Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!

The first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024 © Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP

By Tarik Cyril Amar

Substack.com
1 July 2024

There needs to be more to say about the content of the recent televised debate between the current American president, Joe Biden, and the former and likely next president, Donald Trump. That’s because the one feature that mattered was so prominent: Biden is, as those with eyes to see have known for a long time, deeply senile. That is a personal, if not uncommon, tragedy.

Given Biden’s many sins – a lifelong record of systematic, almost compulsive lying, of policies that have, for decades, abused the weak and the poor and pandered to the rich, and, last but not least, the Gaza genocide co-perpetrated with his Zionist friends – it is impossible to feel pity for him. But given the power of America, his mental decline is also a global scourge. The ‘indispensable’ nation can impair the rest of us.

The difference between before and after the debate is simply that now even the most mendacious Democratic Party hacks and behind-the-scenes manipulators cannot deny this fact any longer. Don’t get me wrong: Many of them are at least pretending to try, including former president Barack Obama, despite ongoing, widespread, and irrepressible speculation that Michelle Obama, his wife, might enter the fray at the last minute in the dramatic role of – nobly reluctant – savior. And, of course, Democrats are also blaming anyone but themselves and their incompetent president. Yet their efforts are essentially in vain. Even in America, with its post-truth media, the “secret” that never really was is out, and the taboo is broken.

Panicked by the return of Donald Trump, critical outlets of extreme Centrism, such as, to name only three, the viral TV ‘news’ (really, agitation and propaganda) show Morning Joe, the de facto Democratic Party newspaper, the New York Times, and The Economist, the British Pravda of the American empire, are openly and insistently calling for Biden to quit. Polls in the US indicate that the public has had enough, too: According to a CBS News poll, only 28% of registered voters think Biden should stay in the race. In comparison, 72% acknowledge that Biden is mentally unfit for the presidency.

Yet none of this is a surprise. What is more interesting now is what the political fallout of Biden’s debate fiasco reveals about the nature of two things that, unfortunately, still shape much of our world: American ‘democracy’ and American empire.

Regarding ‘democracy,’ even in the US, some observers – such as former President Jimmy Carter and researchers at Princeton University, have long understood that it’s silly to describe their country as a democracy. Instead, any halfway objective assessment of its fundamental political system has to start from the fact that it is an oligarchy. However, Carter and the Princeton researchers acknowledged that fact a decade ago. The question is, where are we now?

Spoiler alert

Things have only gotten worse. Exhibit A – how the Biden dementia debate debacle is being handled. It is not only the fact that Democratic Party apparatchiks are engaging in Orwellian falsifications to cover Biden’s catastrophic cognitive failure that enables us to see with our own eyes. It is also how Biden’s family (or would clan be a more exact term?) is still widely treated as having the divine privilege to help him decide whether to drop out or not finally.

A family matter?

A political system in which issues of obvious and extremely urgent public interest are up to an unaccountable ‘family council’ – such as whether a dementia case should have the final say over almost 5,000 nuclear weapons – does not qualify as a democracy. Indeed, it does not even qualify as a republic anymore. With a ginormous dose of generosity, it may pass as a rather rotten monarchy. Less charitable observers would class it as a form of mafia or mobster rule.

But even the resistance to Biden continuing his zombie-like shamble toward electoral defeat offers no hope for democracy. Only two forces inside US politics could compel the obstinate octogenarian and his stubborn wife and handler ‘Dr. Jill’ to accept reality: a rebel faction within the Democratic Party elite, or the so-called ‘donor class’ – those wealthy enough to buy American politics by financing its stupendously expensive election campaigns.

Of course, the possibility of a rebellion from within the Democratic Party nomenklatura is genuine. When the day comes, it will probably include most of those now ostentatiously still swearing allegiance to Biden. In other words, it would be a primarily silent coup, a (political) knife in the back in a dark alley echoing with whispers of Obama’s almighty phone calls.

Regarding the donor class, its self-confident millionaires and billionaires are, as you would expect, a little bolder and louder, doing without any pious loyalty theater. Instead, as one of them has said, they are already “unanimous… that Biden needs to go.” If you want to call that ‘democracy’ – a bulldogs-under-the-carpet-like struggle (or dirty deal, as the case may be) between an unaccountable family clan and its retainers in the campaign on the one side and a possible insider coup and all the money on the other – I have a special-deal Boeing 737 Max to sell to you.

What about the second thing the Biden cognitive catastrophe fallout can shed light on? What about the American empire?

There, we can learn three essential things:

1. The US elite hardly cares what its vassals think.
2. Its vassals mostly shut up and do as they are told.
3. And when they dare to speak up, they never challenge the real, underlying problems of systemic incompetence and irresponsibility.

Regarding Washington’s open disinterest in what its so-called allies worldwide think about their leader being a wreck, peruse American commentary. Yes, you will find some articles about international reactions to the debate debacle – for instance, in the Washington Post and Bloomberg – but you will not find any serious argument that the vassals’ opinions, anxieties, or even very timid complaints (if that’s the word) should play a role in deciding what to do next.

Imagine, if you will, the actual US political power structure as consisting of concentric rings.

Right now, at the center of decision-making, you will find the Biden clan and a minimal number of power brokers, mainly from the Democratic Party ‘elite’ (with a representative or two of AIPAC in the mix, one way or the other). The next ring consists of the donor class or, simply put, the rich. The third is the loyalist (or not so much anymore) media. And the fourth, perhaps, containing the Democratic Party as a whole, more or less.

Voters?

No ring for you. Tell the pollsters what you feel; someone who matters will be impressed enough to care. Imperial vassals? Hang in there with the voters, please.

Yet you cannot blame all this on the Washington ‘elite.’ The vassals also have themselves to blame because when they dare to make noise, it’s usually highly muffled and deferential to a fault, with occasional exceptions.

A recent one has been provided by the enfant terrible of Polish and NATO politics, Radek Sikorski. Yes, that’s the current foreign minister of Poland, who was indiscreet enough to admit (in obsequious gratitude, of course) that the US was behind the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines. Now, he has compared an American president to a Roman emperor (clearly oblivious to the fact that so-called republics and ‘democracies’ should not feature autocrats). Even worse, he implies that Emperor Biden is messing up his “ride into the sunset” (with apologies for the mixed “Magnificent Seven” and “Gladiator” references – they are not mine).

Sikorski’s boss, Poland’s current EU proconsul and prime minister, Donald Tusk, was bold enough to state that the American Democrats “have a problem publicly.” The insight! Perhaps, if given enough time, Tusk will even think his way through pondering the problems all of us have with the Democrats and their insane choices. But that, probably, is asking too much.

Bloomberg generally finds “consternation and handwringing” among America’s EU clients. And that is, in essence, that: a silly X post and a sigh of misplaced commiseration out of Poland. Otherwise, long faces are hardly even displayed in public. If Washington were to read this non-response as at least confirming its firm grip on its transatlantic underlings, it would be correct: The emperor’s decline is naked, and the Europeans maintain decorum.

In a standard US, Biden would long have been retired. Indeed, he would never have been president. In a normal Europe, there would be a pervasive, urgent, high-priority debate about what is structurally wrong with an America that can produce and keep a Biden and how to become independent of such a bizarre hegemon as quickly as possible. And yet, on both sides of the Atlantic, we see not only the political and cultural pathology of a man like Biden in the highest office. We also see virtually no normal responses to this pathology. The US ‘elite’ and its EU-NATO vassal ‘elites’ deserve each other: they both inhabit a topsy-turvy universe that they could not find their way back to reality even if they tried.

But how do all of us, the other 99.9%, deserve them?

Tarik Cyril Amar is a historian from Germany who is working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, as well as the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory.

@tarikcyrilamar

tarikcyrilamar.substack.com
tarikcyrilamar.com

What is the Side of the Story that is Not Yet Decisive? Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen.

1. ‘This Is What US Allies Should Learn from the Biden-Trump Debate’ suggests that America’s domestic follies resemble its slipups on the world stage.
2. ‘BRICS+ to Launch Independent Financial System – Moscow’ alludes to how the BRICS+ economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates – have beaten the Western Global Financial System by giving the West a taste of their own medicine.
3. ‘It's the End of The World as We Know It, And Xi Feels Fine’ reveals the West’s fears of a fast-changing multipolar world with more than one sheriff in town.
4. ‘Moscow Pact: Will Russia Unite the Disunited World?’ advocates a tectonic change toward an equilibrium in the balance of power among responsible nation-states.
5. ‘Russia’s UN Ambassador Responds to Ukraine Hospital Attack Accusations’ states unequivocally that Ukraine fired the rocket that damaged the hospital. Watch the video!
6. ‘EU Could ‘End’ Hungary’s Presidency – POLITICO’ depicts the newly appointed President of the European Union, Viktor Orban, bouncing from Kyiv to Moscow to Beijing, to Istanbul, and back to Budapest to negotiate peace between the troubling hegemonies. I added an editor’s note: “Give peace a chance. War is inflationary.”
7. ‘Saving Your Aluminum Pie Pans Yet?’ convincingly strikes a chord that our daily shopping challenges don’t add up to government-measured inflationary figures.

BRICS TO LAUNCH INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL SYSTEM – MOSCOW

The introduction of a new single currency is also on the table, Russia’s envoy to Beijing says

© Getty Images / joxxxxjo

HomeRussia & FSU

7 July 2024

According to Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov, countries of the BRICS economic bloc are currently working on launching a financial system independent of third parties' dominance.

The volume of Russia’s transactions in national currencies with fellow BRICS nations is constantly growing, the envoy said on Saturday in Beijing, speaking at the 12th World Peace Forum (WPF). Morgulov highlighted that Russia-China trade turnover had reached $240 billion and that 92% of settlements were conducted in rubles and yuans.

               “We are leaving the dollar-dominated space and developing the mechanism and tools for a truly independent financial system,” the ambassador said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Morgulov also said that introducing a new single currency is still some way off but stressed that the group – which recently expanded and now comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, and Egypt – is “moving in this direction.”

Last month, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov told the media that Russia was working on creating a settlement-and-payment infrastructure with the BRICS member states’ central banks. The senior state official specified that the economic bloc was working on launching the BRICS Bridge platform for settlements in national currencies.

In addition, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Russian daily Vedomosti that the BRICS Bridge could allow member states to settle using digital assets of central banks linked to national currencies.

Russia has been promoting its domestic payment system as a reliable alternative to SWIFT after many financial institutions were cut off from the Western financial network in 2022. The Russian SPFS interbank messaging system ensures the secure transfer of financial messages between banks both inside and outside the country.

Moscow has also accelerated efforts to avoid SWIFT by trading with international partners using their national currencies. The trend has been increasingly supported by members of the BRICS group, which have shifted from using the dollar and euro for trade settlements. The share of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with BRICS countries jumped to 85% at the end of 2023, up from 26% two years ago.

ANALYSIS | IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, AND XI FEELS FINE

China appears well positioned to continue its rise amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise of the far right, and the emergence of the Global South. The world order of 1945 has run its course, and it is through crises and tensions that the next one — still uncertain — is taking shape.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and SCO Secretary Zhang Ming at the 2024 SCO summit of heads of state.

Sergei Savostyanov/TASS via ZUMA

By Pierre Haski

Translated and Adapted by Agnese Tonghini
English Edition • Worldcrunch
View the article in the original language
4 July 2024

PARIS — It's not about looking for a grand conspiracy or a simple explanation. Still, we can't help being struck by the accumulation of crises in the world: the wars in Ukraine or Gaza, the rise of the far right, the polarization of our debates, the hardening of Russia, and the tensions with China in Asia. In short, is it just a coincidence, or is there a certain coherence?

Last year, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping exchanged a few informal words in front of the cameras during one of their many meetings. The Chinese president told his Russian counterpart:

               "We are experiencing changes in the world that have not been seen for 100 years, and we are leading these changes together."

This cryptic sentence caused quite a stir, as it seemed to give the Sino-Russian couple an excessive leadership role. However, it showed an ambition to emerge from these changes with an international order that would give greater prominence to Russia and China.

This is what is at stake in the current upheavals.

The flaw in the system

We live in an international order shaped at the end of World War II and essentially bears the stamp of the dominant West. Since then, the world has undergone many changes: decolonization, the end of Soviet communism, economic globalization, and the emergence of powers from the South. Yet the world order remains unchanging, and that is precisely what is fracturing today.

This is obvious if we look at international relations, with Russia and China, each in their way, attempting to change the balance of power; it's also the case if we look at the emerging powers: China, Brazil, India, and Saudi Arabia. They all demand a more significant place at the decision-making table; some even want to preside over it with hegemonic ambitions.

These crises are national and global, and their solutions will be as well.

It's increasingly complicated to deal with national crises, like the one we're currently experiencing in France and elsewhere, with the rise of the extreme right. But here again, we can see a painful end to the cycle.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks with Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit. Michael Kappeler/dpa/ZUMA Electoral electroshock

Some of the flaws in our society, as in other Western countries, result from decades of poorly managed globalization. Relocations have produced industrial deserts, social and regional inequalities reflected in the electoral map, and a feeling of abandonment and decline despite a positive global reality. This is what gave rise to Brexit and Donald Trump in 2016, and it is what we're experiencing today in France.

This brief tour of the world concludes that we are in the midst of an epochal change: the end of the "Western-centric" world of 1945, the end of the glorious globalization of recent decades, and the end of the illusion of unequal democracies. These crises are national and global, and their solutions will be as well.

There's nothing inevitable about it: last year, Poland and Brazil broke out of their populist deadlock, and now the UK is even taking a different direction. We must first agree on the diagnosis and the remedies.

FARHAD IBRAGIMOV | MOSCOW PACT: WILL RUSSIA UNITE THE DISUNITED WORLD?

The global majority is increasingly dissatisfied with the West’s ‘rules-based order,’ but will the Kremlin take advantage of this?

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport ahead of a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan. © Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov

By Farhad Ibragimov, an expert lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of RUDN University and a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

HomeWorld News

5 July 2024

The so-called Ukraine “peace summit” held in Switzerland last month, the June meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in Russia, Vladimir Putin’s Asian tour, and even this week’s visit by Hungarian PM Viktor Orban to Moscow—all these events are proof that the US and its allies have failed to isolate Russia from the rest of the world.

It is becoming clear that the Global South, which unites over 130 countries with a total population of about six billion people, does not intend to sever ties with Moscow. On the contrary, despite being pressured and blackmailed by the West, the countries of the Global South are striving to develop and strengthen relations with Russia. These states are irritated by the West’s hegemony and want to form a new world order based on justice and sovereignty.

Poles of the New World Order

The Ukraine crisis has contributed to strengthening the Global South’s role. The West hoped to enlist the unconditional support of the world majority since it could implement sanctions mechanisms through Western-controlled international financial institutions. However, Washington’s traditional methods have started to lose their effectiveness. Iran and North Korea, which have lived under severe Western sanctions for decades, have become an example for other countries that want to pursue a foreign policy based on national interests.

Even though the West has imposed the most significant number of sanctions against Russia, the latter has become a ‘bulwark’ for the entire Global South, and many countries have united around it. A good example is the growing role of alternative international associations—such as the SCO and BRICS—in which Russia holds leading roles. Many countries have already lined up to join these organizations, where they see many new opportunities for themselves.

In early June, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Ankara intends to join BRICS. For the West, this came like a bolt from the blue. Europe was unhappy about it since Türkiye is not just any country but an important member of NATO, which increasingly strives to pursue its policy without consulting either Washington or Brussels.

This year, the BRICS summit will be held in Russia. According to various sources, the leaders of dozens of countries – including China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt – plan to attend the event. Representatives of Saudi Arabia may also participate in the summit, and the president of Türkiye and delegates from several countries will announce their intention to join BRICS. All these countries continue to develop trade and economic ties with Moscow without fearing US sanctions, which leads to a natural question – what kind of “isolation” is the West talking about regarding Russia?

Ukraine is not on the agenda.

In the context of an emerging multipolar world order, ignoring the opinion of the Global South would lead to further tension and division in the international community. The Global South's position on Ukraine demonstrates a desire for greater independence in international affairs and criticism of the West’s unilateral actions. The Ukraine summit in Burgenstock, Switzerland, showed that the countries that made it to the event are looking for ways to resolve the conflict, but none want a full-scale confrontation with Russia.

Simply put, the meeting demonstrated that Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has completely lost the support of the Global South, and, seeing the uselessness of the proxy war with Russia, the West is gradually getting tired of it. Notably, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that the result of the meeting would have been different if Russia had participated. Representatives of 92 countries arrived at the summit. Seventy-eight countries initially signed the communique, which, as the event organizers noted, did not obligate them to anything.

Those who abstained were Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, the Vatican, India, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Thailand, and South Africa. Later, Iraq, Jordan, and Rwanda withdrew their signatures, and 75 countries appeared on the list of signatories.

Even the Ukrainian parliament recognized that the situation was a stalemate and did not favor Kyiv and its Western curators. Kyiv said that the previously announced second conference would not occur since the first one didn’t accomplish the necessary goals. This happened because the Global South, as the Global Majority, demonstrated a lack of interest in the Ukraine issue.

The fact that even leading Western players such as Australia and New Zealand were represented at the summit by the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Minister of Police and Correctional Services, respectively, underlines how ‘serious’ the West is about participating in summits where the same things are repeated over and over again. US President Joe Biden did not attend the event either; instead, Vice President Kamala Harris was sent, whose presence was rather unconvincing and superficial. Washington attempted to save face because the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil did not participate in the summit. China completely ignored the event, stating its position from the beginning.

All these BRICS countries are strongholds of the Global South and have chosen to strengthen ties with Russia and BRICS. In other words, Kyiv and its Western sponsors' original goal—to demonstrate the world community’s complete support for Ukraine and Russia's total isolation—has failed.

There is no unity in the West.

Even the North Atlantic Alliance could not show 100% support for Kyiv, not to mention representatives of the Global South. We may also recall the European Parliament elections in early June, which resulted in a fiasco for the ruling elites in the leading EU countries – France, Germany, and Belgium. The Alternative for Germany political party, considered a marginal party only a few years ago in Germany and Europe, came in second in Germany’s EU parliamentary elections and has pushed the ruling party into third place. The same thing is happening in France and Italy.

The societies of these countries are tired of the insane behavior of their governments, which, instead of encouraging dialogue and neighborly relations with Russia, embark on a path of open and brutal confrontation with Moscow, deliberately ruin ties with Beijing, and threaten the entire Global South with a big war – all to force the world to accept the Western point of view, which they consider the only right one.

Even German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had to admit that the situation was not in his favor and that the popularity of the ruling coalition in Germany was falling due to its support of Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia. Scholz added that many Germans are dissatisfied with the anti-Russia sanctions, and the results of the elections to the European Parliament prove this. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has even openly urged people not to vote for right-wing parties in the ongoing internal parliamentary elections since this would limit Paris’ support for Kyiv.

Countries like Hungary and Slovakia, trying to find balance and realize that the world is not limited to the West, are in a more favorable position. They see that the Global South also has something to offer and at least behaves in a sovereign way.

Türkiye –tired of Washington’s pressure and experienced firsthand all the ‘perks’ of cooperating with the West and the resulting economic crisis – also draws attention to this fact. Being aware of Türkiye’s vulnerable spots, the spokesperson of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano, directly stated that if Türkiye complies with EU sanctions against Russia and imposes similar restrictions, this will demonstrate “Ankara’s goodwill” and will help it gain the trust of the EU. In other words, European officials say that Türkiye should abandon its interests and sacrifice a rapidly growing and strengthening Russian-Turkish cooperation to “please” Europe and the West and that Ankara does not have other options.

The ‘Outcast’ Club

Meanwhile, as the West tried to invent new meeting formats to attract the Global South and threatened it with sanctions, the Russian President made an Asian tour, paying a state visit to North Korea and Vietnam. These two countries had been loyal allies of the Soviet Union and now want to have close and lasting relations with Russia. Both North Korea and Vietnam became victims of wars in which the US was either directly or indirectly involved. Both countries seek to pursue an independent foreign policy and back Russia’s efforts to form a new world order. Washington pressures Pyongyang and Hanoi but stand by their positions. For them, Russia is the key to stability and security in the region.

Following his visit to the DPRK, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, signed a strategic partnership agreement. As Putin noted, the document would form the basis of relations between Russia and North Korea for many years. The West has already expressed concern over the growing trade and military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Washington naively urged Russia to abandon cooperation with North Korea, which is under UN sanctions.

At the same time, UN attempts to prevent the US intervention in Iraq did not stop the Americans from entering Iraq, misleading the entire international community about Saddam Hussein’s alleged possession of chemical weapons, and so on. Up to now, Washington hoped that Russia would not ‘reset’ relations with North Korea, considering this step harmful to its interests. In the past three decades, the US has made great efforts to isolate the DPRK and stop it from developing only because Pyongyang wanted to protect itself from the worst-case scenario, such as a US-inspired military invasion from South Korea.

The sanctions regime imposed against the DPRK by the UN Security Council, and before that by the US and its allies, led to a blockade that saw several hundred thousand people die of hunger. Putin compared sanctions against the DPRK to the blockade of Leningrad during WWII, where, over three years, over a million died of starvation during the Nazi blockade. On his visit to Pyongyang, Putin talked about the need to review the sanctions regime imposed by the UN Security Council. This regime was initiated by Washington 20 years ago as a sign of US hegemony and its leadership in the unipolar world. Now, the situation around North Korea (as well as Iran and several other countries) is entirely different. Both Russia and China are ready to offer it support.

Where does this all lead?

The New York Times cites the US ambassador to Japan, who described Putin’s visit to North Korea and Vietnam as “your worst fears come true.” According to the diplomat, this trip signaled that Moscow was ready to head a group of countries over which the US has no control. The NYT also noted that the Russian leader needed just four days in Asia to “anger Washington.”

However, the fact that Washington could not hide its fury was evident. The US was sure that Russia would become isolated – just like Iran and North Korea – and that the whole world would think of Russia as toxic. However, the US looks toxic in reality since the situation has escalated, and it does not know what to do next. On the one hand, the whole world sees how the US-backed Kyiv regime suffers one failure after another and resorts to terrorist methods (such as strikes on the beach in Sevastopol, constant shellings of Belgorod and cities in Donetsk People’s Republic).

On the other hand, Americans found themselves stuck in problematic and even absurd situations in the Middle East. Yemen’s Houthis, whom the US did not take seriously, have dared to openly attack US destroyers in the Arabian Sea without fearing retaliatory strikes from the US and UK. Moreover, the Biden administration got tangled up in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the Muslim world openly declared the need to create a new world order in which there would be no place for US hegemony.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Türkiye –considered traditional US partners and even allies until recently – have become BRICS members or plan to join the organization. Middle Eastern observers note that in the current situation and because of the degradation of Western elites, Russia and China have a unique opportunity to unite the entire Global South around themselves. It is possible that the former Warsaw Pact, which acted as a counterweight to NATO, may be replaced by the Moscow Pact. This does not mean that Russia, China, and BRICS are oriented towards a confrontation with the West – nothing points to this. But no one wants to compromise Washington’s confidence in its impunity anymore.

The Global South is increasingly feeling the effects of the West’s “containment” policy – which implies halting the development of its alleged or evident competitors. Moreover, the countries of the Global South see that the longer the West continues its policy of domination, the harder it is to negotiate with it. And given the fact that incompetent Western elites pass off their interests as national ones, this situation can quickly lead to a global catastrophe from which there will be no way out. That’s why the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America keep saying: stop the madmen in the West before it is too late.

The only natural way to preserve peace is to permanently establish a new world order, reform the UN, and consider the interests of most countries.

RUSSIA’S UN AMBASSADOR RESPONDS TO UKRAINE HOSPITAL ATTACK ACCUSATIONS

If a Russian missile struck the clinic, there would be nothing but rubble left, Vasily Nebenzia has told the UN Security Council.

Emergency services work at the scene of a blast at the Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8, 2024, © AFP / Maxim Marusenko.

HomeRussia & FSU

9 July 2024

Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, has accused Ukrainian forces of hitting a children’s hospital with an air defense missile, declaring that if a Russian rocket had struck the building, “there would be nothing left.”

In an address to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Dr. Vladimir Zhovnir, the director of Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, accused Russia of deliberately striking the facility on Monday. Two people died, and scores were injured in the blast, Zhovnir claimed, calling the incident “not just a war crime, [but] far beyond the limit of humanity.”

“Does Mr. Zhovnir understand that if it were a Russian missile, nothing would be left of the building?”Nebenzia responded. “Children and adults would have died rather than been injured.” Nebenzia explained that Russian forces targeted the Artemov missile plant in Kyiv on Monday and that “this target was hit.”

“Since the plant is located approximately 2km from the children’s hospital, there is every reason to believe that the Ukrainian air defense missile that hit it was intended for a Russian missile that hit the plant,” he stated, adding that “this tragedy could have been avoided if the Ukrainian Armed Forces had not deployed air defense in residential areas.”

The Russian Defense Ministry has also explicitly denied striking the hospital. In an official statement on Monday, the ministry said that “photos and video footage from Kyiv confirm” that the building was hit by a falling “Ukrainian air defense missile launched from an anti-aircraft missile system within the city.”

The strike on the Artemov plant was part of a large-scale attack on Ukrainian military industry facilities and aviation bases conducted on Monday. The ministry said that the attack had been ordered in response to Ukraine’s continued attempts to damage Russian energy and economic infrastructure.

Pro-Kiev media outlets have claimed that the weapon that struck the hospital was a Russian air-launched Kh-101 cruise missile. However, others have argued that the projectile, seen in a video filmed from a distance by a witness, was more likely an AIM120 fired by a NASAM missile system or a PAC-3 interceptor fired by the MIM-104 Patriot missile system. Western donors have provided Ukraine with both of these weapons systems.

Ukraine’s air defense missiles have malfunctioned on numerous occasions throughout the conflict with Russia. In November 2022, a Ukrainian S-300 anti-air missile veered off course and landed on Polish soil, killing two farmers. Despite a Polish investigation confirming that the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his officials insisted for several weeks that the Russian military launched it.

WATCH NOW: 3 Minutes 28 Seconds

EU COULD ‘END’ HUNGARY’S PRESIDENCY – POLITICO*

Viktor Orban’s visit to Russia has reportedly ruffled too many feathers in Brussels.

FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. © Thierry Monasse / Getty Images

Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen

Excerpted from Politico: “Orbán parrots Putin’s lines on Ukraine in a leaked letter to EU chief.”
9 July 2024

Hungary can be “a good tool in the hands of God,”

to promote peace, the Hungarian leader said last Friday on national radio.

“Hungary has long been one of the few EU members critical of the bloc’s unqualified support for Ukraine, urging Brussels to push for peace instead.

Budapest has blocked plans to finance Kyiv’s weapons purchases,

declined to participate in the program of training Ukrainian troops,
and refused passage of weapons and equipment to Ukraine via its territory.”

The European Union could revoke Hungary’s bloc EU Presidency over Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s trip to Moscow, Politico EU has reported, citing diplomatic sources.

Having assumed the rotating European Council presidency and vowed to make “Europe great again (MEGA),” Orban visited Ukraine and met with Vladimir Zelensky. He then went to Russia, triggering howls of outrage in Kyiv and Brussels alike.

               “Member states were already irritated by the ‘MEGA’ motto. But a meeting with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will permanently overshadow the Hungarian presidency,” Politico reported on Monday evening, citing an unnamed EU diplomat. “With such a meeting, the presidency ends before it has begun.”

Politico described Orban as having gone “rogue” and suggested the EU ambassadors “could move from public condemnations alone to concrete action to restrain” Budapest at their meeting on Wednesday.

Another anonymous diplomat said there is “an obvious political disapproval” of Orban in Brussels, adding that the ambassadors are “now discussing what exactly to do on Wednesday.”

The bloc “can get rid of the Hungarian presidency within weeks,” argued Daniel Hegedus, a German Marshall Fund think-tank senior fellow. He laid out a series of steps by which Brussels could move the start of Poland’s presidency to September 1, cutting Hungary’s term short to “attach negative consequences to Orban’s behavior.”

This would require a four-fifths majority in the European Council.

Orban has dismissed criticism that he does not have a mandate to represent the EU by saying that his peace missions are not classical negotiations and, therefore, do not require one. More considerable powers might be able to end the conflict, but Hungary can be “a good tool in the hands of God” to promote peace, the Hungarian leader said last Friday on national radio.

Hungary has long been among the few EU members critical of the bloc’s unqualified support for Ukraine, urging Brussels to push for peace instead. Budapest has blocked plans to finance Kyiv’s weapons purchases, declined to participate in the program of training Ukrainian troops, and refused passage of weapons and equipment to Ukraine via its territory.

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Editor’s Note | Cleared with incoming NATO Chief Mark Rutte?

According to my sources — hearsay — Mr. Orban discussed this matter with Mark Rutte before casting the final vote to elect Mark Rutte to become NATO Chief in October 2024. Of course, Mark — affectionately known in the Netherlands as our ‘collective ideal son-in-law type — cannot deny that Mr. Orban and Mark had a conversation about the one final vote he needed from Hungary, but Mark might not (yet) disclose the total substance of their conversation. Mum is the word for both. That’s politics. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

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SAVING YOUR ALUMINUM PIE PANS YET?

A friend has stopped buying paper towels, not for environmental reasons, but because he finds them unaffordable now. Curious, I took a closer look.

(julie deshaies/Shutterstock)

By Jeffrey A. Tucker

Epoch times
9 July 2024

Sure enough, I’ve documented a 70 percent price increase over 16 months in my buying history.

Others are seeing this too and balking at spending $2.50 per roll. At these prices, reusing cotton kitchen towels for quick clean-ups makes more sense. This is a consequence of substitution in light of price changes.

When examining official data (Producer Price Index, or PPI, which is more accurate than the Consumer Price Index, or CPI) on wood pulp products, what do we find when examining official data? A massive increase in 2021–2023, followed by a crash, and then a slight increase, to an overall rise of 50 percent since 2020. That’s substantial and serious and gets passed on to consumer products. However, the CPI does not reflect that.

We are seeing this even more. People are shifting their consumption regardless of the claims that inflation is gone. We see our bills and know otherwise. Therefore, people are substituting meat for pasta, rice, and brand-name items for store brands and generics. The thrift stores are doing a bang-up business, and people are searching for more ways to cut costs.

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BUILDING THE BRIDGE! | A WAY TO GET TO KNOW THE OTHER AND ONE ANOTHER

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Photo Credit: Abraham A. van Kempen, our home away from home on the Dead Sea

By Abraham A. van Kempen

Senior Editor
Updated 19 January 2024

Those who commit to 'healing our broken humanity' build intercultural bridges to learn to know and understand one another and others. Readers who thumb through the Building the Bridge (BTB) pages are not mindless sheep following other mindless sheep. They THINK. They want to be at the forefront of making a difference. They're in search of the bigger picture to expand their horizons. They don't need BTB or anyone else to confirm their biases.

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Accurate knowledge promotes understanding, dispels prejudice, and awakens the desire to learn more. Words have an extraordinary power to bring people together, divide them, forge bonds of friendship, or provoke hostility. Modern technology offers unprecedented possibilities for good, fostering harmony and reconciliation. Yet its misuse can do untold harm, leading to misunderstanding, prejudice, and conflict.

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The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of the Building the Bridge Foundation