Russia To China: Together We Can Rule The World

 

A new eye-opening op-ed in Politico brings fresh realism to the fact that “Europe’s obsession with Russia is unrequited” as “Moscow just isn’t interested in the Continent anymore.” Because instead it’s now “all about China” from Moscow’s vantage point, now all-in on its long stated intent to convince Beijing it’s time to form an alliance capable of breaking US global hegemony.

Bruno Maçães, a former Europe minister for Portugal and Eurasian affairs analyst finds based on the real discussions taking place in diplomatic corridors (as opposed to the abstract talking points of mainstream western pundits — predicated on the assumption that Russia perpetually seeks to pull Europe in its direction), that Moscow is no longer pursuing European integration following sanctions and the unraveling of the INF, but senses a new opportunity given Washington’s tariffs on Chinese exports. No longer, the ex-European diplomat concludes, does Russia hope to emulate or compete with the Chinese economy, which it realizes it can’t do, but instead has a bigger geopolitical alliance in mind.

Iran Suspected in Worldwide Cyberattacks

iStock.com/basketman23

 

‘Unprecedented’ cyberattacks targeting Western governments and organizations have been traced to hackers in the Islamic Republic.

FireEye, a California cybersecurity and intelligence firm, released a report on January 9 linking Iran to a pattern of cyberattacks dating back to 2017. These attacks targeted nations in North America, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The report states, “This campaign has targeted victims across the globe on an almost unprecedented scale, with a high degree of success.”

Erdogan Warns Trump That Alliance Is at Risk as Tensions Climb

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, walks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, ahead of an event in in Brussels, Belgium. (Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg)

 

(Bloomberg) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the U.S. that its decades-long alliance with the country is at risk after rising political tensions between the two nations erupted and helped stoke a financial crisis that shook global markets.

Erdogan, in an editorial Friday in the New York Times, cited Turkey’s cooperation with the U.S. dating back to the Cuban missile crisis and the Korean War as evidence of a long-standing partnership between the NATO allies. But he added that more recent disputes over a failed 2016 coup, the conflict in Syria and sanctions imposed this week against top Turkish officials and the country’s steel industry were straining that alliance to its breaking point.

“Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives,” Erdogan wrote. “Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.”

Russia Warns of Severe Consequences if Georgia Joins NATO

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and PM Dmitry Medvedev in 2014 / Getty Images

 

Dmitry Medvedev, speaking in an interview with the Kommersant daily broadcast by Russian state television, called NATO’s plans to offer membership to Georgia in the future “absolutely irresponsible” and a “threat to peace,” the Associated Press reports.

“There is an unresolved territorial conflict … and would they bring such a country into the military alliance?” Medvedev said. “Do they understand the possible implications? It could provoke a horrible conflict.”

Ukraine Gets Official NATO Status: Weighing Up the Pros and Cons

 

NATO has granted Ukraine the status of an aspirant country. Macedonia, Georgia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina have similar status. This means Kiev has been offered a real chance to make its dreams come true. The next step will be obtaining its Membership Action Plan (MAP), a set of criteria to meet before the country is allowed to join. It is tailored to each applicant country’s individual profile. This type of plan can be granted at any time; there is no need to wait for summits or ministry-level meetings. Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are aspirants with a MAP.

Last summer, Ukraine’s parliament (Rada) adopted a resolution recognizing full membership in NATO as a foreign policy goal. In 2008, NATO agreed that Ukraine and Georgia should become members at a future date.

Saudi vows new Islamic alliance ‘will wipe terrorists from the earth’

Lowe and behold the ‘islamic NATO’ discussed in the previous posts:

Is Saudi Arabia building an ‘islamic NATO?’

Trump to unveil plans for an ‘Arab NATO’ in Saudi Arabia

 

A member of the Saudi Royal Guard stands on duty inside the hall where the first meeting of the defence ministers of the 41-member Saudi-led Muslim counter-terrorism alliance is taking place in the capital Riyadh on November 26, 2017 (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

 

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s crown prince vowed to “pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth” as officials from 40 Muslim countries gathered Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance.

“In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries… with no coordination” among national authorities, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defence minister, said in his keynote address to the gathering in Riyadh.

“This ends today, with this alliance.”

Mattis: U.S. Could ‘Moderate’ NATO Support if Allies Don’t Pay More

James Mattis / AP

 

Secretary of Defense James Mattis told NATO allies on Wednesday that they need to contribute more money to the alliance’s common defense if they do not want to see the United States “moderate its commitment.”

World War 3 Update: Serbia Permits Russia to Deploy Military Measures, NATO Worried

 

While World War 3 speculations seem to indicate the deterioration in Europe and Russia relations, an invite from Serbia to Russian military authorities for moving “lethal devices” in the country indicates something different.

Putin, Erdogan have a deal on Syria

Consider this to be a critical wounding of NATO. The straw that breaks the camel’s back will be Turkey leaving, which likely is only a matter of time. Putin has successfully and brilliantly driven a wedge between the Western powers. Russia has the most to gain while the United States has the most to lose.

 

After Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, Ankara says the next administration in Syria should be inclusive and secular so that everyone can live with their beliefs. This is as close as Turkey has ever come to accept that Assad has a legitimate role to play.

It is the ‘morning-after’ that needs to be watched when a crucial summit meeting takes place. And, as details become available, it emerges that the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan at St. Petersburg on August 9 has been exceptionally productive.

Neither side showed interest in labeling the qualitatively new level of relationship in hackneyed terms, but then, it doesn’t matter whether one calls it ‘alliance’, ‘quasi-alliance’ or ‘entente’. What matters is that a profoundly meaningful relationship is commencing.

Putin must be stopped now or Russia will advance to ‘border with Poland or Germany’ says Nadia Savchenko

And she is 100% correct.

A Russian official close to Putin says Russia will have to eventually invade Europe and go as far as Poland via carpet bombing — all within 30 minutes and before NATO would even have a clue about what just happened.

 

“We have to strike Poland and the Baltic States, where there are NATO rockets and aircraft. Since we cannot allow one plane to take off and strike Russia – we will have to strike first – half an hour before takeoff. And to be sure, we will be carpet bombing.  America is not a threat, but the small midget states of Europe will cease to exist. They will be wiped out. Then NATO will have to beg us for negotiations. Otherwise we will give them again a May ’45.”
– Vladimir Zhirinovsky, August 2014 (Television interview, 8.08.2014.)

 

For further information, see the following previous post:

Russia Prepares for War

 

Vladimir Putin must be stopped now or Russian forces will advance to the “border with Poland or Germany”, according to the war heroine turned politician described as Ukraine’s “Joan of Arc”.

Nadia Savchenko was released from a Russian prison only two weeks ago. The female pilot – who was the first woman to fly a Ukrainian helicopter gunship and the first to graduate from the Air Force Academy – was captured while fighting pro-Russian rebels in the east in June 2014.

After being consigned to a Russian jail, Ms Savchenko was elected to Ukraine’s parliament from her cell. She used her trial to heap scorn on the judge, the prosecutor and Mr Putin in particular, labelling them variously as “criminals” and “idiots”.

NATO to set up 40,000-strong rapid response spearhead forces at its eastern borders

The NATO chief stressed that this is “Russia which is conducting a wide range of military exercises including many snap exercises, un-notified exercises, and Russia which has shown the will not only to exercise its military force but also to use military force, to intimidate neighbors and to change borders in Europe as we have seen in Ukraine and in Georgia.

Poland’s ruling party shows true colours

Poland’s newly installed right-wing governing party is showing off its confrontational style by trying to replace already appointed constitutional judges with its own appointees on Thursday (27 November) and by upping its rhetoric against Russia.

…

It will now be able to push for its own judges, who it hopes will clear the way for planned sweeping constitutional changes.

NATO Caught ‘Surprised’ By Russia’s Move Into Syria

This isn’t just a NATO problem, it’s an American problem.

It’s been oft mentioned here that it’s unclear which is scarier: The threats from every direction that a now-vulnerable America faces, or the fact that America’s unintelligent community is unable to see anything on their radar until after the fact. If it does get reported, then it’s manipulated into a happy story — because everything’s fine and just keep sho

 

Intelligence chief says the alliance members can’t even agree whether Moscow or ISIS is the greater threat — and there’s not enough ISR to go around.

When Russia sent military forces into Syria last weekend, it caught NATO by surprise and proved that its members can neither stay ahead of threats nor even decide which ones are the most pressing, the alliance’s intelligence director said.

“Are we keeping up with threats?…Absolutely not,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Brett Heimbigner Thursday. “The demands for intelligence… to accurately deal with some of these crises is clearly insufficient.”

Three Reasons Why Iran Is the ‘King of the South’ of Bible Prophecy

Would you believe that an incredibly accurate description of this exact situation appears in the Bible? About 2,500 years ago, the Prophet Daniel recorded an extensive description of the major powers that would dominate this specific region. Then, over the course of four centuries, that description came to pass—in detail! (Prove Daniel’s prophecy out for yourself: Read our free booklet History and Prophecy of the Middle East.)

But there’s something else. Part of Daniel’s astonishingly accurate prophecy remains to be fulfilled “at the time of the end.” That period is the modern era we’re living in now!

And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

Moving West

KIEV/BERLIN (Own report) – The Prime Minister of Ukraine has announced a new cooperation accord with NATO, under the terms of which Kiev will also intensify its cooperation with the transatlantic combat alliance in the domains of military intelligence and espionage. This announcement was made as NATO began initiating a large-scale deployment of military instructors in Ukraine. Ukraine is simultaneously transforming its arms industry production to meet NATO standards, which will permanently integrate that country into the structures of western arms producers. Experts are warning of exuberant corruption in Ukraine’s arms industry. A long-time notorious leader of fascist organizations has been appointed “advisor” to Ukraine’s Chiefs of Staff, just as the in part fascist-oriented volunteer battalions are being integrated into the ranks of the country’s regular armed forces. They too will benefit from NATO’s training and arming measures.