October 2022

Ukraine War Evolves: Disdaining Diplomacy, Seeking Victory Prefatory Note This is the third iteration of an essay on the evolution of the Ukraine War, the earlier two versions published online in Transcend Media Service (TMS) and CounterPunch. The essential argument remains: war-mongering geopolitics in the nuclear age imperils species survival and suppresses the necessity for emergency action to restore sustainable forms of ecological habitability to planet earth. Ever since the Ukraine War started on February 24, 2022, the NATO response, mainly articulated and materially implemented by the U.S., has been to pour vast quantities of oil on the flames of conflict, taunting Russia and its leader, increasing the scale of violence, the magnitude of human suffering, and dangerously increasing the risk of a disastrous outcome. Not only did Washington mobilize the world to denounce Russia’s ‘aggression’, but supplied a steady stream of advanced weaponry in great quantities to the Ukrainians...

Gordon M. Hahn October 27th 2022 The title above has been placed within quotation marks for a reason: Russian President Vladimir Putin made no nuclear threat unless one considers that a threat to respond to nuclear threats or to respond to a hypothetical nuclear attack amounts to a threat to use nuclear weapons. The West has attempted to spread the impression that Putin made an unprovoked nuclear threat, the same way it has asserted that Russia undertook an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth, sort of. Yes a repeated lie can become a virtual truth, and in our virtual times, virtual reality is having a profound impact on actual reality and not in any positive way. Quite to the contrary. Originally posted on October 11th, 2022 on Gordon Hahn’s homepage The quote that is said to have constituted...

Trust among Chinese citizens in their government is a record 91 percent, the highest seen in a decade. The result is even more striking compared to the U.S., where trust in government is at 39 percent. By Deborah Lehr October 24, 2022 Fraught U.S.-China relations will continue entering 2022. This year, leaders of both countries will be focused on domestic politics, the ongoing pandemic and uneven economic recoveries — challenges that have further added to existing bilateral tensions. Originally published at Edelman on January 18, 2022 It is an important political year in both countries. U.S. President Joe Biden is facing midterm elections with the Republicans likely to gain seats in the House and potentially the Senate, complicating his administration’s ability to implement its policy agenda. By contrast, China’s Xi Jinping is on the verge of assuming a third term as President and is strongly positioned to ensure that his...

You should ask yourself, ask friends, others and decision-makers in the West why the type of important news and conversations like the one I have here – including on nuclear abolition – is possible on Russia’s RT (and explicitly appreciated, watch the end) but not possible in the Western mainstream media. Interestingly, the conversation develops into the issue of the risks of nuclear war and why – I argue strongly – nuclear weapons must be abolished and that the nuclear weapons powers implicitly adhere – all of them – to a philosophy of terrorism. Remember how it was once called the balance of terror – a word that disappeared from the nuclear discourse after September 11, 2001. There are many definitions of terrorism, but one essential element in them all is that terrorism is about deliberately harming or killing civilians, targeting innocent people and not military forces, to achieve a...

Controlling the loss and waste of food is a crucial factor in reaching the goal of eradicating hunger in the world. Credit: FAO October 17, 2022 Baher Kamal MADRID, Sep 28 2022 (IPS)* – These are facts, not guesses: about 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted and lost … every single year, the equivalent of one ton per each of the one billion hungry people, many of them are those who produced the food. Originally published at Human Wrongs Watch on September 28, 2022 The findings have been reported by the World Bank, whose recent study: What a Waste 2.0 also informs that the number of wasted calories “could fill hunger gaps in the developing world.” On this, it reports on the breakdown of the number of calories wasted per day and per person – out of the recommended 2.000: 1.520 calories in rich North America and Oceania of which 61% are by...

Natylie Baldwin October 18th, 2022 I first came across Benjamin Abelow’s analysis of the Ukraine war as a lengthy article published on Medium in May.  I found the depth and thoroughness of his article impressive and complimented him on it.  When he told me that he’d expanded it into a short book, I was intrigued and offered to review it.  I was not disappointed. Originally posted on Natylies Baldwin’s homepage on October 2nd, 2022 Abelow’s overall argument as expressed in the overview of the book is that in the world in which we live, countries that are able, will use the means they have available to defend what they perceive to be their national security interests, including force.  This includes deterring or repelling hostile countries from encroaching on their border and near abroad.  The prime defender of this concept for itself is the U.S. as reflected in the Monroe Doctrine and its defense...

By Connor Echols October 17, 2022 A recent piece in Foreign Affairs revealed that Kyiv and Moscow may have had a tentative deal to end the war all the way back in April. Russia and Ukraine may have agreed on a tentative deal to end the war in April, according to a recent piece in Foreign Affairs. “Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement,” wrote Fiona Hill and Angela Stent. “Russia would withdraw to its position on February 23, when it controlled part of the Donbas region and all of Crimea, and in exchange, Ukraine would promise not to seek NATO membership and instead receive security guarantees from a number of countries.” Originally published at Responsible Statecraft on September 2, 2022 The news highlights the impact of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s efforts to stop negotiations, as journalist Branko Marcetic noted on Twitter....

TFF Associate With only a couple of days to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP congress) in Beijing, opening this coming Saturday, October 16, Western media outlets have not been short of speculations about the status of President Xi Jinping, the dynamics of power inside the Chinese political arena or the consequences for the Chinese economy and geopolitical circumstances. Needless to say, many speculations are overwhelmed with negative tones and projections. Despite all media speculations, not so many people have a clear idea of what this congress is actually about, its structure and how it relates to the governance and political system in China, probably except for who is going to be the next in charge and speculations about the agenda. This paper provides a brief introduction to the CCP Congress and its political structure in China. The essay concludes with recommendations on how to read...

Former US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland testifies during a hearing on Policy Response to Russian Interference in the 2016 US Elections before the Senate Intelligence Committee at Capitol Hill in Washington, USA on June 20, 2018. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) A Cold War true believer who sabotaged Obama’s foreign policy, Nuland is a huge risk at the State Department Medea Benjamin – Nicolas J.S. Davies – Marcy Winograd October 13, 2022 Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her, because the U.S. corporate media’s foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden’s pick for deputy secretary of state for political affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO expansion, an arms race on steroids and further encirclement of Russia.  Nor do they know that from 2003...

Dario Rivolta 10 October, 2022 The European sanctions on Russia would have expired on 31 January 2017. They were imposed at a time as one insinuated that the Russian side had a hostile attitude in the question of Ukraine. These sanctions have been extended for six months at an early stage. Certainly, the reason for this was some fear that the new American President Donald Trump could lift them and urge Europe to do the same. Recently, the American President has stated that at the moment nothing in this direction would be undertaken, but everyone knows his desire to establish good relations with Moscow. As the NATO and Europe support the current Government in Kiev and accuse Russia, to be blamed for the current crisis, one has to remember in the name of truth how it all started. Originally published by the Swiss journal Current Concerns in April 2017 Ukraine...

The Nobel Committee should include a member of the US or another NATO country – alternatively, it should be transferred to State Department or NATO. That would be more honest than playing these games which repeatedly and blatantly violate Alfred Nobel’s will. Our media ought to be able to read three lines about his intentions, but no research is done to reveal the fraud. It would be too US/NATO politically incorrect. Yet another gross violation of Alfred Nobel’s will – letter and spirit I feel sad and tired writing it again: Alfred Nobel wanted his Peace Prize to support those who have “done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” It is a prize for demilitarization – such as the reduction or abolition of armies, peace negotiations – for the reduction of violence...

With neo-liberal shock therapy: Privatization, deregulation and slashing worker protections.Western governments and corporations met in Switzerland to plan harsh neoliberal economic policies to impose on post-war Ukraine, calling to cut labour laws, “open markets,” drop tariffs, deregulate industries, and “sell state-owned enterprises to private investors.” Jake Kallio & Benjamin Norton October 6, 2022 This is an aspect of the NATO-Russia conflict that so tragically plays out on Ukraine’s territory which has not been given much attention. It was originally published on Multipolarista on July 28, 2022. Multipolarista is an independent news outlet reporting on the transition to a multipolar world. Multipolarista is edited by journalist Benjamin Norton. It starts out: “While the United States and Europe flood Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of weapons, using it as an anti-Russian proxy and pouring fuel on the fire of a brutal war that is devastating the country, they are also...