Norman Finkelstein : Russia has the historical right to invade Ukraine (updated with transcript)
Tag: Diplomacy
A U.S.-ASEAN summit—a face or a farce
A U.S.-ASEAN summit—a face or a farce
It is clear that the U.S. officials had entertained the design to make the case that Russia’s invasion demonstrated the fragility of the international system while China’s tacit support for the invasion equally made a contrast with the United States’ principled stance. Yet, ASEAN members in general kept their heads down and avoided the issue rather than getting in the middle of a dispute between major powers. Rather than clearly denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the U.S. has acted globally, the joint vision statement called on an immediate cessation of hostilities and creating an enabling environment for peaceful resolution, and genuine respect for sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity in line with the U.N. Charter and international law. As a result, it is inevitable that the geostrategic [war] hawks in Washington were disappointed their unsuccessful persuasion of ten Asian countries to take side with the United States and its allies and partners. Because of this, the U.S. aid [bribe] package to the ASEAN was seen as a joke because it agreed to offer $150,000,000 for peace in a sharp contrast to the multiple-billions dollars for supporting a long war to weaken its geopolitical rival Russia, as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
ASEAN is a regional economic community founded in 1967, yet it has been seen as the most dynamic economic powerhouse in the 21st century. With its hugely rich natural resources and technological innovation capacities, ASEAN has committed to preserve the Southeast Asian region as a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone and free of all other weapons of mass destruction, as enshrined in the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ Treaty). Therefore, ASEAN vow to fully comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, taking into account the international community’s call for diplomacy as the instrument to maintain peace and security in the region.
…
Despite all these arguments, there is no reasons for the world to underestimate the close and comprehensive cooperation between the United States and ASEAN. This summit agenda were primarily focused on apolitical areas cooperation, such as clean energy, health security, the digital economy and the deteriorating situation in Myanmar. President Biden was aware of the wisdom of not making his ASEAN guests to be as frustrated with the situation as himself since there was deep divisions among ASEAN member states on the issues and challenges they have to face. Accordingly, it is fair to say that the U.S.-ASEAN summit recently held in Washington was good enough in public relations but insufficient in tackling the real global issues from poverty, climate change and illegal change of regime by “color revolution”.
Related:
ASEAN remains China’s No.1 trade partner from Jan to Apr, accounting for 14.6% of total trade
Megalopolis x Russia: Total War

After careful evaluation, the Kremlin is rearranging the geopolitical chessboard to end the unipolar hegemony of the “indispensable nation”.
Megalopolis x Russia: Total War
NY Times Shifts Pro-War Narrative, Documents Failure Of US In Ukraine
by John V. Walsh, MD. May 12 2022
Suggests the US End Its the Proxy War on Russia
NY Times Shifts Pro-War Narrative, Documents Failure Of US In Ukraine
Ukraine War’s Geographic Reality: Russia Has Seized Much of the East
Sources:
Governments Tighten Grip on Global Food Stocks, Sending Prices Higher
America and Its Allies Want to Bleed Russia. They Really Shouldn’t.
U.S. House Speaker In Kyiv As United Nations Continues Efforts To Help Civilians In Mariupol
Ukraine – Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
Ukraine – Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
After a lot of talk about defeating Russia in the Ukraine and an alleged lack of Russian fighting abilities Congress passed another $40 billion fund for weapons and economic support. That brings the total to some $53 billion for Ukraine.
Most of the money will go to the U.S. weapon industry, the CIA and to various Ukrainian oligarchs. Hardly anything will be received by those in need.
With that packet now passed reality is allowed to sneak into U.S. media reporting on the issue.
Ukraine – Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
British PM Boris Johnson Urges Ukraine Not to Negotiate with Russia
Dave DeCamp: British PM Boris Johnson Urges Ukraine Not to Negotiate with Russia
The report said that Johnson told Zelensky that “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin,” Kyiv’s Western backers are not ready. The report said Johnson’s position is that of the “collective West,” which now feels Putin is not as strong as they initially thought and see the war as an opportunity to “press him.”
Johnson’s position lines up with the rhetoric that has been coming out of the Biden administration. At the end of April, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said one of Washington’s goals in Ukraine is to see a “weakened” Russia.
Johnson is just a puppet of the Biden Admin! 🤡
Joe Biden and the Dearth of Diplomacy
Joe Biden promised the world that he was “opening a new era of relentless diplomacy.” Either those were just words or Biden has lost control of his foreign policy. Rather than the birth of diplomacy, the first sixteen months of Biden’s term in office have seen a dearth of diplomacy. On all the major issues, there has been none, and often worse than none.
Joe Biden and the Dearth of Diplomacy
Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran
The unannounced arrival of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran on Sunday makes yet another wrinkle to the geopolitics of West Asia. In a short trip of a few hours, Assad had meetings with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raeisi and returned to Damascus.
Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran
Blinken signals zero change from failed Trump Venezuela policy
NATO´s new world
by Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss recently experienced her 15 minutes of glory with a blatant hissy-fit rant policy speech at a London´s Mansion House banquet. She posited that the collective West now needs “a global NATO” to pursue geopolitics anew. Publically, Ms Liz Truss tapped her well-known Rule Britannia Anglo-Saxon exceptionalistic mind-set which now would badly require a much larger “lebensraum”. By the way, the Rule Britannia lyrics ´clearly clearly clearly´ let the world know that “…at heaven’s command…Britons never, never, never shall be slaves”. No way, slaves will exist, but Britons should make sure it´s the other way around, see ? So beware… With an AUKUS core, the strategic concept is “all for one, and one for all” just like ´The Three Musketeers´ except that the world´s livelihood is for real, not a novel. Liz Truss is not a cartoon character either, she is today´s United Kingdom Foreign Secretary.
You must be logged in to post a comment.