by Naresh Jotwani for the Saker blog
Alastair Crooke is a sage whose thoughtful writings pack vast breadth and depth of understanding of history and geopolitics. His analysis is free of the slightest hint of bias or narrow partisanship – a fact which seems almost incredible given that he worked for the UK Government for a couple of decades. In fact, the sage and his writings testify to a constant and priceless element of western tradition – namely, independent thought.
It was therefore as a surprising and rare slip of the pen, that one read the following paragraph in an article written very recently by him:
But … can the West, which has been so deep in denial about both the incredible economic and military transformation that has occurred in Russia since 1998, and in such vehement denial too, of the capacities of the Russian military, simply slide effortlessly into another narrative? Yes, easily. The neocons never look back; they never apologise. They move to the next project …
Reference in the first sentence is made to “the West”. One has to assume that the reference is to the ruling dispensation – or shall we say regime? – in certain countries, because clearly not every human being in these countries has been in denial about events in Russia since 1998.
Later in the paragraph, however, the phrase used in place of “the West” – rather unconsciously, one must assume – is “the neocons”. Is that substitution not hugely surprising? The two phrases do not – cannot! – represent the same slice of human life! Equation of the two was surely unintentional.
William Shakespeare, James Clerk Maxwell, Mark Twain, William James – these are just a few illustrious references from the English speaking regions of “the West”. These and many others – including of course Alastair Crooke himself – have not the remotest connection to “the neocons” view of life.
Possibly, “the neocons” are the newest version of the crazies who have always attempted to lord it over “the West” – as indeed over much of the world. Such people are always at the game of deceptively and cruelly acquiring raw power; but surely such wannabe power grabbers do not equate to “the West”.
Indeed, that the two were thus equated – even if unintentionally – also proves that “the West” is no longer a meaningful phrase, if indeed it ever was. Of course “the East” and “the South” have already figured that out – as we sense clearly in the winds of change blowing through global political alignments.
Crooke also writes that the neocons do not look back or apologize. No power hungry crazies ever do that. Never. It is as if they drive a vehicle with faulty brakes, no reverse gear and a cracked and dirty windshield. Their judgement clouded by limitless greed for power, they lack understanding of the progress which in fact happens not only in Russia, but all over the world. Their every “next project” is therefore doomed to end worse than the one before.
A crash is therefore inevitable, even though it will be denied by ideologues during – and even after – it occurs. What the rest of mankind see clearly as a crash will be written up as a victory, or a major engineered paradigm shift, or some such nonsense. Words are cheap. Narratives may attempt to displace reality, but they cannot fool the world for long. The rest of us need to remain alert and be able to see through empty words.
The internet is a major revolution in world affairs, and its full impact on our lives is yet to unfold. Social media cannot be controlled – not that crazies will not try to do that! Exchange of honest, truthful assessments among people around the world – for the first time in human history – is invaluable.
One ventures therefore to guess that many of the older models of “lording it over the masses” will rapidly lose their effectiveness. Based on what we have seen so far, there is no shortage of clear-sighted people around the world, and their viewpoints are available for all to share.
There will be life after the crash – not only in “the West”, but also in the rest of the world. Perhaps older labels such “the West”, “the East”, “the South” et cetera will disappear, and “the world” will be the only meaningful label. Since there will no longer be one salient “pole” dominating the scene, the world will by default, and naturally, be “multipolar” – with poles which shift over time. One is reminded of football leagues, in which teams keep rising and falling depending on performance.
When we speak about “the world”, we need to also recognize that migrants from the all over the world are today living and working legally in the US – which we may dub the sanctum sanctotum of “the West”. By all accounts, these migrants constitute law-abiding, hard-working and successful segments of the US population. They have learned how to come wisely to terms with – and participate in – relevant aspects of US domestic politics.
But the scene back in their respective home countries is different. These countries need to look after their own well-being amidst major changes in geo-political environment. Relationships of the home countries with “the West” do not mimic the domestic political relationships of their ex-citizens living in the US. This is a point which so-called “ruling elites” in the US miss when they send a US-based migrant to his or her home country to “set things right”.
In any case, after one generation, children of the migrants will have far, far weaker links with their parents’ home countries. One only wishes that the proverbial melting pot works out well for them in the coming years.
Regarding “the neocons” – the present wannabe “lords of the West” – it is worth noting that, not too long ago, the phrase “crazies in the basement” was used by an American president for their ilk.
A beautiful, famous song by Jimmy Cliff goes: The harder they come, the harder they fall … One and all.
The wheels of karma grind on, inexorably. But the thing about crazies is that they remain in denial even after they fall. Maybe it is time for us to laugh at their self-serving ideologies and their crazy antics – after ensuring that we are not harmed too badly by the consequences of their ill-conceived projects.
As someone said, the tragedy is so huge that laughter is needed to deal with it.
Reality and Meme here and all, so true and so illusory.
In “These Truths” by Jill Lepore, “……They (US residents) were not ruled by reason and choice. They were ruled by violence and force.”……Abe Lincoln once said: “……We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country…….”
After several years of traveling in Russia, I found that even though Americans like to think that US is a “melting pot”, compared to Russia, US is just a wanna-be, far far behind, and way way sordid. The Americans don’t realize that, of course.
Neocons Not Welcome
They think they rule the world, but soon travel outside Zone A for many will prove dangerous, especially if Russia declare them ‘persons of interest’.
I think it is getting progressively harder to ignore reality. MBS snubs Brandon and roles out the carpet for Xi, the petroyuan emerges from the shadow. At some point quite soon all of us Americans will recognize that the empire has no clothes on. I hope Zelly holds a piano recital to raise money for the patriots. 1 Billion dollar complex run by 90 volunteers shooting 3 million dollar rocket at discount lawnmowers, it is getting embarrassing to be an murican.
I don’t know how embarrassing it is, but it is going to be harder to maintain the upscale lifestyle.
I’m amazed you’ve retained the ability to be embarrassed for this long, and the ability to believe that “all Americans” will ever pull their heads out of their hinders and notice anything.
I can gear-ron-tee most of those that do will not be embarrassed and will blame entirely the wrong people for their predicament. As always.
Beautifully written, elegant English language, elegant Indian manners.
FWIW, in place of “the West,” “the East,” etc., I suggest simply naming the country or region intended: The USA, Mongolia, Latin America, Eurasia, London, Jerusalem, etc. Everyone knows who is causing world upset today. Instead of “the West,” one can say with useful specificity, for example, “New York and City of London financial speculators.”
As Jotwani observes, “the West,” etc., is operationally useless for being vague and quite unfair to many. For example, I am honored to be a natural-born citizen of The USA, and my parents were natural-born citizens of The USA, as were their parents, and I abominate what liars, cheats, and thieves with specific names and with hands on the powers of my government are doing in my name here and abroad. Denominating me “the West” is intellectually incompetent as well as unfair to me and “the West.”
We’re talking here about a very specific criminal enterprise of very specific heritage, not “the West,” not me. Put another way, I am “the West,” I am America, and I hate and condemn what is being done in my name by people who despise God as well as my country and me.
“NeoCon” increases conceptual-linguistic specificity regarding the intended object of interest, the “crazies,” to use Jotwani’s term, but not enough to develop effective responses regarding it.
FWIW, nominal. phrases such as “Empire of Lies,” “The Hegemon,” “Anglo-Saxons,” “Anglo-Zionists,” etc., are corny epithets not useful in civilized discourse much less statecraft, where conceptual and linguistic precision of engineering quality — Jotwani is an engineer, thus the ananda reading his prose — is a required competence.
(Several years ago, one observed Kurds kicking and shoving to achieve recognition as a state or at least a statelet. One hoped they could develop conceptual-linguistic competence sufficient to be taken seriously in diplomatic circles of the major nations in situ. One was disappointed. Their concepts and language remained infantile, pugilistic, self-centered. Nations involved disregarded them. They remain in diplomatic backwater despite having a splendid deep history and very fine personal and social qualities. For the same reason, and even with CIA’s unremitting support, ISIS, AQ, Taliban, etc — Moslem crazies — cannot be taken seriously and lands they harass or rule must be taken over eventually by serious nations.)
FWIW, it’s time to come clean on what we mean by “NeoCon.” Jotwani uses “crazies,” which is accurate but generic, lacking needful and available specificity. Everyone knows NeoCons descend from a very specific ethno-culture (Ashkenazy Judaism) who successfully cultivate a very specific support structure among two much larger and more variegated ethno-cultures: Anglican and Jesuitical, with very many belonging to those having accepted to live in fear of being labeled “anti-Semitic” in media beholden to Ashkenazy Jews or their acolytes.
A man of God does not accept to live in fear except of God.
“NeoCon” is needlessly vague. It insufficiently identifies the object of interest. In place of “NeoCon,” I suggest an operational specifier which also evokes the historical antecedent of “NeoCons'” ethno-culture, their pique, and their historical teleology: Sicarii.
Crazies indeed, but of a specific historio-emotional sheaf and modus operandi– and related to Moslem crazies, in fact. With their specificity clearly identified and carefully discussed, one achieves markedly useful tactical, operational, and strategic considerations for treating of their phenomenology. Again, NeoCons and their acolytes Anglican and Jesuitical are Sicarii.
Current Neocon behavior differs little from that of others when we look at the 500+ year-long Age of Plunder. The truisms Bastiat wrote 170+ years ago still stand today, although very few know of him or those truisms. The last plundering entity of the West is the Outlaw US Empire which is controlled by an odd cabal of Neocons and Neoliberal Parasites. The latter were in command most of the time after WW2, with the Neocons rising during the 1950s worming their way slowly but surely as Neocons usually were found running the Terrorism side of the Empire’s policy beginning in Latin America and Ukraine (OUN support since 1945). The author bemoans that those creatures are now called the West when the West is so much more. But is it really? From where have the outcries against the behavior of the Outlaw US Empire come from since 1945? How many Western nations stood up to and countered its invasions and challenged its unlawfulness? How many refused to join NATO or tossed their sovereignty away and become captured by the EU? Yes, I know voters rejected becoming members in several nations, but their “leaders” enslaved them anyway. And I could continue on this line for pages.
Like it or not, the West is a formation of nations, not individuals, and thus it becomes known to history via the actions of those nations. Today’s speeches by Putin inform us as to what the West has become–a Neo-Nazi entity dominated by the Outlaw US Empire whose clear goal is the completion of Hitler’s Plan Ost–the subjugation and dismemberment of Russia and its peoples. It’s employed almost every tool aside from nuclear weapons, including the most vile terrorists it could create. How can a whole bloc of nations that openly supports such behavior be deemed civilized? Where’s the uproar from their citizenry? If they’re too brainwashed to stand up for themselves, then what does that say about the nations they live within and are dominated by? The West is becoming the thing it supposedly hated–the Totalitarian Soviet/Communist Bloc. I’m not alone in seeing that–billions of other people do. The West is building its own wall, and its destiny isn’t at all good. And yes, it’s very much like a Greek tragedy of the sort that’s no longer taught in schools. In that way and many others, the “West” has disowned the West, cancelled it, and it will soon become a relic of the past.
All well-said Doctor K!
It’s to be remembered that Casey said that his goal at CIA was to make everything the American people believed was a lie, Ray McGovern speaks of this as fact (as I’m sure you know)… But more classically, it’s incredible and pathological that such a goal would be desired…that a regime would willfully lay itself into a grave…recalling Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat Now the regime itself believes only lies…
Brother K does not speak in Hyperbole when he says “Plunder.” Not too long ago he wrote a powerful reminder from Bastiat, which I appreciated and saved. It is Bastiat from whose writings he adapted “the Plundering Nations” and “Age of Plunder,” both most apt phrases. All such depredations are eventually channeled by opposing forces into an inescapable cul-de-sac — ‘these volent delights have violent ends.’
Trying to plunder the RF is gathering the West (US, UK, EU, NATO) into a suicide cult.
Russia is a delicious target to plunder, but there is no means available to achieve that goal.
Militarily, the thrust into Russia has been blunted. Ukraine is being ground to dust and pulp.
Internally, the fifth column has fled.
Regime change is preposterous. The Siloviki and true patriots are much more virulent than VVP. The West can only hope Putin’s reign remains. His commanders and lieutenants are much more lethal should there be a change.
What will be plundered are the Euro Elites and Oligarchs. The great predator of North America and the Atlantic is famished for fresh blood. It has begun devouring the nearest meat, Europe.
The Big Three:
Is there to be a multipolar world order, or is it to be a Tri-polar world order ? It appears the NATO west desires to lead a world order, and Russia is preventing that from happening. In addition, it appears the USA desiring to control the entire Pacific Region is bumping heads with China. Is it possible to have the three nations find a common ground and come together to form a “Super” world order. There can be no peace in a world where humans live without understanding “love” is not “lust”, and all is vanity that wars against the spirit.
Yes, this is essentially the case.
Even within the elites in the US/UK/EU, there are various factions (there always are, human ego being what it is).
Some are more inclined to sharing power/control more or less equally, whereas the faction that comprises the “crazies in the basement” wants to be in total or near-total control.
Naturally, elites in other countries don’t want to be part of a system/arrangement in which they are the perpetual “junior partners”, so to speak.
This is a dynamic (“game” if you will) that really has no end. Even if flying saucers land on White House lawn, and all of Earth/all human beings end up being subordinate to some race of vastly superior alien/ET overlords, there will continue to be this jockeying for position and for the larger share of the spoils.
I think I take Naresh Jotwani’s point. He argues that ‘the West’ is unjustly conceived when reduced to the doings of the neocon ‘crazies in the basement’. As counterpoint the author points to Shakespeare, Mark Twain, William James, and of course, he could have continued indefinitely. So, first off, I’d readily concede that the civilisation of the West has contributed greatly to the world in general and I expect that what was true of the past will continue in times to come.
But that said, I think Allistair Crooke knows quite well what he’s talking about. When we say ‘the West’ we are not just speaking of a geographical situation. ‘The West’ is a term of political geography and as such it carries very specific connotations. The phrase ships along distinctive narratives that tell us all sorts of juicy things not just about Europe but about Asia and Africa and elsewhere to. The dominant narrative Crooke discusses when referencing the characteristic arrogance typical of Western leaders has been recycled from an ancient discourse we might as well call the doctrine of Oriental Despotism, a phrase which gained great circulation due to the efforts of Montesquieu in the 18th century. It is basically a revived conception of the Greeks that achieved its early formulation in Aristotle. We recall how Aristotle opened his Politics with the assertion that ‘slavery is natural’ and immediately followed this up on the next page with the famous: ‘man is by nature a political animal’. Says Aristotle, man is by nature a political animal and thus a citizen of a republic. But it happens that the vast majority of humankind lived under either monarchies, characteristic of Asia, or under chieftains of various descriptions with the common denominator of all being a culture based on kinship proprieties. Thus ‘oriental despotism’ arises as an aspect of that vast realm of barbarians that forms the exterior of the political association. The political association has a certain ‘foreign policy’ as it fronts on the two types of barbarians. There are ‘primitives’ as the Greeks were themselves long ago, who live under the customs of their tribes adjudicated by a chief of some sort. But as well there are great civilisations under monarchic governance that characterises Asia and Egypt. These too are constituted upon the basics of kinship proprieties, but much larger and more sophisticated. This is the ‘orient’. The idea of oriental despotism is that governance even of large monarchies is centred on households, albeit royal households. Greek political associations, by contrast, sharply distinguish between private and public. The public realm is the realm of self governance and thus freedom while the private domain is the realm of subordination and slavery. Hence the pejorative term ‘oriental despotism’. The monarchies of Asia cannot possibly be as just as political rule because the Asiatics have failed to make that ontological step up in life, from kinship relations to autonomous citizen/subject.
The above is a brief description of thinking that characterises Western elites vis a vis all ‘barbarians’. As regards the primitives, a period of slavery is natural and acceptable to teach them the workings of the free political constitution. Therefore Africans, Latin Americans and various tribal Asiatics are to be brought under the wing of their civilisational superiors till the time is right. But orientals on the other hand are peoples who missed the boat and failed to take nature’s advise and become proper political animals. Their civilisations must be dismantled. They took a wrong turn and must thus be reduced to the level of primitives and taught properly the lessons of nature leading to freedom.
The characteristic arrogance of the Westerners, including Borrell’s ‘garden’ speech follow the lines we have discussed above. Of course there’s more going on. We have spoken of ‘Athens’ but there is also ‘Jerusalem’ with its crusading ideologies. So it’s not a simple matter. Nonetheless terms like ‘The West’ are indeed meaningful and A. Crooke’s judgements as regards these things is unfailing.
Briton still suffers badly from phantom imperial delusions decades after it’s empire was amputated. City of London is a major center for those neocons whose real name it is not polite to mention. They use their money power to buy influence to forward their Luciferian agenda and that influence has thoroughly soaked into western institutions. But aside from that the average Brit that I have met still carries that polite air of originating in a higher place. When empires fall I do believe they go into denial for a long time and it also takes a generation or two for the ordinary citizens of their colonies to shed their colonial thinking. I also think that some kind of a reverse colonization takes place, where the citizens of empire colonies move into and develop strong influence in their former colonizers. It’s interesting to watch. I stay patriotic to my personal freedoms, wherever I can find them, it’s not about my country right or wrong for me. I think multipolar national sovereignty is good because it allows more latitude to find personal sovereignty in this world and that’s why I back Russia’s mission.
Crooke is right, and it is no laughing matter.
The Straussian neocons and their allies/disciples/fans/followers/abettors/whatever – will not stop. Ever.
They are very wealthy and powerful, and will remain so, for a long time.
And it’s not simply a matter of moving to the “next project”, it’s also moving to the “next tactic”.
The “crazies in the basement” desire control of Russia both because they covet her enormous resource wealth (way beyond oil & gas and minerals and metals, extending to the land itself, as agricultural production becomes ever more important to feed a world of 10 billion, even as pollution, industrialization, rising temperatures and other factors negatively impact food security in many parts of the Global South), and because such control would help in the other “project” – eventual control of China, or at least the ability to stem her rise, and/or use threats (such as shutting down energy deliveries) to ensure compliance on various issues.
This is a multi-generational project. The neocons don’t mind if they can’t co-opt the current generation of political/military/economic elites. There is always the next generation. Children born today will be leaders of a nation 50 years from now. Putin, Shoigu, Lavrov, and company will be long gone by then.
So too, you might counter, will the current crop of “crazies in the basement”. However, they have a great ability to self-perpetuate: sociopaths training the next generation of sociopaths essentially from birth.
Which is why Gilbert Doctorow’s most recent post “Reviving Russia’s Military Culture and the Officer Caste” – about what Russian elites and intelligentsia are talking about domestically – is so interesting.
I’m not a professional Russia Watcher (Asia, especially India, China, and Japan, is what I have studied and experienced), but it seems to me that more and more Russians recognize, or are being made more aware of the fact (by those who have long known) that this is indeed a multi-generational “project”, and so a strategy to counter the neocons must also have a multi-generational component built in.
And this is education.
Pre-kindergarten all the way through Ph.D and post-doc.
A population must learn about the country’s history, values, and about what others think about it.
Every young adult in Russia must at some point be required to read, for instance, Zbig Brzezinski’s “The Grand Chessboard”, as well as the 2019 RAND report, “Extending Russia: Competing from Advantageous Ground”.
In a way, this is a perpetual, never-ending struggle.
Human nature is such that there will always be some sociopaths, and some who crave unlimited wealth, power and control. Even if every single neocon ceased to exist, there will be others.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Managing the Ukraine Denial Narrative Alastair Crooke December 19, 2022
at
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2022/12/19/managing-the-ukraine-denial-narrative/
is also here, for those with no SCO access (it works much better than Summer!).
https://thealtworld.com/alastair_crooke/managing-the-ukraine-denial-narrative
There is much more there about the “The mental unity of crowds” and
“The Fear programme, now an accepted part of the armoury of democratic politics”
Conclusion :
“These are structural (mechanical forces of physical dynamics) over which the tools of mass consciousness ultimately have but limited sway. Moscow well understands these shifts that are underway – and knows how to amplify them.”
As for Shakespeare – here is an article about the situation then, long before ‘neocons’- There was a World War not called so by academics, but just look was going on in the West!
Spenser and Marlowe – God’s Spies
https://risingtidefoundation.net/2022/12/18/spenser-and-marlowe-gods-spies/
Christopher Marlowe was right in the middle of that, and here is the kicker – guess who William Shakespeare really was!
“crazies in the basement”
lol, freemasons!!!!
Best book on the subject? Illuminati the Cult that Hijacked the World by Henry Makow
and look if Putin had one of these black eyes do you think Russia would be spared all the trouble with the Ukraine lol https://henrymakow.com/upload_images/soul-scarring.jpg
the one seeing eye of their god
“crazies in the basement” I love that!!!
thanks