The U.S. lost in Syria. Donald Trump finally had the courage to admit that to the world when he ordered the pull out of all U.S. troops there. Syria was to be the sparkling jewel in the Empire of Chaos' Crown. A masterstroke of realpolitik which would advance every major U.S., Israeli and Saudi objective … Continue reading U.S.’s Defeat in Syria is a Crisis of Empire
Russia
A Stable Ruble is the Key to Russia’s Survival
The Russian ruble moved sharply this week as the global equity and commodities rout continues in the wake of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. Russia's central bank over-reacted to a rise in inflation as the global economy moves towards a chaotic and politically dangerous 2019. Oil prices are moving in sync with equities as … Continue reading A Stable Ruble is the Key to Russia’s Survival
Inflation Targeting Madness: Russia Raises Rates Again
I continue to wonder who Bank of Russia President Elvira Nabuillina works for. Seriously. On Friday, in response to solid growth in Russian economic statistics over the past few months, Nabuillina again raised interest rates 0.25%. She still adheres to idiotic IMF-style 'inflation targeting' dogma. Price inflation in Russia finally got off the roughly 2.5% … Continue reading Inflation Targeting Madness: Russia Raises Rates Again
OPEC Cuts Deep to Save Cartel
With oil prices in free fall and the dawning realization that Great Reflation trade of 2017 is over, OPEC needed to do something drastic to remind everyone how important they are. Moreover, with Qatar quitting the cartel last week it was then doubly necessary for OPEC to make the markets stand up and remember them. … Continue reading OPEC Cuts Deep to Save Cartel
Forget Nordstream 2, Turkstream is the Prize
While the Trump Administration still thinks it can play enough games to derail the Nordstream 2 pipeline via sanctions and threats, the impotence of its position geopolitically was on display the other day as the final pipe of the first train of the Turkstream pipeline entered the waters of the Black Sea. The pipe was … Continue reading Forget Nordstream 2, Turkstream is the Prize
Add This to Bill Browder’s Resume — Criminal Mastermind
Look who's back in the news this week. None other than Mr. Anti-Putin himself, Bill Browder. But Browder isn't happy at all as to why he's in the news this time. A number of things have happened in the past few days which pushed Mr. Browder's future into uncertainty. The first occurred on September 30th … Continue reading Add This to Bill Browder’s Resume — Criminal Mastermind
For Russia Change Comes SWIFT
During the ruble crisis of 2014/15 Russia announced in the wake of U.S. and European sanctions over reunifying with Crimea that it would begin building a domestic electronic financial transfer system, an alternative to SWIFT. That system, System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), is not only now functioning in Russia, according to a report from … Continue reading For Russia Change Comes SWIFT
Germany Admits it Needs More from Russia than Nordstream 2
During the years the U.S. and its satraps in Poland and the Baltics fought the Nordstream 2 pipeline it was always apparent Germany was in the driver's seat. It was also apparent that this would be the wedge issue that would ultimately force Germany to pursue independent policy from the U.S. Nordstream 2 is and … Continue reading Germany Admits it Needs More from Russia than Nordstream 2