Free Republic

18 mins. long. Reviews the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Samarkand, 15-16 September 2022. This is all about de dollarization which is moving ahead rapidly. Over half of the world's population represented in this movement to replace American hegemony and American financial control of the world via the "reserve currency, petro dollar." SCO participants are engaging in trade and financing agreements which will change the world. The U.S. is trying to resist the changes by creating conflicts, chaos and involved in creating military conflicts, color revolutions, etc. -------------------------- Side note: The New Atlas:...

After a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast of the country, the messy war that Russian President Vladimir Putin started is now being fought directly on his doorstep, with artillery strikes hitting military targets in Russia and Russian officials in cities and towns along the border ordering hasty evacuations. On Saturday, a new round of strikes hit the Belgorod region in Western Russia, killing at least one person and wounding two. On Friday, Ukraine reportedly struck the base of the Russian 3rd Motorized Rifle Division near Valuyki, just nine miles north of the Russia—Ukraine border. Russian officials did not acknowledge...

Western leaders undervalued the size and global reach of the Russian economy Headlines concerning the collapse of the Russian economy under sanctions have been many and varied, although more recently observations have been made that sanctions imposed by the West aren’t working to the extent intended. Writing this from Moscow, I can observe that supermarkets are full, there are no shortages, and gasoline is US$3.1 a gallon. That compares with Washington at US$4.99, London at US$8.16, Berlin at US$6.73 and Rome at US$7.31. Why has the effect of sanctions upon Russia been so widely misunderstood? It’s a complicated question yet...