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Timofey Bordachev: BRICS expansion was most important foreign-policy event of 2023 - what will match it in 2024?

Timofey Bordachev
RT
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 19:01 UTC
Xi/Put/Mod
© Tyrone Siu/AFPIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi • Russian President Vladimir Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping • BRICS Summit
Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center • Xiamen, Fujian Province
The West will continue to lose influence this year, but it won't go quietly into that good night...

Predicting the future is the most thankless task when it comes to international politics. All of the genre, in fact, because it involves the interaction of living human beings. That means it is subject to chance, elementary error, and the influence of emotion. If this were not so, history would indeed go straight on "like the sidewalk of the Nevsky Prospect," the main thoroughfare of St. Petersburg.

But not only is history unpredictable, it doesn't repeat itself, which makes it utterly pointless to try to predict specific turns of events. The only thing we can talk about with relative certainty is the development of the major trends we can already see today.

In the coming year 2024, Russia will definitely be the largest continental country in the world with the opportunity to develop ties in several geographical directions at once: To trade with its neighbors, to build new transport and logistics systems, and to thwart its opponents' attempts to isolate it.

The United States will remain the largest "political island," whose security and development, in principle, depend very little on what happens in its immediate surroundings.

China will remain a country with a huge population and economy in need of external markets and resources.

The European Union will continue to "sit on the windowsill" in the far west of Eurasia, always critically dependent on resources from outside. But it is no longer in a position to extract them on its own.

Central Asia, which is close to us, will remain an important link between Russia and China. The fate of states in that region, like that of the rest of the world, will be determined by the trends in world politics that we have seen in 2023.
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Calendar

Scott Ritter's take on the most important events of 2023

Scott Ritter
RT
Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:33 UTC
Ritter
© RT/Andrey Bortko/Sputnik/Djibo Issifou/picture alliance/Per-Anders Pettersson/US Navy/Jack Guez/AFPScott Ritter • Scenes from 2023
The failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Israel-Hamas war, and other events have marked a turn away from US hegemony...

The year 2023 was a banner year for change, underscoring the reality of a world transforming away from American hegemony toward the uncertainty of a yet-to-be-defined multilateral reality. This transformation was marked by many events - here are the five most important ones:

The failed Ukrainian counteroffensive

Perhaps the most-hyped event of the year, Ukraine's much-anticipated spring/summer counteroffensive was NATO's version of the German Ardennes offensive of December 1944 - a last-gasp effort to throw all remaining reserves into a desperate attempt to score a knock-out blow against an opponent who had seized the strategic initiative. Any sound military analyst could have predicted the inevitability of a Ukrainian defeat - one cannot responsibly speak of launching a frontal assault on a heavily defended, well-prepared defensive position using forces who are neither equipped, organized, or trained for the task.
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Magnify

Prosecutor on Jack Smith team discouraged FBI from investigating Clinton Foundation in 2016

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Thu, 04 Jan 2024 03:45 UTC
Clinton Foundation
© gemstatepatriot.com
Then-DOJ Public Integrity Section Chief Hulser said evidence was 'de minimis,' despite SARs being filed related to Clinton Foundation...

A top prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team discouraged the FBI from pursuing an investigation into the Clinton Foundation in 2016 due to what he viewed as negligible evidence, despite multiple Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) related to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign transactions, Fox News Digital has learned.

Ray Hulser, the former chief of the DOJ's Public Integrity Section (PIN), who serves on Smith's team currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump, was identified as the official who "declined prosecution" of the Clinton Foundation in 2016 in Special Counsel John Durham's report.

According to the Durham report, in January 2016, "three different FBI field offices, the New York Field Office, the Washington Field Office, and the Little Rock Field Office, opened investigations into possible criminal activity involving the Clinton Foundation."


Comment: See also:

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Brick Wall

Speaker Mike Johnson in Texas calls border unmitigated DISASTER: US is at a 'breaking point'

Morgan Phillips and Kelly Laco
The Daily Mail
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 20:49 UTC
Speaker Mike Johnson texas border crisis migrants
© Associated PressSpeaker Mike Johnson visiting the Texas border, January 3, 2024
Over 60 Republicans scorched Biden for 'shameful' inaction and for attacking GOP Gov. Abbott

Speaker Mike Johnson called the border an 'unmitigated disaster' and blamed President Biden for pushing the crisis to 'breaking point' during a visit to a migrant crossing hotspot in Texas on Wednesday. His trip to Eagle Pass comes days after it was revealed over 302,000 people crossed the border illegally in December, the highest total for a month in history.

'The situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable. We would describe it as both heartbreaking and infuriating,' the speaker said during a press conference with 64 House Republicans.

A group of migrant kids from Venezuela were seen in the river screaming 'help me!' in front of Johnson while he toured the site and delivered remarks.

The speaker went on to say officials have 'no idea how many terrorists have come into the country' and set up cells across the nation.

Comment:



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Document

UK gathering secret 'Trump dossier' - reports


RT
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 12:48 UTC
trump uk
© MANDEL NGAN / AFP
Senior UK officials are compiling a dossier on former US President Donald Trump in anticipation of his potential victory in the 2024 election, which could cause turmoil on the global stage, inews reported on Friday.

The website claimed, citing unnamed sources, that the Foreign Office is spearheading the campaign to compile an assessment of the 45th US president's stance on "key issues affecting the UK, such as the Ukraine crisis, the Middle East and international trade." Britain's ambassador to Washington, Karen Pierce, is said to be the main figure leading the effort.

According to inews, UK Conservative party officials worry that if Trump beats incumbent Joe Biden, he could "chuck a massive grenade into global geopolitics." One unnamed official told the outlet that Trump's reelection "absolutely makes an enormous difference" as the UK has become more dependent on America's stance on global affairs since Brexit.

Comment: RT commenter D_Banner hit the nail on the head when they commented on the Conservative party officials' concerns about the coming 'turmoil on the global stage if Trump is reelected':
"Which could cause turmoil on the global stage". More chaos than the Afghan withdrawal, more turmoil than the avoidable war in Ukraine, more disastrous than arming funding and approving the genocide in Gaza, worse than sabotaging your allies energy infrastructure .... Wow , we're really lucky they rigged that last election then. Let's hope they can repeat it this time too.


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Bad Guys

Hezbollah takes out major radar installation on Israel-Lebanon border amid concern over Gaza spillover


The Straits Times
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 20:18 UTC
Hezbollah tank israel lebanon border
© ReutersFILE: Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post early on Jan 6 with 62 rockets.
Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Jan 6 that it had fired rockets at Israel, and its arch-foe said it had struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation.

Meanwhile, top United States and European diplomats visited the region to seek ways to stop spillover from the Gaza war.

Shortly after rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel, the Israeli military said "approximately 40 launches from Lebanon towards the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified".

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Hezbollah said it hit a key Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas' deputy chief on Jan 2.

Comment: RT adds:
Shortly after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October, Hezbollah declared itself "at war" with the Jewish state. Engaging in tit-for-tat exchanges with the IDF, the Lebanese militants have until recently waged a limited campaign aimed at tying up Israeli forces near the border, thereby preventing their deployment to Gaza.

However, the group's position has hardened following the assassination in Beirut on Tuesday. Al-Arouri, who at the time of his death was the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, was killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike in the Lebanese capital.

Hezbollah described the killing as a "serious assault on Lebanon," that it would not let "pass without response and punishment." In a speech the day after the strike, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that a "response is coming," adding that the "decision has already been made."

"If the enemy thinks about waging war against Lebanon, then our fighting will be with no ceiling, with no limits, with no rules. And they know what I mean," Nasrallah said. "We are not afraid of war. We don't fear it. We are not hesitant."
Hezbollah: accurate and economical. Its strike was on a legitimate military target, did some real damage to Israel's ability to monitor the border, and yet was small enough that Israel could not justify an overwhelming response.





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Sheriff

Texas border sheriff sends fiery message to Mayorkas: Let Border Patrol 'do its job'

Elizabeth Heckman
Fox News
Fri, 05 Jan 2024 20:01 UTC
migrants border el paso record numbers
© AP Photo/Andres Leighton, FileMigrants wait in line adjacent to the border fence under the watch of the Texas National Guard to enter into El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
Coe predicted a 'tsunami' of crossings prior to Trump's inauguration if elected in 2024

Kinney County, Texas Sheriff Brad Coe thanked Gov. Greg Abbott on America's Newsroom Friday for helping mitigate the border crisis. Coe said he has received no help from the federal government even as his deputies and the community faced increased risk last year.

"I've got six full-time deputies. Those guys were involved in over 260 high-speed pursuits," he told hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.

Coe said they were able to catch 90% of the suspects but said he's concerned about the safety of children because a school sits on the main corridor through town.

Comment: Coe is a man not afraid to get his hand dirty: Fed-up Texas sheriff drives 4 migrants back to border to deport them

Mayorkas has done nothing but obstruct the very purpose of the office he holds. Impeachment, followed by criminal charges is in order.

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Light Saber

Another down: Wyoming judge dismisses effort to bar Trump from state ballot

Emma Colton
Fox News
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 19:43 UTC
Republican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray
© Wyoming Secretary of StateRepublican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray
Secretary of State Chuck Gray celebrated the judge's dismissal of what he called a 'repugnant lawsuit'

A Wyoming district court judge dismissed a lawsuit aiming to remove former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis from election ballots, sparking celebration from Wyoming Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray.

"I am extremely pleased with Judge Westby's decision to dismiss Mr. Newcomb's outrageously wrong and repugnant lawsuit to remove Donald Trump and Cynthia Lummis from the ballot in Wyoming," Gray said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital.

"I have been working to make sure that Donald Trump will be able to be on the ballot, and I am happy our motion to dismiss this lawsuit was granted. I will continue to fight against this nationwide effort in order to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that the people of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves."

Comment: Nothing says "democratic process" like trying to remove your political opponents. Of course there is the problem of blowback:

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Attention

In a world fraught with war and danger... Signs of Hope


Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 18:13 UTC
White House Down
© Strategic Culture Foundation
The emergence of a multipolar world is a reminder that the world has a lot to be optimistic about - despite the ravages of conflict and manifold perilous tensions.

Russia and China's strength to face down U.S. aggression is one such assurance of a better world taking shape.

Out with the old and in with the new. There is an unerring sense that we are witnessing not merely one year giving way to the next.

The world is undergoing truly historic changes that are related to the inexorable decline of the U.S.-led Western order and the emergence of a multipolar global order.

The United States is still undoubtedly a global power with hegemonic ambitions. Its possession of hundreds of military bases in over 100 countries around the world is a testimony to its formidable military strength.

Nevertheless, the Washington-dominated Western order - or so-called "rules-based order" - is in fateful decline. The emergence of a multipolar alternative order is illustrated by numerous fora, the BRICS with its growing membership, the increasing influence of the G20, and the dynamism of the Eurasian economies. All these developments bear witness to the demise of the Western order.

The substantial move away from the U.S. dollar as the premier currency of trade is perhaps the most consequential manifestation of the global shifts in power.
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Eye 1

Bill Clinton allegedly threatened Vanity Fair to not write articles about his "good friend" Jeffrey Epstein

Paul Joseph Watson
Modernity.News
Sat, 06 Jan 2024 14:34 UTC
vanity fair clinton
Revelation contained in new Epstein data dump.

Bill Clinton allegedly threatened Vanity Fair not to write articles about his "good friend" Jeffrey Epstein, according to the latest document release.

A second round of Epstein documents were unveiled late on Thursday.

According to Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, "Clinton allegedly "walked into VF and threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend JE."

Comment: Comment: UPDATE: Vanity Fair Published A Hit Piece On Epstein Files Just Hours Before Clinton 'Threat' Revelation
Just hours before allegations that Bill Clinton had threatened Vanity Fair to drop investigations into Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking were revealed, the outlet published a piece downplaying the latest Epstein document release.

...

It is interesting however, that this Vanity Fair piece attempting to frame the entire thing around Trump supporters was published just hours before the allegations came to light:


There have long been questions about why Vanity Fair dropped coverage of abuse allegations against Epstein dating back to 2003, with journalist Vicky Ward previously claiming that Epstein convinced Graydon Carter, not to publish claims against the financier by two accusers.

Ward has also claimed that Carter told her that Epstein had personally visited the magazine's office and exerted pressure on him to drop the coverage, and that Carter believed Epstein's claims of innocence.
See also:

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