{"id":54345,"date":"2015-03-02T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=54345"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:26:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:26:02","slug":"eu-reeling-between-us-and-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/03\/eu-reeling-between-us-and-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Reeling between US and Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minsk 2.0 agreement de facto shows that Germany and France, the leading European powers are trying to break away from the “American Chaos project.”
\n<\/em>
\n19 Feb 2015 – <\/em>Washington has certainly succeeded in\u00a0permeating an already embattled EU with\u00a0a little extra \u2013 what else \u2013 chaos, by\u00a0pitting the \u201cWest\u201d against\u00a0Russia.<\/p>\n

The Obama administration \u2013 infested with\u00a0neo-con cells, those ghosts inside\u00a0the machine \u2013 have always believed that a package of\u00a0Western sanctions plus a Saudi-unleashed oil price war would be enough to\u00a0bring down\u00a0the Russian economy, thus \u201cchanging its behavior\u201d on\u00a0Ukraine, and in\u00a0the best scenario provoking regime change in\u00a0Moscow.<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s not working. Minsk 2.0 \u2013 as\u00a0fragile an agreement as\u00a0it is \u2013 de facto shows Germany (assisted by\u00a0France), the leading European powers, trying to\u00a0break away from\u00a0the American Chaos project.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Empire of\u00a0Chaos<\/a> does not want a lasting agreement on\u00a0Ukraine \u2013 and will do everything to\u00a0torpedo Minsk 2.0. NATO\u2019s strategic imperative remains clear; force Moscow into\u00a0a war in\u00a0Ukraine to\u00a0exhaust it economically, prevent a EU-Russia economic\/trade partnership, and eliminate Russia as\u00a0a global competitor to\u00a0the US.<\/p>\n

The oil price war, for\u00a0its part, is also not going swimmingly anymore. Neo-cons are actually desperate; they\u2019ve seen how the Saudi strategy is killing the US shale oil industry.<\/p>\n

Now they are not saying out\u00a0loud they want an oil price rise to\u00a0help Russia; but\u00a0rather to\u00a0keep killing Russia with\u00a0low prices while the US reaps the gains by\u00a0imposing a protectionist tariff. As the neo-cons see it, this way they will also kill Saudi Arabia and Iran. And this scheme was not even concocted by\u00a0notorious Russophobe Dr. Zbig \u201cGrand Chessboard\u201d Brzezinski.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t You Step on\u00a0My Loaned Suede Shoes<\/strong><\/p>\n

If geopolitically and in\u00a0the energy sphere the Empire of\u00a0Chaos is facing trouble, all\u2019s fine and dandy in\u00a0the realm of\u00a0disaster capitalism. Thanks, once again, to\u00a0the IMF.<\/p>\n

The IMF in\u00a0Ukraine has been perpetrating the same devastation recently unleashed on\u00a0Greece or Ireland, or across\u00a0the Global South as\u00a0a whole since\u00a0the 1970s. Dreaded \u201cstructural adjustment\u201d still applies \u2013 complete with\u00a0an array of\u00a0savage privatizations starring Western \u201cinvestors\u201d embedded with\u00a0local oligarchs. That includes, of\u00a0course, land grabs facilitated by\u00a0IMF loans.<\/p>\n

The $17 billion IMF loan that was miraculously produced on\u00a0the eve of\u00a0Minsk 2.0 not only allows the oligarchs in\u00a0Kiev to\u00a0keep prosecuting \u2013 by\u00a0proxy \u2013 an Empire of\u00a0Chaos war against\u00a0Russia. It came with\u00a0a key conditionality; Ukraine must imperatively be ravaged by\u00a0hardcore biotech farming. And what a fabulous agricultural prize; Ukraine is the world\u2019s third largest exporter of\u00a0corn, the fifth largest exporter of\u00a0wheat, with\u00a0a deep, rich, black soil where anything, literally, can grow. The winners, predictably, will be the usual corporate GMO suspects \u2013 from\u00a0seed producers Monsanto and Dupont to\u00a0farm equipment dealer, Deere.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michael Hudson has conclusively tracked this path of\u00a0turbo-neoliberalism run amok; and yes, just like\u00a0in the recently orchestrated run on\u00a0the ruble, \u201cfinance is the new kind of\u00a0warfare\u201d, with \u201cfinance and forced sell-offs in\u00a0a new kind of\u00a0battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legally, IMF head Christine \u201clook at\u00a0my new Chanel\u201d Lagarde, also currently involved in\u00a0perpetuating Greece as\u00a0a \u201cdebt colony\u201d (in the words of\u00a0Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis) would not know how to\u00a0justify the IMF making billionaire loans to\u00a0an Ukraine plunged into\u00a0civil war, and on\u00a0top of\u00a0it completely broke.<\/p>\n

But Madame Lagarde actually does not run the show; secretive Masters of\u00a0the Universe in\u00a0the Washington\/Wall Street axis do.<\/p>\n

EU out, BRICS and SCO in <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Empire of\u00a0Chaos certainly has reasons to\u00a0gloat about\u00a0the nasty split between\u00a0the EU and Russia. Moscow\u2019s working hypothesis is that sanctions won\u2019t vanish anytime soon. And forget about \u201cbusiness as\u00a0usual\u201d anytime soon. Germany\u2019s captains of\u00a0industry are not amused.<\/p>\n

And yet, if only a few years ago President Putin was proposing\u00a0\u2014 in\u00a0Germany\u00a0\u2014 a wider Europe from\u00a0Lisbon to\u00a0Vladivostok, the Ukraine tragedy has in\u00a0fact turbocharged a \u201cGo East\u201d move; the Russia-China strategic partnership, a sort of\u00a0prime Eurasia from\u00a0Shanghai to\u00a0St. Petersburg that also happens to\u00a0be one of\u00a0the touchstones of\u00a0the massive Chinese-driven New Silk Road(s) infrastructure project, linking China to\u00a0Europe via\u00a0Central Asia and also via\u00a0a high-speed rail upgrade of\u00a0the Trans-Siberian.<\/p>\n

The myth of\u00a0Russia\u2019s \u201cisolation\u201d propelled by\u00a0Washington and its vassals is a joke. An Empire of\u00a0Chaos-imposed Cold War 2.0 is not the end of (Russia\u2019s) world. Russian diplomacy is active on\u00a0all fronts \u2013 from\u00a0South Asia (India) to\u00a0the Middle East (Egypt). This summer, Russia will host two crucial summits: the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).<\/em><\/p>\n

The BRICS keep advancing their push for\u00a0a multipolar world\u00a0\u2014 from\u00a0the implementation of\u00a0a development bank to\u00a0trading in\u00a0their own currencies. The SCO will soon welcome India and Pakistan as\u00a0members, and in\u00a0the near\u00a0future, Iran \u2013 solidifying itself as\u00a0an Asian political\/economic alliance.<\/p>\n

The Empire of\u00a0Chaos\u2019s obsessive agenda precludes any benefits for\u00a0the EU. Apart from\u00a0Gazprom, Russia has been sidelined as\u00a0a trade partner \u2013 at\u00a0least in\u00a0the near\u00a0future. And there\u2019s not much the EU may profit from\u00a0Ukraine; it won\u2019t fork out\u00a0a single devalued euro to \u201csave\u201d it from\u00a0 bankruptcy, and it won\u2019t play with\u00a0fire by\u00a0facilitating its incorporation by\u00a0NATO. I have argued it all depends on\u00a0Germany. Business Germany wants to\u00a0do business with\u00a0Eurasian powers Russia and China. Political Germany is still wondering where its strategic priorities lie.<\/p>\n

Diplomats in\u00a0a split to\u00a0the core Brussels, off\u00a0the record, have hinted Moscow sent a clear message. Either everyone embarks on\u00a0a Chinese-style \u201cwin-win\u201d situation, from\u00a0Lisbon to\u00a0Vladivostok; or the EU blindly follows the Empire of\u00a0Chaos, chooses confrontation in\u00a0Ukraine, and receives as\u00a0a poisoned gift a war in\u00a0its eastern borderlands it cannot possibly win.<\/p>\n

________________________<\/p>\n

Pepe Escobar, from Brazil, is the roving correspondent for Asia Times\/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the author of <\/em><\/em>Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War<\/a> (Nimble Books, 2007), <\/em>Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge<\/a> (Nimble Books, 2007), and <\/em>Obama does Globalistan<\/a> (Nimble Books, 2009). His new <\/em>book is Empire of Chaos<\/a>.<\/em> He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 sputiniknews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minsk 2.0 agreement de facto shows that Germany and France, the leading European powers are trying to break away from the “American Chaos project.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}