August 2022

Yet ‘experts’ still cling to the narrative that Ukraine can somehow ‘win.’ If Ukraine can hang on for just a few more months. Image: iStock Cameron Leckie August 24, 2022 The more events proved them to be wrong, the stronger their defences became against admitting this to be the case’ – Norman Dixon (On the Psychology of Military Incompetence) In my last piece for Pearls and Irritations I argued that the conflict in, or more accurately, over Ukraine was rapidly accelerating the transfer of the balance of power from West to East. The progress of events associated with the conflict has resulted in a re-evaluation of this assessment. What we are witnessing is the self-inflicted demise of the West as a major power bloc. The belief in a series of delusions by Western leaders and governments is the driving force behind this demise, with the conflict in Ukraine being the focal point. Originally published...

Image: Wikimedia Commons By P&I Guest Writers August 24, 2022 The G-7 countries are democratic domestically but are dictatorial globally. By contrast, the G-20 group, which has many autocratic regimes, represents a more democratic forum for governance. The G-7 is dictatorial, while the G-20 is democratic. This statement is obviously paradoxical. The G-7 countries are very proud of their liberal democratic societies. And they should be. However, while they are democratic domestically, they are dictatorial globally. By contrast, the G-20 group, which has many autocratic regimes, is more representative of the world’s population. The spiritual essence of democracy is conveyed in the phrase: a government of the people, by the people, for the people. In short, it must represent a hundred per cent of the people. The G-7 represent just 10 per cent of the world’s population. Yet, they make decisions and take actions that disrupt the lives of billions of...

Image: Wikimedia Commons By John Menadue August 23, 2022 The most likely way we could get into a war with China is if we continue to act as a proxy or deputy sheriff for the US in the region. Nancy Pelosi is doing her best to provoke China. Malcolm Fraser was right about ‘our dangerous ally’. The US is the most aggressive and violent country in the world. It is addicted to a belief in its exceptionalism, grounded in aggression and violence both at home and abroad, and finding it hard to admit mistakes. Originally published at John Menadue’s “Pearls And Irritations” on August 3, 2022 It is looking more and more like a slow motion train wreck. Apart from brief isolationist periods, the US has been almost perpetually at war. The record is clear. Time and time again we have allowed ourselves to be drawn into the imperial wars of...

This analysis of warfare, peace and economic thinking was written at the invitation of the esteemed magazine China Investment and published in its July 2022 issue in both Chinese and English. I was delighted to be invited to write and to learn that a Chinese investment/economics magazine would take interest in peace. I have never been asked to do something like that by a similar Western magazine. In addition, the cooperation about it with editor Wang Xiaobo was smooth and super-professional, and the editor-in-chief has expressed an interest in printing articles by me in the future too. Please now read “From Warfare to Peacefare Economic Thinking” in “China Investment” in English or Chinese. Or as PDF which you can also download freely:

Abolish NATOOr Convert ItTo ServePeace 30 Arguments & 100s of Inspirations This report can be reproduced or quoted freely,but only when referring clearly to TFF, the author and the link Read and download as PDF at the end of the catalogue • Read as Flipbook Media & other inquiries to TFF@transnational.org or +46 738 52 52 00 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Catalogue contains 30 arguments for the abolition of NATO. Each argument is based on rational peace research analysis, in contrast to the fact-resistant propaganda that NATO and mainstream politics and media promote about the ’defensive’ peace alliance. The Catalogue is based on the democratic assumption that diverse perceptions and concepts can exist – for instance, about what peace is – and that this hugely influential Western organisation is not sacrosanct and shall, therefore, not be exempt from critical analysis. While set up in 1949, NATO passed its ”best before” date long ago. The alliance of...

/12/TFF-Smokescreen-Report.pdf” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Download and share this report as PDF Table of Content IntroductionThe China Cold War Agenda as Dangerous Decline and Decay 3 Executive Summary 15 Chapter 1China and the West – Competition Not Cooperation 19 Chapter 2The Xinjiang Genocide Accusations As Agenda – and its sources 26 2.1 The compact Western mainstream media silence 27 2.2 The six main sources behind the Xinjiang genocide documentation 29 2.3 Problematic issues, materials and producers 30 2.3.1 The number issueHow many Uyghurs are in how many detention camps and facilities? 31 2.3.2 Funding and policy affiliationsWhere does the funding come from to produce the Xinjiang Genocide accusations? What political interests are behind? 36 2.3.3 Databases and witness statementsThe Victim Databases and the Credibility of witnesses 39 2.3.4 Politicisation, weaponisation and Adrian ZenzOn human rights, there is only one interpretation possible 42 2.3.5 ASPI The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) 46 Chapter 3Some facts about the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR): History and terrorism 52...

Together We Are Wrong — by Mr Fish By Chris Hedges August 4, 2022 The massive expansion of NATO, not only in Eastern and Central Europe but the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia, presages endless war and a potential nuclear holocaust. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the arms industry that depends on it for billions in profits, has become the most aggressive and dangerous military alliance on the planet. Created in 1949 to thwart Soviet expansion into Eastern and Central Europe, it has evolved into a global war machine in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia.  Originally published in The Chris Hedges Report on July 10, 2022 NATO expanded its footprint, violating promises to Moscow, once the Cold War ended, to incorporate 14 countries in Eastern and Central Europe into the alliance. It will soon add Finland and Sweden. It bombed Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. It launched wars in...

Fuyuko Matsui, Japan, “Becoming Friends with All the Children of the World,” 2004. Vijay Prashad August 4, 2022 The fragility of Europe’s energy supply has once again been on display in recent months. Gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany, were reduced to 40 per cent of capacity in June, a cut that Moscow said was due to delays in the servicing of a turbine by the German firm Siemens. Shortly thereafter, on July 11, the pipeline was taken offline for 10 days for annual routine maintenance. Despite receiving assurances from Moscow that the supply would resume as scheduled, European leaders expressed fear that the shutdown would continue indefinitely in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Originally published at Consortium News on July 29, 2022 On July 21, the flow of Russian gas into Europe resumed. Klaus Müller, the...

Right after US House Speaker Mme Nancy Pelosi, had landed in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 2, 2022, I was asked by Russia Today (RT) to comment on that tension-increasing event. It was a news program, but thanks to the excellent questions raised by Rory Suchet, the very knowledgeable anchor at the desk, we got an unusual 15 min conversation out of it. Delightful! – I would add, not the least compared with some media people I’ve come across in the Western/Scandinavian mainstream press. If for some reason you can’t see it, use this link instead.