#geostrategy

[bopinion]

2023 / 03

Aperçu of the Week:

"A regime that murders its own youth to intimidate its population has no future."

(Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who again summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Foreign Office after the execution of two more protesters in Iran)

Bad News of the Week:

In the 1980s, we took to the streets with the slogan "Make peace without weapons!" Nowadays, it's "We need more guns to keep the peace." Swords to plowshares was yesterday. A beautiful dream from which we wake up startled because a few despots on this planet apparently had a too small shovel in their sandbox. Or a too small penis in their pants. "Geostrategic interests" is the name of the game. The laughter gets stuck in your throat there.

Welcome to a new age of the arms race. Current lowlight: President Emanuel Macron announces that he will invest almost 700 billion in France's military by the end of this decade. Among other things, in aircraft carriers and - watch out! - nuclear weapons. Because "nuclear deterrence (is) an element that distinguishes France from other countries in Europe." So do baguettes and croissants. But they are much more digestible. And, "We see again, in analyzing the war in Ukraine, their high importance." Ooph...

Good News of the Week:

The global community faces a series of interlinked crises. As this year's Global Risks Report explained, a polycrisis. As the summary of the 53rd World Economic Forum in Davos puts it: "The scale of the challenge, the sense of urgency, and the importance of collaboration was a thread that linked all the discussions this week, whether on Ukraine, the climate crises, supply chains, technology and innovation, health, the economy and so much more." In his closing statement, WEF President Børge Brende therefore also says that "in an uncertain and challenging time, one thing is clear: We can shape a more resilient, sustainable and equitable future, but the only way to do so is together."

For years, the Swiss event has been as a gathering of global elites who, far removed from the everyday lives of ordinary citizens of the world, worshipped the capitalist El Dorado of globalization. That is increasingly changing, even if not everyone has realized it yet. For example, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who used his appearance there as an advertisement for Germany as a business location instead of showing internationally long-awaited leadership in crisis management. This year's motto was "Cooperation in a fragmented World", which explicitly does not only mean economic cooperation.

WEF founder Klaus Schwab published the book "The Great Reset" a good two years ago. Conspiracy theorists (mis)understand the positions in it as evidence that a non-transparent neoliberal club is reaching for authoritarian world domination. In fact, it is exactly the opposite: in a disruptive age, the only viable perspective for the global community is to reorient the economy and society. Toward sustainability and social balance instead of profit maximization regardless its downsides.

Once again, it is UN Secretary-General António Guterres who puts it in a nutshell: "There are no perfect solutions in a perfect storm. But we can work to control the damage and seize opportunities. Now more than ever, it's time to forge the pathways to cooperation." Guterres apparently not only has better speechwriters, but also a clearer compass than Scholz. If the physical meeting of global decision-makers in appropriately placarded venues can also be understood as rallying behind the idea in terms of economic policy and aligning their future decisions and actions with it, the world can not only weather the polycrisis, but perhaps even emerge stronger. I hope I'm not being too naive here.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Winter has come after all. Which we enjoyed yesterday on a hike with friends around the Eibsee at the foot of the Zugspitze. As well as with the best pasta I've eaten in a long time. That's how a weekend has to be.

I couldn't care less...

...that French people see it as state overreach that the retirement age is to be raised moderately to 64. In Germany, we are already at 67, and even that will not be affordable in view of the baby boomers who will soon reach that age. To put it another way: the more years you work in the future, the fewer years you will spend in old-age poverty.

As I write this...

...I hope for the better: Today, according to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Water Bunny begins. A year of hope, as it is called. We can all certainly use that.

Post Scriptum

"The (...) danger assumed on the basis of subjective perception is neither concrete nor present. Whether there will be climate changes is not scientifically proven, causal links between individual human impacts on the environment and climate phenomena are open." What sounds like Joe Manchin is an official pronouncement with which the energy company RWE - that's right: which is currently demolishing Lützerath - has defended itself in court against accepting responsibility for climate change. In 2006!

RWE is the largest producer of carbon dioxide in Europe. And in the next few years, it will earn about half a billion euros a year from coal alone, according to estimates by analysts such as Guido Hoymann, an expert on energy suppliers from Bankhaus Metzler. So money should be there when, hopefully, large-scale lawsuits are finally filed because fossil fuel companies have not only ruined the climate, but also lied about the consequences against their better judgment. The tobacco and fast food producers can sing a song about this.

[usnewsper-politics]

President Biden Gets US Back Into Global Geo-Strategy, Meets Central Asian Leaders #CentralAsianleaders #geostrategy #globalpolicy #presidentbiden #U.S.foreignpolicy

[dissident-33]

Politics of these WEIRDOS 💣🇨🇵

France should not have vocation to make the war in front of the others in such geopolitics outline !!

Do you know that any war depletes the national reserves and increases debts to the point that the country will be on its knees in twenty years for a current European position without interest !!

Especially since our soldiers are so dumb that the investments will not return any cashback but certainly an indefinite chaos !!

REMEMBER:

Already with their crap nuclear power, THE FRENCH ARE SPOILING EUROPE and even Planet Earth !!

BETTER:

LET THE WORLD GREATS DO IT AND STAY HUMBLE with performing well our "SITRAM 🇨🇵" and so forth ...

MACRON MESS ALL UP:

Also Macron remains on his bogus puns that only good complacent grannies cheer up, unawarent that he is advancing straight into THE HOLE with haste and billions wasted in uncontrolled technology and risky investments; yet with our "certified cook pots" (*) we can wisely simmer our new safeguard and sustainable development strategies without any need to shine by costly illusion for keeping within the "top twenty" !!

(*) "cook pots" = "what we know how to do well with efficiency and satisfaction"

[my-life-fm]

»Nur wenn wir die Suche nach der Wahrheit fortsetzen, haben wir eine Chance, den Frieden zu finden. George Orwell hat in seinem berühmten Roman „1984″ vorausgesagt, welche Folgen die Informationskriege unserer Zeit haben werden: „Und wenn alle anderen die von der Partei [den Kriegsparteien und Medien] verbreitete Lüge glaubten – wenn alle Aufzeichnungen gleich lauteten –, dann ging die Lüge in die Geschichte ein und wurde zur Wahrheit.” Von Oskar Lafontaine mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Weltwoche.

Während ich diesen Artikel schreibe, lese ich: „Israel weist den Vorwurf zurück, für den Nahrungsmittelmangel in Gaza verantwortlich zu sein, und beschuldigt die UNO, bei der Versorgung der Menschen zu versagen.” Hatte nicht einer der Faschisten in der Regierung Netanjahu, der Verteidigungsminister Yoav Gallant, gesagt: „Kein Strom, kein Essen, kein Sprit. Alles wird abgeriegelt. Wir kämpfen gegen menschliche Tiere und handeln entsprechend”? Der Kriegsverbrecher Netanjahu ist für die Hungersnot im Gazastreifen verantwortlich.

2018 wurde der Einsatz von Hunger als Kriegswaffe im UNO-Sicherheitsrat mit der Resolution 2417 geächtet. Sie verurteilt „entschieden das nach dem humanitären Völkerrecht verbotene Aushungern von Zivilpersonen als Methode der Kriegsführung”.

Chor der Uneinsichtigen

Selbst der an vorderster Front der deutschen Kriegshetzer stehende Spiegel hat etwas bemerkt und schreibt: „Aus der legitimen Selbstverteidigung Israels ist ein Vernichtungsfeldzug geworden. Die deutsche Politik verschließt davor die Augen. Das ist falsch und gefährlich. [. . .] Bomben und Brot, die USA machen es vor. Zynischer kann Außenpolitik kaum daherkommen.”

Wenn die Lüge zur Wahrheit wird, wird auch das Handeln zur Lüge. Wie gerne würde man dankbar anerkennen, dass westliche Staaten, darunter die USA und Deutschland, jetzt Nahrungsmittel im Gazastreifen abwerfen. Aber wenn sie gleichzeitig Waffen liefern, mit denen die Palästinenser ermordet werden und mit denen ihr Land immer unbewohnbarer gemacht wird, dann ist diese Heuchelei und Verlogenheit kaum noch zu überbieten. Außerhalb der NATO-Staaten erntet die deutsche Außenpolitik, zu Zeiten des Bundeskanzlers und Friedensnobelpreisträgers Willy Brandt in aller Welt hochgeschätzt, nur noch Verachtung.

Unehrlichkeit und Unwahrhaftigkeit triumphierten auch, als Papst Franziskus die Ukraine aufforderte, die weiße Fahne zu hissen und Verhandlungen aufzunehmen, um das Morden in der Ukraine zu beenden. Vergeblich wies das Kirchenoberhaupt darauf hin, dass verhandeln nicht kapitulieren heiße. Die Kriegstreiber in Deutschland schäumten, und auch die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz machte ihre Verbeugung vor dem Kriegsgott.

Aus dem Chor der Uneinsichtigen, die durch ihr Plädoyer für Waffenlieferungen und die Verlängerung des Krieges täglich junge Ukrainer und Russen in den Tod schicken, ragen in Deutschland nicht nur die Ampelpolitiker Strack-Zimmermann, Hofreiter und Roth, sondern auch die beiden Parteichristen Röttgen und Kiesewetter hervor. Der außenpolitische Sprecher der CDU Norbert Röttgen gab zum Besten, der Papst sei in politischen Fragen nicht unfehlbar. Er hält Putin für einen Kriegsverbrecher, den US-Präsidenten George W. Bush, der eine Million Tote im Irak durch einen völkerrechtswidrigen Krieg zu verantworten hat, aber nicht.

Der „Verteidigungsexperte” der CDU Roderich Kiesewetter fand die Aufforderung des Papstes, Friedensverhandlungen zu beginnen, „unglaublich” und warf Franziskus vor, er stelle sich auf die Seite des Aggressors. Er ist der Überzeugung, dass die Raketenbasen der USA in der Nähe der russischen Grenze nicht gegen Russland, sondern gegen den Iran gerichtet sind, und er warb dafür, mit deutschen Taurus-Raketen russische Ministerien zu zerstören. Er erfüllt damit den Tatbestand des Paragrafen 13 Absatz 2 des Völkerstrafgesetzbuches: „Wer einen Angriffskrieg oder eine sonstige Angriffshandlung im Sinne des Absatzes 1 plant, vorbereitet oder einleitet, wird mit lebenslanger Freiheitsstrafe oder mit Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter zehn Jahren bestraft.” Kiesewetter läuft immer noch frei und von der deutschen Justiz unbehelligt herum, obwohl – zu Ende gedacht – von ihm die Gefahr eines Weltkrieges ausgeht.

Napoleon wird das Zitat zugeschrieben, dass die Geschichte die Summe der Lügen ist, auf die sich die Mehrheit verständigt hat. Die Lügen, auf die sich die USA mit ihren Vasallen und die deutschen Kriegsbefürworter im Ukraine-Krieg verständigt haben, beruhen auf der Leugnung von Tatsachen, deren Wahrheitsgehalt jeder überprüfen kann. Seit den Neunzigerjahren haben die amerikanischen Strategen Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger und George Friedman dafür geworben, die osteuropäischen Staaten einschliesslich der Ukraine zu US-Vasallen zu machen und ein Zusammengehen deutscher Technik mit russischen Rohstoffen zu verhindern, um die Vorherrschaft der USA in Europa und Asien zu sichern.

Die NATO-Osterweiterung, also das Vorrücken militärischer Einrichtungen der USA an die Grenzen Russlands, haben Gorbatschow, Jelzin und Putin unisono als mit den Sicherheitsinteressen Russlands unvereinbar abgelehnt, und die USA hatten in Person ihres damaligen Außenministers James Baker versprochen, die NATO nicht über die Grenzen Deutschlands auszuweiten. „Not an inch”, so wörtlich auch mir gegenüber, als ich ihn 1990 als Kanzlerkandidat der SPD besuchte.

Artilleriefeuer in Schlafzimmer

Ebenso wenig, wie die USA russische Raketen an ihren Grenzen mit Mexiko und Kanada oder auf Kuba akzeptieren würden, können die Russen US-Raketen an ihren Grenzen dulden, die in wenigen Minuten Moskau zerstören können. Weil sie das eingesehen haben, liefern die USA der Ukraine bisher keine weitreichenden Raketen. Einer der klügsten amerikanischen Politiker, George Kennan, hat Ende der Neunzigerjahre die NATO-Osterweiterung als den verhängnisvollsten Fehler der US-Außenpolitik nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg bezeichnet und Militarismus und Nationalismus als Folge dieser falschen Entscheidung vorausgesagt. 30 Jahre lang haben die Russen darum gebettelt, ihre Sicherheitsinteressen zu berücksichtigen. Aber die amerikanische Waffenindustrie, die – wie Präsident Eisenhower richtig vorausgesehen hatte – mittlerweile den Kongress und den Senat steuert, wollte das nicht und finanzierte ein Komitee zur NATO-Osterweiterung. Sie sicherte sich so Milliardenaufträge zur Aufrüstung der US-Vasallen in Europa.

Spätestens mit dem Putsch 2014 in Kiew, den der damalige US-Vizepräsident Joe Biden und die Russenhasserin Victoria Nuland mit fünf Milliarden Dollar finanzierten und organisierten, begann der Krieg in der Ukraine. Auf Drängen der USA wählte das ukrainische Parlament am 27. Februar 2014 den von Victoria Nuland vorgeschlagenen Arsenij Jazenjuk zum Ministerpräsidenten. In seiner Regierung sassen auch drei Minister der rechtsextremen Swoboda-Partei. Deren Vorsitzender Oleh Tjahnybok hatte die Marschrichtung vorgegeben: „Schnappt euch die Gewehre, bekämpft die Russensäue, die Deutschen, die Judenschweine und anderen Unrat.” Am 18. März 2014 annektierte Russland völkerrechtswidrig die Krim.

Das berüchtigte Asow-Regiment terrorisierte danach in zunehmendem Masse die russischsprachige Bevölkerung in der Ostukraine, und das Büro des Hohen Kommissars der Vereinten Nationen für Menschenrechte berichtete immer wieder über die Gräueltaten dieser Truppe, über Erschießungen, Folter und Vergewaltigungen, also über Kriegsverbrechen, die heute auch der russischen Armee vorgeworfen werden. Und die ARD war noch nicht in die Lügenpropaganda eingebunden und kommentierte in der Tagesschau: „Auch das ukrainische Militär terrorisiert die Zivilbevölkerung. Es trägt den Krieg mit Artilleriefeuer in die Wohn- und Schlafzimmer.” 14.000 Menschen verloren gemäß UNO in den acht Kriegsjahren in der Ostukraine ihr Leben. Im März 2021 unterzeichnete Selenskyj ein Dekret zur Rückeroberung der Krim. In der Folge kam es zu einem massiven ukrainischen Truppenaufmarsch im Südosten des Landes, ab dem 16. Februar 2022 registrierte die OSZE einen starken Anstieg des Artilleriebeschusses des Donbass durch die ukrainische Armee. Am 24. Februar 2022 befahl Putin der russischen Armee den trotz allem völkerrechtswidrigen Einmarsch in die Ukraine, den er als gelernter Informationskrieger als Spezialoperation bezeichnete. Die New York Times räumte zu Beginn des Monats März 2024 ein, dass die CIA seit acht Jahren zwölf Spionagebunker an der ukrainischen Grenze zu Russland vorhält, und Victoria Nuland musste schon 2022 zugeben, dass die USA vom Pentagon finanzierte biologische Forschungslabore in der Ukraine eingerichtet hatten.

Diese von jedem leicht überprüfbaren Entwicklungen und Tatsachen zeigen, dass die Erzählung vom unprovozierten russischen Angriffskrieg eine schamlose Kriegslüge ist. Solange die USA und ihre europäischen Verbündeten daran festhalten, wird es keinen Frieden geben, weil alle diese Lügen einer fairen Berücksichtigung der russischen Sicherheitsinteressen entgegenstehen. Wem die Vorgeschichte des amerikanischen Krieges in der Ukraine gegen Russland zu kompliziert ist, der könnte doch eine simple Tatsache zur Kenntnis nehmen: Es stehen nicht russische Truppen an der Grenze zur USA, sondern US-Truppen an der russischen Grenze. Die Frage, wer der Aggressor ist, wäre dann leichter zu beantworten.

Dass die westlichen Kriegsbefürworter lügen, zeigt auch ihre Sprache. Sprache ist oft verräterisch. Nur der Krieg in der Ukraine ist ein unprovozierter, verbrecherischer „Angriffskrieg”, während die vielen Kriege der USA in Jugoslawien, Afghanistan, Syrien, Libyen, im Irak und die weniger bekannten in vielen anderen Ländern der Welt so gut wie nie Angriffskriege genannt werden. Auch um den alleinigen Schurken zu brandmarken, sind es immer Putins Truppen, Putins Raketen, Putins Flugzeuge, Putins Panzer, Putins Schiffe, Putins Kriegsverbrechen und so weiter, während in den Propagandamedien nie von Bidens Truppen, Bidens Raketen, Bidens Flugzeugen, Bidens Panzern, Bidens Schiffen, Bidens Drohnen oder Bidens Kriegsverbrechen die Rede ist. Und es heisst selbstverständlich nie, Netanjahus Bomben, Netanjahus Flugzeuge oder Netanjahus Panzer hätten den Gazastreifen unbewohnbar gemacht und über 30.000 Palästinenser ermordet.

„Haben Sie Misstrauen”

Und die Zerstörung von Energieversorgungseinrichtungen in der Ukraine ist natürlich ein Kriegsverbrechen, während die vom US-Präsidenten Biden angekündigte Sprengung der zentralen Energieversorgungsleitung Nord Stream durch die USA kein Kriegsverbrechen ist. Und auch wenn es Ukrainer waren, wie deutsche Investigativmedien herausgefunden haben wollen, ist die Zerstörung unserer wichtigsten Gasleitung kein Kriegsverbrechen, und deshalb versorgen wir die Ukraine dankbar und unterwürfig weiterhin mit Waffen und Geld.

Der Starregisseur Werner Herzog hat ein Buch mit dem Titel „Die Zukunft der Wahrheit” vorgelegt. In einem Interview sagte er kürzlich: „Wenn Sie im Politischen genauer hinsehen, dann sehen Sie: Alles, was im Politischen an Berichterstattung vor sich geht, folgt einem bestimmten Narrativ. Und in der Regel hat das Narrativ auch mit Propaganda zu tun. Deswegen rate ich dringend, wenn es um wichtige politische Sachen geht: Schauen Sie auf der Stelle parallele Quellen an [. . .] jeder einzelne von uns ist zur Wachsamkeit aufgerufen [. . .]. Wir können heute im Internet schnell vieles herausfinden durch die divergierenden Meinungen, durch Medien anderer Länder [. . .]. [Haben Sie] Misstrauen, allen gegenüber, viel mehr als früher.” Der letzte Satz seines Buches lautet: „Die Wahrheit hat keine Zukunft, aber Wahrheit hat auch keine Vergangenheit. Wir wollen, wir können, wir werden, wir dürfen die Suche danach nicht aufgeben.”

Täglich erleben wir: Im Krieg ist die Wahrheit immer und überall das erste Opfer. Aber nur, wenn wir die Suche nach der Wahrheit fortsetzen, wenn wir Lügen und Kriegspropaganda entlarven und wahrhaftig bleiben, haben wir eine Chance, den Frieden zu finden.«

[amereid1960]

The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East

The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East الصراع الجيواستراتيجي في الشرق الأوسط Authors : Bassemail Abdelkrarim . Abstract In the context of regional studies, the Middle East can be considered a distinct region in global politics because of its geographical and economic characteristics, as well as the nature of local actors and influential…

[alewaanewspaper1960]

The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East

The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East The Geo-strategic Conflict In The Middle East الصراع الجيواستراتيجي في الشرق الأوسط Authors : Bassemail Abdelkrarim . Abstract In the context of regional studies, the Middle East can be considered a distinct region in global politics because of its geographical and economic characteristics, as well as the nature of local actors and influential…

[biryukzlodei-artblog]

That's why "peace" was established for in Palestine. One good thing is that NATO can't wage more than 2 wars at a time. It would be nice to set Israel on fire again. Politics is a dirty business.

Funny, Turkey has been a proxy lapdog of England and Europe for centuries. 12 "Russo-Turkish" wars confirm this. The world changes only for those who don't know history. And another good example why it should be no Ukraine on the map because Anglos will never stop using it against Russia.

Btw, last time when France was a leader of Europe and the biggest trade Empire on the continent, they too tried to crash the Russian Empire through Turkey-proxy in a hope to defeat Russians with Turks hands and compensate investments through the robbing of "defeated Russia". It didn't work out, and all ended in revolution in France itself. Just saying.

You are the dictators, West. You are all covered with blood of millions of children and women just that some European bitch could enjoy her life and believe that she is "civilized" and belong to the "God chosen nation". I don’t condemn this; we all want to live well and whatever on the others. But there is no need to lecture Russians about the mythical struggle between democracy and dictatorship. Your hypocrisy is irritating. But if you really believe in your statement then I always despised delusional fools.

France has been lying under the Americans with its legs spread for almost 100 years. How much longer should we wait to see when you will liberate yourselves? In my opinion, you, the French, were good with everything (same like the rest of Europe) and always gladly joined in the pack when US decided to tear up another country "in the name of democracy". You are only unhappy today because your American patron lost to Russia and forcing you to live worse because of it. It’s all unpleasant, I understand. But no need to pretend that any of this have anything with the fight for freedom.

The only thing worse than war with the Anglo-Saxons is peace with them.

(The only thing worse than war with the Anglo-Saxons is friendship with them. – modern time quote from the rus internet. Original quote is: Finally, after its experiences with the English and Americans it’s China’s turn to say: It’s bad to have an Anglo-Saxon as an enemy, but God forbid to have him as a friend! - Alexey Efimovich Edrikhin-Vandam, military intelligence officer, writer, author of works in the field of geopolitics and geostrategy of the Russian Empire.)

[mariacallous]

IVALO, FINLAND—Only 20 miles of forest separate the Lapland Border Guard base in the Finnish town of Ivalo from Russia. From here, well above the Arctic Circle, the Border Guards monitor the activities of their not-so-friendly neighbor. And now, after Finland joined NATO in April last year and Helsinki and Washington decided to further strengthen their cooperation by signing a defense cooperation agreement in mid-December, the United States is officially authorized to position troops and equipment at the base.

The United States has similar agreements facilitating military collaboration with the other NATO members bordering mainland Russia: Norway, Estonia, and Latvia. These agreements also specify which of the hosting country’s bases can be used by U.S. forces. After Finland and the United States signed the agreement, Ivalo became the closest base to mainland Russia immediately accessible to U.S. troops.

“It is premature to assess what will possibly be invested in Ivalo, and the criteria are not public,” says Ville Ahtiainen, the deputy commander of the Lapland Border Guard, “but the overall result will be good, and it will deepen the cooperation between our countries.”

NATO’s new 830-mile-long border in Finland draws the alliance’s attention much more to the north, says Kristine Berzina, the managing director of the Geostrategy North program at the German Marshall Fund think tank. The area, she says, has “not received much consideration in the past, especially from a land forces domain.”

This despite Russia’s powerful forces nearby, which include its crown jewels: the Northern Fleet and its nuclear submarines, held in and around the Russian port of Murmansk. The strategic harbor is so close that road signs point to it in Ivalo’s icy streets.

While Finland is counterbalancing Moscow’s superiority in the high north, the enhanced military presence comes with a trade-off. As Berzina notes, the new border also “increases exposure to Russian threats.” After the signing of the December agreement, Moscow declared that it “would take the necessary measures to counter the aggressive decisions of Finland and its NATO allies,” and it has many tools at its disposal. Whether it is weaponized migration, covert operations against infrastructure, or airspace violations, these hybrid attacks are now not only Finland’s problems, but also NATO’s.

In joining NATO, Finland abandoned the policy of military neutrality it had maintained since shortly after World War II. Despite being a NATO partner since 1994, the Nordic country had never been able to count on the protection of allies. Consequently, for decades it took care of its own defense, developing impressive military capabilities and a society trained to fight. According to military experts and security officials, Finland’s presence in NATO brings to the club a sort of Arctic Sparta, a highly trained force that will move the alliance’s center of gravity to the north. (The missing brick in the anti-Russian northern wall is Sweden, which is expected to join the alliance soon, once Hungary gives the green light.)

“Our biggest asset is the concept of total defense that we have developed in all these years,” says Ville Sipilainen, a special advisor to the Finnish defense minister, who closely followed the cooperation agreement’s negotiations. “As a small country, we had to use the entire society for defense. We have very developed infantry, artillery, and of course, the expertise in Arctic warfare.”

On Feb. 11, Finland will go to the polls to elect its new president. The two candidates, Alexander Stubb and Pekka Haavisto, share a decisive anti-Russian position, and no major changes in foreign policy are expected after the vote.

In Ivalo, dozens of young conscripts (usually between 19 and 21) have just arrived and shaved their heads to start military service. They can be seen marching around the base and learning the basic concepts of discipline in the first days. Finland is one of the few EU countries where military service is mandatory, and with 285,000 soldiers ready to be armed, it has one of the largest wartime infantries in NATO. (Around 900,000 people out of a total population of 5.5 million have had military training.)

The Border Guard in Ivalo trains the conscripts especially in reconnaissance along the frontier, where the atmosphere has recently been tense. Last fall, about 1,300 asylum-seekers from countries such as Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco, and Pakistan started showing up at Finland’s border crossing points, including the one close to Ivalo. Helsinki has accused Moscow of transporting the migrants to the border and pushing them to seek refuge on the other side, posing “a serious threat to Finland’s national security and public order.” At the end of November, the government closed the entire border, which will remain shut at least until April 14. Also last year, Helsinki started building a 124-mile fence along its eastern frontier.

Weaponized migration is not the only hybrid attack Moscow has been accused of recently. In October, a pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was severely damaged by what Finnish investigators think was the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship. Rumors of Russian involvement have inflamed the debate in the media since. In the last weeks, GPS disturbances have also affected Finland and the Baltic region, and many Finns suspect that Russia is the source.

During the migrant crisis, the Border Guard received the support of one of, if not the, most skilled Arctic formations in the world: the Finnish Jaeger Brigade. Located in Sodankyla, 100 miles south of Ivalo, it owes its name to a unit of Finnish nationalists created in Germany during World War I, when the grand duchy of Finland was still part of the Russian Empire. For Finland’s NATO allies, the Jaegers and the winter combat course that they organize have become the go-to guys when it comes to Arctic warfare, and Western countries—including the United States—have been sending their troops there to train for years. Since Finland’s accession to NATO, those requests have increased.

The Arctic section leader of the brigade, Maj. Mikael Aikio, 39, has been an instructor at the winter combat course since it was created 10 years ago. Originally from the region, he is a quarter Sámi—an Indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northwestern Russia. He recently helped design the country-cross skis used by the Finnish Army. This year, he’s teaching 14 Finns and 15 foreign soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom, Estonia, France, and Belgium. “One of the strengths of the Finnish army is that there is a lot of initiative even at low levels,” he says in his office in the Arctic section of the base. “Squads and platoons can make decisions themselves and do things independently. That’s the culture.”

But to make good decisions autonomously, you need skills. While preparing for a day with his students, he puts some newspaper in his boots to absorb moisture. “The devil is in the details,” Aikio says while remembering a training day spent with temperatures that reached 38 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) below zero.

The brigade’s barracks are scattered across the snow-covered spruce of the Finnish taiga. In mid-January, daylight is less than three hours, but the 29 winter combat course trainees can take advantage of the high latitudes’ long twilights. One of them, Staff Sgt. Cameron Daniels, 29, arrived in Sodankyla at the beginning of January from Fort Drum, New York, where he serves in the 10th Mountain Division. The Finns equipped him with many layers beneath a surprisingly light jacket, three different kinds of gloves, and rubber boots made by a Nokia spinoff company, with a means to attach the skis. “They have excellent gear and great skills I’ll bring back home,” Daniels says, packing his bag. “Their camouflage is great.”

Daniels’s division was founded during World War II, after the U.S. Army observed, impressed, the Finnish feats against the Soviet Union. After signing the nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939, the Soviet Union had launched an offensive against Finland to increase the buffer territory around Leningrad in case of a future attack from Berlin. Then, as in today’s Ukraine, Moscow justified the invasion of the old imperial province by pretending to come to the aid of a minority in Finnish territory. Then, as today, the operation didn’t go as expected. The Red Army suffered huge losses against the Finnish troops, which were much more prepared to fight in the harsh winter conditions. The Finns were particularly effective in small units, and they had some good snipers in their ranks. The most famous of them, Simo Hayha, earned the nickname “White Death” after at least 505 confirmed kills, making him widely considered to be the deadliest marksman ever.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were hopes that Russia would move closer to Europe,” says Henrik Meinander, a history professor at the University of Helsinki. “Moreover, Finland joined the EU in 1995, and it was expected that a common European defense would be created. Nobody felt the urgency of a NATO membership.” A few steps from the campus, the statue of Tsar Alexander II dominates the capital’s main square. But Russian tourists, the most numerous in Finland before the Ukraine invasion, have almost disappeared. “If Russia had not attacked Ukraine, Finland would not have joined NATO,” Meinander says.

Finland doesn’t just bring massive infantry and ski troops to the table. The country boasts a stronger artillery than any in Western Europe, with about 1,500 weapons and substantial heavy ammunition production. In December, the Defense Ministry announced that it would more than double production to build up its own capabilities as well as to keep supplying Ukraine’s forces. Helsinki recently bought the David’s Sling high-altitude air defense system from Israel and 64 F-35s from the United States. The F-35s purchase brought the country’s expenditure on defense in 2023 above 2 percent of GDP, which is the theoretical minimum required for NATO countries but followed by only a third of the members.

Unlike Estonia or Latvia, Finland will be able to take care of its airspace by itself without the support of NATO allies. According to Sipilainen, the Ministry of Defense advisor, airspace violations from Russia were quite common before Finland joined NATO, but there have been none since then: “Clearly, there is respect for NATO airspace.”

On the other side of the border, Finland’s old enemy is struggling to maintain a solid conventional ground force. The Russian counterparts of the Jaeger Brigade, the 80th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade, have suffered hefty casualties in Ukraine.

“There is not much left,” says Col. Kimmo Kinnunen, the commander of the Jaeger Brigade. “But they have a lot of other capabilities,” pointing to air and naval forces as well as the nuclear submarines based near Murmansk.

In Ivalo, the passage to Murmansk is now closed. Along the border, the situation is quiet, but the Border Guard are tight-lipped about the confrontation with Russia. “We don’t know what will happen, but I hope it will be back to normal,” says a conscript. His superior is in the room, and they exchange glances to be sure he is using appropriate words.

Cpl. Topi Kinnunen, in his early 20s, has just finished his first mandatory six months of service and has now decided to start another six months to train and lead the newcomers. “I chose to come here because it is a tough place, but rewarding,” he says while the recruits come to grips with the Finnish-made RK 62 rifles, designed on the model of the Soviet Kalashnikovs.

Over the past decades, Finland has produced enough to arm its entire reserve. Soon, the armory in Ivalo could also open its doors to weapons from the Pentagon.

[diarrheaworldstarhiphop]

is there a progressive agenda to groom children into embracing trans ideology and pedophilia ??

No, the two US parties and their capitalist class benefactors were terrified by the 2020 riots + Jan 6th and wanted to mop up any prevailing violence and insurrectionary inertia against the government and misdirect antagonisms against lumpenproles (transgendereds) like Biden doesn't actually give a shit, he's too busy running geostrategy.

Key point of this Current Thing is that no one is actually driving this apparent conspiracy or agenda to troon out children, just vaguely gesticulating at cultural actors and other such spooks.

Side pot to all this is that it advances the capitalist class's desire to annihilate teachers unions, libraries and privatize the lot of it.

[helloguydecoupigny]

ELECTIONS EUROPEENNES : SORTIR DE L'EUROPE OU LA REFONDER ? GEOPOLITIQUE ET GEOSTRATEGIE.

Sans faire de géopolitique profonde, évoquons la notion de territoire (puissance et atouts) et consultons une carte géographique.

Qu'observons-nous ?

Un monde multipolaires d'Etats-Continents : USA, EUROPE, FEDERATION DE RUSSIE, EURASIE, CHINE, sans oublier l'INDE et l'INDONESIE. Les, USA , puissance impérialiste hégémonique ne peuvent plus s imposer et soumettre les nations à leur domination. Nous entrons, par ailleurs, dans une phase de dédollarisation et d'extension des BRICS.

Constatons que la Russie occupe une place centrale avec une partie européenne et une majeure partie eurasienne, et, s'étend jusqu'à Vladivostok (mer du Japon). Depuis le conflit ukrainien et l'extension de l'Otan jusqu' à ses frontières, la Russie regarde et se tourne désormais vers l'Eurasie (pièce maîtresse de l'économie mondiale dans les années à venir) et l'Asie, en renforçant ses liens et sa coopération avec la Chine, l'Inde, l'Indonésie et les autres pays qui ont rejoint récemment les Brics (qui ont pour objectif à très court terme de ne plus utiliser le dollar dans leurs transactions).

Le Général de Gaulle avait raison : aucune Europe digne de ce nom, ne peut se construire durablement sans prendre en compte la Russie.

Notre communauté européenne constituée de pays aux intérêts très divergents qui s'alignent constamment et systématiquement sur les USA et l'Otan, s'avère impuissante face aux nouveaux défis et se contente de subir.

Pourtant, nous avons besoin d'une Europe souveraine, forte et unie.

La France, seule et isolée, ne peut peser.

Faut-il donc sortir de l'Europe ?

Ne faudrait-il pas et ne vaudrait-il pas mieux la refonder, la rebâtir avec de nouveaux traités et un autre mode de gouvernance ?

A titre personnel, je ne voterai pas pour un parti ou un mouvement prônant le Frexit comme solution miracle.

Notre mouvement politique "Force Citoyenne Unie" devra se positionner clairement sur cette question.

Le débat est ouvert.

Article rédigé par Guy Decoupigny, président-fondateur de FCU le 15 octobre 2023.

[bopinion]

2023 / 39

Aperçu of the Week:

"I would like to ask you what language the Palestinians speak? Was there a Palestinian coin at some point in history? Is there a Palestinian history or a Palestinian culture? There isn't. There is no such thing as a Palestinian people."

(Bezalel Joel Smotrich, Finance Minister of Israel and Chairman of the right-wing "Religious Zionism" party)

Bad News of the Week:

Serbia and Kosovo. Sadly, proof that the tensions that led to the Yugoslav Wars in the Balkans from 1991 to 2001 are far from over. The conflict over Kosovo is centuries old. The area has special significance for Serbia because it is home to numerous medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries. Serbian nationalists also see a symbol of their independence in a battle against Ottoman Turks in 1389 in Kosovo. However, the majority - then and now - are ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo. They are mostly Muslims. They regard the area as their country and accuse the Serbs of having oppressed them for decades. Formerly granted special rights have been revoked, for example. In February 2008, Kosovo declared itself independent, and since then the region has been up in the air, with NATO stationing KFOR protection troops there.

Now the situation is escalating again. Already last April, there were clashes when Serbs boycotted local elections in the region. In the process, 30 NATO peacekeepers and more than 50 Serb protesters were injured. The fuse has been smoldering ever since. Last weekend, a conflict broke out between armed Serbs and Kosovar police, ending in deaths. Allegedly, however, this was not an official Serbian military unit, but the private militia of a Serbian businessman. What nobody believes.

Now for days Serbia has been pulling together an unprecedented amount of infantry, tanks and artillery - at 48 points directly on the border. Of course Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, speaking to the Financial Times, denied that his country was planning military action. But John Kirby, the usually well-informed spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, confirmed it. "We are seeing a large Serbian military presence along the border with Kosovo," he said. This includes "an unprecedented deployment of Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units."

It is with some trepidation that I currently pay attention when a "news alert" goes ping. For once again, a cold war may become a hot one. In the middle of Europe. Because of the imperialistic claim to power of one nation against another. Geostrategy and testosterone. Frustrating.

Good News of the Week:

"Judge's ruling on Trump financial empire poses existential threat." was a headline on CNN last Wednesday. Donald Trump and his Trump organization had committed "financial fraud for years." Is that a surprise? No. At least not to Europeans. Who never understood that a windbag like Donald Jessica Trump could get away with such obvious lies for so long in a state of law. And then also leads the forecasts for the upcoming US presidential elections. Excuse me?

Finally, on Friday, Trumpist Scott Hall pleaded guilty to multiple counts of attempted election fraud in the Georgia trial. Trump is among the other 18 co-accused. I can't believe anyone could be so naive as to believe a bail bondsman would have completely independently committed the exact acts that were in Trump's playbook - "I want you to find the votes!"

The GOP seems to be unable to break with the 45th president in U.S. history. Various potential opponents, but especially the powerful super PACs in the background, are increasingly disillusioned that the candidacy is unlikely to be taken away from him. His approval ratings seem rock solid. But slowly I'm getting the sense (or the hope) - from across the ocean - that the legal manifestation of his constant misbehavior is having an effect on the American (voting) people. I've lost track of how many cases Trump is currently charged with in which court anyway. And it's all there: Fraud, Porn Star, bribery, Rudy Giuliani, rape, defamation, fixer, tax evasion - you name it. Seriously, a guy like that couldn't even get himself nominated for the Recording Secretary of a flower growers club anywhere in the world. And yet could become president for the second time in the Land of unlimited opportunities? The supposedly most powerful man in the world?

I fundamentally believe in the good in people. But there are exceptions. Trump is one of them. When I think about which personality would put the greater good above personal ego, I certainly can't think of him. So when there are again and again brave prosecutors and special investigators who stand up to Mar-A-Lago, the Proud Boys and Matt Gaetz, I pay them my respect. And in the end this guy is simply unelectable. Now all we need is for enough hockey moms in the suburbs and used car salesmen in the rust belt to realize that. He's not one of you. He's not anti-establishment. He's a notorious egomaniac. He doesn't have your best interests at heart. But only his own.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Hello again! The coronavirus is back: as soon as it gets cooler, the variant BA.2.86, called "Pirola", starts to spread. With new symptoms, an extensive resistance to the previous vaccines and practically without monitoring - because a test regime or even a data collection does not take place (anymore). The shock was correspondingly great when a colleague first called in sick at the beginning of the week and then submitted the information "COVID infection". I am one of the three colleagues who had the most intensive contact with him in the preceding days. Immediately, a colleague got rapid tests, all of which were negative. A follow-up test two days later also confirms that I got away with it once again. Lucky me.

I couldn't care less...

...about the political future of Rishi Sunak. The British prime minister, in office for less than a year, looks pale and erratic. There is no sign of leadership or vision. There are plenty of headwinds at the current Tory party conference: the Conservatives are 20% behind the Social Democrats in polls. The economy is not recovering, there is no normalization after the Brexit chaos. The migration issue is inflated and not solved. Climate targets are being softened, climate measures put on hold. Rail infrastructure measures are being cut, mobility with automobiles is being supported. His party's populism is becoming more and more right-wing, and increasing radicalism is dividing the country. Soon, Labour may adopt the old Brexiteer slogan "taking back control."

As I write this...

...I am glad that a deal was brokered between the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Lasting 148 days, the strike was one of the longest in the history of writers for television and cinema in the USA. So my much liked late night show hosts will soon be able to entertain me with their monologues again.

Post Scriptum

For 40 years there should have been a worldwide holiday on September 26. Because the Russian Stanislav Petrov prevented the third world war in 1983. The computer in a Soviet control center reported an American nuclear attack. However, the responsible officer Petrov believed in a false alarm (in the end, a spy satellite was irritated by reflections of the sun), refused to trigger the nuclear counterattack and thus saved mankind.

[randatapak]

Kepada jodohku.

Malam Tuan, apa kabar? gimana lebarannya, seru ya? Kalo silaturahmi sama ibumu boleh ga sih? Sekaligus mau bilang terimakasih.

Karna sudah melahirkan, menjaga, merawat, mendidik, membesarkan seseorang yang artistik sekali mekanisme hidupnya.

Eh tau ga, aku beberapa bulan kemaren banyak ikut kelas. Salah satunya kelas geostrategi, tugasnya menganalisis postur wilayah, dan ada 4 klaster.. ada yang bahas kota besar, kabupaten kota, desa pesisir, dan desa pedalaman. Karna orang bilang jodoh itu seringnya satu frekwensi.. jadi menurut asumsiku kamu sukanya study case yang berhubungan sama daerah berkembang kan? Makannya aku pilih klaster 2 biar nanti bisa bantu kamu hehe🖤

Kamu lagi apa sekarang, Sehat kan?. Kalo keluar jaketnya jangan lupa. Oh iya, kemaren aku ceroboh sekali, hpku ketinggalan di McD waktu makan icecream. Untung yang dapat pramuniaganya. Apa mungkin di icecream itu ada zat adiktifnya ya sampe bikin lupa segalanya? tapi ga sampe bikin lupa kamu sih hehew.

Nanti kapan-kapan ngobrol lagi ya..

[abdazizef]

*Jerih Payah Kaum Sarungan yang hendak disingkirkan* *SANTRI, SELALU DIBUNGKAM* Mengapa kalangan muslim modernis (Muhammadiyah wa akhawatuha) dan kalangan sosialis (PSI) kecewa kepada kepemimpinan Presiden Jokowi? Dalam sejarah pertempuran 10 November 1945, awalnya tidak ada yang mau mengakui fatwa & resolusi jihad itu pernah ada. Tulisan Prof. Ruslan Abdul Gani, yang ikut terlibat, resolusi jihad disebut tidak pernah ada. Bung Tomo yang berpidato teriak-teriak, dalam bukunya juga tidak pernah menyebutkan bahwa fatwa & resolusi jihad pernah ada. Laporan tulisan Mayor Jendral Sungkono juga tidak menyebut pernah ada fatwa & resolusi jihad. Karena itu, banyak orang menganggap fatwa & resolusi jihad itu hanya dongeng dan cerita orang NU saja.  “Di antara elemen bangsa Indonesia yang tidak memiliki peran dan andil dalam usaha kemerdekaan dan mempertahankan kemerdekaan bangsa Indonesia itu hanya golongan pesantren khususnya NU,” itu kesimpulan seminar nasional di PTN besar di Jakarta tentang perjuangan menegakkan Negara Republik Indonesia, pada 2014. Bahkan dengan sinis salah seorang mereka menyatakan, “Organisasi PKI, itu saja pernah berjasa karena pernah melakukan pemberontakan tahun 1926 melawan Belanda. NU tidak pernah.” Aneh. Pandangan ini juga pernah dianut oleh tokoh-tokoh LIPI. Gus Dur juga mengkonfirmasi *bahwa sejarah ulama dan kiai memang sudah lama ingin dilenyapkan.* *Tahun 1990 ada peringatan 45 tahun pertempuran 10 November.* Yang jadi pahlawan besar dalam pertempuran 10 November diumumkan dari golongan itu, yakni orang terpelajar yang berpendidikan tinggi. Nama-nama mereka muncul tersebar di televisi, koran, dan majalah.  “Itu ceritanya, *10 November yang berjasa itu harusnya Kyai Hasyim Asy’ari dan para kiai.* Kok bisa yang jadi pahlawan itu wong-wong sosialis?” begitu komentar Nyai Sholihah, ibu Gus Dur. Dari situlah Gus Dur diminta untuk klarifikasi. Lalu Gus Dur meminta klarifikasi, menemui tokoh-tokoh tua & senior di kalangan kelompok sosialis, mengenai 10 November. Sambil ketawa-ketawa mereka menjawab, “Yang namanya sejarah dari dulu kan selalu berulang, Gus. Bahwa sejarah sudah mencatat, orang bodoh itu makanannya orang pintar!” “Yang berjasa orang bodoh, tapi yang jadi pahlawan wong pinter. Itu biasa, Gus”, katanya kepada Gus Dur. Gus Dur marah betul dibegitukan. Sampai tahun 90-an NU masih dinganggap bodoh oleh mereka. Tahun 1991 Gus Dur melakukan kaderisasi besar-besaran di kalangan anak muda NU. *Anak-anak santri dilatih mengenal analisis sosial (ansos) dan teori sosial, filsafat, sejarah, geopolitik, dan geostrategi.* *Semua diajarkan supaya tidak lagi dianggap bodoh.* *Dan kemudian berkembang hingga kini.* “Saya termasuk yang ikut pertama kali kaderisasi itu, karena itu, agak faham,” kata Dr. H. Agus Sunyoto. Saat penulis sejarah Indonesia menyatakan fatwa dan resolusi jihad tidak ada, *Dr. H. Agus Sunyoto menemukan tulisan sejarawan Amerika, Frederik Anderson.* *Dalam tulisanya tentang penjajahan Jepang di Indonesia selama 1942-1945,* ia menulis begini: *”Pada 22 Oktober 1945 pernah ada resolusi jihad yang dikeluarkan oleh Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama di Surabaya. Tanggal 27 Oktober, Koran Kedaulatan Rakyat juga memuat lengkap resolusi jihad. Koran Suara Masyarakat di Jakarta, juga memuat resolusi jihad.”* *Peristiwa ini ada, sekalipun orang Indonesia tidak mau menulisnya karena menganggap NU yang mengeluarkan fatwa sebagai golongan lapisan bawah.* *Sejarah dikebiri.* *Dokumen-dokumen lama yang sebagian besar berbahasa Belanda, Inggris, Perancis, Jepang, dan sebagainya, dibongkar.* *Patahlah semua anutan doktor sejarah yang menyatakan NU tidak punya peran apa-apa terhadap kemerdekaan.* Ketika Indonesia pertama kali merdeka 1945, kita tidak punya tentara. Baru dua bulan kemudian ada tentara. Agustus, September, lalu pada 5 Oktober dibentuk tentara keamanan rakyat (TKR). Tanggal 10 Oktober diumumkanlah jumlah tentara TKR di Jawa saja. Ternyata, TKR di Jawa ada 10 divisi. 1 divisi isinya 10.000 prajurit. Terdiri atas 3 resimen dan 15 batalyon. A...

[my-life-fm]

[amereid1960]

العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن

العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن الكاتب : بوريشة أعمر الملخص: تحاول هذه الدراسة تسليط الضوء على طبيعة المشاكل التي تتعرض لها دولة اليمن بسبب ما تزخر به هذه الدولة من إمكانيات جيوستراتيجية و عوامل وأسس جيوبوليتيكية أهلتها لأن تكون دولة محورية بفضل موقعها الإستراتيجي جنوب غرب شبه…

[alewaanewspaper1960]

العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن

العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن العوامل الجيوبولتيكية والإمكانات الجيوستراتيجية في الصراع الدولي على اليمن الكاتب : بوريشة أعمر الملخص: تحاول هذه الدراسة تسليط الضوء على طبيعة المشاكل التي تتعرض لها دولة اليمن بسبب ما تزخر به هذه الدولة من إمكانيات جيوستراتيجية و عوامل وأسس جيوبوليتيكية أهلتها لأن تكون دولة محورية بفضل موقعها الإستراتيجي جنوب غرب شبه…