Saudi Arabia pivots to Russia, the new sheriff in town
by Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times
What a difference a year – an eternity in geopolitics – makes. No one could see this coming; the ideological matrix of all strands of Salafi-jihadi terror – which Russia fights no holds barred, from ISIS/Daesh to the Caucasus Emirate – beating a path to the Kremlin and about to embrace Russia as a strategic ally.
The House of Saud was horrified by Russia’s successful campaign to prevent regime change in Syria. Moscow was solidifying its alliance with Tehran. Hawks in the Obama administration were imposing on Saudi Arabia a strategy of keeping oil prices down to hurt the Russian economy.
Now, losing all its battles from Syria to Yemen, losing regional influence to both Iran and Turkey, indebted, vulnerable and paranoid, the House of Saud has also to confront the ghost of a possible coup in Riyadh against Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, a.k.a. MBS, as Asia Times reported. Under so much pressure, who’re you gonna call?
The ultimate ghostbuster; Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Essentially, the House of Saud is obsessed by three main vectors; low oil prices; Iran and Shi’ism; and what to make of US foreign policy under Trump. Let’s take them one by one.
I want my S-400s
As much as a Moscow-Washington reset remains doomed, even with the implosion of Russia-Gate, House of Saud advisers must have known that the Kremlin won’t ditch its strategic relationship with Iran – one of the key nodes of Eurasia integration.
Moscow will keep aligned with Iran across “Syraq”; that’s part of the “4+1” (Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq, plus Hezbollah) alliance in the Levant/Mesopotamia, an incontrovertible (and winning) fact on the ground. And that does not preclude Russia’s increasingly cozy relationships across the Arab world – as with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Libya.
What concerns Moscow, deeply, is Saudi (formal or informal) financing of Salafi-jihadi outfits inside Russia. So a high-level line of communication between Moscow and Riyadh works towards dissipating any misunderstandings regarding, for instance, jihadism in Tatarstan and Chechnya.
Moscow does not buy the much-spun (in the West) Iranian “aggressive behavior” in the Middle East. As a key negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Russia very well knows that Iran’s ballistic missile program is actually the key target of Trump’s imminent decertification of the Iran deal.
These missiles actually represent dissuasion against any possible US attack, “leading from behind” or not. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) in Tehran has made it quite clear the ballistic missile program does not fall into the JCPOA, and will remain active.
Enter the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Saudis and Rosoboronexport (Russia’s state body for exporting military hardware) signed in Moscow for the purchase of the S-400 missile system; the Kornet-EM system; the TOS-1A; the AGS-30; and last but not least the new Kalashnikov AK-103.
The S-400 success story is unequivocal. Iran bought it. Turkey bought it. Now Saudi Arabia buys it – even after splurging a fortune in US weapons during Trump’s by now infamous “sword dance” visit to Riyadh.
So no wonder, after the S-400 news, the US State Department like clockwork approved the possible – that’s the operative word – $15 billion sale of 44 THAAD launchers and 360 missiles to Saudi Arabia, a very good business for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
The Pentagon’s defense security cooperation agency said, “this sale furthers US national security and foreign policy interests, and supports the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian and other regional threats.” Cynics already envisage a battle of Iranian S-400s and Saudi THAADs “moderated” by Saudi S-400s.
We are the new OPEC
King Salman may have boarded the Saudi Arabian Airlines flight, but the real architect of the pivot to Russia is MBS. Oil in Saudi Arabia accounts for 87% of budget revenues, 42% of GDP, and 90% of exports. MBS is betting all his cards on the Vision 2030 program to “modernize” the Saudi economy, and he knows very well it will be impossible to pull off if oil prices are low.
At the Russia Energy Week forum in Moscow, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the Aramco IPO – a key driver of funds to Vision 2030 – will happen in the second half of 2018, contradicting Saudi officials who earlier stated the IPO was once again postponed to 2019. And no one can tell whether it will take place in the NYSE or not.
Meanwhile, the priority remains the OPEC / non-OPEC deal (with Russia at the forefront) to “stabilize” oil prices, clinched in November 2016 to cut production. President Putin tentatively agreed the deal could be extended beyond March 2018, something to be discussed in detail at the next OPEC meeting in Vienna in late November.
The deal may certainly be seen as a purely strategic/economic measure to stabilize the oil market – with no geopolitical overtones. And yet OPEC is geared to become a brand new animal – with Russia and Saudi Arabia de facto deciding where the global oil markets go, and then telling the other OPEC players. It’s open to question what Iran, Algeria, Nigeria, Venezuela, among others, will have to say about this. The barely disguised aim is to bring oil prices up to a band of $60-75 a barrel by the middle of next year. Certainly a good deal for the Aramco IPO.
There were a rash of other deals clinched in Moscow – such as Aramco and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) $1 billion fund for oil-services projects in Russia, plus another $1 billion for a technology fund.
This synergy implies Saudi Arabia investing in top Russian energy assets and Russia, for instance, supplying gas to the Saudi petrochemical industry and reducing drilling/production costs. Certainly a good deal for Vision 2030.
The new sheriff in town
To say that the Saudi pivot to Russia is rattling nerves across the Beltway is an understatement. The CIA is not exactly fond of MBS. 9/11-related puzzles are bound to resurface.
What’s also clear is that the House of Saud has realized it cannot be left to watching camels as the great Eurasia integration caravan picks up speed. Russia has pipelines crisscrossing most of Eurasia. China is building rail lines connecting all of Eurasia. And we haven’t even touched specific Saudi-Chinese projects part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Those were the days of King Abdulaziz and FDR aboard the USS Quincy in the Suez Canal forging a strategic partnership; the days of Washington leading Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, drive down prices and weaken the USSR; the days of the Afghan jihad. Now there’s no US dependence on House of Saud oil anymore. And jihadist blowback is the name of the security game.
It may be too early to identify the Saudi pivot to Russia as the shift of the century. It is though a certified game-changer. Moscow is about to become the new sheriff in town, in virtually any town across Southwest Asia. And it’s getting there on its own terms, without resorting to a Colt dialectic. MBS wants energy/defense cooperation? He gets it. MBS wants less Russian cooperation with Iran? He doesn’t get it. OPEC aims at higher oil prices? Done. And what about the S-400s? Free – sort of – for all.
I cannot but see this move but a treason to the Iranians. Since when is conceived as good to pact with the tafrikis?? How to expect to have the Iranian thrust if Russia sells ammo to the butchers of Yemen and Siria??? At this path Russia will put military bases in Israel to “protect our dearest ally”.
I doubt the Iranians would see it that way.
Trumpette has been going off about wanting at least a two-front war adding Iran to North Korea. Trumpette’s has been leaking that he’s about to ‘de-certify’ the Iran nuclear deal, and making his usual pro-wrestler style threats about this being ‘the calm before the storm’.
If Trumpette wants a war with Iran, he wasn’t going to do it alone. That certainly is not the modern US way. Trumpette’s Iran war would be by allying with the Saudis and the rest of the Sunni Whabbist clan like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Now, you see the Saudi’s making deals with the Russians.
That the Saudis are making nice with Iran’s Russian ally, that would seem to be good news for Iran and put the prospect of a Sunni-Shiite religious world war a bit on the back burner. Having your nuclear super-power ally make friends with the people who have been acting like they are about to attack you doesn’t seem like “bad news” for Iran.
Iran is here for the liberation of the muslim world of West hands, Israeli colonialism and Feudalism all together. There was no peace possible between the Nazis and the communists, the Jacobins and the monarchists and shall not be between the Iranis with their Islamic socialism and the Saudies.
Great point, I concur.
After this visit to Moscow, i am sure that Iran and Saudi Arabia will find a common language.
I am the only here reading the Rammin articles of how the animosity of Iran with Saudi Arabia has to do with the ideological differences of one being the father of the modern Islamic socialism and the other a feudalist crown in XXI century?? There is no possible agreement when the ideological dispute makes you be in opposite sides. While US has aligned totally with the reaction forces at being ally of the Israeli Apartheid and the Suadi crown I hoped Russia would understood that her side is with the revolution leaded by Iran and the anti-imperialist axis of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
Nor Russia nor United States can be neutral here, everyone should grasp that.
Absolutely Yusuf.
The “multipolar” world is just various groupings of oligarchic scumbags. These groups are required to make it seem to their populations that the conflict between them is for their benefit (to protect them) when, in fact, the conflict is pre-arrannged. War is, after all, good business. Geopolitics is another name for selling weapons to both sides – the best business model ever created.
Terror attack in Iran exacerbates war tensions in Gul
“8 Jun 2017 Nineteen people, including all six assailants, were killed as the result of a coordinated terrorist attack Wednesday morning that targeted Iran’s Parliament complex in central Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder-leader, some 15 miles to the south.
The attack, which took Iranian elite forces close to two hours to end, also wounded 43 people, some gravely.
…
In a clear reference to the Saudi absolutist regime, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted in response to yesterday’s attack: “Terror-sponsoring despots threaten to bring the fight to our homeland. Proxies attack what their masters despise most: the seat of democracy.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were more explicit. In a statement issued Wednesday they noted the attack came shortly after a “joint meeting of the US president with the heads of one of the reactionary regional states that has constantly been supporting” terrorists.
The IRGC referenced the Saudi regime’s long history of colluding with the US military-intelligence apparatus to support Islamist terrorist groups, including ISIS. It said “public opinion in the world, especially the Iranian nation … believes” that (ISIS’s) acknowledgment of responsibility for the terror attack in Tehran indicates Riyadh’s and Washington’s “complicity in this wild move.”
The Revolutionary Guards’ statement threatened retaliatory action, saying the “IRGC has proved that it would not leave unanswered the shedding of innocent blood.”
Yesterday’s attack exacerbates an already explosive situation.
The US-armed Saudi regime has repeatedly threatened Iran. According to news reports, on Tuesday, just hours before the attack in Tehran, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said: “Iran must be punished for its interference in the region.””
There’s more than sunni and Shiite in muslim world since most of them have their own imam that were believed to practiced the most correct version of islam. Contrary to popular believe such vast difference in view did not emerged as something that transpired into sectarian violence until recently. Most of the time the imams that led the people would always taught the people to first ignore their difference second to live harmoniously even if they accused others practice/teaching to be wrong. The responsibility to led the people were held very seriously that misleading or worse lying to the people considered to be taboo. That changes when wahhabism come around. Wahhabism teach that there are people who were assured to go to heaven since birth regardless what they do and there are people that don’t. This version destroy the taboo that misleading or outright lie and even worse for ones benefit did not considered as big sin since they are assured to go to heaven. This led gradual distrust to the imams and the teaching they practiced and eventual sectarian war.
I think it’s the complete opposite. I think the Iranians are grinning from ear to ear and laughing out of sheer joy in light of this development.
Not that long ago we had the Saudi crown prince boast about “sticking it to Putin” in Syria in Saudi media, though that statement has been posted and then deleted faster than an F1 race car goes from 0 – 100 Km/h. Now we have the Saudi King visiting Russia, the first Saudi head of state to ever make such a visit. That can only mean one thing, Saudi Arabia doesn’t feel like they have the backing they once had.
We’ve seen a similar, though not quite as obvious, dare I say dramatic development with Merkel. Back in 2015 she was secure enough to talk down to and lecture Putin while holding a speech in his own country. Now, after Brexit, Trump and the defeat the West experiences in Syria, that goat barely dares a threatening look eastward, since the entirety of her little band of “mean girls” has been disbanded. Baby face Cameron is gone, Hollande is gone, Obama is gone, Clinton is yesterdays news, Trudeau never had anything to say in the first place. Macron already has a mother figure occupying his bed. “Mutti” is all alone now.
I think Iran is sitting pretty, despite all the meaningless and I believe empty threats Trump is throwing their way.
Serg,
Out of curiosity would you say, if the case was the other way around, ” a father figure occupying a younger woman’s bed”?
As it’s okay for men to be married to younger women but not older women married to younger men?
P.s… I am a fan of Putin. Just so you know I agree with most of what you said, except the ” mother figure” bit.
Carmel by the Sea
The guy married his teacher. Teachers are authoritative figures and she actually has kids who are older than him, from what I heard. But that just as a side note.
Also let’s not get into “trophy wives” and “daddy issues”.
As you can tell, I’m not a fan of Macron. He is an arrogant, condescending, wannabe elitist bankster sockpuppet. At G20 he had his aid tell the press, he won’t answer any questions because nobody understands the depth and complexity of his thoughts, or something to that effect.
The mother figure comment was meant to show my dislike for this cretin, rather than actual psycho-analysis.
Please could any further comments go to the MFC. Thx. Mod
I’m sorry, I don’t know what MFC is, please explain.
MFC = Moveable Feast Cafe
Putin’s motivations in order of priorities:
1) What benefits the Russian people both materially and spiritually. Built into this is to defeat the Ziocon Luciferian world domination without destroying the planet (if possible.)
2) What benefits humanity in general.
Bringing the Saudi’s, despicable as they are, into the Russian sphere of influence is beneficial in many respects as long as one realizes that the Royal House of Saudi is wall to wall psychopaths. In truth, they give psychopathy a bad name and most are probably demonically possessed.
What’s in it for Saudi?
1) Stupid as they are, they now realize that their only future is multipolar with China, Russia, and the One Belt, One Road.
2) They realize that the neocons are in the proccess of throwing them under the bus. The redacted 9/11 report is factually rubbish, but it is a financial club over the House of Saudis head with the possible hundreds of billions in law suites. This makes all assets in the USA system extremely vulnerable to confiscation. Probably Swiss ones as well.
3) The petrodollar was built on the House of Saudi, and they now realize that they must sell their crude in RMB, rubles, and gold or collapse. The last pillar holding up the Evil Empire is the petrodollar. The military cannot be supported for 3 months without it. When they start this new system, DC will try to take out the leadership of the Royal Family in a regime change coup. The most probable way for them to do this is with a cruise missiles barrage to select palaces. Of course the THAAD system has a backdoor with which the neocons could deactivate them when convenient, not to mention that they are near garbage anyway compared to the S-400. Thus the current leadership needs the S-400’s to prevent a neocon coup and to literally save their lives. Putin is well aware of this. While Erdogan is a semi-unhinged, power drunk sociopath, the Russians have received substance benefits from saving both his life and position against the recent CIA coup attempt. At the least, the CIA will now have to divert much of its Afghani heroin from Incerlik to Ramstein.
I kindly disagree with you this is not treason at all, Putin is more acquainted with the oriental bazar dealings than you (or the rest of us) are. This is top level strategy, politics. I see this event even more simple than the deals that Putin had to put in motion with Erdogan/Turkey some months ago. The dealings with the Saudis come even more natural since both Russia and the Saudis are powerhouses in the oil, gas areas. I think there is a possibility that even Iran could benefit from this, Could you believe a few months ago that Iran could be having high level diplomatic talks with Qatar as it happens now?
Iran will not be the least bit troubled about Russia dealing with Saudi Arabia The weapons are no threat to Iran and for that matter, neither is Saudi Arabia.
Given that only maybe 5% of this unipolar/multipolar war is conducted militarily, there would seem to be a lot of room for dialogue and diplomacy.
The US inability to do real diplomacy places them at a severe disadvantage in a changing world where dialogue and trust must reign supreme if we are to survive. Russia is trusted and does diplomacy very well. Diplomacy is their forte.
And the Russia/China partnership with OBOR gives them big enough clout to offer real incentives to countries they talk to, to actually join in and share prosperity.
There is almost a scientific principle observable now which is – keep the US out and progress can be made between countries.
Russia’s deals with Saudi Arabia must influence the Saudis stance on supporting terrorism especially since it’s own future seems very shaky and so much has gone wrong for them. Given their major role in sponsoring the terrorists any success in pulling them away from supporting dead-end costly wars, even by a small fraction, with a Russian “carrot” of business deals must be a good thing.
Nobody can end the terrorist war by warfighting alone.
So operating on the principle as outlined – if you keep the US out things improve dramatically,- the Iranian leader has just been to Turkey and Iran and Qatar too are cooperating in a range of ways. Yet all 3 countries, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been up to their knees in the terrorist war.
Russia’s involvement with Saudi Arabia comes as they bring forward the sale date of the Aramco IPO which as one financial commentator said could see China buy a stake, pressing the money hungry Saudis to accept Yuan for oil of which China is a big customer and it’s goodbye petrodollar.
I am sure that this issue – global dollar rule – must be uppermost in Russian/Chinese strategic thinking because this empire is costing billions to deal with in terms of it’s destructiveness and is the root cause of most wars and terror.
I also suspect that Iran too sees de-dollarization as a way to cut the empire down to size and they fully understand what Russia is doing and why.
Of one thing I am certain – Russia will never do anything that compromises Iran.
Russia and Iran need each other to be strong for what may yet come.
Zena, a well reasoned reply and you get to the core of the current Global malaise, the US Dollar. I tried pointing out to a waiter in a Odessan restaurant pre maidan, who gave me back a US $ in my change and was salivating over it, that the US $ was the cause of global evil. I wonder if he remembered my words as the events rolled out over the subsequent years and buried his country in despair.
The Chinese and the Russians both know what fuels the chaos in the world as do the Iranians. Destroy the capability of hegemon to fund its chaos making and terror and you can easily deal with the rest. The question is whether hegemon will double down and try to stop this process with what means are left. To understand fully where to marching orders come from look into the UK’s recent announcements on military matters. It is a cruel joke for the people serving in UK forces but, the demented leadership of that country driven by the actors behind the scenes care not.
Britain has been at the forefront of leading the charge against countries that try to change the global order. It brought us World War 1 and 2 and moving along with Albert Pikes’ plans, they seem intent on gathering the troops up for another innings.
Justin, the USMC alone is larger than the entire British armed forces (220,500 active-duty and reserve as against Britain’s 196,840 regulars and reserves); i.e. without taking into consideration the US Navy, US Air Force and US Army. You really need to stop looking for Brits Under The Bed—we’re a small country with little influence, and our main problem is that ever since 1956 our foreign policy has been to act as America’s bitch (credit to Harold Wilson for at least keeping us out of the Vietnam debacle).
Also Albert Pike’s ‘3 World Wars’ letter is clearly a hoax. Hanlon’s razor: ‘Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.’
It is beyond naive to dismiss the role that the ruling elites of the UK and City of London have had in the rampage of AngloAmericanZionist empire over the past decade plus. Blair’s role, and UK “intel” disinformation (whose intel agency created the “yellowcake” hysteria?) aka lying about Iraq was instrumental in that war of aggression; the UK special ops forces that aided the salafist jihadi’s in the rape of Libya and theft of hundreds of billions of dollars (not to mention gold) by the western banking system – Blair was instrumental in that one as well and the City made of swimmingly; former French FM Dumas revealed FM Hague’s duplicity in planning the salafist invasion of Syria back in 2009/2010; Brit intel (benighted Robert LeMesurier) creating the psyops theater of the “White Helmets”, and now Bana with help of JK Rowlings. The Balkans Wars aid of jihadists; Chechnya, rape of Russia circa 1991-2000 with the loot housed in the City; Afghanistan, etc etc. The list is endless.
Your “bitch” with “little influence” is actually one of the alpha’s in the AAZ empire, most assuredly guiding and directing the rest of the pack, via the royalty, aristocrats and oligarchs of the Bilderbergs, and the TriLateral Commission, and NATO, and media, and think tanks, ad nauseum, guiding the globalists in their onslaught against the world.
After all, there is a reason Saker calls it the AngloZionist.
Oh, please! We can’t even persuade the Yanks to send back IRA terrorists! We can’t even put the tiny Republic of Ireland in its place when they drag us into the ECHR for the umpteenth time. If you want to argue that the Yanks are poor allies, not only to Britain but to all their allies (have a séance to ask Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother Ngô Đình Nhu, or Sirik Matak, how faithful an ally is the US), then you are on firm ground; but once you enter conspiratard territory, (removed,for insults.Please don’t insult fellow posters.MOD)
my razor, which allows me to understand this world is the opposite: “never attribute ti stupidity that which is adequately explained by malice and self interest.
i’ll go further and add that your version of the razor was invented to camouflage the obvious malice with the excuse of stupidity!
I prefer el Gallinazo’s law:
Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by malice. Works best with the Hannibal Lector types who are running the planet currently.
Is Hanlon Occam’s evil twin?
I think you are not getting it, Putin has been trying to communicate something and people still do not listen, or understand.
Russia is trying to go beyond old systems, including diplomatic systems, meaning, there should be a new diplomatic view in the horizon as in there are no US VS THEM, but only cooperation which is what will bring peace, security, prospertity and stability.
Now you are angry because Putin is cooperating with the “enemy” of an “ally”? A la AMERICAN BS
There are no enemies, this is what you should start understanding.
You need to open your eyes and get with the program or go back to old worthless systems.
Well, Pepe said that Iran got the S 400, i have missed the deal… when does it took place ?
Interesting … I can’t find where they have. I can find stories that Iran and Russia had completed the S-300 deal. But the only mentions I see of S-400 is a Feb Sputnik article saying the Iranians had expressed interest and then a July Sputnik article that “Iran is still undecided about buying the S-400”
Don’t do it Vlad.
http://bit.ly/2aowEYX
Don’t become like them:
http://bit.ly/2xUrcH2
I seriously doubt that Putin intends to betray the Iranians. Rather this is a move to put the last nails in the coffin of the petrodollar. I would think that the Saudis want as much protection as they can get from the Russians and Chinese before they announce they will accept a basket of currencies for OPEC oil, which will remove the last major rationale for stockpiling US Treasuries. The ability to exchange yuan/RMB for gold will also have the same effect. Next step is to stop accepting Treasuries/dollars for oil, goods, and services . . .
Completely agree with you.
Without immense growing role of China behind the scenes this won’t have happened. Let’s not forget that Russian military weight is not so huge as often believed. Russia is politically stronger now when guiding several states to co-operate together. Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Qatar just have more common interest there (block independence of Kurdistan, gas/oli routes).
Indeed we should focus more China and its growing role.
I fully accept your scenario and it definitely accords to Mars/Venus in Virgo
as ‘aggressive beginning + secutity’ in the ‘house of utilization’ = Virgo
It’s the reciprocal of Las Vegas = gambler’s end
After what happened with the Sino-Soviet Split, Russia shouldn’t be dumb enough to betray Iran; make no mistake, betraying Iran will be a repeat of that, hence why it won’t happen–Russia won’t make that kind of mistake again, especially with Putin at the helm.
So, was the stalled escalator ‘stairway from aircraft heaven’ halfway down for the old king a glitch, a stunt, or a sign?
Or a hack? :-)
yes, for a humble visit
The little dance between the S-400 sale and the approval of the THAAD system caught my attention. 1st came the announcement of a sale of the S-400 systems(s). Then, someone in the State Dept rushed out the announcement that the THAAD sale was approved. Not signed and done, just approved by the Fogs in Foggy Bottom.
Had the THAAD sale paperwork been stalled at State for awhile? The deal had been mentioned in news accounts from Trumpette’s sales trip to Saudi Arabia in May. With I presume at least a hand-shake agreement between Trumpette and the Saud’s. Presumably the paperwork had gone over to Rex’s shop at Foggy Bottom not long after???? Meanwhile, Rex had been trying to play peacemaker/middleman with the Qatar crisis. So, had Rex’s Foggy Bottom shop been dragging its feet on this sign off??
Anyways, State seemed in a big hurry to announce this the day after the Russians and Sauds announced the S-400 sale.
And now, I wonder if the Sauds still want the more expensive THAAD system? Normally, I’d just expect them to throw money around and buy everything, but the Sauds actually seem a bit broke these days and having to kinda watch their spending …. other than the 1500 or so entourage that follows the Senile King around on his trips.
Since Trump’s main role seems to be to serve as supersalesman for the US Merchants of Death, was the Saudi announcement in Moscow a message back to the Trumpette?
It will be interesting to see what Russia does vis-a-vis North Korea and Venezuela. If Putin is the Judo Master/Chess Master/Mensch that his defenders make him out to be, he will find a way to defend both those struggling states against the ravening Hegemon.
Such developments were inevitable. The US has bitten more than it can chew. Nobody likes an overlord whom it cannot trust. Brzezinski wrote that the goal of US foreign policy was preventing the emergence of any power which can threaten it’s global hegemony, especially in Eurasia, which was a clear insinuation against both Russia and China. The two united, as was logical, starting a chain of events leading to the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union. The US forgot the old army rule, which states that he who wants to control everything ends up controlling nothing. Now the attention of the international community is directed towards Russia and China. It’s of no great surprise that Saudi Arabia is accepting this shift of political and economic power going towards the East and is turning towards Moscow. The Washington political establishment is, as far as I can see, still living in the past and having difficulty accepting reality. Worse, with it’s latest sanctions against Russia – Europe potentially included – and it’s hostile actions against North Korea, backed by a biased and irresponsible media, it is losing the little credibility it has left in the eyes of the international community.
Was this written before or after early evening Thur. October 5, when von Drumpf made this very ominous threat—why no mention? should have been at least a late edit.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/05/trump-calm-before-the-storm-243519
Trump talks of ‘calm before the storm’ after military meeting
By CRISTIANO LIMA
10/05/2017 08:05 PM EDT
President Donald Trump issued an unprompted, cryptic message Thursday after meeting with military officials at the White House, saying about the gathering, “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.”
Agent orange aka the Great Orange Hope is about to call for another total eclipse, or will he just go ballistic?:
https://www.strategic-culture.org/images/news/2015/07/24/n32001.jpg
BTW, he is supposed to make a “statement” now on Thursday, 2 days hence, re: iran, pre-empting that OCT 15 JCPOA deadline.
Tip of the iceberg this article compared to what’s going down all over.
Check out Willie’s latest, out today:
goldenjackass.com/main5.html
Turning Point Nations on the Stage”
TURKEY REACTS TO FAILED US-LED COUP
The NATO forces from US and Europe have left the Incirlik Air Force Base
US heroin from Afghanistan has been diverted from Turkey to Germany and Italy
The Chinese and Saudis have signed military deals for missile defense.
Australian Govt at edge of financial bankruptcy as result of US-led arms purchases
Some of his claims are surely unprovable at this time, else they’re so big they’re like the elephant in the living room, too big & scary to bring up so just ignored & blacked out by msm!
How much will diversivication and modernization cost Saudi Arabia yearly, over the next 5-10 years? (Infrastructure, water purification/distribution, agriculture, non-petroleum energy production/distribution) How much is being spent on military aggression openly and covertly every year? Not even mentioning the current inventory of arms and armament, how much does an effective defense truly cost? Maybe this is possible even if the price of a barrel of crude does actually reflect the true cost of production and distribution…. One can hope…
“Modernizing” a Saudi Arabia from a purely financial point is not impossible. Infact, it’s very possible. Easily possible. Cut the absurd defence spending. Cut the lavish waste of funding, both internally and externally. Discard the “god complex” to match reality. Simple. Done and done. Why even worry about the oil prices?
As to Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to assert itself as a regional power/leader, the notion is disconnected from reality. It will never possess human capital armed with collective knowledge & expertise to sustain a modern economy; now, in 2030 or hundreds of years into the future for one simple reason. The Saudi’s brand of Islam breeds regression.
~8mil foreign workers (about 22% of total population !!) is a testament to Saudi Arabia’s inability to develop its human capital for nearly 100 years since oil was discovered there. Should I even mention the losses it sustained in the Yemen campaign? Sheer incompetence?
Saudi Arabia has gotten so used to throwing money at everything that it had forgotten the most basic tenet for a sovereign country. The population is the nation.
Let’s revisit this 200 years from now and see where they are.
As an American born in Saudi Arabia, I agree with Sturm.
The problem with vast possessions like huge oil reserves is that they can own you more than you own them. By stunting your initiative in any number of other areas, and not just areas of economy.
The other thing that owns the entire place is fear.The place has been held together for 100 years by fear. The Sauds were picked out of rival tribes and given the weapons to prevail over their peninsular neighbors, by the British. Zero national legitimacy. No consent of the governed. Pure fear and illegitimacy born by foreign imperial design.
The only fear I sensed as an American kid living there for 7 years was a brief concern voiced by my mother around 1956….the Suez Crisis. I heard her but seeing no concern in my dad, my worry lasted about 5 minutes.He knew Americans were needed too badly there at that time, economically and militarily, to worry in the least.
Despite the evil, cowardly role played by their rulers, the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula themselves should be seen more as victims of history, rather than villains. Putin probably understands this. Iranians likewise.
A change in that condition, a freeing up of these victims from the grip of fear would be of much benefit to the entire world. Especially the muslim world which has suffered a great deal because of the nefarious cowardice and slavishness of the billionaire Saudi royals whose souls are stunted and corrupted and whose characters are warped by unearned wealth and stunted by dependency on oil, mind control….and capitulation to evil foreign imperial designs.First British, then Anglo-American Zionist.
Ditto John Brennan.He suffers the same curse.
Because Drumpf was installed expressly to carry out his mission using his proven expertise in “managing bankruptcy” , we just need to look at the top ‘targets’ for any promised “bond haircut” (fully advertised ad nauseum by the msm since he got in)
China is ahead by a factor of 12+ (last number):
China, Mainland 1166.0 1146.5 1102.2 1092.2 1088.1 1059.7 1051.1 1058.4 1049.3 1115.7 1157.0 1185.1 1218.8
Saudi Arabia 142.5 142.8 134.0 126.8 124.5 116.7 112.3 102.8 100.1 96.7 89.4 93.0 96.5
http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt
Sauds seem to have seen this coming (unless thru profligate deficit spending since crude crash from the 100+ range they’ve had to cash out lots!), but what’s China’s problem being so slow to catch on?
Many stories out there that Trump was approached after the 2000 supremes sold out the election from gore that trump was approached as a candidate to run, but it wasn’t time yet.
But here we are a decade & a half on, & it sure looks to be time now:
10/05/2017 14,699,886,899,813.05 5,671,286,502,639.18 20,371,173,402,452.23
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/debt/current
So, are Saudi Arabian politicians недоговороспособны?
I can see that the takfiris do not wish to be left to the ministrations of America, but are they trustworthy?
Here’s my analysis on Saudi Arabia’s shifting grand strategy, published on 6 October:
“Even in this era of global paradigmatic changes, Saudi Arabia’s shifting grand strategy is perhaps one of the most surprising developments to occur thus far, but the fast-moving Russian-Saudi rapprochement is likely to provoke an Iranian “zero-sum” reaction which could complicate Moscow’s multipolar efforts in managing the “New Middle East”.”
https://orientalreview.org/2017/10/06/saudi-arabias-grand-strategy-shifting/
This historic meeting is about Oil and more specifically ,what this oil sold will be paid with . This I believe is a supple message to the House of Saud ,which alludes to the currencies of transaction ,if the Saudi’ say Nyet their markets will be replaced with others . Such is the surplus in the global oil market at the moment. The US petro dollar will be weakened and Israeli aspirations of Lebensraum may well be dashed . The only relative question is why go to Moscow when China is the Saudi milch cow.
This was a State visit, and it will probably be Salman’s last.
His successor (MBS) is threatened by a palace coup, supported by the House of Saud’s protector. He is looking for assurances that a new protector for his line is in waiting.
He is looking for assurances that his progeny will have a share of Asia’s oil business, and on what terms.
He is looking for assurances that the new payment schemes will be real. If Russia gets paid, he wants to be certain that his kingdom will also get paid in the same scrip. The two producers MUST be on the same page in this regard, or the Chinese will play one off against the other.
Above all, he’s looking for protection for his progeny’s kingdom. A Great Power that can ensure all other regional players stay on their best behaviour, and allow MBS’ Vision 2030 to develop. Is Moscow in for the long haul? Or, is it just there for as long as it takes to kill the last Takfiri?
An ageing, fragile King doesn’t go off to Moscow to haggle over oil. The symbolism here resonates with “handover”.
Moscow has a lot to offer. Negotiations about oil output in order to influence global prices, weapons with same or better characteristics than their western counterparts at a lower price, the best civilian nuclear technology in the world, agricultural exports and so on. Moreover Moscow has real influence in Iran and Syria and to a lesser degree in Turkey and Iraq. China is not the only show in town.
“No one could see this coming”
If one spends one’s time informing themselves with the zionazi-gay media, well, yeah. They wouldn’t see it. But those reading RT or Sputnik would be aware Russian-saudi diplomacy has been a steady slog for several years now. This meet, and the exchanges it finalizes is the result of several years negotiations, and likely very hard work on the Russian people involved.
Most people here are familiar with the Russian methodology, so no need to repeat it. These military sales are probably accompanying political understanding, but we don’t know, they may be simply business. Till more is known, along with saudi future actions, it is simply speculation.
The thing is, a lot rests on perception too – in the sense that Russia enjoys a huge support from many peoples accross the world who have come to believe that Russia stands as a moral and righteous force against the evils that have been happening at the hands of extremist groups sponsored by certain states. Such huge support rests on a very fine balance and it could evaporate in seconds if the more force is PERCEIVED to have joined the force that is perceived as being evil. As Sergei Lavrov clasically said himself – if it walks like a duck… There are some lines that just can´t be crossed in terms of people feeling secure in supporting a certain side over another, so strategically I think this was not a wise move at all. IF people start losing trust in Russia due to a lack of consistency she is solely to blame for it. Many people would not be able to logically comprehend this move – and that includes me. I am hoping that by some miracle Russia steps back from this deal and return to a clear position in terms of where it stands. If Russia loses its moral position, there will be no-one to stand against Uni-polarity – but it would seem that perhaps it is already too late, because for exampe if you read the recent statements on energy there is a lot of talk about the “globalisation” of energy supplies, etc. So, very likely there has been a quiet policy change in recent months, only the extent of it is not clear yet.
I understand your concern. But I think people, after seeing Putin in action for so many years, will view the Russian-Saudi interactions as Putin leading a horse to water. If the Saudi’s drink what Putin is offering, then Putin may well have neutered the ISIS/Dash/etc paymaster. And that I think was Putin’s primary objective in these meetings, much as the King’s was to receive political and business guarantees from the “new sheriff.”
If these developments detailed by Pepe Escobar are true, you can be sure that the American Godfather will be very unhappy.
As former US National Security Adviser, Zbig. Brzezinski openly admitted in his book The Grand Chessboard, the key to the American Empire’s geostrategy is the following:
“…To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together.”
Saudi Arabia stepping out on Uncle Scam would probably be the opposite of America’s need “to maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected.”
As Escobar intimates, expect more conveniently damning “revelations” about the Saudi role in 9-11 to be suddenly discovered by the USA (“9/11-related puzzles are bound to resurface”).
Without doubt, the AZ empire has a response waiting in the wings for even the glimmer of thought that the Saudi’s may have in playing footsie with the Russians and Chinese and threaten the PetroDollar.
It’s called 9/11.
That card has been held in reserve, ready to be played when it suits the masters of the AZ world to create further chaos in the Middle East. It won’t take much to set of a conflagration in KSA itself. After all, Bernard Lewis, Robin Wright and other architects of the new middle east show at least 3-5 new statelets in what is know Saudi Arabia.
I wonder which tribe the lawyers who “prove” Saudi complicity in 9/11 will come from.
Half the world has read the signs of the times and therefore wants to distance itself from Zion. If only by an inch or two. The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Venezuela, Mexico, Turkey, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and dozens of other nations.
The only good doctor on planet earth currently treating patients with this tricky syndrome is a certain Vladimir Putin residing in Moscow. His maybe overtly ambitious efforts to rebalance the whole alarmingly out of whack planetary meridian system, now in its eighteenth year, has only recently started showing its first – for everybody to see – positive results.
Words go around. So it is no wonder they have also reached the ailing and wheezing KSA. After some hesitation, the travel to Moscow was unavoidable. “Eat some sugar candy (S-400) to calm the nerves and start behaving like an ordinary human being, do you hear me?” was the doctor’s almost shockingly simple diagnosis.
And this should be a game-changer? No. But this particular acupuncture point activates and invigorates the flow of life force of several key meridians. Neglecting this area is a recipe for failure, as Putin and all Taoists know.
Multipolar is already here – just not yet uniformly, As a result rats abandoning the ship?
Russia ready to mediate talks between Saudi Arabia & Iran – deputy FM
https://www.rt.com/news/406342-saudi-arabia-iran-talks-russia/
According to Andrew Korybko article, “Russia’s Foreign Policy Progressives Have Trumped The Traditionalists”, Russia’s foreign policy is nowadays driven by the “progressive” faction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It would be very interesting to hear about when the “progressives” started driving Russia´s foreign affairs, because this is no small shift in policy and it has not been covered much in the press. It would also be informative to read about what had brought such a shift about..
In the meantime, this possible shift that we don´t know much about yet, could explain why we have noticed some of the following (on the surface) changes in policy in recent weeks and months:
1. Russia says it supports and stands for Multi Polarity, but recently it has come out vocally againts protectionism.
Points to ponder: This means that either the meaning of “multi-polarity” has changed – previously most people would have interpreted it to mean: sovereignity, autonomy and independence, but perhaps now it means everybody playing all sides at the same time – everyone is everyone´s friend and enemy at the same time – however everyone should still generally support globalisation (not become protectinistic).
If this is the new meaning of multi-polarity then multi-polarity = uni-polarity. All nations on one side, with no real polarity at all, just faction fighting in a system where everybody is essentially on the same side.
The point being within the context of the previous understanding of multi-polarity, protectionism would have been a multi-polar action in the sense that soverign nations can decide to become protectionistic if they wish to – and localise their production if they choose to (for example).
2. Russia used to clearly support conservative parties in recent elections in the USA and Europe – and it was well reported in the press including Russia news. But recently Russia has made clear statements against nationalism – which is a very broad term, because mild nationalism is just a natural form of traditional conservatism and patriotism. Extreme nationalism is of course a different case – the real (extreme) far-right, just like the real (extreme) far-left are both equally problematic for democracy, but mild nationalism or traditional patriotism is just normal. By the statement against nationalism one could then perhaps conclude that Russian foreign policy is now decidedly left or progressive.
3. Recently it seems Russia does not support minority groups or independence groups, for example in the case of Catalonia. However in the case of Crimea it did.
4. Russia´s recent point of view seems to be that (according to an article by Saker) that minorities pose a threat due to countries from within, due to the possibility of them being used for colour revolusions. However there seems to be some speculation (not sure if it has been verified) that Russia has provided some support through advertising or at the very least media coverage support for minorities in the USA, for example BLM.
If some of all of the above are true then we are now in a complete new paradigm and these shifts need some serious and deep analyses moving forward – for the moment it seem Andrew Korybko has his finger on the pulse on many of the new developments, but we need more coverage on this from different perspectives.
“Recently it seems Russia does not support minority groups or independence groups, for example in the case of Catalonia. However in the case of Crimea it did.”
You might be too far away to have noticed some crucial distinctions:
1) In the case of Crimea the Russian majority population was really (not fake news) threatened with death (as happened in Odessa) or expulsion from their homes.
2) Russia’s base at Sebastopol was intended to be converted into a forward NATO base for additional pressures leading to the dismemberment and looting of the Russian Federation. Russia and Russian allies are far less defensible without a robust Black Sea presence.
3) Catalonians, as I understand it do not fear for their lives. They fear that their fortunes are being drained by less productive Spaniards and they evidently believe they can take care of their own defense needs by themselves. Huge difference on both counts.
Maybe this will help get closer to the Crimean view of the matter:
https://youtu.be/t42-71RpRgI Crimea: The Way Back Home
As far as I can see the Russian policy is to be an agent for a new international order as a counter to the United States’ policy of chaos. After WWII the U.S. wanted to establish a Pax Americana and it did a good doing so until 1963 when government changed hands and, gradually, began to dismantle the international order (and international law) for a number of non-ideological reasons, i.e., money and corruption. Russia, appears to be a more reliable guarantor of international law and the lowering of tensions in the world not by conquering and controlling other countries through causing financial ruin, soft and hard coups, or direct military actions but by encouraging a stable balance of power. Plus, I’m sure everyone realizes now that Washington is split deeply by a number of factions perhaps a half-dozen or so, so it is hard to know, if you’re trying to negotiate with Washington who is in charge–this accounts for the stunning numbers of zig-zags since well into the second Obama administration that has made the U.S. an unreliable partner. The world must build a new kind of more inclusive order on the ruings of what the U.S. deliberately destroyed in the past decade and a half.
Thank you Banger. What happened in 1963 was very simply that the Jewish Mafia took control of the U.S. and of the Empire. The headquarters of the Jewish Mafia was then, and is today, the state of Israel. All the subsequent effects rolled out as expected, including the takedown of the Soviet Union and then 9/11 which was to be used for total subjection of the Middle East including Syria and Iran. It is the emergence of Russia under Putin that has brought those plans to a screeching halt. You can see the results everywhere in the world today. The Russian-Saudi agreements are a brilliant coup on Putin’s part to slide Saudi Arabia out of the Empire’s grip by diplomatic and economic means. Religious ideology is meaningless in this context. The Empire’s goal is total subjection of humanity to the profits of the Jewish Mafia. Putin’s goal is a multipolar world in some semblance of harmony. I believe Putin will win. He wants to do it without a world war. But we will see what the Empire does when the dollar collapses. The U.S. is falling apart even today. So much has been extracted from the population and the nation’s resources that the social fabric has been shredded and lacks any resiliency. The Jewish Mafia relies on the U.S. for cannon fodder in its wars, but we are approaching the natural limitations on what can be demanded from people.
All hail Putin, the bringer of reason, logic and peace.
Aren’t Moscow afraid selling the S400 to Saudis and Turks will make NATO et al know the weak spots of it?
The Zionists ruling Greece let the Israelis train against the S300 stationed on Crete.
And in producing the S400 in Turkey, is there no risk for codes and know-how, and maybe reverse engineering, being figured out by Ankara and spread to NATO?
In the game of deception, one should expect the failed US coup against Erdogan and the current schism between them to be staged partially for this reason.
Why would Saudi Arabia do business with the Russians. Aren’t the Saudis afraid of getting sanctions imposed on them by the USA?
No…..a deal with these mass murderers in service of de zionists in Tel Aviv both Washington is a big mistake. Simply because they have to pay for their crimes against humanity instead that to save their asses. Let the revolution begin for the SA monarchy. Selling modern state of the art russian weaponry to an enemy is like selling atom bombs to Japan by the US itself in WW2. Their government is treacherous. They will send the s400 System immediately to the Pentagon for inspection. The Same counts for Turkey. The s400 should be classified weaponry….only sold to long lasting and proven allies.
Folks, it’s called pulling the levers. Not a peep about Tel Aviv, whose sponsors enabled the Bolsheviks and gifted Mecca to Al-Saud a century ago, not to mention handing Faisal the Petrodollar five decades later.
As this article suggests, Riyadh is being removed as middle-man at the petrol pump, but in favour of Tel Aviv’s other queen, Iran, and the lever driving the impact is 911, a joint-venture that made Riyadh senior partner, before calling it a sole-proprietorship.