Very cute how The Guardian never uses the word "imperialism" except when it wants to criticize a nation the world's leading imperialist power doesn't like.
OH MY GOD
"was"????
"The first phase of China’s new imperial age is already in train. Xi’s ambitious belt and road investment and infrastructure initiative (BRI) touches 60 countries. China is the world’s largest trading nation and largest exporter, with $2.6tn worth of exports in 2019."
So, trade.
Beyond trade Tisdall's evidence that China has COMPLETELY SUPPLANTED western powers as an imperialist force consists of (1) China having one single foreign military military base in Djibouti and (2) US government claims that it plans on building more. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The ridiculous threat inflation of China's *alleged* plans to build a military base in Equatorial Guinea is eviscerated in this excellent article by @DanielLarison. original.antiwar.com/Daniel_Larison…
@DanielLarison Very revealing how many empire propagandists keep interpreting a warning that China will defend itself from attackers as a menacing and aggressive act.
@DanielLarison God what a disgusting piece of propaganda. FYI agreeing with Simon Tisdall on any foreign policy issue is nature's way of telling you to change your media consumption habits. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
They're Killing Him: Assange's Stroke Reveals The Western Version Of The Saudi Bone Saw
"The US-centralized power alliance is murdering a journalist, as surely as the Saudi regime murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi." caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/theyre-killi…
Julian Assange suffered a mini-stroke in October during the hearing for the US appeal of a UK court's ruling on his extradition case.
Melzer examined Assange with medical experts in 2019 and published a report saying that "Mr. Assange showed all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma."
Per Washington's own logic it would be perfectly reasonable, and indeed responsible, for China to set up military arsenals along both US coastlines to "contain" it and "deter" attacks on Latin American nations as the US has an extensive history of doing and will surely do again.
The US is after all currently building a network of long-range missile systems on a chain of islands near China's coast for the explicit purpose of threatening China. news.antiwar.com/2021/03/05/us-…
"The way journalists who offend the powerful are dealt with by the US government and the way they are dealt with by the Saudi monarchy differ only in terms of speed and messiness." caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/as-fascism-c…
This ruling which allows the US to continue working to extradite a journalist for exposing US war crimes comes on the final day of Washington's so-called "Summit for Democracy", where the US Secretary of State made this grandiose show about press freedom:
US Hegemony Doesn't Make The World More Peaceful, It Makes It More Dangerous
How real is "Pax Americana" if US unipolar hegemony can only be held in place by endless violence and brute force that's is driving us toward confrontation with Russia and China? caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/us-hegemony-…
A Republican senator who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee stated on a Tuesday Fox News appearance that he strongly supports keeping US military action on the table if Russia invades Ukraine, up to and including a first-use nuclear attack.
Top Biden administration diplomat and neoconservative Ukraine coup plotter Victoria Nuland didn't go quite as far, but did assert that a perceived attack on Ukraine would see Russia financially cut off from the entire world. rt.com/russia/542522-…
Most people are deeply unconscious and patterned. Ruling elites are no exception, in fact they're MORE unconscious. It's a common mistake to think of these people as rational actors; really their minds are running on autopilot in response to conditioning put in place long ago.
That's why you'll see them continuing policies which destroy the biosphere they depend on for survival or escalating military aggressions between nuclear powers. They're not making cool, rational decisions, they're acting out impulses within themselves that they don't understand.
You'll see people say "They wouldn't nuke themselves, it's irrational" or "If the climate situation was really that bad they'd have taken drastic action long ago," but this assumes you're dealing with rational minds and not what are essentially neurological computer programs.
I keep seeing this claim in conspiracy circles that these dangerous escalations against Russia and China are a hoax being staged to distract people from the "Covid scam", which is among the dumbest theories I've ever heard about anything. Just seriously sloppy thinking. Come on.
But you can see how this happens for people who've decided that Covid is the be-all end-all issue of our day and that any government implementing Covid measures or vax mandates is part of a one world government. If it's a one world government why are they hostile? Must be a hoax.
In reality there is no one-world governmental body and the hostilities between the US-centralized power alliance and unabsorbed nations like Russia and China are very real, and governments don't move military equipment around the globe for a "distraction". That's not a thing.