THE last two weeks saw successive thunderbolts striking geopolitics and world finance. Never since the combined plagues, calamities, barbarian invasions of ancient times, or the pre-World War 1, have there been such waves of earth-shaking events coming together in such a short period, creating a foreboding that titans may be roaming on earth to punish man.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked NATO this week to attack directly into Russia preemptively, potentially asking for the start of a direct world war. This after the tension in the previous week when he publicly applied for NATO membership again, a direct public challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which fortunately for the world, was turned down.
Just two weeks ago, the US destroyed the dreams of Germany and France by, the world now suspects, blowing up two Nord Stream oil pipes that were the single biggest source of energy for Europe. With these pipes in place, Germany had a chance to become once again a first tier world power when its industry is combined with vast Russian resources. It has been revealed that one of the US’ key written geopolitical strategic goals was to keep the Germans down, never to rise beyond being a US wingman like the UK.
Initially all the US and the EU media, without investigation, immediately pinned the blame of the sabotaged pipes on Russia. It was clear to everyone that only a powerful state player could have the technology and access to damage the pipes in four adjacent locations, within a week. The other suspects were the US and the UK but, though suspected by everyone, no one wanted to mention it. Ukraine had motive, but not the independent ability to do this damage.
The US became the primary suspected culprit of this act of war, war even against its own European allies, as analysts around the world quickly pointed out, for the following reasons: 1) Russia had no reason to go on extensive efforts to destroy the energy pipes; it could easily just turn off the pipes. Destroying the pipes would destroy chances of Russia’s own future income, and the cooperations that both Russia and Europe hoped for. 2) US navy helicopters were flying in the area where the damage was done, for hours at a time on the days just before, and US navy ships conducted underwater device tests in the area in recent periods, which is the generally agreed manner the sabotage was conducted through. 3) US President Biden was on video promising directly to destroy the pipelines in a war. 4) Blinken, instead of lamenting the event, gleefully called it a “tremendous opportunity.” 5) Germany and other European nations were being suspected by the US of wavering toward buying Russian gas again due to growing protests by citizens and intense financial and winter pressures and blowing up the pipes would take the choice away. 6) The biggest beneficiary of the sabotage was the US, selling energy and weapons very profitably to the EU while banning all other sources.
Further, the EU and the US are REFUSING TO ALLOW RUSSIA TO BE PART OF THE INVESTIGATION of the blowing up of the pipeline, even as Russia was the first to ask for a joint investigation. The US is now clearly the world’s prime suspect, even in Europe, except in US media.
In the midst of high, although declining world prices for oil, which dropped from $120 to $80 per barrel, OPEC last week decided to cut 2 million barrels production a day — which would spin the world deeper into recession, that EU and the US are already at the edge of.
The US then decided this week that President Maduro of Venezuela is a friend after all. The US tried for years to destroy him, and even installed a rival government and a president of Venezuela in the US. Thus, the US did what they are famous for, flipped on itself. They will allow Venezuela to operate, export oil again, but only through, and only to, the US.
Venezuela may even get to use some of its money that was frozen by the US, released back for food and medicines. (Venezuela should be grateful for the US allowing them to use their own money?) The US destroyed the Venezuelan economy for years, with oil production from over 3 million barrels a day dropping to just 450,000.
Perhaps Venezuela should also ask for its $2 billion of gold back from the UK. All these funds and gold are illegally held, based on international agreements, practices.
Russia and four Ukraine regions signed accession treaties for Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which agreed to join into the Russian state, after elections the West called a sham. Knowledgeable people all know these areas are populated substantially by ethnic Russians who would vote in favor accession, given that Ukraine had banned them from even speaking their own language, and had frequently bombed (western media refuse to cover these), instead of giving autonomy to them, as committed in signed Minsk agreements by Ukraine, Germany and France.
Rumors spread of a coup vs Xi Jinping in China, based on insinuations of a Zeng of Falun Gong, Epoch Times, a group which generates news of the collapse of Chinese economy and business every year. This invention was spread very enthusiastically by several US and by some Indian internet sites that spread any wild rumor about China.
World currencies are plummeting vs the US as it continues to raise interest rates, after over a decade of reckless dropping of rates and release of trillions of US dollars without production of goods. The Australian central bank goes deep into theoretically negative equity territory. The Japanese yen depreciates more than 25 percent! from about 114 yen to a US dollar at the end of 2021 to below the 142 yen to a US dollar in September 2022; except for the Russian ruble, every currency including the Philippine peso is dropping.
The UK’s new prime minister Liz Truss leads the UK from its First World to near Third World status, with the pound dropping 21 percent to its lowest ever versus the US dollar, inflation reaching nearly 9.9 percent. Against this environment, against all economic theory except political expediency, she cuts taxes even for the rich, plans to release even more money into an inflation, froze energy prices regardless of consumption level, with a government subsidy estimated at 130 billion pounds. All these moves have put UK finances in deep debt.
The Ukraine war is not the reason for the world’s inflation woes, currency volatility, world hunger, supply chain disruptions.
The cause of all these is the US weaponizing everything in order to remain the world’s sole superpower. Its sanctions, sequestering of sovereign funds, blocking of direct supplies, printing money to buy worlds’ goods without producing, blocking the flow of alternative information to allow people to judge issues intelligently, fake news from US intel agencies to provoke wars, insisting uninvolved countries should participate in war … These are the causes of the world’s tailspin today, disguised through preaching about defending human rights, fair playing field, and peace.
The Philippines’ DFA and DND don’t have to side with Russia or China, they just need to act intelligently based on facts and history. To not listen to wider sets of informed parties on different dimensions of the issues, to declare as some leaders in foreign affairs and defense have done, preemptively, that the Philippines will participate in any war led by the US could be an indication of the control the US has over our current agency heads, led by a PR operation, their lack of knowledge of facts, or even elementary ability to position and negotiate well for the Filipino people.
A similar version was published in Manila Times on October 9 2022. We welcome logical feedback and possibly working together with compatible frameworks. (idsicenter@gmail.com)
