The New Silk Roads, or BRI, as well as the integration efforts of BRICS+, the SCO and the EAEU will be on the forefront of Chinese policy.
Continue reading Can You Smell What the Year of the Rabbit is Cooking?Category Archives: Multipolar World
Why BRI is Back With A Bang in 2023
As Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative enters its 10th year, a strong Sino-Russian geostrategic partnership has revitalized the BRI across the Global South.
Continue reading Why BRI is Back With A Bang in 2023Xi of Arabia and the Petroyuan Drive
Xi Jinping has made an offer difficult for the Arabian Peninsula to ignore: China will be guaranteed buyers of your oil and gas, but we will pay in yuan.
Continue reading Xi of Arabia and the Petroyuan DriveChina’s Win-Win Arrangement with Saudi Arabia
Beijing manages to maintain strategic partnerships with other countries despite their ongoing sectarian disputes.
Continue reading China’s Win-Win Arrangement with Saudi ArabiaWhat the Historic China-Arab Summits Mean for the Middle East
Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia signals a desire by Arab nations to hedge their bets with stronger partnerships beyond the US.
Continue reading What the Historic China-Arab Summits Mean for the Middle EastMali Kicks Out France in Favor of Russia
The global geopolitical shift continues with the Republic of Mali kicking out blackmailer France and its NGOs, in favor of Russian economic and security cooperation.
Continue reading Mali Kicks Out France in Favor of RussiaRussia, India, China, Iran: the Quad that really matters
Southeast Asia is right at the center of international relations for a whole week viz a viz three consecutive summits: Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Bali, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok.
Continue reading Russia, India, China, Iran: the Quad that really mattersRewiring Eurasia
The meeting this week between two Eurasian security bosses is a further step toward dusting away the west’s oversized Asian footprint.
Continue reading Rewiring EurasiaDoes the West Think We’re Fools?
President of the Socialist Party of Zambia, Fred M’membe, and the convener of the Socialist Movement of Ghana, Kyeretwie Opoku, slammed the West’s arrogant attitude towards African countries.
Continue reading Does the West Think We’re Fools?Birth of NWO Where West Will Have to Live Within Its Means
It’s time for the Global Majority to take their rightful place at the top table.
Continue reading Birth of NWO Where West Will Have to Live Within Its Means‘Peaceful modernization’: China’s offering to the Global South
Xi Jinping just offered the Global South a stark alternative to decades of western diktats, war, and economic duress. ‘Peaceful modernization’ will establish sovereignty, economy, and independence for the world’s struggling states.
Continue reading ‘Peaceful modernization’: China’s offering to the Global SouthSaudi Arabia Looks To Join BRICS Next Year
Saudi Arabia expressed interest in being part of the BRICS economic bloc as it pivots away from Washington. Conversations with the alternative counter-western alliance representative, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, started the ball rolling.
Continue reading Saudi Arabia Looks To Join BRICS Next YearSaudi Arabia Joining the BRICS Shows the World is Moving On from Western Dominance
Two decades on from its emergence as a marketing ploy, the concept has enjoyed an unlikely upturn.
Continue reading Saudi Arabia Joining the BRICS Shows the World is Moving On from Western DominanceOPEC’s Body Blow to Biden
The OPEC+ decision could change the security picture in West Asia more than anything since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Continue reading OPEC’s Body Blow to BidenPutin Wants A Grand Bargain with the West for A Multipolar Global Order
The Russian president would like to negotiate a new place for his country in the world order, an Ankara official claims.
Continue reading Putin Wants A Grand Bargain with the West for A Multipolar Global Order‘Samarkand Spirit’ to Be Driven by ‘Responsible Powers’ Russia and China
Amidst serious tremors in the world of geopolitics, it is so fitting that this year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit should have taken place in Samarkand – the ultimate Silk Road crossroads for 2,500 years.
Continue reading ‘Samarkand Spirit’ to Be Driven by ‘Responsible Powers’ Russia and ChinaSCO Expansion to Give Region Greater Security, Stability
Member-countries welcomed the signing of memorandums of understanding with the League of Arab States, UNESCO, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Continue reading SCO Expansion to Give Region Greater Security, StabilityAsia’s Future Takes Shape in Vladivostok, the Russian Pacific
Sixty-eight countries gathered on Russia’s far eastern coast to listen to Moscow’s economic and political vision for the Asia-Pacific
Continue reading Asia’s Future Takes Shape in Vladivostok, the Russian PacificEurasian Union Eyes Creating Industrial Park in Cuba
The proposed deal envisions lending a plot of land on the island to the EEU bloc for 50 years. The Eurasian project is in deep contrast over any American Manifest Destiny project, which is designed to exploit and control the natural and human resources of the targeted region. – CG
Continue reading Eurasian Union Eyes Creating Industrial Park in CubaPutin’s Syrian Peace Plan with Erdogan
Russian President Vladmir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan held a four-hour meeting on August 5 in Sochi which may change the course of the Middle East, and end the US occupation of Syria.
Continue reading Putin’s Syrian Peace Plan with ErdoganMultipolar “Iran-Russia-Turkey Troika” Overshadows “Unipolar Joe Biden” in West Asia
The presidents of Russia, Iran, and Turkey convened to discuss critical issues pertaining to West Asia, with the illegal US occupation of Syria a key talking point.
Continue reading Multipolar “Iran-Russia-Turkey Troika” Overshadows “Unipolar Joe Biden” in West AsiaIn Eurasia, the War of Economic Corridors is in Full Swing
Mega Eurasian organizations and their respective projects are now converging at record speed, with one global pole way ahead of the other.
The War of Economic Corridors is now proceeding full speed ahead, with the game-changing first cargo flow of goods from Russia to India via the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) already in effect.
Very few, both in the east and west, are aware of how this actually has long been in the making: the Russia-Iran-India agreement for implementing a shorter and cheaper Eurasian trade route via the Caspian Sea (compared to the Suez Canal), was first signed in 2000, in the pre-9/11 era.
The INSTC in full operational mode signals a powerful hallmark of Eurasian integration – alongside the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and last but not least, what I described as “Pipelineistan” two decades ago.
Caspian is key
Let’s have a first look on how these vectors are interacting.
The genesis of the current acceleration lies in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital, for the 6th Caspian Summit. This event not only brought the evolving Russia-Iran strategic partnership to a deeper level, but crucially, all five Caspian Sea littoral states agreed that no NATO warships or bases will be allowed on site.
That essentially configures the Caspian as a virtual Russian lake, and in a minor sense, Iranian – without compromising the interests of the three “stans,” Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. For all practical purposes, Moscow has tightened its grip on Central Asia a notch.
As the Caspian Sea is connected to the Black Sea by canals off the Volga built by the former USSR, Moscow can always count on a reserve navy of small vessels – invariably equipped with powerful missiles – that may be transferred to the Black Sea in no time if necessary.
Stronger trade and financial links with Iran now proceed in tandem with binding the three “stans” to the Russian matrix. Gas-rich republic Turkmenistan for its part has been historically idiosyncratic – apart from committing most of its exports to China.
Under an arguably more pragmatic young new leader, President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Ashgabat may eventually opt to become a member of the SCO and/or the EAEU.
Caspian littoral state Azerbaijan on the other hand presents a complex case: an oil and gas producer eyed by the European Union (EU) to become an alternative energy supplier to Russia – although this is not happening anytime soon.
The West Asia connection
Iran’s foreign policy under President Ebrahim Raisi is clearly on a Eurasian and Global South trajectory. Tehran will be formally incorporated into the SCO as a full member in the upcoming summit in Samarkand in September, while its formal application to join the BRICS has been filed.
Purnima Anand, head of the BRICS International Forum, has stated that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are also very much keen on joining BRICS. Should that happen, by 2024 we could be on our way to a powerful West Asia, North Africa hub firmly installed inside one of the key institutions of the multipolar world.
As Putin heads to Tehran next week for trilateral Russia, Iran, Turkey talks, ostensibly about Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is bound to bring up the subject of BRICS.
Tehran is operating on two parallel vectors. In the event the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is revived – a quite dim possibility as it stands, considering the latest shenanigans in Vienna and Doha – that would represent a tactical victory. Yet moving towards Eurasia is on a whole new strategic level.
In the INSTC framework, Iran will make maximum good use of the geostrategically crucial port of Bandar Abbas – straddling the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
Yet as much as it may be portrayed as a major diplomatic victory, it’s clear that Tehran will not be able to make full use of BRICS membership if western – especially US – sanctions are not totally lifted.
Pipelines and the “stans”
A compelling argument can be made that Russia and China might eventually fill the western technology void in the Iranian development process. But there’s a lot more that platforms such as the INSTC, the EAEU and even BRICS can accomplish.
Across “Pipelineistan,” the War of Economic Corridors gets even more complex. Western propaganda simply cannot admit that Azerbaijan, Algeria, Libya, Russia’s allies at OPEC, and even Kazakhstan are not exactly keen on increasing their oil production to help Europe.
Kazakhstan is a tricky case: it is the largest oil producer in Central Asia and set to be a major natural gas supplier, right after Russia and Turkmenistan. More than 250 oil and gas fields are operated in Kazakhstan by 104 companies, including western energy giants such as Chevron, Total, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell.
While exports of oil, natural gas and petroleum products comprise 57 percent of Kazakhstan’s exports, natural gas is responsible for 85 percent of Turkmenistan’s budget (with 80 percent of exports committed to China). Interestingly, Galkynysh is the second largest gas field on the planet.
Compared to the other “stans,” Azerbaijan is a relatively minor producer (despite oil accounting for 86 percent of its total exports) and basically a transit nation. Baku’s super-wealth aspirations center on the Southern Gas Corridor, which includes no less than three pipelines: Baku-Tblisi-Erzurum (BTE); the Turkish-driven Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP); and the Trans-Adriatic (TAP).
The problem with this acronym festival – BTE, TANAP, TAP – is that they all need massive foreign investment to increase capacity, which the EU sorely lacks because every single euro is committed by unelected Brussels Eurocrats to “support” the black hole that is Ukraine. The same financial woes apply to a possible Trans-Caspian Pipeline which would further link to both TANAP and TAP.
In the War of Economic Corridors – the “Pipelineistan” chapter – a crucial aspect is that most Kazakh oil exports to the EU go through Russia, via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). As an alternative, the Europeans are mulling on a still fuzzy Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor (Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey). They actively discussed it in Brussels last month.
The bottom line is that Russia remains in full control of the Eurasia pipeline chessboard (and we’re not even talking about the Gazprom-operated pipelines Power of Siberia 1 and 2 leading to China).
Gazprom executives know all too well that a fast increase of energy exports to the EU is out of the question. They also factor the Tehran Convention – that helps prevent and control pollution and maintain the environmental integrity of the Caspian Sea, signed by all five littoral members.
Breaking BRI in Russia
China, for its part, is confident that one of its prime strategic nightmares may eventually disappear. The notorious “escape from Malacca” is bound to materialize, in cooperation with Russia, via the Northern Sea Route, which will shorten the trade and connectivity corridor from East Asia to Northern Europe from 11,200 nautical miles to only 6,500 nautical miles. Call it the polar twin of the INSTC.
This also explains why Russia has been busy building a vast array of state-of-the-art icebreakers.
So here we have an interconnection of New Silk Roads (the INSTC proceeds in parallel with BRI and the EAEU), Pipelineistan, and the Northern Sea Route on the way to turn western trade domination completely upside down.
Of course, the Chinese have had it planned for quite a while. The first White Paper on China’s Arctic policy, in January 2018, already showed how Beijing is aiming, “jointly with other states” (that means Russia), to implement sea trade routes in the Arctic within the framework of the Polar Silk Road.
And like clockwork, Putin subsequently confirmed that the Northern Sea Route should interact and complement the Chinese Maritime Silk Road.
Russia-China Economic cooperation is evolving on so many complex, convergent levels that just to keep track of it all is a dizzying experience.
A more detailed analysis will reveal some of the finer points, for instance how BRI and SCO interact, and how BRI projects will have to adapt to the heady consequences of Moscow’s Operation Z in Ukraine, with more emphasis being placed on developing Central and West Asian corridors.
It’s always crucial to consider that one of Washington’s key strategic objectives in the relentless hybrid war against Russia was always to break BRI corridors that crisscross Russian territory.
As it stands, it’s important to realize that dozens of BRI projects in industry and investment and cross-border inter-regional cooperation will end up consolidating the Russian concept of the Greater Eurasia Partnership – which essentially revolves around establishing multilateral cooperation with a vast range of nations belonging to organizations such as the EAEU, the SCO, BRICS and ASEAN.
Welcome to the new Eurasian mantra: Make Economic Corridors, Not War.
Russia and China Haven’t Even Started to Ratchet Up the Pain Dial Yet
The Suicide Spectacular Summer Show, currently on screen across Europe, proceeds in full regalia, much to the astonishment of virtually the whole Global South: a trashy, woke Gotterdammerung remake, with Wagnerian grandeur replaced by twerking.
Continue reading Russia and China Haven’t Even Started to Ratchet Up the Pain Dial YetThree More Countries Set to Join BRICS
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with Turkey and Egypt, may apply next year, the BRICS Forum president told Russian media.
Continue reading Three More Countries Set to Join BRICSIran-Russia Interbank Agreement Soon to Be Implemented
The pursuit of inter-banking agreements comes amid efforts by Tehran and Moscow to strengthen their economies and bypass western sanctions.
Continue reading Iran-Russia Interbank Agreement Soon to Be ImplementedRussia’s Decisive Break with the West Help Shape A Multipolar World Order
It’s perhaps hard to believe now but – only eight years ago – Russia was a full member of the former G8. Since then, there have been dramatic changes.
Continue reading Russia’s Decisive Break with the West Help Shape A Multipolar World OrderBRICS+ & Global South: Emerging Leaders of a Multipolar World?
Fast but not furious, the Global South is revving up. The key takeaway of the BRICS+ summit in Beijing, held in sharp contrast with the G7 in the Bavarian Alps, is that both West Asia’s Iran and South America’s Argentina officially applied for BRICS membership.
Continue reading BRICS+ & Global South: Emerging Leaders of a Multipolar World?The ‘Multiplier Effect’ of BRICS+
The possibilities offered by the “integration of integrations” track for BRICS+ are substantial, provided that such a platform is open, inclusive and ensures connectivity across regional integration arrangements – this will deliver the much needed “multiplier effect” in the process of economic cooperation and can set off a new process of globalization that connects regional arrangements in the developed and the developing world, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Yaroslav Lissovolik.
Continue reading The ‘Multiplier Effect’ of BRICS+Exile on Main Street: The Sound of the Unipolar World Fading Away
The future world order, already in progress, will be formed by strong sovereign states. The ship has sailed. There’s no turning back.
Continue reading Exile on Main Street: The Sound of the Unipolar World Fading AwaySt. Petersburg sets the stage for the War of Economic Corridors
In St. Petersburg, the world’s new powers gather to upend the US-concocted “rules-based order” and reconnect the globe their way.
Continue reading St. Petersburg sets the stage for the War of Economic Corridors