The Iranian Parliament just hosted its annual conference on Palestine and, among the dignitaries – that included Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani – and the 700 foreign guests from more than 50 countries was Asia Times columnist Pepe Escobar. by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times The art of the deal, when practiced for 2500 years, does lead to the palace of wisdom. I had hardly
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International The tawdry Michael Flynn soap opera boils down to the CIA hemorrhaging leaks to the company town newspaper, leading to the desired endgame: a resounding victory for hardcore neocon/neoliberalcon US Deep State factions in one particular battle. But the war is not over; in fact it’s just beginning. Even before Flynn’s fall, Russian analysts had been avidly discussing whether President Trump is the new
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times From the Bab al-Mandab to the strait of Malacca, from the strait of Hormuz to the strait of Lombok, all the way to the key logistical hub of Diego Garcia 2,500 miles southeast of Hormuz, the question pops up: How will the unpredictable new normal in Washington – which is not exactly China-friendly – affect the wider Indian Ocean? At play are way
by Pepe Escobar The Trump era starts now – with geopolitics and geoeconomics set for a series of imminent, unpredictable cliffhangers. I have argued that Trump’s foreign policy guru Henry Kissinger’s strategy to deal with the formidable Eurasia integration trio – Russia, China and Iran – is a remixed Divide and Rule; seduce Russia away from its strategic partnership with China, while keep harassing the weakest link, Iran. In fact
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times He did it, his way; Chinese President Xi Jinping descended on the Swiss Alps; profited from a geopolitical vacuum only three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration with the Atlanticist West mired in stagnation and/or protectionism; unleashed a charm offensive; and deftly positioned China in the lead of “inclusive” globalization. In a wide-ranging speech that went from global angst to China’s new normal, Xi
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times So right in the heart of Bali, spellbound after a serious conversation with a dukun – a spiritual master – it struck me: this should be the new Yalta, the perfect setting for a Trump-Xi-Putin summit setting the parameters ahead in the ever-evolving New Great Game in Eurasia. Balinese culture makes no distinction between the secular and the supernatural – sekala and niskala.
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International This is the way the Obama administration ends; not with a bang, but a pathetic whimper. Queen of War Hillary “We Came, We Saw, He Died” Clinton’s campaign – fully supported by President Obama – spent a whopping $1.2 billion and floundered ignominiously at the US presidential election. So Obama decided that the consolation “prize” is to order the “intelligence community” – a contradiction
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the new head of the Pentagon, is a model functionary of the Empire of Chaos. His call sign is – what else – “chaos”. The Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) even shared his regular accolade; “Saint Mattis of Quantico, Patron Saint of Chaos”. The Saint in his pop incarnation comes fully
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International Donald Trump, commenting on the passing of Fidel Castro, branded him a mere “dictator”. Whatever the long-lasting results (and mistakes) of the Cuban experiment, History has already de facto recognized Fidel as one of the great revolutionary leaders of the modern – and post-modern – era. Trump – historical irony obliges – also has all but christened the groundswell of anger that delivered him
by Pepe Escobar for RT In yet one more spectacular chapter of his running Marco Polo in reverse saga, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a strategic stop in Sardinia, Italy, on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru. Why beautiful Sardinia? Certainly not for a yacht cruise in the Costa Esmeralda. This is all about, once again, the Chinese-driven New Silk Roads. Huawei is building
by Pepe Escobar Donald Trump’s red wave on Election Day was an unprecedented body blow against neoliberalism. The stupid early-1990s prediction about the ‘end of history’ turned into a – possible – shock of the new. The new global nativism? Perhaps a new push towards democratic socialism? Too early to tell. Once again. A body blow, not a death blow. Like the cast of The Walking Dead, the zombie neoliberal
by Pepe Escobar for RT Virtually the whole planet holds its collective breath at the prospect of Hillary Clinton possibly becoming the next President of the United States (POTUS). How’s that humanly possible, as the (daily) Bonfire of The Scandals – relentlessly fed by WikiLeaks revelations and now converging FBI investigations – can now be seen from interstellar space? It’s possible because Hillary Clinton, slouching through a paroxysm of manufactured
by Pepe Escobar for the Strategic Culture Foundation Will Trump pull a Brexit times ten? What would it take, beyond WikiLeaks, to bring the Clinton (cash) machine down? Will Hillary win and then declare WWIII against her Russia/Iran/Syria “axis of evil”? Will the Middle East totally explode? Will the pivot to Asia totally implode? Will China be ruling the world by 2025? Amidst so many frenetic fragments of geopolitical reality
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International Cold War 2.0 has reached unprecedented hysterical levels. From the Clinton (cash) machine – supported by a neocon/neoliberalcon think tank/media complex – to the British establishment and its corporate media mouthpieces, the Anglo-American, self-appointed “leaders of the free world” are racking up demonization of Russia and http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21709028-how-contain-vladimir-putins-deadly-dysfunctional-empire-threat-russia “Putinism” to pure incandescence. And yet a hot war is not about to break out – before
by Pepe Escobar for Strategic Culture «Your honors, in this venue I announce my separation from the United States… both in military and economics also». Thus Philippines President Rodrigo «The Punisher» Duterte unleashed a geopolitical earthquake encompassing Eurasia and reverberating all across the Pacific Ocean. And talk about choosing his venue with aplomb; right in the heart of the Rising Dragon, no less. Capping his state visit to Beijing, Duterte
by Pepe Escobar for The South China Morning Post So you think Donald Trump is the biggest threat to world peace? And Barack Obama engineered America’s “pivot to Asia”? It was actually Hillary Clinton, emphasising the necessity of a “strategic turn” for the United States, who launched the pivot to Asia in an October 2011 article titled “America’s Pacific Century”. The tone was martial: “Our military is by far the
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International Let’s cut to the chase; Hillary Clinton is ready to go to war against Russia in Syria – with inbuilt, potentially terrifying, thermonuclear consequences. Anticipating an outcome of the US presidential election as a remix of the 1972 Nixon landslide, Hillary has also coined, George “Dubya” Bush-style, a remixed axis of evil: Russia, Iran and “the Assad regime”. That’s not even counting China, which,
by Pepe Escobar for RT The yuan is about to enter the IMF’s basket of reserve currencies this coming Saturday – alongside the US dollar, pound, euro and yen. This is no less than a geoeconomic earthquake. Not only does this represent yet another step in China’s irresistible path towards economic primacy; the Chinese currency’s inclusion in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket will also lead central banks and hyper-wealthy
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik International The temptation is irresistible to conceptualize the Clinton Machine’s strategy going into the first US presidential debate; let Donald Trump metastasize into a pretzel. Mission not impossible; in fact, accomplished. Sniffin’ and slidin’, beepin’ and sippin’, angrily chokin’, even swoopin’ on the mike to choreograph a blow, “Donald” (as addressed by “Secretary Clinton”) fell for every shape and size of bait thrown by a
by Pepe Escobar for Sputnik News Perplexed global public opinion holds its breath at the (circus) best American “democracy” is able to conjure: the first https://sputniknews.com/columnists/20160729/1043757805/us-election-clinton-trump.html cage match this coming Monday between a Queen of War profiting from a mighty (Clinton) Cash Machine and a billionaire uber-narcissist adored by a http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/19/hillary-clintons-basket-of-deplorables/ “basket of deplorables”. This is a circus quite fitting for a self-described “indispensable nation” where “evil” has been propelled
