2024's shivering article!
The collapse of Syria, BRICS, and wishful thinking (for a more equal world).
"Human dreams... such fertile ground for the seeds of torment." - Hellraiser III
The world is at war.
Keyboard warriors and cheerleaders using fake names need to be sobered up.
Consequently, I was going to deliver a sobriety article by balancing multipolar gains with the obvious power that the Empire still holds (and is willing to use with horror zest).
However, the result would only have been inferior to Naked Capitalism’s icy shower:
“A question that will only be answered with time is what this stunning change of fortune means for BRICS. Turkiye asked to join BRICS in early September, raising eyebrows as to how that could be squared with Turkiye being a linchpin members of NATO, by virtue of geography and having the biggest NATO army in Europe. One has to wonder now, in light of the Supreme Leader of Iran”s warnings to Assad in June, and more urgently staring in September that the West was planning a new push to oust Assad. One has to wonder if the BRICS application was a deception, or alternatively, Erdogan keeping his options open as the plotting unfolded…
Without belaboring the point, Israel’s gain is a big blow for the Axis of Resistance project. Russia has also lost prestige, having invested successfully to fight off the US-backed effort to overthrow Assad during the civil war from 2011 to 2019, only to have it all come to naught. Although no decision seems to have yet been made, commentators such as John Helmer anticipate that Russia will pull out of its naval and air bases in Syria, ending its long-standing commitment to projecting power in the eastern Mediterranean.
BRICS is in Schrodinger’s cat phase where there are many things BRICS could potentially be when it grows up, and those possibilities will over time coalesce into a mature form. As Frank Herbert observed in Dune, ‘Beginnings are such delicate times.’
Rubiconned at Moon of Alabama is over-egging the pudding, but there still some merit to this view:
‘Nuclear debate aside, I think we have definitively seen the overmatch the USA has on China and Russia play out in Syria.’”
That chill by Yves Smith is stronger in context. It must be read without skipping a word.
ATTENTION: Read the FULL ARTICLE
Thanks for the 53,000 views the past 30 days. Conversely, I don’t want to chase stats. When I return, next year, I’ll post only once or twice monthly. I’ll start by trying to compliment Smith’s article with focus on Putin or Erdogan, and debate their 2024 achievements and 2025 challenges.
I’m still considering starting a baby substack for international movies (which could then raise me to a weekly post). In expecting that at least 6 of you want Russian drama, Middle East comedy and French horror recommendations, I’m not the pessimist you think I am - oh, frabjous day [chortle].
Don’t forget the dying! They help us to appreciate what we’ve got!
We’ve been in WW3 for quite some time but undeclared. The powers have figured out that it’s better to keep the commoners in the dark, glued to phones of unending streams of titillation. Those in the know get to dwell in the hinterlands of limited hangouts. The cruel masters are brilliant, but greed has its owns seeds of destruction. This house of cards is made of imaginary dollars. That’s all. In the long run as history has demonstrated, that house must fall. BRICS has been anticipating and planning for 15 years. It’s the hare and tortoise game.
I myself have decided until further notice this is a Broadway Play! It has scripts, directors and producers. The world is led by fear and scare complex to utilized by the powers that be. I feel we are already in the one world government and the rest will play out as the financial players want it to. I may be wrong but I had to take a stand. It is only 24 hours in a day.