A discussion with risk consultant, geopolitical expert and best-selling author William Engdahl regarding his trip to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and what he calls “The Birth of the New Russia.”
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Hello mr. Engdahl,
We met in Groningen (Netherlands) last year in august, and you told me that you did read ‘Saker’ as you called this blog. It’s good to see you in such good spirits, and I must say that this little beard and moustache becomes you very well. All the best to you sir !
Birds of a feather do flock together. I’ve enjoyed two of Engdahl’s books Seeds of Destruction and Full Spectrum Dominance and hope to read more. Glad to see him on what is my favorite blog.
“Focus on the good, focus on love and being loved, focus on being good human beings.”
Wisdom from Engdahl.
Very important words and feelings.
Penelope, at 14:32 you can hear why Lavrov is ‘diplomatic’ in his interviews with western MSM…Engdahl discusses it in relation to Putin’s interview with Charlie Rose.
actually its 14:11 where he talks about western MSM
what he says about the Czar is ok…except that there were reading lists…even before the WW1…banned books…but I believe that was the influence of the ‘ministers’ in Russia..they, I think, were against the Czar and perhaps working for the west….
and then he says, ‘…but Nicholas was tricked..” well, if he was such a saint, why did he fall for it ?
I think when Engdahl says “…Americans have been dummed down for 35 or 40 years…” I think its more. Skull and Bones has been active in American education since the 1830’s.
also, I don’t know if Americans would ever act in the same way as the Russians did … as in the ‘immortal regiment’…
That is a wonderful interview !
I very much appreciate Mr Engdhal’s focus on the positive, which is by no means naive, but backed up with many years of direct experience study and deep thought.
I’ll be doing my best to share this.
this guys comments about Varoufakis were completely nonsense and appeared to be a shill for the EU – I would not trust him !
Hi, Saker,
I love your site; thanks. I think you know how to raise debate – which helps us in clarifying our views, as we have been submerged in propaganda… As to this interview, I have some comments which should be seeing more as questions…
At 16:35 minutes, William Engdahl started saying very curious things:
1) He first said that, in history, Russia had ‘unbelievable tribulations’, following immediately with a comment about the Russian Revolution. Is this a subliminal message of some kind? He is NOT, certainly, pro-Russian Revolution – which was NOT, certainly, a ‘tribulation’ for the Russian people; on the contrary, the Revolution came as a solution to the many problems being faced by Russian workers during that period of history: they wanted change and they made it happen!
2) According to Engdahl, the ‘onset of Lenin and communism’ in Russia was financed, initially, by the German general staff (military) – IF this is true, we may ask: who used who? He then says that, later, this financing was taken over by the banks of Wall Street and the city of London. He forgot that it was time of WWI – a war between capitalist states trying to build empires. By fomenting a (‘color’) revolution in Russia, the Germans would destabilize Russia and, as a result, Russia would weaken and would leave the front, benefiting the Germans. The rest is absolute nonsense: if later the West continued supporting the revolution, as Engdahl claims, why would the West conspire against it as they did, for decades (including the Cold War!)?
3) He also praises the last Czar, Nicolas, by saying that he had instituted reforms that were progressive for the time, compared with the rest of Europe. But, again, he forgot to say that the Czar was NOT as liberal and ‘a good guy’ as one may think: the workers’ struggles in Russia, for improving their appalling situation, were what really led to the reforms (construction works), which did little to reduce their plight – the intention of the reforms, in fact, was to strength the empire, for the benefit of the elite.
4) I also agree with David (July 6, 6:31 am) that Engdahl’s comments in an article about the Greek Finance Minister (see here) were a bit of nonsense. In that article, Engdahl sees Dr. Varoufakis’ role in the Greek uprising as a bankers’ Trojan Horse in Europe. Now, in this interview, he sees Lenin’s role in the Russian Revolution as a German Trojan Horse in Russia! I think that, in both cases, by forgetting the objective conditions of those times, Engdahl is misrepresenting reality.
You’re right. Stalingrad disproves the thesis that Fascism and Communism were best buds.
Dear Saker,
I made a comment above about Engdahls’ views on Varoufakis role in Greece; but, I still have some observations and some questions about this (sorry for my poor English). Maybe I am correct when I say that he jumps too fast from talking about the ‘many Russian tribulations’ to talking about the Russian Revolution…
1) He accuses Varoufakis of being a Troika’s Trojan Horse in Greece/Europe. But, WHY would Varoufakis do this? WHAT would he win with this? He is a respected university professor, an intelligent man. He is on the left – he is NOT a neoliberal, a neocon, right? WHY would he be a traitor to the Greek people and to the WHOLE WORLD – that is looking at him! – when the financial system is breaking apart?!
2) The Greek collapse – in Europe, not in a ‘banana republic’ of the oppressed Third World! – is indicative of the final gasps of the capitalist-imperialist system that is moribund, that has been dying for decades, that is on life support, sucking blood from the many killings it is making… The guys that are assisting this odious system are, ALL OF THEM, delusional!
3) If you watch this interview with Engdahl on YouTube, at about 32:00 min Engdahls starts talking about the absence of a Plan B (how can he be so sure?), and, at 34:00 min, the interviewee and even Engdahl start discussing the need of prosecuting Varoufakis for treason! I have the feeling that they want to hang him, already, before anything is proven – yes, because Engdahl’s views are just SPECULATIONS.
Now, let’s SPECULATE, as well, from a different angle; perhaps there is a Plan B! Varoufakis is a brilliant man and his thoughts are with the Greek people. He knows, as we all know, that the Greek situation is very tough indeed. He knows that the Greek people are going to suffer a lot (being from Latin America, I myself have first-hand experience with defaults…), and that NO or YES is not going to make much difference in this regard, unless… He knows that the Prime Minister Tsipras will have trouble. He knows that, in the next election, he, Varoufakis, can be a candidate, and that the probability of his win is very high. As Prime Minister, Varoufakis can take Greece to a new height – as Putin did in Russia!
So, if we SPECULATE differently, we can say the opposite of what Engdahl is saying. We can say that Varoufakis gave a fatal blow to the Troika, one that will have wide repercussion (which also explains why suddenly he has been victim of character assassination)!
No, we do not know anything for certain, yet. Everything is speculation – or SLANDER, in this case… I am surprised with Engdahl, as I read several of his articles before and did not notice any serious ‘change of course’… WHY, now, is he so adamant about Varoufakis? Does he know something we do not? I doubt. Let’s wait and see what will happen before we jump into conclusions.
Rita, I agree.
Big fan of Engdahl, but I find his views on Varoufakis lacking in substantive judgement.
The recent allegations of Varoufakis’ being a fifth columnist for Sorosianism – ‘limousine (neo)liberalism/Orwellian State-control -‘ masquerading as social democracy – have made him suspicious.
I can understand why.
Just look how quickly the current favoured ‘minority’ – LGBT(all the way to Z) have resorted to standard Orwellian tactics through State apparatus to quell dissent. How did marginal militants get to this level? Because they were identified as a platform for the globalisation of A.R.T. (Artificially Assisted Reproduction), both a eugenics and a Malthusian project. And both dear to the puckered little organs that pass for hearts of the One Percent.
The propaganda is so successful, you will find hardly anyone under the age of thirty who does not believe gay marriage is an equality issue. That’s why even conservative politicians (Britain, Ireland) got behind it (and, in the case of Britain, because the Establishment want to normalize surrogacy as the most cost-deficient and desirable means of establishing/continuing dynasties. Naturally, this requires an under-class.)
Given the spread of this intellectual pollution. the historical Left and Right no longer have any relation to their fundamental, historical tenets.
The Right was socially conservative, seeing the strong family/marriage as the best social unit for anti-welfare economic policy. Dad (and latterly Mom) were motivated to provide for offspring. They didn’t need the State for that, ta very much. The Christian faith was the ideal commitment psychology.
The Left was hostile, seeing the family as a threat to State power and leaving too many at the mercy of underprivilege: only a powerful State could offer redress. Atheism was the preferred intellectual tool as it denied God-invoking to legitamize the status quo.
Now both in the West have been hijacked by elite agendas.
Conservatism is socio-culturally corrupted.
Conservative/neo-liberal governments (Britain, Ireland, Canada) have legalized gay marriage, so destroying conservatism’s historical commitment to tradition, and inter-generational continuity. You can’t affirm the primacy of the nuclear family and support gay marriage.
Socialism is socio-economically corrupted.
Socialist governments (France, Greece) have tacitly endorsed the necessity of a global female under-class to realise the A.R.T./eugenics agenda through the active promotion of gay marriage. The routine use of consumer rhetoric (‘agency/’choice’) to condone wealth-based exploitation betrays the neo-liberal mindset like nothing else: Rich women do not rent out their wombs, and sell the ‘products.’ The Indian womb-prostitutes are not from the Brahmin
‘Solutions’ for just/fair resource/wealth distribution will never emerge for all – socio-economic justice is not partisan – under these intellectual conditions. That’s why we have such an abundance of political hypocrisy.( Or maybe psychosis: the degree of irrationality on display might point to the consequences of rampant drug-use.)
Varoufakis may be ringing such alarm bells for Engdahl.
But maybe he can offer a paradigmatic, not merely pragmatic solution?
We’ll see.