The Syrian Kurds Think They Can Play Damascus Like a Fiddle

The Syrian Kurds Think They Can Play Damascus Like a Fiddle

The Syrian Kurds are exploiting Damascus’ strong sense of patriotism in order to provoke it into the dilemma of either entering into a confrontation with Ankara or risk falling victim to slanderous accusations that it “sold them out” to the Turks, with this entire manipulation being carried out with the grand strategic intent of prompting…

Shifting Geopolitical Realities in Afghanistan. Threat to US Hegemony?

Shifting Geopolitical Realities in Afghanistan. Threat to US Hegemony?

Violent geopolitical rivalries between imperialist and hegemonist powers over Afghanistan’s natural resources, trade and transit routes, and geostrategic location have dramatically intensified. Despite sixteen years of heavy-handed US presence to establish its hegemony in Afghanistan and beyond, influence of regional powers like Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and India is growing. The Perpetual War Sixteen years…

Blackouts and Flashpoints in 2018

Blackouts and Flashpoints in 2018

The prophets and forecasters for the coming year have already set out their global vision ranging from rising economies to catastrophic global wars. I want to argue from a different perspective, focusing on the increasing subdivision of markets, the deepening autonomy of political action from economic development, the greater threat of military interventions and increasing…

Trump’s General Just Announced a New Cold War. Who Will Stop It?

Trump’s General Just Announced a New Cold War. Who Will Stop It?

Defense Secretary James Mattis announced a dramatic shift in military policy last week, and it threatens to plunge the world into new forms of conflict. The secretary, known as “Mad Dog” Mattis when he was a four-star Marine general, now commands the most powerful military force in human history. Mattis insists the nickname came from…

The Doomsday Weapon

The Doomsday Weapon

While we agonize over such life and death questions as clumsy men groping women and the crucial need for gender and racial ‘inclusion,’ let me spare a few seconds thought to something really important and scary: Russia’s doomsday nuclear torpedo. Code-named by NATO ‘Kanyon,’ it’s reportedly something new and terrifying, a ‘third strike’ weapon designed to…