#multipolarity

[sayruq]

[CONT] Seychelles

[kneedeepincynade]

Happy pride month to all comrades! Let's use this month to remember the roots of the movement and set ahead the revolutionary task to clean it from reactionaries. The liberals aren't friends of the movement but one of its enemies! Ask yourself what they have done to protect you? They always fanfare about being progressive and supportive, but what have they done when the push came? Nothing, they sold you! Their politicians refused to defend you when the right demanded your head, and they are more than willing to let you die if you don't support their genocide and their corrupted president. To them, you are only a pawn to destabilize the enemy of the hegemonic order and to further amplify the divide among the proletariat. If you want freedom, don't fall for their traps, choose socialism and choose liberty for all oppressed!

[workersolidarity]

🇰🇬🇷🇺 PARLIAMENT OF KYRGYZSTAN APPROVES CREATION OF JOINT AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM WITH RUSSIA

The Kyrgyzstan Parliament approved the creation of a joint Air Defense system with the Russian Federation Wednesday, October 11th, 2023.

The action, taken by Kyrgyzstan's parliament, approves a planned joint unified regional Air Defense system to protect the two countries from incoming attacks with air power, rockets or missiles.

According to a representative of the Kyrgyzstan press services, “At a meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) today, October 11, deputies considered and adopted the bill... in three readings,”

According to the agreement on the creation of a joint Air Defense system, which was entered into by Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation in Moscow on August 16th, 2022, Bishkek authorities are to provide a 5-Hectare plot of land located next to the Russian air base in Kant, Kyrgyzstan.

The Agreement was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 29th, 2023.

As per the agreement, the two countries are to build a unified regional joint Air Defense system to be integrated into the Unified Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional, intergovernmental organization created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and approved via the Belovezh Accords in December, 1991.

According to the Air Defense agreement approved today by the Kyrgyzstan Parliament, article 6 states that the coordination of joint actions by troops of the Unified regional air defense system as part of regional air defense systems of CIS countries are to be carried out by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.

While control over the joint actions of troops of the air defense system of the Russian Federation and Kyrgyzstan in the area of collective security is to be carried out by the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan.

Furthermore, the signatories of the agreement are to ensure the protection of information received during implementation of the agreement that constitutes official State secrets.

The agreement is valid for a period of no more or less than 5 years and will renew automatically unless one or both parties notifies the other of its dissolution at least six months prior to the expiration and renewal of the agreement period.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[theculturedmarxist]

Western media start to note how their politicians' unwavering support for Israel and Ukraine is diminishing their countries' global standing.

At Naked Capitalism Yves Smith notes the devastating political effects of the Gaza bombing on Biden's foreign policies:

Biden Gets Zelensky Treatment in Middle East as Israel Tries to Escalate

The US, in a continued demonstration of the degree of enbubblement of what passes for its leadership, seems to believe it still has the force and soft power to be able to bully talk its way out of its geopolitical messes. Yet this week we have stunning examples of how critical players in the rest to the world no longer buy what the US is selling. The gap between the American establishment’s connection to reality and facts on the ground has opened up to a yawning chasm as the Arab world, as Jordan cancelled a Biden summit with its King Abduallah II plus PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in response to Israel’s shelling of Al-Ahli Arab hospital. Not only are they rejecting the attempt to shift blame for the attack to Hamas (we’ll soon address the “rogue shell” claim), but also the bigger pretense behind that, that the US is incapable of, as opposed to unwilling to, applying the choke chain to Israel. Even the Western media are not much on board with the Israeli and Biden Administration pretense that somehow Hamas dunnit, when Israel has been trying to herd Palestinians out of northern Gaza and specifically attempted to order the evacuation of the hospital. Oh, and this follows Israel ordering the UN to evacuate from Gaza in 24 hours and then shelling its warehouse there: ...

Israel bombed, probably with a U.S. made Hellfire missile, the courtyard of the Baptist al-Ahli Arab hospital where thousands had sought refuge. A short video of the immediate aftermath shows several dozens if not hundreds of dead and wounded. Doctors later held a press conference while standing among some of the casualties.

Like other hospitals al-Ahli Arab had been told by Israel to evacuate but could not do so as there are no other places where the sick and wounded, including many intensive care cases, could be cared for.

Three days earlier, notes the UN, the same hospital had, like others, already been bombed:

14 October 2023: In Gaza city city and governorate, Ahli Arab Hospital was hit by Israeli airstrikes, partially damaging two floors and damaging the ultrasound and mammography room. Four people were injured. Sources: Al Jazeera V and Personal Communication

To then claim, as Biden did, that 'the other team' was responsible for the attack is unfathomable.

It was also way too late says a RUSI fellow:

Going to repeat this as the situation has moved more in the past 16 hours than in the previous week. The plates have shifted, radically. The window for Israeli operations has shrunk from more than a month, to a few days...if at all. That is now the reality of where we stand.

No country besides the U.S. and a few Europeans will ever defend such barbarity. They will simply stop listen to what the 'west' has to say.

The Financial Times quotes a G7-official who struggles with this global divide:

Rush by west to back Israel erodes developing countries’ support for Ukraine (archived)

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned. The reaction to the October 7 attack on Israel by Islamist militant group Hamas and to Israel’s vow to hit back against Gaza has undone months of work to paint Moscow as a global pariah for breaching international law, they said, exposing the US, EU and their allies to charges of hypocrisy. In the flurry of emergency diplomatic visits, video conferences and calls, western officials have been accused of failing to defend the interests of 2.3mn Palestinians in their rush to condemn the Hamas attack and support Israel. ... The backlash had solidified entrenched positions in the developing world on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, officials said. They warned that this could derail future diplomatic efforts on Ukraine. “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” ... Some American diplomats are privately concerned that the Biden administration’s response has failed to acknowledge how its broad support of Israel can alienate much of the Global South.

Looking at the current BRI anniversary meeting of some 140 states in Beijing, the New York Times voices similar concerns:

New Global Divisions on View as Biden Goes to Israel and Putin to China

Russia and China are siding with a Palestinian people seeking liberation and self-determination, while in Washington’s eyes, they themselves deny those same possibilities to the Ukrainians, the Tibetans, the Uyghurs and even to the Taiwanese. But in their reluctance to blame Hamas and effort to associate themselves with the Palestinian cause, both Russia and China are appealing to a wider sentiment in the so-called Global South — and in large parts of Europe, too. For them, it is Israel that is conducting a colonialist policy by its occupation of the West Bank, its encouragement of Jewish settlers on Palestinian land and its isolation of the 2.3 million people of Gaza, who are subjected even in normal times to sharp restrictions on their freedoms. The Global South, a term for developing nations, is a vital area of the new competition between the West and the Chinese-Russian alternative, said Hanna Notte, the director of a Eurasia program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. From the point of view of many in the Global South, she said, “the United States fights Russia, the occupier of Ukraine, but when it comes to Israel, the U.S. is on the side of the occupier, and Russia taps into that.”

The editorial board of the Washington Post also declares the failure of U.S. policies:

It would be a moral and strategic mistake to ignore Gaza’s plight

Still, the plight of Gazans has been treated by the United States and the wider international community as a sad but immutable fact in an irresolvable conflict. This was a moral and strategic error, helping promote the instability that has, for now, wrecked efforts on the part of Israel, the United States and Arab states to build a durable diplomatic settlement among the region’s big players.

The Carnegie Council explains how the global rift necessitates a change in western policies. It especially sees a need to ditch the so called "value-" or "rules-based-order" policies:

A Requiem for the Rules-Based Order The Case for Value-Neutral Ethics in International Relations

Regardless of how it eventually concludes, the Russo-Ukrainian War represents a seismic event signaling profound changes in the global landscape. The unipolar era is at its end, major countries are more concerned with their cultural sovereignty and strategic autonomy than they have been in decades, and it seems inevitable that the once-dominant Western hegemony must gradually yield to a more diverse and multipolar system. The period following World War II witnessed the ascendancy of the United States and its allies as architects of a new international order premised on the institutionalization of Western values such as democracy and human rights. This Western-centric approach to global governance—known as the “rules-based order”—has encountered mounting challenges. China's rise, Russia's geopolitical subversiveness, and the growing assertiveness of emerging powers from the Global South have eroded Western dominance. The outcome is a more diverse world, characterized by multiple centers of power coexisting, challenging any single ideology or set of substantive values. ... Our particular sense of morality in the West should not stop us from aspiring to pursue what’s both wise and right. The evolving international order, characterized by polycentrism and multipolarity, challenges the conventional Western-dominated “rules-based” order. Drawing from Nietzsche's perspective on values, we recognize that values are context-dependent rather than innate, timeless, or universal. Similarly, the decline of our ancien regime does not spell the end of international ethics. If the current transition is understood correctly, it could promise the birth of a new normative system based on a functional, value-neutral, situational, and diplomatic ethic that has its primary concern in managing reciprocal relations between world powers. Instead of attempting to impose our values on others (no matter how good or true we think they are), we in the West should prioritize engagement with other major powers based on common interests and shared objectives. ... ... In sum, within the intellectual framework offered by cultural realism, we need an alternative instrumentalist and pragmatic ethic that 1) accepts the realities of power politics and spheres of interest without moralizing and projecting a Manichaean mentality upon the world, and 2) is grounded in principles that are conducive to a pluralist modus vivendi, including mutual and equal recognition, statesmanship, non-interference, humility, strategic empathy, and open dialogue.

Some might say that the west will never change its behavior but I do not believe that.

The west WILL HAVE TO change its behavior or it will go down into history's graveyard. There is no longer an alternative as the 'rules based order' has proven to be an unsellable dead end.

Posted by b on October 18, 2023 at 15:31 UTC

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

Those who question multipolarity do not believe that any system of global governance can possibly serve the interests of humanity. Such as system is, by default, designed to benefit oligarchs, not the people.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/foreign-affairs/multipolarity-is-just-the-new-world-order-by-another-name

#TheFreeThoughtProject #TFTP

[saltedlimes]

Imo a major takeaway is that escalatory attacks without enough power to end things harm more than they help in the long run. Ultimately the US is the one giving these junior partners enough money and support to keep up their violence against neighbors, and US imperialism must end before we can see an end to major conflicts like this one.

Also the point about how Hamas could possibly be being used to redirect attention away from the stalled Ukraine offensive and the unpopularity of the Israeli government was very interesting to me.

[wherepond]

Israel is done

Richard Wolff frames the Israel-US alliance as a relic of imperial ambition, doomed by the collapse of settler colonialism in a post-colonial world. He sees Israel’s attack on Iran as both desperate & strategically myopic - escalating conflict at a time when global power is shifting toward multipolarity, with Iran drawing closer to Russia & China. Wolff warns that clinging to military solutions reveals Washington's refusal to reckon with its imperial decline. Only diplomacy, he argues, can avert a wider geopolitical catastrophe.

Professor Richard D Wolff

[xtruss]

US Feels Threatened By BRICS: Here's Why

— Ilya Tsukanov | Monday 7 July 2025

© Sputnik/ARM-Registr

As the BRICS' summit in Rio entered its second and final day, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to issue a an early morning threat against "any country aligning themselves" with the bloc and its "anti-American policies." Sputnik gathered together veteran politics, economics and finance analysts to ask what's got the US president so riled up.

“Clearly the US dollar is under threat from BRICS just by the fact that these countries trade among themselves in national currencies rather than the dollar,” international relations analyst Gilbert Doctorow says, commenting on Trump's threat to slap a 10% additional tariff on BRICS-backing countries.

But “Trump's threats are a 'straw in the wind’,” Doctorow argues, pointing out that “we do not have to look to [his] rhetoric to understand that with each additional country joining the line to be admitted to BRICS it becomes an institution changing the world order and making the G7 and G20 largely irrelevant to global governance.”

Challenge To Western ‘Monolith’

BRICS is “a collection of individual, sovereign, independent governments that share a common vision of a multilateral world where they can play an effective role in their national interests,” says business and investment analyst Paul Goncharoff.

Cooperation Within BRICS Has Never Been and Will Never Be Aimed at Third Countries – Kremlin! Moscow has seen statements by US President Donald Trump about the possibility of introducing additional duties on BRICS countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. "We have indeed seen such statements from president Trump," Peskov told reporters, noting that the interaction within BRICS has never been and will never be directed against third countries. Photo: © Sputnik / Alexei Danichev/Go to the Mediabank. Sputnik, Monday 7 July, 2025.

Trump Fears Multipolarity

“While Trump's ‘America First’ explicitly prioritized US dominance, a stronger, financially independent Global South inherently challenges Western unipolarity,” Hong Kong-based political and financial analyst Angelo Giuliano says, pointing to yet another aspect of Washington's concerns.

“His policies often opposed multilateralism and perceived rivals. Genuine Global South financial autonomy diminishes US leverage, aligning with trends Trumpism resisted,” the observer notes.

Multipolarity Is Reality — BRICS Must Reflect Changing World — Lavrov! “BRICS, together with like-minded nations, will remain at the forefront of building a fair and sustainable multipolar world order,” Lavrov emphasized. “Multipolarity is not a choice but an objective reality.” The outdated neoliberal model built on neocolonial practices is fading — BRICS must shape the new order, Lavrov stressed. Global South and East are now the engine of global economic growth, with regional blocs like the African Union, ASEAN, CELAC, SCO, and EAEU shaping a fairer economic system based on equality, multilateralism, and non-discrimination. Photo: © Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov/Go to the Mediabank

BRICS Countries Now Account For:

Over 40% of global GDP (PPP)

Nearly 50% of world population

More than 20% of global trade

Trade within BRICS is booming — in 2024, 48% of Russia’s trade was with BRICS, and 90% of transactions were in national currencies.

Lavrov called for urgent reform and depoliticization of Bretton Woods institutions, warning against using the IMF and World Bank to maintain neocolonial dominance. He blasted Western efforts to hijack the development agenda with ideological ultimatums disguised as “human rights and democracy” criteria. Russia proposes a New Investment Platform under BRICS, in partnership with the New Development Bank, to fund development free from external pressure. Artificial Intelligence is key — it may add $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030, but access must be open and inclusive. Closed, invitation-only Western initiatives pose serious risks. Digital challenges require cross-border cooperation — no one country can face them alone.

Without The Dollar, US Is Emperor With No Clothes

“The US benefits from dollar hegemony and its ability to intervene militarily in any country for its own interests or in the interests of its closest allies like Israel and NATO,” says Dr. Anuradha Chenoy.

With BRICS members surpassing the G7 on PPP GDP, creating new institutions of finance, and trading in national currencies, it’s clear why Trump feels threatened.

“Countries in BRICS can exercise strategic autonomy and have more power over transacting with Western and other countries,” the veteran academic, Russia specialist and retired Jawaharlal Nehru University professor stresses.

BRICS’ New Financial Tools Reshaping Global Finance

“Countries joining BRICS have access to the New Development Bank financing which is neutral and does not impose austerity and other destructive policies on the recipients,” Doctorow, the IR analyst, says.

“Those staying within the US hegemonic control run the risk of their assets on deposit abroad being frozen or confiscated. They also have only the IMF and World Bank to turn to for bailouts and emergency credits, which are delivered under very onerous terms that compromise sovereignty,” he points out.

Authority and Influence of BRICS in World is Growing Year by Year – Putin! "The authority and influence of our association in the world are growing from year to year. BRICS has rightfully established itself among the key centers of global governance," Putin said via video link during the plenary session of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro. Sunday 6 July, 2025. Photo: © Sputnik / Kirill Zykov/Go to the Mediabank.

"I presume that the final declaration of the Rio de Janeiro summit prepared for approval creates a strong basis for our further joint work in the traditional BRICS spirit of continuity and equitable cooperation," Putin said.

BRICS countries continue to deepen cooperation in key areas

BRICS countries possess enormous political, economic, and human potential

BRICS significantly surpasses some other alliances, such as the G7, in terms of purchasing power parity

BRICS has many like-minded partners among the countries of the global south and east

The world is undergoing radical changes, unipolar system of international relations becoming thing of the past, the Russian President stressed:

Move Over, IMF?

In the medium term, the New Development Bank could also effectively be “a replacement to the World Bank and IMF...allowing for financing without the use of the US dollar,” Goncharoff, the financial analyst, notes.

“One analogy might be the difference between the established decades-old legacy media and today's many digital platforms for information and communications worldwide —one finds cozy comfort in the past, and the other is dynamically flexing all muscles and leaping to a wider future,” the observer says.

Amid US and EU sanctions pressures, the weaponization of the dollar and the politicized use of other financial instruments, like credit ratings, it makes sense that “non-Western nations see creating independent financial channels (like BRICS initiatives) as essential for sovereignty, resisting coercion, and building a multipolar world order resilient to unilateral pressure,” Giuliano, the politics and economics analyst, argues.

Finally, Dr. Chenoy, the veteran Indian university prof, points out that besides the New Development Trade and bilateral, local currency-based trade, BRICS is also working on a cross border payment system running parallel to SWIFT.

This, presumably, could serve to further insulate the bloc and its allies from Western bullying and unilateralism.

[tetelbierg]

Multipolar Fantasy: Russia and China Won't Save Us | Vanessa Beeley & Fi...

[kneedeepincynade]

Hello everyone, and welcome to sov says shit again.

Through people I follow, i was unfortunately made aware that people don't understand what it means to have access to imperial benefits.

Let's say you tick all of the boxes neded for the US Government to hate you

Minority,both religious and etnich

Darker skintone

Outside of the gender binary

Non heterosexual

Disabled

And more

Now,your life is literally hell, and yet,you still have access to imperial benefits

For example,going in whatever grocery store you like and finding a cheap banana in the middle of winter.

This is because a country is being imperialised in the south of the world to produce your Banana all year round, damaging their local agriculture

Or again,your passport

An American passport is incredibly powerful and guarantees less burden from security

Imperial benefits are not some kind of original sin or whatever,they are a fact of life that one must recognise and understand that they won't exist in a better world. So yes,your banana may cost more,but some farmer down in the south of the world has finally sent his kids to school and his government has begun to improve the life of its citizens trough various reform the old imperial government would have never allowed.

Clear?

[workersolidarity]

BRICS Welcomes 6 New Members

[theculturedmarxist]

Posted onOctober 18, 2023 by Yves Smith

The US, in a continued demonstration of the degree of enbubblement of what passes for its leadership, seems to believe it still has the force and soft power to be able to bully talk its way out of its geopolitical messes. Yet this week we have stunning examples of how critical players in the rest to the world no longer buy what the US is selling. The gap between the American establishment’s connection to reality and facts on the ground has opened up to a yawning chasm as the Arab world, aa Jordan cancelled a Biden summit with its king Abduallah II plus PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in response to Israel’s shelling of Al-Ahli Arab hospital. Not only are they rejecting the attempt to shift blame for the attack to Hamas (we’ll soon address the “rogue shell” claim), but also the bigger pretense behind that, that the US is incapable of, as opposed to unwilling to, applying the choke chain to Israel.1

Even the Western media are not much on board with the Israeli and Biden Administration pretense that somehow Hamas dunnit, when Israel has been trying to herd Palestinians out of northern Gaza and specifically attempted to order the evacuation of the hospital. Oh, and this follows Israel ordering the UN to evacuate from Gaza in 24 hours and then shelling its warehouse there:

To wind back to just before the hospital attack, first, we had the highly visible snub of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken by a nominal ally, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, by keeping Blinken cooling his heels for hours. Blinken got a less impolite but still chilly reception in Egypt and Jordan.

Then Biden decided to go to the Middle East, as if he would be able to get Egypt and Jordan to reverse their firm position that they are not taking in Palestinian refugees. Not only do they not want to enable ethnic cleansing or take on aneconomic burden, they also don’t want the militant contingent operating in and from their territories.

Israel has been acting as if it’s indifferent to forcing Palestinians out of Israel versus eliminating them in place. There are credible accounts of Israel not only refusing to allow humanitarian aid in from Egypt and foreign passport holders out, but also multiple Isreali shellings of the crossing point. It does not take much in the way of discernment to see that denying Palestinians in Gaza water and food is a death sentence.

But even with rising international outrage over these war crimes, the shelling of the hospital was an escalation too far. It’s derailed even the feeble US attempts to get in front of this crisis. Israel, being stymied in its desire to clear Gaza by its obvious inability to do so (lack of experience, lack of equipment, reluctance to take the baked-in high casualties) instead appears to have settled on Plan B of shelling and starving it until everyone there dies.

To clear up “whodunnit”:

Recall that Jacob Dreizin reported that JDAM kits were being sent in bulk to Israel:

I also reported extensively from Raqqa during the war against ISIS, and from Ukraine during the battle of Kyiv. No Palestinian group has a missile powerful enough to level a hospital. It was a fucking JDAM. https://t.co/mRhsjvpcLq — Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) October 17, 2023

This is not yet confirmed as of posting time but should go viral shortly if this rumor pans out:

While as far as I can tell, the Western media has yet to take this press conference up, the number of views on Twitter indicate it is getting traction in the Algosphere, and one has to think elsewhere:

Now to the stunning spectacle of the US/Collective West surprise as to the reaction outside the rapidly shrinking US sphere of influence. A new story in the Financial Times, Western rush to back Israel erodes developing countries’ support for Ukraine, makes for good one-stop shopping.

Before we get to the body of the story, let’s deal with the headline claim. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that various votes in the UN intended to condemn Russia have shown lower and lower vote counts supporting that position. US former at least sometimes friendlies Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Argentina joining BRICS is another proof of waning US influence.

In addition, in the 2023 Munich Security Conference, the US invited Global South members to enlist their support for Project Ukraine. That plan backfired as the US/NATO team was told that Ukraine was a European affair and of no concern to the rest of the world….save they were being dragged in via sanctions blowback, specifically denying poor countries access to Russian grain and fertilizer. Recall that the Collective West doubled down on showing its lack of concern about suffering in poor countries by not delivering on its half of the Ukraine grain deal, which included ending sanctions on the Russian agricultural bank to allow for purchase of Russian fertilizer, as well as not barring Russian shipments.

And finally recall that even UN votes are not a great indicator of sentiment outside the US. There have been reports of the US browbeating foreign diplomats, including threatening expulsion of the kids of UN representatives from schools in the US and dinging any applications to US higher education institutions.

So now to the Financial Times:

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned… In the first days after Hamas’s assault, some western diplomats worried that the US was giving carte blanche to Israel to attack Gaza with full force. That had eroded efforts since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to build consensus with leading states in the so-called Global South — such as India, Brazil and South Africa — on the need to uphold a global rules-based order, said more than a dozen western officials.

I have to stop here. Those of you who watch Alexander Mercouris or Alex Christoforu regularly will have seen clips of how Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is received at various conferences…as in enthusiastically. And as both Putin and Lavrov have taken to saying, no one has the rules for this supposed rules-based order, calling out the US pretense that it means anything more than the US preserving its hegemony.

The story continues:

“We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” Many developing countries have traditionally supported the Palestinian cause, seeing it through the prism of self-determination and a push against the global dominance of the US, Israel’s most important backer…. “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility,” the senior G7 diplomat added. “The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”

This comes off as Western diplomats having gotten high on their own PR. The fact that some countries are still trying to maintain a productive relationship with the US can’t be seen as tantamount to support. But the US has been desperate to depict our relations with key players as better than they are, witness in particular China. Chinese officials repeatedly turned down US meeting requests and were apparently upset when the US leaked the fact that a supposedly confidential meeting between Jake Sullivan and (IIRC) Wang Yi in Italy was publicized, apparently to depict US and Chinese relations as on the mend. Recall also that after that incident, Xi decided not to go to the G20, with some pundits taking the view that it was to make sure he was not buttonholed by Biden, which the US would then try to depict falsely as a thawing.

And now the US is reduced to desperately scheming to prevent a Russian UN Security Council proposal, which includes among other things a cease fire, from garnering enough votes to force US veto. The article skips over what it would take to get such a resolution to the floor of the General Assembly where the odds are good that the US and Israel would get a stunning rebuke by it passing:

Russia’s proposed UN security council resolution garnered support from only four countries — China, the United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Gabon — but many western diplomats worry that an amended Russian resolution could gain the nine votes required to pass. The US, UK or France might then veto it, handing Moscow a propaganda victory. “We have to prevent Russia . . . supported by the Chinese . . . taking the initiative to use this against us,” said a senior western diplomat. “There’s a risk that at the next vote in the [UN] General Assembly on supporting Ukraine, we’ll see a big explosion in the number of abstentions.”

In other words, the loss of US authority has become so visible that even loyal organs like the Financial Times are forced to take notice. How long before the rest of the mainstream media follows suit? Or is Biden so deluded that he too will escalate in the hope that playing war president will force a show of loyalty?

____

1 Consider how intransigent Israel would be if it were told replacement parts for US weapons would not be forthcoming until they shaped up. The reason the US does not use that and other obvious sources of leverage is fear of the Israel lobby in DC. It’s striking how the US tries to bully pretty much everyone except our military dependents who need to have their ears boxed. And that is set to decline generationally as young Jews in the US don’t much identify with that cause.

2 Anyone who knows the procedure is encouraged to pipe up.

[proytec]

End of Globalization? Emerging Multipolar World! Powers Clash, Balances Shift. New Era?

[theblindmachine]

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Zs8srCZpdtf9NU09dP2FO "# The Trump Effect: Navigating the Chaos of a Multipolar World In the ever-evolving arena of global politics, few figures evoke as much discussion—or controversy—as Donald J. Trump. This week, Tom and Helen dive into the tumultuous waters of Trump’s response to the emerging multipolar world and unpack its seismic implications for Europe. Strap in, because this is no ordinary analysis; it’s a critical examination of how one man’s decisions can ripple across continents, affecting alliances, economies, and the very fabric of international relations. Let’s be clear: Trump’s approach hasn’t just rattled cages; it has rewritten the rules of engagement. His administration's overtures toward Russia exemplified a bewildering strategy that left many scratching their heads. While some viewed it as an opportunity for rapprochement, others saw it as a dangerous gamble. As we dissect the nuances of this relationship, we must ask ourselves: What does a closer alliance with Russia mean for Europe’s security landscape? Next, the enigma that is China looms large in Trump’s geopolitical playbook. Trade wars, sanctions, and a fierce rivalry over technology and influence have defined the U.S.-China relationship. For Europe, this complication is not just an American problem; it’s a continental concern. As nations on both sides of the Atlantic grapple with the consequences of a China emboldened by a multipolar world, it's imperative to consider how Europe positions itself in this chess game. But beyond the U.S. and China, we can’t forget the broader strategic shifts that have started to reshape our global framework. As alliances reshape and conventional power dynamics are disrupted, we witness European interests being put to the test. Is Europe ready to stand firm against the rising tides of nationalist policies that threaten to dilute its influence? With NATO's current state under scrutiny, can Europe maintain a united front amidst growing pressures from within and outside their borders? And let's not overlook Turkey. With its ambitious foreign policy and pivotal geographical position, Turkey is emerging as a key player in the rising geopolitical fray. As Trump’s administration took a cavalier stance on Turkey’s escalated tensions—whether it’s in Syria, Eastern Mediterranean conflicts, or relations with Europe—the implications for European stability hang in the balance. Every move, every tweet, every policy shift can have unprecedented outcomes, and Europe needs to be ready. As Tom and Helen dissect these intricacies, they paint a vivid picture of a world where certainty is thrown out the window. This is a time of rising geopolitical tensions, where yesterday's allies can quickly become today's adversaries. The ramifications of Trump’s policies reverberate far beyond the shores of America, and it’s crucial that Europe prepares for a landscape where adaptability and foresight are key. Join us this week as we unpack these critical issues and illuminate the complex, often chaotic realities of a multipolar world. Because understanding the Trump effect is not just about one man’s actions; it’s about navigating the intricate web of global relationships that dictate our future. It’s a conversation you won’t want to miss—after all, the stakes have never been higher. Tune in to our latest episode on Acast for an insightful discussion that cuts through the noise and highlights the truths that we cannot afford to ignore. "

[ireanxay]

This could be the world's best security dilemma if anything actually happened, but the peacenik EU loves underfunding the military

[redmusex]

#011 - POEM: don't move!

**Content warning for various references to war and political violence**

As the year closes I’ve been dwelling upon a number of things. Namely the multipolarity of Bakhmut. Congresswoman reaching for the service weapon, pulling the barrel to her forehead crying shame, her colleagues making a break for the barricades, a mad dash to the vote, the soldiers scared to shoot when the light turned red and they all kept running anyway. That’s why they had to have machines do it in Squid Game. If I had shown I could write poems onto bullet casings, I could have won the Nobel Peace Prize by now. Deny. Defend. Depose. I’d like to see Kaminsky top that. Who was really happy during the war, anyway? No one, not even the big Other, if you ask me. No one even thinks about the hostages anymore. Surely what's left of them have been bombed to hell by now. Now if it had been me, I would have traded every single one of them for Aaron Bushnell, a death weightier than Mount Tai to be preceded by a tearful supplication, words that could have come from the lips of a passerby out of time to prevent the ascension of a martyr or a thief begging for his life with his empty throat: “Please don’t do this.” December 5th, 2024

Art credit: krime_1 on Instagram