"With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy."
Posted on 10/03/2015 8:15:27 AM PDT by semantic
We attempted to cut through all of the Western and Russian media propaganda on the way to describing what Moscow’s involvement in Syria actually portends for the global balance of power. Here are a few excerpts that summarize what’s taking shape in the Middle East:
Putin looks to have viewed this as the ultimate geopolitical win-win. That is, Russia gets to i) expand its influence in the Middle East in defiance of Washington and its allies, a move that also helps to protect Russian energy interests and preserves the Mediterranean port at Tartus, and ii) support its allies in Tehran and Damascus thus preserving the counterbalance to the US-Saudi-Qatar alliance.
Meanwhile, Iran gets to enjoy the support of the Russian military juggernaut on the way to protecting the delicate regional nexus that is the source of Tehran’s Mid-East influence. It is absolutely critical for Iran to keep Assad in power, as the loss of Syria to the West would effectively cut the supply line between Iran and Hezbollah.
It would be difficult to overstate the significance of what appears to be going on here. This is nothing short of a Middle Eastern coup, as Iran looks to displace Saudi Arabia as the regional power broker and as Russia looks to supplant the US as the superpower puppet master.
In short, the Pentagon’s contention that Russia and Iran have formed a Mid-East “nexus” isn’t akin to the Bush administration’s hollow, largely bogus attempt to demonize America’s foreign policy critics in the eyes of the public by identifying an “axis of evil.” Rather, the Pentagon’s assessment was an attempt to come to grips with a very real effort on the part of Moscow and Tehran to tip the scales in the Mid-East away from Riyadh and Washington.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
No SA, no reserve; no reserve; no printing; no printing, no free lunch; no free lunch, the freak show a major portion the USA has become is fully exposed to the ‘gods of the copybook headings’.
We’re only in the first inning of a long game.
"With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy."
And they’ve scored a couple of runs off a pitcher with no arm.
Russia will protect Iran’s nuclear program from Israeli military actions. Does anyone else see a potential WWIII scenario here?
I don't know what they are smoking over at zero hedge but it must be some good stuff. Syria is in no danger of falling to the west. The choice is ISIS or Assad.
Our largest foreign policy blunder was the 1965 Immigration Act.
Russia wants to flank Europe so in addition to the move in the Mediterranean they will move into Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania flanking Europe on the North. Putin has enough sense to grasp the fact that the negro community organizer from Chicago is stupid and weak. NOW is the time for him to move. God Help Us as no one else will.
In other words, a simple zero sum game where one national society (and their allies) defeats another in order to enjoy the spoils of economic control.
In order for the mass of liberal freaks in the USA to continue their respite in la-la land, the reserve currency must preserved at all cost. The fact that some don't understand this dynamic shouldn't cause despair, but rather pleasure in the information advantage.
So, yes, losing Syria will be recorded as a major strategic loss for the USA. We've got to somehow defeat the Russians in a limited battle of technology, otherwise the next target is a Shia led insurgency in SA.
If we can't limit a conflict with Russia, or we cannot defeat them in a technological contest, then it's lights out for the USA. No petro-dollar, no printing; no printing, no social spending; no social spending, Katie bar the door.
“..A Republican president had to fix Vietnam, now a Republican president will have to fix Obama’s colossal epic fail.”
This is why it is so important to pick a STRONG, PRO-AMERICAN, PRO-MILITARY, PRO-DEMOCRACY presidential candidate....Obama should have been thrown out in his first term....but look at what we have as a result.
Turns out, the ‘Know-Nothing’ (American) Party of the 1840s was exactly correct and America should have never allowed immigrants from cultures that lacked the ‘habits of liberty’.
It will take five Reagans in a row to fix the mess that these America-haters have created.
I think Kabar has also made this point, and it might gain further support as we move forward. Of course, the 19th led to Roosevelt, which led to the 65' IA, so I guess all this stuff goes way back.
When someone dies of a self-inflicted disease, it's usually due to decisions made long before.
Obama probably thinks this is half-baked.
Nice dig at the Bush Administration at the tail end of the excerpt.
The Know-Nothings failed, but given that the problem is much larger now and affects more people directly, we may have a better chance of succeeding.
Unless it’s too late, which is also possible.
As the reality of what is occurring really begins to sink in, I think we're at the cusp of some major upheavals. Something that strikes at our very existential foundation will create a reaction.
When the history is written, the election of Hussein in '08 will be identified as the key moment when the USA lost any adult coherence; we fully immersed ourselves in juvenile narcissism, with the result now manifesting itself 7 years later.
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