Red Alert!
Red Alert! China Threat! Australia hosting US Nukes & US Nuclear subs, US threat assessment, US subverts Georgia, Dr. Doom Polycrisis, Money & Empire, UN High Seas Treaty, Malaysia ex-PM Corruption
UPDATE: The blatant “red Alert-China threat” propaganda practised by Australia’s yellow media has been concocted to support the far-fetched and absurd AUKUS plan. The plan will allow US submarines to be based in Australia for the next two decades with “nuclear weapon ambiguity” as a cover for the fact that Australia has surrendered “command and control” to the United States. Australian independent foreign policy, if it ever really existed” is now firmly being directed from Washington.
The newly released US Threat Assessment report, wait for it, states that China is an “economic, technological, political and military threat” to the US and the entire world. Thus, the United States must increase its military budgets and threat awareness and strengthen its military alliance structure to thwart Russia and China. Who could have guessed?
US-backed opposition groups waving US and EU flags are attempting to block a bill to increase transparency behind political groups to reduce foreign interference. The US overthrew Georgia’s government in 2003 and immediately flooded the country with weapons and military training. The result, Georgia attacked Russia and lost a mini-war in 5 days. The US is doing it again to “[over] extend” Russia.
Dr. Doom, Nouriel Roubini predicts a “polycrisis” in ‘Megatrends’ his new book. Global fragmentation as advanced economies fall into recession (war and QE) and the Global South achieves progression (peace and prosperity).
Charles P. Kindleberger ranks as one of the twentieth century’s best known and most influential international economists. A new book traces the evolution of his thinking in the context of a ‘key-currency’ approach to the rise of the dollar system. Whether or not it remains the “indispensable framework for global economic development” is, however, highly questionable.
The high seas begin at the border of nations' exclusive economic zones, which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country's coast, and are under no state's jurisdiction. After four inconclusive sessions, UN member states aim at finally completing a treaty to protect the world’s high seas, a vital yet fragile resource in a new treaty called the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement.
Former Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin was arrested after questioning over funds allegedly channelled from building contractors to his party in exchange for projects. Muhyiddin became prime minister in March 2020 and lost the job in 2021 to more political manoeuvring. His successor, Anwar Ibrahim, is cracking down on corruption and removing former and future opponents too.
Australian media are outright telling us they are feeding us war propaganda about China
The mass media in Australia have been churning out brazen propaganda pieces to manufacture consent for war with China, and what’s interesting is that they’re basically admitting to doing this deliberately. Australians are uniquely susceptible to propaganda because we have the most concentrated media ownership in the western world, dominated by a powerful duopoly of Nine Entertainment and the Murdoch-owned News Corp. Both of those media megacorporations have recently put out appalling propaganda pieces about the need for Australians to rapidly prepare to go to war with China in defense of Taiwan, and in both of those instances have straightforwardly told their audiences that there’s an urgent need to effect a psychological change in the way all Australians think about this war.
Nine Entertainment’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have been busy flooding the media with testimony from a panel of war machine-funded “experts” who say Australia must hasten to get ready to join the United States in a hot war with China in the next three years. Yesterday’s dual front-page propaganda assault featured imagery of Chinese war planes flying straight at the reader, awash in red and emblazoned with the words “RED ALERT” to help everyone understand how evil and communist China is.
Read full article here.
Nuclear ambiguity - AUKUS is US sub base in Australia
The AUKUS submarine plan is overly complex, expensive and will take years to produce its first vessel. Australia is set to buy three Virginia class submarines in the early 2030s with the option to buy two more based on a modified British design with US parts and upgrades, which means Australia may acquire two types of nuclear submarine. While the three nations share classified military capabilities and figure out how to pay for the exorbitantly expensive deal, the US will base its nuclear submarines “with nuclear ambiguity” in Australia for the next two decades. A forward deployment of US submarines in Western Australia by 2027 has also been flagged.
The AUKUS plan looks a lot like a “nuclear ambiguity plan” to base US subs in Australia and eventually, sometime in the next two decades Australia and the US will have convinced ASEAN members and the Pacific Island micro-states to drop their vehement opposition.
Speaking in India on Thursday, Australian PM Anthony Albanese said Australia would have the final say over all decisions involving its new fleet once it was ready, no matter the origin of the vessels. Australia would have to heavily rely on America to crew nuclear submarines "for a long time" if it buys US Virginia class vessels, a defence expert says.
“It makes sense to base or station some US submarines in Australia as a way to build the needed training and maintenance capacity in Australia,” said Bryan Clark, a former navy submariner who is now director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute. “The subs will be closer to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, which helps the US submarine presence there.”
China criticised the three nations over the sub plan, saying they should “do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability.”
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said nuclear submarines would be a massive industrial endeavour with the military never having operated "capability at this level".Australian National University's John Blaxland says the speculation "flies in the face" of his understanding of Australia's capability.
"I question what is being said because there has been a long recognition that American submarines are very difficult for us to operate because they're a quantum leap in size and crew requirements […] Having a high proportion of the crew being American would force Australia to rely on the US [and] be dependent on American crewing for a long, long time […] Is that what we want?"
This is on top of an already strained US manufacturing system."I'm sceptical because the American production line is at capacity, so we might not have any capability for years," he said.
“By boosting capability and presence in the region, Aukus is intended to challenge Beijing’s local military superiority, create more operational challenges for the PRC, undercut its increasingly aggressive actions, and ultimately help stabilize the region,” said Charles Edel, Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
US Threat Assessment
The United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its annual threat assessment this week. China is the number one threat, because it challenges the US economically, technologically, politically, and militarily around the world.
Is there something inherently wrong or dangerous about China seeking to challenge the United States economically, technologically, or politically? Isn’t that what all nations do? Don’t we believe in the inherent superiority of our system? Don’t we believe in the benefits of competition? (I thought that was fundamental to America’s national identity and values.)
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines cited China’s ruling Communist Party as the “most consequential” national security threat the U.S. faces. Never mind domestic extremism, enabled by one of the two major political parties. Never mind global warming. Never mind the US proxy war against Russia in Europe while aggressively pumping out disinformation and promoting authoritarianism worldwide.
No, even while acknowledging the existence of threats posed by domestic extremists, the US proxy war in Ukraine, and global warming, the consensus of the intelligence community, supported by leaders of both parties, is that China is the enemy the US needs to keep an eye on.
However, China has no history of conquest beyond its region in 5,000 years of history and is far from being able or inclined to pose a direct threat of attack to the U.S. According to Haines, the reason focusing on China is the intel community's top priority is "China’s efforts to achieve a vision of making China the preeminent power in East Asia and a major power on the world stage.
Read the US threat assessment here and an article on what the US gets wrong here.
US tries to conceal its involvement in Georgia protests.
Protests in Georgia consist of US-backed opposition groups (literally waving US and EU flags) attempting to block a bill to increase transparency behind political groups to reduce foreign interference. The US has overthrew Georgia’s government in 2003, according to the London Guardian. By 2008 after flooding Georgia with weapons and training its military, Georgia attacked Russia, according to a EU investigation. The US seeks to stir up trouble in Georgia again to “extend” Russia as explained in detail by the RAND Corporation’s 2019 paper, “Extending Russia.” The US has pressured other nations attempting to pass bills to protect against foreign interference including recently Thailand.
References:
BBC - Georgia protests: Police push protesters back from parliament (2023)
Transparency International - Who Supports Us
CNN - Georgia withdraws ‘foreign influence’ bill that sparked angry protests (2023)
Guardian - US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev (2004)
Reuters - Georgia started war with Russia: EU-backed report (2009)
RAND Corporation - Extending Russia (2019)
Megatrends and Polycrisis
Dr. Doom: Nouriel Roubini predicts fragmentation. Advanced economies in recession and Global South in progression. Speaking at the 7th edition of The Economic Times, Global Business Summit, Nouriel Roubini, Professor Emeritus, Stern School of Business, New York University, talks about mega threats, 'Polycrisis' and the confluence of calamities facing the Global Economy.
Watch the video to know what 'Dr Doom' Nouriel Roubini has to say on the path the world economy is heading- a Rebound or a Recession?
The Global Role of the Dollar
Charles P. Kindleberger ranks as one of the twentieth century’s best known and most influential international economists. This book traces the evolution of his thinking in the context of a ‘key-currency’ approach to the rise of the dollar system, here revealed as the indispensable framework for global economic development since World War II.
Unlike most of his colleagues, Kindleberger was deeply interested in history, and his economics brimmed with real people and institutional details. His research at the New York Fed and BIS during the Great Depression, his wartime intelligence work, and his role in administering the Marshall Plan gave him deep insight into how the international financial system really operated. A biography of both the dollar and a man, this book is also the story of the development of ideas about how money works. It throws revealing light on the underlying economic forces and political obstacles shaping our globalized world.
Provides a history of international finance as a set of evolving institutions and evolving theories about how the system works
Provides a practitioner’s eye view of central banking (1936–1942), war and reconstruction (1942–1948), contrasting with the more common top-down history
Provides a key-currency account of the rise of the dollar system, contrasting with the more common myth of multilateralism at Bretton Wood
A New UN Treaty for the High Seas
The high seas begin at the border of nations' exclusive economic zones, which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country's coast, and are under no state's jurisdiction. After four inconclusive sessions, UN member states aim at finally completing a treaty to protect the world’s high seas, a vital yet fragile resource that covers nearly half the planet. A host of NGOs and affected countries say the pact is urgently needed to improve environmental stewardship over the vast, yet largely unregulated, area as it faces growing challenges. For 15 years, UN member states have been negotiating rules for the vast global common resource in a new treaty called the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement.
Covering nearly half the Earth’s surface, the high seas are shared by all nations under international law, with equal rights to navigate, fish and conduct scientific research. Until now, only a small number of states have taken advantage of these opportunities.
This new agreement is supposed to help more countries get involved by creating rules for more fairly sharing the rewards from new fields of scientific discovery. This includes assisting developing countries with research funding and the transfer of technology.
Countries that join the treaty must also ensure that they properly assess and mitigate any environmental impacts from vessels or aircraft in the high seas under their jurisdiction. This will be especially relevant for novel activities like removing plastic.
Once at least 60 states have ratified the agreement (this may take three years or more), it will be possible to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) in high sea locations of special value.
This could protect unique ecosystems like the Sargasso Sea: a refuge of floating seaweed bounded by ocean currents in the north Atlantic which offers breeding habitat for countless rare species. By restricting what can happen at these sites, MPAs can help marine life persevere against climate change, acidification, pollution and fishing.
Download the UN Draft BBNJ here.
Malaysia ex-PM Muhyiddin Yassin arrested, faces corruption charge
Former Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin was arrested after questioning over funds allegedly channelled from building contractors to his party in exchange for projects. Muhyiddin became prime minister in March 2020 after an internal power struggle, when the reformist coalition that he had once been part of won historic elections in 2018. He lost the job in 2021 to more political manoeuvring, and his coalition then lost a hard-fought election to another veteran politician, Anwar Ibrahim, in November 2022.
PM Anwar Ibrahim has cracked down on corruption, ordering a review of government relief programmes during the pandemic. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement on Thursday that Muhyiddin was detained after he was questioned over allegations that building contractors deposited money into the accounts of his Bersatu party in exchange for contracts during the pandemic. A number of other Bersatu politicians have been questioned over the allegations and two have been charged. Muhyiddin, 75, said he was not guilty of corruption and that the allegations against him were politically motivated.
“The anti-corruption agency also froze his [Muhyiddin] party’s account in January,”
Muhyiddin will be the country’s second leader to be indicted after leaving office. Ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak was hit with multiple corruption charges after he lost power in a 2018 general election. He began a 12-year jail term in August 2022 after losing his final appeal in the first of several trials. Najib, who was once Muhyiddin’s boss and Anwar’s colleague, became the first Malaysian prime minister to be sent to jail when he was found guilty of corruption in a case related to the multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB. He faces several other trials over 1MDB.
Read more here.