Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle

It’s darkness at the break of (tropical) high noon. Jean Baudrillard once defined Brazil as “the chlorophyll of our planet”. And yet a land vastly associated worldwide with the soft power of creative joie de vivre has elected a fascist for president. Brazil is a land torn apart. Former paratrooper Jair Bolsonaro was elected with 55.63 percent…

Bolsonaro Is a Pivotal Part of Trump’s Plans to Build “Fortress America”

Bolsonaro Is a Pivotal Part of Trump’s Plans to Build “Fortress America”

The election of Jair Bolsonaro as Brazil’s next president is a major step in the direction of Trump’s plans to build a “Fortress America” that he intends will cement the US’ hegemonic influence in the Western Hemisphere by systematically squeezing China out of Latin America. Jair Bolsonaro’s election as Brazil’s next president will go down…

S-400s Don’t Solve India’s Geostrategic Dilemma

S-400s Don’t Solve India’s Geostrategic Dilemma

The 2018 India-Russia summit may have turned out to be one for the ages. The stakes superficially centered on whether India would seal the acquisition of five S-400 missile defense systems from Russia for $5.43 billion. The deal was clinched immediately after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized their get-together in…

Greater Eurasia Coming Together in the Russian Far East

Greater Eurasia Coming Together in the Russian Far East

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were involved in a joint cooking venture. Pancakes with caviar (blin, in Russian), chased down with a shot of vodka. It just happened at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Talk about a graphic (and edible) metaphor sealing the ever-evolving ‘Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership’. For a few years now the Vladivostok…

Putin’s Wedding Trip Seals Marriage of Convenience with Merkel

Putin’s Wedding Trip Seals Marriage of Convenience with Merkel

It was supposed to be a low-key, traditional Austrian wedding until Vladimir Putin pulled up in a black limo. The bride was Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, a top energy analyst and former professor at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna and the European Business School in Frankfurt. She knows all there is to know about…