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Russia's New Weapons: Passports And Pipelines
Submitted by Claude Salhani via OilPrice.com,
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Sebastopol last month, Western leaders have been pondering how to get back at Moscow for its actions without starting a new world war. The situation is what the Brits may describe as a sticky wicket. They want to get back at Russian President Vladimir Putin but at the same time they don’t want to upset him too much seeing that he controls much of the oil and natural gas that flows to Eastern and Western Europe via a number of pipelines.
The options available to punish Russia for its actions are really quite limited when you think about it. Direct militarily action is –thankfully-- out of the question and while economic sanctions will bother the Russians it is not going to bring about a change of mind, a change of heart or a change of policy any time soon.
A few Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill have suggested to start tapping into the US strategic oil reserves and help bail out a number of European countries that remain heavily dependent on Russia –such as Ukraine-- for much of their oil and/or natural gas.
While some of the petrochemical products needed to warm homes and businesses in Europe originate in Russia, much of the rest that originates in Central Asia and the Caspian region transit via pipelines in Russia and Ukraine as they make their way to markets in Western and Eastern Europe.
No doubt much of what Western leaders have suggested either publicly or privately is filled with good intentions, such as releasing some of the federal strategic reserves. That however remains highly unrealistic as it would take at least three to four years to transport enough energy needed to sustain Europe’s needs, by which time much of northern Europe would have frozen to death.
So what is the answer? Where lies the solution? For the moment nobody really seems to have an answer, let alone the correct answer. Which of course gives Russia the advantage as for the moment Moscow holds all the cards and it knows this full well.
Indeed, it will take several years for Western nations and NATO to re-organize and adapt to the new threats posed by Russia’s new foreign policy. Since the end of World War II and into the Cold War that followed, until the fall of the Berlin Wall the North Atlantic Alliance had trained to counter an enemy in a conventional war in Europe. Today’s political reality offers a very different picture, and one where NATO is ill-prepared to deal with.
President Putin now has two new weapons which in some ways frightens some of the old Soviet republics and the Europeans even more than conventional and nuclear weapons: One of Putin’s new weapon is nothing more than a Russian passport which Moscow is so willingly delivering to those claiming Russian ancestry in the countries on Russia’s periphery.
Although it was not Russia that started the fight a few years ago, it was under the guise of coming to the rescue of ethnic Russians that Putin sent his troops into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two break away republics in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. And last month when the Russian president sent his forces into Crimea, It was again to protect the rights of Russian citizens living in that province.
And more recently there have been several reports that Russian consulates have been issuing hundreds of passports to Armenians living in Georgia.
Putin’s other weapon of course is his control over the flow of oil and gas.
Very likely it will be a number of years before any concrete action can be organized in such a manner that would force Moscow to reconsider its new policy. In the meantime however that will give Putin the time he needs to implement some of his new policies. Particularly as he holds onto the quasi monopoly on much of the natural gas deliveries to the West during which time the most damage that can be afflicted on Russia and President Putin’s new policies will be highly symbolic more than anything else.
Try as they may the best that Western leaders may end up resorting to this: imposing sanctions that would have little no effect on Russia. At the end of the day the West may have to content itself to such symbolic gestures such as the closing of McDonald’s restaurants in Crimea. Now that will really get Putin to reconsider.
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vlad better watch his back is all i can say. those joo bankers are pure evil.
I too fear Vlad will end up on the wrong end of a nail gun... somehow.
Too true, I hope he gets a popemobile soon.
I fear Vlad may not turn out to be Hitler II
he doesn't seem suicidal.
Fear? Your pal "Vlad" is a disgusting authoritarian of the worst sort. I'd be celebrating.
imo there is something about "vlad" that makes it hard to envision him as one's "pal".
however, as i understand it, that was the secret to the rise to power of both george w. bush and barack obama (if, by "pal", one includes "boyfriend", broadly defined).
u really want to get banned for bigotry buzzsaw99 ¿¿¿
Have you got sand in your vagina?
Speaking of sand, your tribe's own historian Schlomo Sand proven there is not such thing as a Jewish race.
"When one looks at Jewish history, though, the whole picture becomes quite muddled. It appears that, contrary to popular belief (even among Jews), Judaism was for many hundreds of years a very actively proselytizing religion, and a very successful one at that. It has been known for some years that we Ashkenazim (the Yiddish speaking people) are the descendants not of the Hebrews but of the citizens of the Khazarian Empire, which was converted to Judaism back in the 8th Century AD. And due to the efforts of an Israeli historian by the name of Shlomo Sand we discover that many of the Sephardim (from Spain and Portugal) and most of the Mizrahim (Middle Eastern and Asian Jews, mostly North African) are descended from Berber people who were converted by a warrior Queen."
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.in/2008/12/saker-interviews-roger-tucker-author-of.html
So ban that, cunt.
Putin has one weakness that could be exploited now but it would require bloodshed.
If Western NGOs and Ukranian thugs began killing Russians living in the Ukraine and it made the press big time.
Putin has stated that he will only invade to protect Russians living in the Ukraine. He doesn't want to invade but he could be forced to with enough violence against Ukranian Russians. Putin is polling very high at home and doesn't want to lose the backing of Russians living in Russia...and, he has his tough guy image to think about.
Of course this is a rotten thing to do by US NGOs, Eastern Ukranian thugs or anyone but it's a possibility.
It could also backfire very big...and given recent history of US strategy... well.
Personally, I hope no one gets hurt. It's time to leave the bear alone...and time to retire some neo cons.
.
That's not been a hinderance here of late.
Seems to make it more likely, not less, given the record of US.
The neo-cons or whatever you want to call them aren't going to give up. They'll try something else I can guarantee it.
.
LISTEN: In Private Speech, Dick Cheney Talks Bombing Iran and GOP Donors Applaud
"What do former Vice President Dick Cheney, billionaire megadonor Sheldon Adelson, and Republican activists and funders talk about—and applaud—when they're behind closed doors at a Las Vegas hotel? Bombing Iran.
This past weekend, the Republican Jewish Coalition held its spring leadership meeting at Adelson's Venetian hotel, where several possible 2016 contenders, including ex-Gov. Jeb Bush and current Govs. Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and John Kasich, showed up to kiss the ring of the casino magnate, who's looking to bankroll a viable Republican presidential candidate... But Mother Jones has obtained a recording of Cheney's talk, during which he once again derided President Barack Obama on foreign policy, blasted the isolationists within his own party, assailed critics of the National Security Agency, and seemingly endorsed the idea of an Israeli strike against Iran..."
What makes you think this isn't pure theater for the undiscerning masses?
Both villains receive wire transfers from the same bank account.
No doubt he is on the short list, with extreme prejudice and all that.
those joo bankers are pure evil.
If I haven't told you recently, go fuck yourself.
How many KGB bosses that have been assasinated do you know ?
It's worse that trying to assasinate the top CIA director...
Can I mix in the fray to get a russian passport too?
LOOOOOUUUUUUD NOISES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brick Tamland playing a US Congressman -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pdWAcK6Eh8
Russia,
Just demand payment of natural gas by Europe in gold. Watch how fast it would make the Federal Reserve spin when it has to immediately give Germany's gold back and blow up it's naked gold shorts.
Has to give Germany its gold back? Yellen will just write them a check payable to "Fuck the EU".
Not likely, Yellen is more likely to write a check payable to "Fuck the US (Debt Serfs)" as the farce must be maintained at all costs, if FRBNY doesn't have States' gold, the USD dollar is dead, and imported goods in the US will experience hyperinflation.
Yogi...I think you are on to something. Somebody send Vlad a tweet..asap.
Or win the World Cup. We all know losing in soccer is every red blooded american's achilies heel.
Are you sure you didn't mean to use American red necks have an achilies heel?
Soccers a girls game around these parts.
I think Vlad is playing his hand very well. He/they have been working on this for a long time. The set up is as good as gets for his moves. The USA is on the downslope. It is governed by a weak selfsevering hate America crowd. Obozo is the perfect spineless whimp to slap around. Time will tell, but I see this time as very big tipping point.
"Johannes Kerry, minister rebus exteris Civitatum Americae Unitarum, aperte collegae suo Russo Sergio Lavrov dixit, non sine effectu Russiam discordiam adaucturam esse; interea Donescae, in urbe Ucrainae orientalis, iam tres victimae in dimicationibus oppositarum partium computantur."
In this news, we see that Kerry had pressed Sergio for a russian passport, because Johannes want to be a dual citizen.
Nullan already has a russian passport and she planned to sell cookies in Red Square.
Those damned 1% of America are emigrating to Russia, just like the rats abandoning ship.
Laudetur Ifigenia.
Re: Those damned 1%
That's 3 mil people. Snowdon's gonna have to put some cots in the living room.
Those 1%, 3 mil., could apply for Birobidzhan residence.
. Back during the finicial crisis of 2007 I was one of the top men on walstreet. After losing everything and pretty much almost killing myself an angel of god appeared to me his name was biff. He instructed me to preach the word of god and he gave me 19 scrolls which would predict the course of the future in the next 248 months. we have now been to scroll 13. Biff reappeared to me in 2011 and instructed me to dig a whole to the center of the earth. My fellowship was non existent at the time but we are growing now to the strength of almost 20. We have acquired several large diggers last fall and began operations. After some legal issues, we proceeded and now we have hit the 500ft depth. The city, which Biff has instructed me to call Jericho will be fully operation before 2017. At that time I shall open the 19th scroll and end shall come and it will come from Russian hands. Salvation lies within....I must save as many people as i can. Follow Jesus and I as we create a new Zion.
Did Angel Biff keep saying, "What are you looking at, butt-head?"
Naw he said, "Let's make like a tree and get the flock out of here."
If the scrolls aren't invisible I don't believe you!
[sound of respirator]
biff, I am your father.
[sound of respirator]
[sound of bif denial]
[sound of music]
[roll credits]
Even the McDonald's exit from Crimea will be nullified.
.
Fast move: Burger King to enter Crimea after McDonald’s quit
i see one big difference
Putin does not hate ukranians
new ukrainian leadership hates russians
Correct answer to the questions posed in this article: Do nothing in this instance, and stop supporting the overthrow of elected governments, especially those on the other side of the world.
"The options available to punish Russia for its actions are really quite limited... So what is the answer? Where lies the solution? For the moment nobody really seems to have an answer, let alone the correct answer..."
Perhaps could send meretrix Vitoria Nulland to do some extra services for Vlad the impaler to calm him down. The romans said: Parva Leves capiunt animas
John McCain got a Vietnamese passport for the services he did during the stay in Hanoi Hilton
A passport? Just for McCain's Oven Ready Chips? - I thought they were a UK-only thing.
Naturally, McCain also has a kind of O.B.E. from King Abdullah bin of Saudi Arabia.
Old Bastard Entertainment?
[flaps T-Rex arms]
Pentagon secret. They keep it with the tapes.
You would think that leaders in the EU learned a lesson after the events of Georgia in 2008 and the gas shortages of 2009 when Ukraine did not receive gas from Russia and tapped off gas destined for Western Europe. You would think that the EU would develop alternatives. Well, they did but not fast and rigurous enough.
The problem is not Europe, but USA and petrodollar. There is no problem for us to buy gas and oil from russiians. USA want us to use dollar, that is the real problem.
That is right. The US dollar hegomony keeps the world from developing and using renewables and nuclear fusion. Meanhwile the plant goes bust.
Im still not convinced that he is on the level. I hope he is, but lets face it, we are in the age of deception and lies and some of the lies are so epic, like 9/11 or even WW2, that this could be the mother of all set-ups.
Im not completely sure the "soviets" ever truely left Russia. I feel like they are still there plotting humanities demise in the background.
I truely do hope the people of Russia have a leadership that really cares about the Russian people and have no hidden agenda. I think this world has had enough evil and the whole world is counting on this man to not betray them.
WW2 was *staged*?
OMG!!!
I think he meant 'based on lies'
@ Gaurden - correct me if I'm wrong. please.
Truth for the telling!
The Public Be Suckered
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1230886
first and foremost there should be no issue what so ever. period!
ukraine is not a nato country (funny, egypt isn't either?)
there simply is no problem concerning the world's police state in regards to ukraine's internal affairs [east and west] and what washington's neo-con cold war warriors never ceasing to miss-a-beat on the perennial[?]... 'the communist are coming-- Charge!'-- these bellicose mid 20th c. majors in history's rhymes-- lost never in parroting histrionic folly, in a house of fools that baits the public away from domestic issues as a red-herring flies in the face of drolling mediocrity always tilting towards windmills,...
Pfft. Back-date.
You obviously missed the Master Plan in this scenario. Without a world in chaos, the elites cannot bring order according to their One Worldist views.
there was never to be a master plan, but a world that could live with different ideologies. but, it was co-opted by the BIS/ FRB's under the Wilson Adm.
Democrat's used to love bringing america into wars, but the bush's changed the faceless tide of america with a cheney/ rumsfeld/ rehnquist triangle of opaqness, born out of a nixonian who btw was the only judge on the 1950 communist scare involving McCarthyism?
the usa spent as much as $2bn helping the nationalist chiang kai-shek chinese defeat communist mao zedong during 1943-49, but failed miserably. the russian's even gave up on china all together. both communist countries ideology's didn't fit the other. china wanted commerce where stalin wanted total conrol [borderline/ if not total slavery]!!!
on aug. 29,1949 ~ 4yrs after japan... as predicted by the state dept., russia detonates its own A-bomb.
truman's [believe with his heart if there had been a league of nations in europe, wwi & wwii could have been prevented] only defense was nato, the marshall plan and the truman doctrine. if the palestinian issue never came up dewey from n.y. if elected in '48' would have passed the un resolution making Israel a 'Palestine State', even though it was the biggest foreign policy mistake ever made.
the middle east since 1948 has been a ticking time bomb!
mao and stalin departed comradery soon after russia detonated the a-bomb and their eastern block land grab including east germany.
mao closed up china to unimaginable misery as did stalin... but, stalin was brutal and irreproachable. the chinese saw this and went their own 'kind-of-communist way'. this can be actually superimposed as a mirror image of the ussa [sorta?] today, such as a bipolar/ polarized amerikana having a democratic party for the working socialist/ progressive/ liberal stiff, and the republican party, having a fascist/ statist/ corporate 1%-- morphing both the fringe marxist, borderline authoritarian/ totalitarian?
mao is dead and stalin is long gone... and as far as most chinese and russian's, good riddance. you'll never here the people speak openly, however it's no secret of their shame [think adolf hitler, and the nazi's? -- yet the ussa says they have a right in ukraine?]
ever since jfk's assaination, lbj/nixon has the country been in a downward spiral.
note: in 1946 nixon was elected to congress, as was jfk, and lbj as senator of texas in 1948 having won the democratic primary by 37 votes of a million cast?
lastly, putin is not a stalin. period! he is perhaps the greatest peace activist on the global stage today. the chines are not to be trusted.
jmo thankyou Tyler
Very good Earle....
We share opinion about the chines also..
Energy. What the problem is.
Energy is not the problem. The problem is who get's to profit from energy, the Ruskies or BP/Exxon. Either case, the average dude loses.
Lorem ipsum. Quod est propositum.
ps. Russian translation didn't take.
So far every nation including the USA is a winner in ths situation for the simple reason that no blood has been spilled. This containment of the USA and its allies is both welcome and necessary.
it's spelled: se V astopol, u ignorant Annsmnnemeerikkans
Its spelled any damned way the American military machine decides its spelled, kapeesh.
and think about how much the military-industrial complex can make off of this one! Go long General Dynamic and Raytheon, that is until the nukes start flying...then sell and buy all the gold and silver you can. A few canned goods might be in order as well.
If it goes nuke, buy enough heroin to off yoursef quickly and painlessly. It would be the only rational thing to do.
if Putin has a good drummer and bass player? i may take a passport.
Oh well;
NATO commander says US troops may be deployed to Europe over Ukrainian crisis
http://on.rt.com/wl74o7To do what? Scare somebody?
NATO comander, you mean US general? We all know what US want. Control Europe and force us to line in for their interests.
Definition:
Putin, Noun. 1. an infiltration unit: part man, part machine. Underneath, it's a hyper-alloy combat chassis, microprocessor-controlled. Fully armored; very tough. But outside, it's living human tissue.
Resolution: Buy enough votes to institute Obamacare in Russia.
Who gives a shit. It is Russia's back yard.
If they want to shit in their own yard who are we to stop them?
We don't owe Vlad any favors.
I'm sure Uncle Vlad would be cool with us invading Cuba, right?
Its not necessary to replace ALL of Russia's oil and gas exports. As has been found everywhere governments have a hard time making ANY real cuts in their spending plans. In the US cuts in the planned 'growth' of government spending are called 'draconian', in Europe trying to reduce budget deficits to a mere 3% of GDP is called 'austerity'. The Russian government derives 50% of its funding from oil and gas revenue. Cutting a percentage of Russian oil and gas revenue creates a proportional cut in Russian government revenue. Let's say Europe can replace only 25% of the oil and gas it gets from Russia in the next two years. Any strain on the European economy will be small as compared to the catastrophic collapse in Russian government revenue. So who holds the cards? I suggest its is Mexican stand-off with Russia in the stronger position only if it is willing and able to shut off oil and gas exports by more than Europe can find elsewhere. Europe OTOH can squeeze Russia by slowly reducing its imports of the same.
But why we have to cut buying from cheap russian gas? Just because America want us to use dollars?
Russian gas comes with a hidden price... your liberty so no matter what the cash price on offer is right now, in the long run it is too expensive.
hehe, like the US bases and nuclear weapons in Europe?
Imagine this scenario, US and Russia go to war for their interests, could those countries with US nuclear weapons stay neutral? Would USA promise not to use those weapons to attack Russia? Would Russia respect the neutrality and dont try to destroy those nuclear weapons?
So, here in Europe, we know the hidden price we pay to US empire. Just like the Ukranians re paying for letting in the Empire. They have already lost the 40 tonnes gold.
DeGaulle had a long strategic vision when he ordered the shut down of US military bases in his country.
Even Japan refuse to hold US nuclear arms.
You don't remember the Soviet Union introducing theater nuclear weapons in Europe in the late 1970's ? Are you an adult? If you weren't around in the days of Brezhnev or are ignorant of your own recent history there is really no use continuing this conversation. You can just wander off in your ignorance and stupidity until reality catches up with you.
wake up, man, the propaganda dont work anymore.
Did you read this "NATO Members Conduct False Flag Terror In Attempt to Whip Up War"?
So, dont be an ignorant and try to learn something positive. V.g., try to think why URRS go down in History and didnt threat the rest of the World with a ww3. And compare that case to USA with her incessant threat to the rest of the World to salvage an unequal and unjust dollar dominance.
The reality is, since 1945, US is killing tens of millions of people around the World to mantain her dominance.
Read 'Arsenals of Folly, by Richard Rhodes.
You'll get a much better handle on things.
Soviet is defunct.
From 1917 Soviet was never a Russian construct.
Get over it.....
Russians have this same gene as Chinese - nothing is ever their fault, and they have a logical hole in the head.
He refers to the fact that Stalin was a Georgian and thus he considers Stalin to be someone he has no moral responsibility for, as well as anything Soviet also is not his responsibility because Soviet is not identical to Russian (as though we don't understand the distinction).
Regardless what was the capital of the USSR? Mockba.
What is the capital of the Russian Federation? Mockba
Which nation gathered up all the nuclear weapons and most military hardware when the Soviet Union became the FSU? Russia.
Who has it? Russia. Where did it all go? Russia. Which country had the greatest say in the USSR policy? Russia. Which country in the USSR was largest by far? Russia. And so it goes...
For all practical purposes the USSR was mostly Russian and the FSU and RF are synonyms for Russia and Russian policy.
Volkodav is full of shit.
I just ran some rough stats. based on 2010 EU nat. gas usage. 515,000,000,000 cubic meters. I also looked at the stats for the LNG Rivers at 135,000 cubic meters capacity. That ship would have to make 3,185,000,000 trips to supply all of the LNG. I am sure that the countries produce some of their needs, but how many ships are there running around? Good for the Baltic Dry? I don't know.I snort hot metal and oil all day. Just asking.
Uhm.
Sorry there Sebastian, but you do realize 610:1 is the ratio of LNG to natural gas. When you unfreeze it, it expands?
My Grandfather is from Ukraine.
Where do I apply for my Russian passport?
Finally, a chance at the American Dream.
Go for it....
Seriously...there is probably a lot of cheap land in East Ukraine now and still available for westerners to purchase.
If you own a farm and then get overtaken by Russia, then you may be able to wash a lot of dirty laundry, and get behind new 'red' line which can not be crossed by the West (double entendre).
It just seems to me that;
Just wait until the BRICS Nations fully Impliment thier trade agreements. The US Dolar will be Toilet Paper, and this is rapidly happening, and this Crimea/Ukraine thing will just speed up the process, and Putin knows this.
They (The US) still thinks they can bully the World, They just cannot get it through their thick skull that more people in the world dislike them than any other Nation! and their people have failed to control the corrupt Politicians.
Amwericans are exceptional.... it's just the 47% that are on the dole and the 1% who keep them there who are not.
During the Sochi winter special olympics England protested against Russia by forcing its cripple athletes to not attend. That was lame and pointless.
I upticked for accidental use of the word "lame".
If a Russain pasport is free some Ukranians will take two, but what does it give you. A choice between a corrupt but dysfunctional Ukranian government, or a corrupt but totalitarian Russian government. I travel on business to both countries and like their cultures and people, but it makes me very happy to come home to america with all of our faults.
Hehe, to see the biggest corruption on Earth, just go to Wall Street. With trillion of dollars lost in subprime ponzi sheme and no banksters go to jail. This is not only the biggest corruption, i dare add it is almost a miracle work by satan that destroy the life of millions of families around the World.
Have you tried getting rid of your American passport and the citizenship that attaches to it?
That is what I really call totalitarian.
Anna Mae Bullock could explain her ordeal.
Let me know when we're jailing women for singing at a cathedral.
Let me know when Pussy Riot perform in a Synagogue
Ignorant post. You know nothing about the subject...or groups extreme deviant history...
Media dumb you down much?
Pussy riot, wikipedia:
Tolokonnikova and Verzilov joined the Voina art collective in 2007 and participated in several of their provocative art performances. In February 2008, they were involved in the "Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear!" performance in which couples were filmed engaging in sexual acts in the Timiryazev State Biology Museum in Moscow.
The performance was apparently intended as a kind of satire of then President Dmitry Medvedev's call for increased reproduction. She was in the late stages of pregnancy at the time.
You can watch the video " fuck for heir puppy bear " on vimeo.. (for adults only)
Worse! US are jailing men for dancing in the Jefferson Memorial.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWeF6lwg4aY
Thomas Jefferson would have bitchslapped that mall cop.
Now eat your peas, and tell Jen Psaki I told her to go fuck herself.
well, it also gets rid of $16B in debt you don't need to pay off...that is the real $16B question for Ukraine-ex-Russia.
Putin doesn't know we still want to test the space-based rail gun
I hope we got it up there before we were dependent on the Soyuz.
Single. Stupidest. Decision. In. NASA. History.
Nail gun ? heh.
Some lesser known facts about rail guns and mass drivers (for LEO insertion):
One of the reasons why modern chemical bombs/rockets are used 80 years after their creation is that they begin at a slow velocity whilst low in the atmosphere and increase in velocity as they ascend and as the atmosphere thins. This minimises maximum atmospheric and structural forces/pressures upon the vehicle. Go faster as the air gets thinner - common sense physics.
Rail guns begin their journey at nearly maximum velocity, and do so in the thickest part of the atmosphere. It's why we won't have some mass driver rocket sled to push payloads into orbit.
If you track 100,000kgs of mass and accelerate it to LEO velocity whilst the payload is in the lower atmosphere you will create massive drag, heat, and waste energy - in addition to setting fire to your payload (if it can withstand the g-forces).
You will be creating a meteroid fireball, IOW.\
So that Space Rail Gun isn't going to work because that projectile is going to end up like all earth-impacting meteroids. It will burn up and slow down.
This isn't about solving a technical issue, it's about physics and atmospheric drage.
Snidley Whipsnae "and time to retire some neo cons"
Yes, permanentlyIf anyone wants to see how bad the Canadian propaganda machine has become just watch tonight's CBC National. Straight up calling him an alpha male clown, a mediocre dictator, and a monster.
The IMF should move ahead without the US
Financial Times - Sir, The International Monetary Fund, which has its annual spring meetings in Washington this week, is confronting a potentially existential crisis: withdrawal by the US from active participation in, and leadership of, the world's most important economic and (Reuters) - Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Thursday Russia would take part in the G20 Summit in Brisbane later this year, laying to rest questions Russia might be barred from attending over Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. "Of course Russia will be at the table," Hockey told CNBC during an interview in Washington. "But it is an economic forum and whilst we obviously will discuss some of the geo-political challenges in the Ukraine, we are not going to allow it to dominate our agenda, which is focused on how we can grow the global economy," he said.Everytime there is a meeting of G-20 since 2010, there would be a political crisis to hang around the meetings, obstructing any healthy progress and decision of the G-20.
In 2011, there was the euro crisis with the bad boy Greece; 2012 nadir, nothing happened in Mexico; 2013, first a meteorite hitting Siberia than the Syria crisis with Obama threatening to invade that country on false flag of chemical weapons used; and now the Ukraine crisis pop up by Vitoria Nullan cookies in Maidan Square.
G-20 meetings are a bad omen. Perhaps a little change could work a miracle for the progress of Global Economy. With the help of chinese Feng shui, i propose a G-19 meeting would change the luck. A win-win for all. USA doesnt need to approve the Seoul Reform and the World could move on with reform without unfairly raise US contributions nor undermining USA influence.
Thank you, good review. I say this somewhat tongue and cheek...will they bring personal weapons to the next meeting ?
I have visions of Matrix movie and the meeting with Merovingian (The Frenchman).
The G20 meeting after the US-China meeting outcomes should be interesting.
Buckle up.
Banker Wars at work with your taxes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWkfpGCAAuw&feature=youtube_gdata
War is when your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when you figure it out for yourself.
Lol, seems as if the world forgot how passports can be used. Let's see a raise of hands here, how many people here would gladly accept a Russian passport if it was offered to you with no real strings attached? You'd have to be an idiot not to snap that up.
maybe you would be....
A talented Ukrainian; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9FS1bxaGTg&list=PLxYi1q2m-Fdcvs7qx5FuOq... I think she's making some economic errors, but I'm sure Christine Lagarde can straighten her out.
BUSH/SAUDI to be Married by CIA/MOSSAD oil routes to CHINA 'verus' the Russian/PUTIN Pipelines to CHINA
Most excellent topic.
People seem to ignore the current battle, and the battle is OIL, who supply's CHINA.
The winner now is RUSSIA, and SAUDI's of course want to sell to CHINA.
For some 50+ years the BUSH FAMILY has acted as the MAFIA ENFORCER to help SAUDI sell what was once the largest POOL OF OIL in the world, that oil of course is almost gone, but it is still very valuable.
The Russians can send their oil over-land through pipelines to CHINA, but SAUDI has to send their oil by 'SEA', now its treacherous, because the oil must go a southern route south of Indonesia. What SAUDI (CIA/MOSSAD) would like to run the oil through the Indian Ocean to Malaysia, and their run the OIL through a CANAL ( like the suez or panama ), problem of course is they MUST take the MALAYSIAN government out of power, so that HE WHO pay's for the CANAL own's the CANAL.
The MH-370 heist was designed to Destroy the MALAY government, and then fill the GOVERNMENT with lackeys loyal to the CIA/MOSSAD and get the CANAL built ASAP.
Malaysia have been trying very hard to prevent the construction of the project by bribing Thai officials to vote against the construction of the project in the Bangkok parliament. The conspiracy theory is widely believed given the incentive that both of these countries have in protecting their own economy and industries who stand to lose a substantial sum of business if the project was erected.
This is also a reason for recent interest in the canal. The Strait of Malacca, just under 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long, is narrow, less than 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) at the narrowest, and just 25 metres (82 ft) deep at its shallowest point. It is heavily used by oil tankers and bulk carriers. Some 80 percent of Japan's oil supplies pass through the Straits. Any planned canal in Thailand would mean that large ships could travel through the region from India and on to China and Japan without passing through the Strait of Malacca.
In 2005 an internal report prepared for U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was leaked to The Washington Times, spelling out China's strategy of underwriting construction of the canal across the Kra Isthmus complete with Chinese port facilities and refineries, as part of its "string of pearls" strategy of forward bases and energy security.[4] The Chinese plan called for construction over ten years employing roughly 30,000 workers and costing between 20 and 25 billion American dollars
Fascinating logic.
"The Malays lost a plane...Let's build a canal."
Claude Salhani is a mouthpiece for the official party line. I mean, look at this crap:
"...it will take several years for Western nations and NATO to re-organize and adapt to the new threats posed by Russia’s new foreign policy."
Translation: Having been outflanked by Putin in its attempt to install itself in Crimea/Ukraine, NATO will now work a new plan of how it can surround Russia.
Give us a break Claude!
Claude's ponderous Diplo-speak has a bit more gravitas than screaming "The Russians are coming for your beets and women!"