil, but also doesn’t have a foreign policy doctrine premised on evangelizing its ideology or creating war throughout the region. As such, when the US delivered an ultimatum to the United Arab Emirates that they will block the export of F-35s if they don’t drop Huawei from their 5G networks, Abu Dhabi told Washington where to go.
While this shift was already underway by 2022, events last year exacerbated it further as the Gulf States suddenly found the US demanding that they take sides in a war – in Ukraine – which did not concern them, and worse still, demanding that they compromise their own economic interests to suit its sanctions agenda.
The US fell out with OPEC, and Saudi Arabia publicly rebuffed its demands to increase oil production. Meanwhile, the events of that year also emboldened Iran, who was not being swayed by US pressure, while the return of Benjamin Netanyahu to power in Israel exacerbated Arab-Israeli tensions, damaging the US backed Abraham Accords, and hindering Saudi Arabia’s willingness to normalize with Israel.
These events have ultimately created the political space for a diplomatic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, backed by China. It’s a massive blow to American interests as it is the first major Middle East deal brokered without Washington’s influence, and subsequently dilutes its policy of creating a perpetual war machine in order to legitimize its footprint in the region and its clout over Arab States.
It also shows that the US campaign to try and isolate and crush Iran has failed, and that the United States no longer holds the power it once did to isolate countries. If the US is wise, it should use this development to rethink its approach to the Middle East, but if other policies are anything to go by, the Washington circle is likely to continue to think every problem is a nail, and more hammers are needed.
Three government agencies told Congress that the stated sum is actually conservative and the true figure could be much greater.
Continue reading Over $250 Billion Swindled from US Pandemic FundBill Ackman says the government made “a-soon-to-be-irreversible mistake” in its treatment of the failed bank.
Continue reading Billionaire Warns of Dire Aftermath of SVB CollapseAfter seven years of tension, Riyadh and Tehran will reopen embassies and revive a 2001 security agreement.
Continue reading Saudi Arabia and Iran to Restore Ties in China-Brokered DealWhen former US President George W. Bush and his neocon regime launched their anti-terrorism campaign after the September 11th attacks, he declared that “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”
Continue reading In a Multipolar World, the Idea of a New World Order DiesAmid incessant NATO aggression and escalation of hostilities within Russia, now also including US-backed Kiev regime terrorists targeting schoolchildren, Moscow has started revamping the doctrinal approach to the use of its strategic arsenal.
Continue reading Is US-NATO on a Collision Course with Russia? The Kremlin’s New Deterrence StrategyIn normal circumstances, the Atomwaffen’s plot in Baltimore should have been headline news.
Continue reading Atomwaffen: How American Friends Of Ukrainian Fascists Plotted A Terror Attack in USIf you don’t care about human rights violations and if you are a champion of war crimes, the Israeli prime minister’s new book, Bibi: My Story, is for you.
Continue reading Netanyahu’s Anthology of Errors, Fabrications & FalsehoodsThe glib talk of people dying for no good cause, but rather only for a clique of clowns and their imperial circus, is the ultimate sick joke.
Continue reading Zelensky’s Comic Insults… Gimme HIMARS, Tanks, F-16s and Now, America’s Sons & DaughtersThe Russian president has held a surprise meeting with AK Doval, PM Modi’s most trusted foreign and domestic aide.
Continue reading Who is India’s National Security Advisor and Why did Putin Decide to Meet Him One on One?Last month’s shockwave of resignations among top Ukrainian officials, caused by numerous corruption scandals, ended as quickly as it began. At the start of February, it seemed that Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov would become the ultimate victim of the purge. His imminent departure was openly discussed in the Ukrainian parliament and hints were even dropped by the President’s office.
Continue reading Zelensky and His Cronies Are Trying to Cover Up a Major Corruption Scandal in UkraineIt has been at least a year and a half since the political West drastically intensified its weapons shipments to the Kiev regime. Ever since, the black markets have been flooded with Western-made arms and munitions, some of which have even started running out from NATO stocks.
Continue reading Kiev Regime Flooding Black Markets with NATO-sourced WeaponsOver the past year Ottawa has given Ukraine over $2 billion in weapons. The size of the arms donation is unprecedented in Canadian history.
Continue reading Understanding the Logic of Canada Giving $2.26 Billion in Arms to UkraineThe strategists of Russia and China are now working full time on how to return all strands of Hybrid War against the Hegemon.
Continue reading The Stage is Set for A Full Blown Hybrid World War IIIRepresentatives of the world’s 20 largest economies are meeting in India amid discord over Ukraine and US-China tensions.
Continue reading G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Likely to End in Deadlock with The Body’s Relevance Under ThreatThe Americans believe a provocation won’t be properly investigated due to the fighting, Russian military alleges.
Continue reading US Preparing False Flag Chemical Attacks in UkraineThe Western world’s threat narrative seeks to disrupt the concept of multipolarity by imposing sanctions and military deterrence.
Continue reading The West’s Narrative of the ‘Russian Threat’: A Tool for Destabilization and Hegemonic ControlMSC 2023 Attracts Historic Number of Congressional Attendees
It would seem ironic that the annual Munich Security Conference is traditionally set in Munich, Germany, the site of Adolf Hitler’s return in 1920 after his discharge from WW I service in the German army. Home to the Munich Putsch of 1923, it became the location from which the Workers Socialist Nazi party grew into a mass movement and political force throughout Germany; thus threatening the world.
Continue reading Munich Security Conference 2023: “Intensifying Authoritarian Revisionism”