by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Crimea is essential to Russia strategically and economically, but speculation over Ankara helping to boost the US presence in the Black Sea is far-fetched given Turkey’s energy deals with Moscow. A power struggle over the Black Sea between Russia and the US plus NATO has the potential to develop as a seminal plot of the 21st
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times – here and here – by special agreement with the author) The new Great Game on the Roof of the World On top of the graceful Baltit Fort, overlooking the Hunza Valley’s Shangri-La-style splendor, it’s impossible not to feel dizzy at the view: an overwhelming collision of millennia of geology and centuries of history. We are at the heart of Gilgit-Baltistan, in
by Pepe Escobar exclusive for The Saker Blog Rostislav Ishchenko is arguably the leading international analyst focused on the extraordinarily turbulent Russia-Ukraine relations. He posts regularly on Ukraina.ru, with frequent English translations here. In contrast to the 24/7 “Russian aggression” demonization campaign effective on all corners of the Beltway and spreading towards selected European capitals, Ishchenko’s analysis, for instance of the information war deployed on all fronts of the Russia-Ukraine
Washington insists sanctions will remain until Russia returns the peninsula to Ukraine, but this will never happen. For Moscow, Crimea is back to where it belongs, and this is a region that has seen conquerors come and go for centuries by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) We are at the remains of Panticapaeum, the capital of the Kingdom of Bosphorus, founded in
Russia is keen to push economic integration with parts of Asia and this fits in with China’s Belt and Road Initiative by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The concept of Greater Eurasia has been discussed at the highest levels of Russian academia and policy-making for some time. This week the policy was presented at the Council of Ministers and looks set to
Professor Hasan Unal, a top political scientist based in Istanbul, explains the geopolitics of his region, the eastern Mediterranean and into the Black Sea by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) When Vladimir Putin visited President Erdogan’s lavish new $500-million presidential palace in Ankara, he had one thing to say: “I’m very impressed.” Professor Hasan Unal, savoring the dry humor, derives as much pleasure
The West is complaining about Russian ‘aggression’ but the incident looks more like a cheap ploy by a desperate Ukrainian president and US conservatives keen to undermine Trump’s next pow-wow with Putin by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) When the Ukrainian navy sent a tugboat and two small gunboats on Sunday to force their way through the Kerch Strait into the Sea
The House of Saud’s ties to the Khashoggi slaying are being milked by the Turkish President for maximum benefit amid debate on leadership of the Islamic world and how the crisis may affect US and Saudi strategy in the Middle East by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) It was packaged as a stark, graphic message, echoing across Eurasia: Presidents Erdogan and Putin,
Sitting alongside French President Macron during the 100th anniversary to commemorate the end of World War I, Putin and Trump stole the show in Paris by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The Elysee Palace protocol was implacable. Nobody in Paris would be allowed to steal the spotlight away from the host, President Emmanuel Macron, during the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day marking the
by Pepe Escobar, in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, special for The Saker Blog I’m up and down the Karakoram highway in Gilgit-Baltistan, juggling between the Great Game – the original, pitting imperial Britain and Russia – and the New Great Game pitting the Exceptionalists against Eurasia integration. But then, trespassing the mighty peaks caressed by the sun, The Saker sends a thunderbolt in the form of a RT report on some lowly
As US sanctions on Iran come into force, the government of Imran Khan is carefully negotiating its position with neighbors and regional powers, each with their favored pipeline plans by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) A tweet roared like announcing a blockbuster premiere and sanctions did engulf Iran on time – despite opposition from Russia, China and the EU-3 (France, Germany and
While Khan plays on a complex geopolitical chessboard, Chinese aid could be a financial lifeline as Islamabad faces off against deadly religious extremism by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) It has been a breathless week, huddled in the shadow of the simmering, bubbling, politico-religious volcano that is Imran Khan’s Pakistan. And this week’s multi-faceted developments may just signal seismic shifts in Pakistan’s
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with Consortium News by special agreement with the author) A troubling new era has begun in Brazil with the election on Sunday of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro as president, writes Pepe Escobar. It’s darkness at the break of (tropical) high noon. Jean Baudrillard once defined Brazil as “the chlorophyll of our planet”. And yet a land vastly associated worldwide with the soft power of creative joie
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The US move to shelve the Intermediate-range Nuclear-Forces treaty could accelerate the demise of the whole post-WWII Western alliance, and herald a bad remix of the 1930s The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock to only 2 minutes to midnight. It might be tempting to turn this into a mere squabble about
The Pentagon may not be advocating total war against both Russia and China – as it has been interpreted in some quarters by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author) A crucial Pentagon report on the US defense industrial base and “supply chain resiliency” bluntly accuses China of “military expansion” and “a strategy of economic aggression,” mostly because Beijing is the only source for
World leaders wrestle with a maelstrom of complex, burning issues as they prepare for November 30 summit by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The G-20 in Buenos Aires on November 30 could set the world on fire – perhaps literally. Let’s start with the US-China trade war. Washington won’t even start discussing trade with China at the G-20 unless Beijing comes up with
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with Consortium News by special agreement with the author) Stripped to its essence, the Brazilian presidential elections represent a direct clash between democracy and an early 21st Century neofascism, indeed between civilization and barbarism, writes Pepe Escobar. Nothing less than the future of politics across the West – and across the Global South – is being played out in Brazil. Stripped to its essence, the Brazilian
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Belt and Road Initiative is a strategic axis embodying the organizing Chinese foreign policy concept for the next three decades The New Silk Roads symbolize way more than high-speed rail lines crisscrossing Eurasia, or a maze of highways, pipelines and port connectivity. They represent a Chinese alliance with at least 65 participating nations, responsible for 62%
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Trade tensions between the US and China could drag on for decades but China’s focus on its Belt and Road Initiative could provide relief Alibaba’s Jack Ma has warned that the ongoing US-China trade war could last at least 20 years. As we’ll see, it’s actually more like 30 – up to 2049, the 100th anniversary
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok has become a crucial part of strategic integration between China, Russia and other countries in northeast Asia, a graduation assimilation set to transform the current world system Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were involved in a joint cooking venture. Pancakes with caviar (blin, in Russian), chased down with a shot
