For many years I did not really pay attention to the security situation re China. I was originally a bit alarmed by its building Island bases in the South China Sea. But actually these were defensive in nature - they present no threat except for sea lane denial in that area. In a sense you see parallels with the Russia situation where the USA is encroaching China's heartland too near for comfort. Aka Taiwan which has suddenly moved from being a "province" of China to an independant nation aligned with and armed by the USA. Hmmm? I hope the Taiwanese are watching the situation in the Ukraine as that might be their fate if they deny the weight of geography and economics. But the USA thinks it has vital interests in the Taiwan Strait?
There is clearly a new cold war underway. It used to be simple - we had the Warsaw Pact on one side, withe the USA and its various alliances and allies on the other including NATO. China spent most of the last cold war going through its own internal agonies, as did many ex-colonies and non-aligned nations. Whilst many might disagree with me, I think the "right side" won the stand off with the USSR. What happened next though was unconscionable as the victors wasted and abused the fruits of that victory in a display of hubris and stupidity.
Well we still have one side in this new cold war but there is currently no "enemy". It appears to me that this enemy will get created by default, being pushed into it by an out of control US deep state establishment. You only have to read John Bolton's latest piece (ie https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/john-bolton-says-bidens-policy-only-assures-ukraines-slow-demise) to understand how these lunatics view the world. I am not saying China nor Russia nor any of their putative allies are faultless - far from it. However it is a rational response to take defensive measures when faced with a major military, economic, and indeed social and political threat as is now represented by the USA and its western allies. The fact that the neo-marxist woke idelogy has lodged itself in the west as the dominant religion is in itself enough to alarm the ROW. Post fact and rationality, the west now bases its decision making on childish delusions and petulant wishlists, without critical thinking and risk analysis - or so it seems to me.
We are at the start of a big realignment and there is a lot of territory to cover, and possibly much disruption and possibly or probably even dying to go before we end up in a new and probably temporary stability. This article highlighted for me the challenges faced by the non-west to create a new economic sysem - even taking into account the flawed use of $USD not PPP. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-105-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/. China is currently sufferring major internal economic problems and Russia is in the middle of a war. However the USA and western Europe are failing at present.
I think the next steps will be a greater cementing of formal economic and security ties beween BRICS, and its enlargement and the co-operation of many nations currently within the largely western sphere of influence. And I would expect the USA and its allies to try to counter these by fair means or foul. Africa is a big [prize] here and it looks like we will see a lot more Niger type situations. We live in interesting times.
I suggest reading Super Imperialism and the actual history of post-WW2 US Imperialism to arrive at a credible assessment of the first Cold War phase's outcome, for IMO that phase was dominated by US Imperialism that has yet to be stopped, thus the continuation of the Cold War, if that's really what it ought to be named. US history prior to 1900 was one of continual expansion of the megalomania/pleonexia type that was escalated into a neocolonial format prior to the era of Neocolonialism as the dollar was weaponized during the Era of Dollar Diplomacy prior to the Great Depression. One could argue that the Versailles Treaty was a form of that neocolonialism aimed at Europe and thus part of the Wilsonian strategy.
Glad to see you once again, Karl, as an advocate for studying history on an intellectually open basis. The more looks closely at World War I, particularly its causes, the more one realizes that the standard narrative is incomplete, if not actually deeply untrue.
Once one accepts the wisdom of Tolstoy’s statement about historical “truth”, and Schopenhauer’s even more brilliant précis on truth, one undergoes a kind of liberation.
Of course, the danger is one may eventually succumb to nihilism (which has been so destructive to Russian/Soviet life). But distancing oneself from the facts of one’s birth and upbringing, is also liberating. There actually is a world beyond (outside of) what an individual experiences.
Karl’s writings show an individual trying to find “the view from nowhere” (credit to Thomas Nagel for the term).
Curious appraisal, thanks. 25 years ago I wrote a paper calling for objective histories as opposed to winners narratives which are misleading and counterproductive if we're serious about our future pathway. The paper astounded my Prof and was circulated within the History Department at my university where I'd just transferred to--Northern Arizona--as a Junior. I also proposed the idea that all history is revisionary since all historians filter their source material before writing their interpretations.
....."a contradiction between the actions and statements of the US"..... this seems to be an integral feature, as opposed to a flaw... anyone paying attention will have to acknowledge the usa's actions don't line up with its cheap talk... pay attention to the actions, not the talk... thanks karl....
For many years I did not really pay attention to the security situation re China. I was originally a bit alarmed by its building Island bases in the South China Sea. But actually these were defensive in nature - they present no threat except for sea lane denial in that area. In a sense you see parallels with the Russia situation where the USA is encroaching China's heartland too near for comfort. Aka Taiwan which has suddenly moved from being a "province" of China to an independant nation aligned with and armed by the USA. Hmmm? I hope the Taiwanese are watching the situation in the Ukraine as that might be their fate if they deny the weight of geography and economics. But the USA thinks it has vital interests in the Taiwan Strait?
There is clearly a new cold war underway. It used to be simple - we had the Warsaw Pact on one side, withe the USA and its various alliances and allies on the other including NATO. China spent most of the last cold war going through its own internal agonies, as did many ex-colonies and non-aligned nations. Whilst many might disagree with me, I think the "right side" won the stand off with the USSR. What happened next though was unconscionable as the victors wasted and abused the fruits of that victory in a display of hubris and stupidity.
Well we still have one side in this new cold war but there is currently no "enemy". It appears to me that this enemy will get created by default, being pushed into it by an out of control US deep state establishment. You only have to read John Bolton's latest piece (ie https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/john-bolton-says-bidens-policy-only-assures-ukraines-slow-demise) to understand how these lunatics view the world. I am not saying China nor Russia nor any of their putative allies are faultless - far from it. However it is a rational response to take defensive measures when faced with a major military, economic, and indeed social and political threat as is now represented by the USA and its western allies. The fact that the neo-marxist woke idelogy has lodged itself in the west as the dominant religion is in itself enough to alarm the ROW. Post fact and rationality, the west now bases its decision making on childish delusions and petulant wishlists, without critical thinking and risk analysis - or so it seems to me.
We are at the start of a big realignment and there is a lot of territory to cover, and possibly much disruption and possibly or probably even dying to go before we end up in a new and probably temporary stability. This article highlighted for me the challenges faced by the non-west to create a new economic sysem - even taking into account the flawed use of $USD not PPP. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-105-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/. China is currently sufferring major internal economic problems and Russia is in the middle of a war. However the USA and western Europe are failing at present.
I think the next steps will be a greater cementing of formal economic and security ties beween BRICS, and its enlargement and the co-operation of many nations currently within the largely western sphere of influence. And I would expect the USA and its allies to try to counter these by fair means or foul. Africa is a big [prize] here and it looks like we will see a lot more Niger type situations. We live in interesting times.
I suggest reading Super Imperialism and the actual history of post-WW2 US Imperialism to arrive at a credible assessment of the first Cold War phase's outcome, for IMO that phase was dominated by US Imperialism that has yet to be stopped, thus the continuation of the Cold War, if that's really what it ought to be named. US history prior to 1900 was one of continual expansion of the megalomania/pleonexia type that was escalated into a neocolonial format prior to the era of Neocolonialism as the dollar was weaponized during the Era of Dollar Diplomacy prior to the Great Depression. One could argue that the Versailles Treaty was a form of that neocolonialism aimed at Europe and thus part of the Wilsonian strategy.
Glad to see you once again, Karl, as an advocate for studying history on an intellectually open basis. The more looks closely at World War I, particularly its causes, the more one realizes that the standard narrative is incomplete, if not actually deeply untrue.
Once one accepts the wisdom of Tolstoy’s statement about historical “truth”, and Schopenhauer’s even more brilliant précis on truth, one undergoes a kind of liberation.
Of course, the danger is one may eventually succumb to nihilism (which has been so destructive to Russian/Soviet life). But distancing oneself from the facts of one’s birth and upbringing, is also liberating. There actually is a world beyond (outside of) what an individual experiences.
Karl’s writings show an individual trying to find “the view from nowhere” (credit to Thomas Nagel for the term).
Curious appraisal, thanks. 25 years ago I wrote a paper calling for objective histories as opposed to winners narratives which are misleading and counterproductive if we're serious about our future pathway. The paper astounded my Prof and was circulated within the History Department at my university where I'd just transferred to--Northern Arizona--as a Junior. I also proposed the idea that all history is revisionary since all historians filter their source material before writing their interpretations.
....."a contradiction between the actions and statements of the US"..... this seems to be an integral feature, as opposed to a flaw... anyone paying attention will have to acknowledge the usa's actions don't line up with its cheap talk... pay attention to the actions, not the talk... thanks karl....
Berlectic of The New Atlas gives very good examples of this in many of his viedeos. When you hear them pointed out, it is quite stark.