Ukraine

Bill Richardson could teach Donald Trump something about the art of the deal. He has done a lot of them. At present Richardson sees one of his deals in jeopardy, and he was in Washington last week to raise the alarm, meeting privately with former colleagues and appearing at a press conference at the National Press Club. The deal in jeopardy involves a commitment he made, when he was secretary of Energy in the Clinton administration, with the Russians to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium, the long-lived ingredient in nuclear weapons.

Obama’s speech at The UN made clear that Washington accepts no responsibility for the destruction of the lives and prospects of millions of Muslims. The refugees from Washington’s wars who are overflowing Europe are the fault of Assad, Obama declared. Obama’s claim to represent "international norms" was an assertion of US hegemony, and was recognized as such by the General Assembly. The presidents of Russia, China, and Iran did not accept Washington’s definition of "international norms." The lines are drawn. Unless the American people come to their senses and expel the Washington warmongers, war is our future.

News That Matters

We call on central banks to abolish their zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) framework before more harm is done. In our assessment, ZIRP is bad for all stakeholders and may even lead to war.

"Did Charlie Rose look like a f##king idiot last night on 60-Minutes, or what...?"

As part of his UN speech seeking to restore a crumbling Pax Americana, president Obama, eager to cover up US involvement in the Ukraine presidential coup of early 2014 (who can forget Victoria Nuland "strategy" interception in which she laid out the post-coup lay of the land, while saying to "fuck the EU"), just said that "America has few economic interest in Ukraine." Few, perhaps, but quite substantial.

With The UN's Ban earlier commenting that "Syria is out of control" and demanding that Russia, US, Saudi, iran and Turkey cooperate, it will be interesting to see what tack President Obama takes in his address this morning...

Having achieved his militarist goals, amid massive protests and plunging popularity, it appears Shinzo Abe is rapidly taking gaining on Vladimir Putin's spot atop the tyrannical-dicators-of-the-world-meme. By pushing through this change to Japan’s pacifist constitution, Japan’s nationalists have gotten their foot in the door, so to speak; and as Pater Tenebrarum notes, once a long-held principle is abandoned, further steps to alter the legal framework are usually not long in coming, prompting, as TokyoReporter.com reports, a 71-year-old man to allegedly deface roughly 30 political posters - drawing a hitler-esque moustache on Abe posters.

The divergence theme is likely to strengthen in the week ahead.  

Another test or ... ?

Neoliberal economics is blind to reality and serves to justify the destruction of the economic prospects of the Western World. It remains to be seen if Russia and China can develop a different economics or whether these rising superpowers will fall victim to the “junk economics” that has destroyed the West. With so many Chinese and Russian economists educated in the US tradition, the prospects of Russia and China might not be any better than ours. The entire world could go down the tubes together.

Oh, the irony. A senator of the world's largest creditor nation has demanded America's allies do 'whatever it takes' to support Ukraine in breaking international law by refusing to pay back $3bn of debt owed to Russia in December. As RT reports, US Senator Chris Murphy of the Foreign Relations Committee exclaimed, "the international community should make it clear that we should take whatever steps necessary to give Ukraine the legal cover it needs to walk away from that debt... I don’t think Ukraine should be obligated to pay Russia back a dime." One can only wonder how US's creditors will feel about this perspective (maybe China and EM are already showing theirs).

As Russia gears up for an offensive designed to rout anti-government forces operating in Syria, the US finds itself in the awkward position of having to partner with two of Washington's fiercest critics in the fight against terror. With the clock ticking on America's Mid-East strategy, Obama is set to sit down for a critical one-on-one with Putin that could have major geopolitical implications.

• Global Markets Rebound on Yellen Speech (WSJ)
• Obama and Putin to meet; Syria and Ukraine vie for attention (Reuters)
• Obama to host China's President Xi amid simmering tensions (Reuters)
• Don't Fall for It, Xi! Chinese Take to Web to Scorn U.S.—and China, Too (BBG)
• Yellen Confirms Fed Still on Track to Raise Rates This Year (BBG)... but is still China dependent?
• Abe's New Economic Plan Confounds Analysts (BBG)
• It's All `Perverted' Now as U.S. Swap Spreads Tumble Below Zero (BBG)