By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times. So Russian President Vladimir Putin, all by himself, and US President Joe Biden, surrounded by aides, finally had their secret video link conference for two hours and two minutes – with translators placed in different rooms. That was their first serious exchange since they met in person in Geneva last June – the first Russia-US summit since 2018.
Russia is the one state with the necessary clout, tools, sweeteners and relationships to nudge the Persian Gulf into a new security paradigm. Russia is teeing up a re-launch of its Collective Security Concept for the Persian Gulf Region. By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle. It’s impossible to understand the resumption of the JCPOA nuclear talks in Vienna without considering the serious inner turbulence of
The charade has come to a point that – diplomatically – is quite unprecedented: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lost his Taoist patience. By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and widely cross-posted American hysteria over the “imminent” Russian invasion of Ukraine has exploded every geopolitical Stupid-o-Meter in sight – and that’s quite an accomplishment. What a mess. Sections of the U.S. Deep State are in open revolt against the combo that
With an Ansarallah takeover of Yemen, Asia’s trade and connectivity projects could expand into some of the world’s most strategic waterways By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted with TheCradle The usual suspects tried everything against Yemen. First, coercing it into ‘structural reform.’ When that didn’t work, they instrumentalized takfiri mercenaries. They infiltrated and manipulated the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), ISIS. They
A “perfect storm of Russian aggression during the coming winter months” is all but inevitable. Watch it on your screens while you properly freeze. By Pepe Escobar and extensively cross-posted As much as with “brain dead” NATO (copyright Emmanuel Macron) no one ever lost precious assets betting on the incompetence, narrow-mindedness and cowardice of political “leaders” across the Atlanticist EU. There are two main reasons for the latest German legalese
Leader’s unshakeable ambition is that China’s renaissance will smash memories of the ‘century of humiliation’ once and for all By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times Marx. Lenin. Mao. Deng. Xi. Late last week in Beijing, the sixth plenum of the Chinese Communist Party adopted a historic resolution – only the third in its 100-year history – detailing major accomplishments and laying out a vision
Players unite and face off so fast Eurasian integration’s chessboard feels like musical chairs prestissimo by Pepe Escobar for the Saker Blog and cross-posted with Asia Times The Eurasian chessboard is in non-stop motion at dizzying speed. After the Afghanistan shock, we’re all aware of the progressive interconnection of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and of the preeminent roles
US trained and armed Afghan security forces are joining ISIS-K, which makes the US ‘withdrawal’ from Afghanistan look more like an American ‘repositioning’ to keep chaos humming By Pepe Escobar with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle Something quite extraordinary happened in early November in Kabul. Taliban interim-Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov got together to discuss a range of political and economic issues. Most
Russian president, in Sochi, lays down the law in favor of conservatism – says the woke West is in decline By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times The plenary session is the traditional highlight of the annual, must-follow Valdai Club discussions – one of Eurasia’s premier intellectual gatherings. Vladimir Putin is a frequent keynote speaker. In Sochi this year, as I related in a previous
Asia’s powerbrokers dropped an Afghan bombshell in Moscow today: ‘the country’s reconstruction must be paid for by its military occupiers of 20 years.’ By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and cross posted with The Cradle Facing high expectations, a five-man band Taliban finally played in Moscow. Yet the star of the show, predictably, was the Mick Jagger of geopolitics: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Right from the start, Lavrov set
by Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times The annual Valdai Club meeting has always been positioned as absolutely essential when it comes to understanding the non-stop movement of geopolitical tectonic plates across Eurasia. The ongoing 18th meeting in Sochi once again lives up to expectations. The overall theme is Global Shake-Up in the 21st Century: The Individual, Values, and the State. It expands on the
The old Silk Roads played a major role in connecting the world through trade, and the new version can too by Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times Forget about the incessant drumming of Cold War 2.0 against China. Forget about think-tank simpletons projecting their wishful thinking on the perpetual “end of China’s rise.” Forget even about a few sound minds in Brussels – yes, they
About 20 days ago, Pepe Escobar let us know that part 2 of his Forever Wars series is now available for purchase and download as an e-book. I sat down to read it in order to write a book review for The Saker Blog. It is now 20 days later and I am still in awe, comparing the historical with the recent. It is as if the same bells
In recent elections, Muqtada al-Sadr’s popularity was confirmed, but the infighting in Iraq is just starting By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times It would be tempting to picture the Iraqi parliamentary elections last Sunday as a geopolitical game-changer. Well, it’s complicated – in more ways than one. Let’s start with the abstention rate. Of the 22 million eligible voters able to choose 329 members
Sides are forming around the Iran vs Azerbaijan squabble. But this fight is not about ethnicity, religion or tribe – it is mainly about who gets to forge the region’s new transportation routes. By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle The last thing the complex, work-in-progress drive towards Eurasian integration needs at this stage is this messy affair between Iran and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus.
“An empire within an empire,” the Pashtun are essential to understanding the complexities of Afghanistan as a nation-state today. What is the ‘Pashtun universe,’ and why will they always outlast those who try to govern them? by Pepe Escobar posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle It was bound to happen: the remixed Saigon moment at Kabul airport and the stunning comeback of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led
Perth in Australia will be a forward base for nuclear-powered and nuclear weapon-carrying American subs. by Pepe Escobar – posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted widely. Pax Americana was always a minor character in a zombie apocalypse flick. Pax Americana is actually The Eternal Return of the Living Dead. “Pax” was never in order; War Inc. rules. The end of WWII led directly to the Cold War. The unipolar
By Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times Part 1 is here The 20th anniversary summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, enshrined no less than a new geopolitical paradigm. Iran, now a full SCO member, was restored to its traditionally prominent Eurasian role, following the recent $400 billion-worth trade and development deal struck with China. Afghanistan was the main topic – with
Dr. Ejaz Akram, with Pepe Escobar – posted with permission and widely cross posted. What happened in Afghanistan was not a mere change of government. A puppet state responsible for spreading subversion in the region was overthrown. After the Taliban named an interim government that was regarded as quite controversial inside Afghanistan and did not exactly please the nation’s Eurasian neighbors, I asked Dr. Ejaz Akram, Professor of Religion
By Pepe Escobar posted with permission and cross-posted with The Cradle Part 1 of 2 on Eurasia With Iran’s arrival, the SCO member-states now number nine, and they’re focused on fixing Afghanistan and consolidating Eurasia. The two defining moments of the historic 20th anniversary Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan had to come from the keynote speeches of – who else – the leaders of the Russia-China strategic
