The 'Junior Partner' Meme Gives No Insight To Real Changes
It is quite interesting how 'western' political memes are created and spread.
- China’s New Vassal - How the War in Ukraine Turned Moscow Into Beijing’s Junior Partner - Aug 9, 2022 - Foreign Affairs
- China used to be Russia’s junior partner. Ukraine changed that. - Feb 24, 2023 - MSNBC
- Russia Becoming China's 'Junior' Partner - Bolton - Mar 13, 2023 - MENAFN
- Fatalism is not an option for addressing China-Russia relations - Mar 17, 2023 - Brookings
> China’s leaders appear guided by three top objectives in their approach to Russia. The first is to lock Russia in for the long term as China’s junior partner. < - White House knocks Russia as China’s ‘junior partner’ - Mar 21, 2023 - Washington Post
> Is Russia now a client state of China, a reporter asked National Security Council spokesman John Kirby at the daily White House briefing. “They certainly are the junior partner,” Kirby replied, a line sure to echo inside the Kremlin and at Chinese Communist Party headquarters. <
From an older piece in Foreign Affairs to an MSNBC opinion writer, then through warmonger Bolton and the librul Brookings think tank to the White House.
And from there it is all over the synchronized media:
- Meet China’s ‘junior partner’ - Mar 21, 2023 - Politico
- Xi Jinping-Vladimir Putin talks highlight Russia’s role as ‘junior partner’ to China - Mar 21, 2023 - Financial Times
- A Slim Rhetorical Wedge Could Drive China and Russia Apart - Mar 22, 2023 - DefenseOne
U.S. officials must skip no opportunity to remind Moscow that it is Beijing's junior partner. - A new cold war with Russia as junior partner and the US as a ghost of itself - Mar 22, 2023 - Digital Journal
- Xi's visit to Russia was humbling for Putin and showed how much China is dominant, experts say - Mar 22, 2023 - Insider
- Blinken dismisses Xi-Putin ties as ‘marriage of convenience’ - Mar 23, 2023 - AlJazeerah
Blinken said Russia is “very much the junior partner” in the relationship and noted that China had so far declined to provide weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. - China's drive for a new global order leaves Putin in the back seat - Mar 23, 2023 - NBC News
> But what Xi’s visit mostly underscored, experts say, is how imbalanced the China-Russia relationship is becoming.
“It certainly shows Russia needing Beijing far more than the other way around,” said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, who specializes in Chinese foreign policy. <
But is this really true? Is there really a 'junior partner' in the Russian Chinese relations? Does Russia really need China more than China needs Russia?
Well, who of two, Russia and China, has all the stuff that is needed for a modern life?
I mean energy, minerals, commodities, foodstuff plus the abilities to retrieve and process all of them into useful products. It is obvious that Russia has all this stuff right within its borders. China, on the other side, is mostly importing these things through rather fragile sea routes. China has a naval problem that can only be solved with Russian weapons. So who is really in need of whom?
China has obviously more people than Russia. But for all the Chinese riches these are still less well off than the people in Russia.
On purchase power parity base (PPP) Russia's GDP per capita in 2022 was $31,962 while China's was $21,291. When the Russian GDP per capita is 50% higher than the Chinese one can it really be a 'junior partner' in this?
I don't think so. I believe that Russia and China see themselves as equals. That is certainly true for the relation between President Putin and President Xi. Two equals who together do great things:
As he left a state reception at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping turned to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and said the world was undergoing changes “the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years.”“And we are the ones driving these changes together,” he said.
“I agree,” Putin replied, shaking hands with the Chinese leader in an exchange that was captured on camera.
A hundred years ago the world had just seen off a big war. Four big empires, the Russian, German, Austria-Hungarian and the Ottoman had suddenly vanished. The U.S. had stepped onto the international scene. In China the Kuomintang and the Communists founded the United Front to beat the rampant warlords the imperialists had created. (Russia helped with that.)
Those were indeed times of great changes. We now see similar changes in this word. The U.S. empire and its proxies are in decline. The BRICS countries, led by Russia and China and rising, now have a bigger GDP(PPP) than the G7.
bigger
Times have changed. The arrogance of the 'west' has ruined its own position in the world. A multitude of other powers have established themselves and are taking over. Russia and China together will see to that.
Can the 'west' do something about this. I could. If it became humble and truly aware of its own position and of those of the rest of the world. But I for now see no way that it is going to happen. Certainly not anytime soon. Certainly not as long as its political discussions are made up from unfounded memes.
Posted by b on March 23, 2023 at 16:18 UTC | Permalink
next page »thanks b..... the msm bs is mostly a propaganda tool.... at this point the west - g7 - are un-redeemable.. so is the media in the west at this point.. they are an unabashed tool for the same arrogance and hubris we see on display in the world today... no chance of change at this point - as i see it... if they called the uk junior partner to the usa - that would be a much better use of the term...
Posted by: james | Mar 23 2023 16:30 utc | 3
With China and Russia walking more together, the Russian gloves come off.
It will be hard hitting from Russia from here on until the USA either capitulates or is destroyed by a Russian launch.
Posted by: young | Mar 23 2023 16:32 utc | 4
Why compare Russian and Chinese GDP per capita (in reality Russia's economy is the size of one Chinese province, Guangdong) to infer equality between the two while later comparing absolute GDP (PPP) between BRICS and the G7 to infer BRICS is somehow becoming economically stronger than G7?
By the way, did Xi approve the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline during his visit? Seems it was more of an excursion than anything concrete.
Multipolaristas will seemingly spin Russia selling 26 billion m³ of LNG to China for a 70% discount compared to the 150 billion m³ it sold to the EU annually as a win it seems.
Posted by: Achtung! | Mar 23 2023 16:33 utc | 5
awesome. i was hoping (expecting!) you'd be writing about this soon. as always, thank you so much b.
Posted by: annie | Mar 23 2023 16:35 utc | 6
Ok so next we will have the follow up Bigger Brother tagline which will be disseminated in lockstep across the bleak landscape of the MSM….does anyone even give this crap any credence anymore? Honestly The Grand Wurlitzer looks like a stars wars robot who just got hit with a cattle prod and has taken to careening across the room back and forth sputtering repetitive nonsense. Fuggit, just keep spewing lies and diggin that hole deep by the week as reality itself puts you in check yet again.
Metal talks and bullshit walks.
Posted by: Chevrus | Mar 23 2023 16:35 utc | 7
Having outsourced much of its industry and productive capability to China and other parts of Asia, I’d say the West is the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.
Posted by: Cato the Uncensored | Mar 23 2023 16:36 utc | 8
What's highly significant here?
Partners.
Nuff said. Geopolitically tectonic. Adjectivals are secondary. Noun here is primary.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 23 2023 16:38 utc | 9
The 'junior partner' nonsense is designed to feed the Russian Fifth Column's 'european' racism.
The idea being that the relationship between Russia and China is a reversion to the old dominance of the Mongols. Its the sort of thing that Navalny and his ilk wallow in- unfortunately for the intellectual pigmies in Washington most of the traitors that they are addressing already live in the West.
The truth is that, as b reminds us, this old anti-imperialist alliance goes back to the days when the Comintern helped build the KMT and the Red armies to prevent the imperialists from tearing the country up into warlord satrapies, powerful enough to paralyse China but too weak to take on the plindering imperialists.
As to "Junior Partners" Germany, France and Italy can only wish.. The UK ruling class is so deluded that it probably imagines that it is a junior partner. In fact it is a serf, allowed to farm the country and its people so long as it provides labour service and sends its quota of boys and girls to the Clown King in DC.
Posted by: bevin | Mar 23 2023 16:39 utc | 10
Thank you b.
Terra trembles.
@ Achtung! | Mar 23 2023 16:33 utc | 5
Ich bitte um Aufmerksamkeit. NAFO Trottel, Trolle & Psyops Operators sind Verboten! Verlassen Sie bitte die Bühne links so schnell wie möglich.
Yes, the junior partner/vassal meme's been hammered by the trolls for over a week. No two partners are ever equal in all things, not even identical twins. The best partnerships come from those who capitalize on each other's complementary strengths, much like symbiosis makes the new organism better than the two individuals prior to combining. I express that as synergy. Currently, the aim of the Outlaw US Empire is to rule the planet which means it much physically conquer two unconquerable nations--Russia and China. Those two nations have no desire to physically conquer North America but do want to end its global hegemony, which can be done without recourse to the sort of war factions within the Empire seem to believe possible. IMO, the RoW want to attain the same goals as Russia and China regarding the Empire's hegemony, and I've outlined how that might occur. What's clear to me is RoW wants to become a part of the synergy that exists between Russia and China, and the latter two have expressed a willingness for that to happen as the overall goal is a better future for humanity and thus its further evolution. Clearly, the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals lack the synergy required to attain their goal and are actually being consumed by the parasite living within them all, a process that's also visible to RoW.
What Russia and China seek is a world where no hegemon exists, where humanity's problems are solved collectively by humanity, where the Four Freedoms are a universal reality. But the West cannot admit any of that even if it could see it for its aims are antithetical and thus Anti-Human as I continue to contend.
"Junior partner" is a phrase crafted to get Russians riled up, and it seems to work fairly well. Even worked with Martyanov who is more than smart enough to know what is going on. Since it tests well, it's being deployed more widely. They probably use A/B testing of their propaganda like good tech bros. Same with the implication that China has territorial designs on the east of Russia (despite the complete written and ratified settlement of all issues in the post-1991 era).
One way to defuse that talking point is to compare being a partner of any kind with the most powerful and fastest growing major economy of the world vs. being a bit of dog sh*t stuck to the bottom of a jackboot, which is the recent and current status of Russia vis-à-vis the collective West. Stop taking what is dished out and you're not even invited to the G-? meetings etc.
Posted by: BillB | Mar 23 2023 16:50 utc | 14
Arrogance is now long gone...only thing left desperate disdain.
Posted by: andy | Mar 23 2023 16:53 utc | 15
Way better being a junior partner to China than being a bullied slave to the hegemon…
Posted by: Zet | Mar 23 2023 16:57 utc | 16
the MSM is a junior partner of the US government.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 23 2023 16:59 utc | 17
Russia has taken on the west on its own and the latter is running out of weapons and munitions. A senior partner does not go to the junior when serious negotiations involving military and economics are discussed. They are equal partners geopolitically. We saw how German leader was humiliated in front of world press when Biden said that he would destroy Nordstream pipeline. Japanese leader was quickly ordered to visit Ukraine as Xi was heading to Moscow. US knows who the puppets are and it is not Russia.
Posted by: AF82Matrix | Mar 23 2023 17:02 utc | 18
Excellent article re US democracy at GlobalTimes:
"Now, enough is enough. Nobody can live under subjugation forever and be dictated to forever. If you have no respect for the dignity of others, if you have no respect for the sovereignty of other countries, you cannot claim to be a champion of democracy," Mmembe told the Global Times.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1287853.shtml
Posted by: Zet | Mar 23 2023 17:10 utc | 19
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 23 2023 16:47 utc | 12
What Russia and China seek is a world where no hegemon exists, where humanity's problems are solved collectively by humanity, where the Four Freedoms are a universal reality.
How can two hegemonic powers end hegemony? People here keep praising a multipolar world which means a world of multiple hegemons. And how can anyone have "Freedom of Speech", "Freedom of worship" or "Freedom from fear" under the Chinese Communist dictatorship? The anti-LGBTQ sentiment on this board compels barflies to praise Russia for denying the freedom from fear to members of those communities.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Mar 23 2023 17:11 utc | 20
Maybe the Junior Partner meme isn't so much a jab at Russia as an attempt to discourage European readers from any attempt at retaking their sovereignty. I mean, what's the point when the only alternative to subservience to the US is subservience to China?
Multi-polarity? Equal partnerships? Building a fair world-order? Changing the world? Bah, humbug. Russia is in the same boat as the rest of us American statelets, only under a different boss, same as the old boss. Abandon all hope etc.
Considering how much Russia-cheerleading there is for their effort at unseating the US, it's a fairly transparent narrative for depressing people's enthusiasm seeing as outright support of the US position has very little traction.
Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 23 2023 17:14 utc | 21
in reality Russia's economy is the size of one Chinese province, Guangdong
Posted by: Achtung! | Mar 23 2023 16:33 utc | 5
It is just fake.
This is just an illusion created by the devaluation of the ruble after 2013.
In terms of purchasing power parity, Russia's GDP is twice that of Guangdong (similar to China's California).
Posted by: Colin | Mar 23 2023 17:16 utc | 22
As to "Junior Partners" Germany, France and Italy can only wish.. The UK ruling class is so deluded that it probably imagines that it is a junior partner. In fact it is a serf, allowed to farm the country and its people so long as it provides labour service and sends its quota of boys and girls to the Clown King in DC.
Posted by: bevin | Mar 23 2023 16:39 utc | 10
Bevin wins the thread
Posted by: Exile | Mar 23 2023 17:18 utc | 23
How can two hegemonic powers end hegemony? People here keep praising a multipolar world which means a world of multiple hegemons.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Mar 23 2023 17:11 utc | 20
By definition, there is no "multiple hegemony"
"Hegemony is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states."
It's funny to see so many trolls uncovered.
For non-NAFO people:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonic_stability_theory
Posted by: Colin | Mar 23 2023 17:19 utc | 24
Russia has three things that China desperately needs...vast oil+ gas and mineral resources, 6000 nukes, and hypersonic missile technology...
Posted by: pyrrhus | Mar 23 2023 17:21 utc | 25
By definition, there is no "multiple hegemony"
"Hegemony is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states."
That Wikipedia definition doesn't specify over all other states in the world. The Wikipedia article starts with the example of the hegemon city-state in Ancient Greece, where that city-state clearly did not rule the world. A multipolar order sounds like an order of regional hegemons where the secondary states cannot have sovereignty against their hegemon, be it in Latin America or Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Mar 23 2023 17:25 utc | 26
The most insightful analysis to date. I viewed a French televised discussion and it was not the usual propaganda but a real cognitive dissonance moment. It was similar to watching a stroke victim struggle to regain speech. It was very much as if the lights went on for them as they realised whatever they were speaking about Russia in fact applied to themselves. Very uncomfortable to watch and it made me realise just how delusional the French have become.
Posted by: Ez | Mar 23 2023 17:28 utc | 27
Each country has resources, capabilities and products that the other can use. Both countries are totally fed up with US domineering and manipulation. Both countries want to see the US get out of their hemisphere, or at least mind its own business. So. . . partners. Cry me a river, America.
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 23 2023 17:31 utc | 28
The miserable western media is trying to drive a wedge between China and Russia. Just ignore them...
Posted by: Nuno Cardoso da Silv | Mar 23 2023 17:34 utc | 29
If Russia is indeed a Junior Partner of China, they definitely have it better than any of America's European Junior Partners. China isn't dictating to Russia who they can or cannot sell to, Russia is free to make trade deals India, China's rival and member of the QUAD. Nor is China blowing up any pipelines or hiring proxies to destroy infrastructure to disrupt such trade.
If America isn't careful, all this propaganda could very well be turned around to argue for joining the Chinese hegemony (if such a thing exists).
Posted by: Sid Victor Cattoni | Mar 23 2023 17:37 utc | 30
Speaking of junior partners - Hello Europe!
The purpose of the 'west' talking about China/Russia partnership is to unite the 'west' for WWIII.
In the US, the DEMS suffer from Putin Derangement Syndrome while the GOP is barfing up on Xi Derangement Syndrome. Now DEMS/GOP can unite for Freedom and Democracy against Dictators and Communists.
Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 23 2023 17:38 utc | 31
Some unelected blowhard probably belched out that turn of phrase at a cocktail party in D.C.. The little strivers, whores, and ghouls who make up our media class go to the same shindigs as unelected blowhards. Each one who thinks calling Russia a "junior partner" to China is clever is gonna use that elsewhere. It spreads like a virus. It burns itself out in the form of headlines like that; these people almost rarely socialize with people outside of these circles.
That's how these things are crafted. When I lived in D.C. many years ago, you would hear assholes talk like that and watch/hear it spread in real time. They're constantly trying to impress each other while being dazzled by their own individual intellect and taste.
I'm glad I left.
Posted by: Private Inlet | Mar 23 2023 17:40 utc | 32
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Mar 23 2023 17:25 utc | 26
it was a different world then. the world now is not restricted to ancient Greece, or ancient China. the world is what the region used to be, and the US wants hegemony over all other states in the world.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 23 2023 17:41 utc | 33
I intend to let the ignorant trolls remain ignorant since it wouldn't understand that China has also eliminated the fourth fear by providing Freedom From Want. Anything positing China as a dictatorship is a troll ipso facto and really deserves no response.
It reminds me of "if you don't do what I want, I'm going to call you a racist". A silly, childish attempt to get someone to change their behavior on the belief that they care what you think of them.
Posted by: ian | Mar 23 2023 17:47 utc | 35
Would like to see China start boiling the Taiwanese frog. For starters, issue an ultimatum that all US/foreign troops must leave Taiwan in 30 days or a naval/air blockade will begin. If this doesn't happen (it won't), put a ring around Taiwan, stop all incoming/outgoing ships with the exception of ships arriving or going to mainland China. The US/NATO will huff and puff, squawk and shriek (rules based internalization order, lol) but would they actually try to break the blockade? Don't think so... After that, keep incrementally tightening the screws. Interesting times..
Posted by: ctiger | Mar 23 2023 17:48 utc | 36
Back in the cold war period and in the discipline of international relations there was a concept called the China card. This concept was based on which every superpower that had the China card (China on its side) would emerge as the ultimate superpower. So, when Washington refers to ‘junior partner’ perhaps it is due to their greatest failure in diplomacy and warmongering ways and their way of saying that they lost the China card, therefore they are trying to minimize Russia’s accomplishments over the past thirty years including their diplomacy and success on the battlefield. Call it what you want ‘junior partner’ but the China card is in Russia’s hands not the United States of America. Another thought perhaps the political scientist of the past miscalculated and it was not the China card but the Russian card that is the winning card. These two countries together are shifting the economical center and power to Eurasia. United States of America has neither card.
Posted by: amongus | Mar 23 2023 17:53 utc | 37
In response to [email protected],
I envy you. Swedish state media spent these 3 days discussing whether an obvious photoshop of Putin blowing Xi was fake or not, quickly came to the conclusion that it was, but kept showing it in subsequent reporting. Now the impression that the average Swede has of the meeting is that Xi came to pose for a picture where he humiliates Putin and the picture isn't even real, so who knows what actually happened? :shrug:
The standard of reporting is so low and the narratives so vitriolic, people don't have any clue about what's going on in the world -- all they know is who they hate. The only way of discussing politics at all is by using the Socratic method.
Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 23 2023 17:58 utc | 38
@ karlof1 | Mar 23 2023 17:44 utc | 34
To your point:
Lifting 800 Million People Out of Poverty - WorldBank report
BEIJING, April 1, 2022— Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below $1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by close to 800 million. With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. At China’s current national poverty line, the number of poor fell by 770 million over the same period.To take stock of this achievement, a joint study – “Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead”
...
Under Empires watch, on the other hand ...
The anti-LGBTQ sentiment on this board compels barflies to praise Russia for denying the freedom from fear to members of those communities.
It isn't about "freedom". Never has been.
The USA is a perfect example of that. It's about a slow-creep agenda. Here in the USA, it started with gay marriage. Now we're at a point where a child can be removed from their family if that family doesn't consent to having that child permanently and grotesquely altered based on childish whims and brainwashing on "gender identity" and various other pieces of insanity.
That's the truth.
Posted by: XYZ | Mar 23 2023 18:00 utc | 40
yep, charman winnie and comrade pootie now certified movie villains who laugh the 'bwahaha' evil-doer laugh after saying 'fuck America' in front of cameras while rubbing their hands and squinting their eyes properly. Got it Brandon!
Posted by: RickyBobby | Mar 23 2023 18:02 utc | 41
Classic projection
All because the U.S. insists on making all of our 'allies' vassal states does not mean that the rest of the world thinks like that.
1. The U.S. isolates Venezuela, then 3wks later our Vassal states follow suite, remember the '46 nations recognize Guaido as the legitimate President ...'
Does anyone really think that Poland actually cares about an election in Venezuela in 2018?
Like an insecure bully, we need our vassals to agree with us (the bully's entourage) so we always talk about #'s, 'we have a 97 country coalition against Saddam Hussein.'
2. The U.S. uses coercion against her 'allies' to force them to stop trading with Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.
---------------------
The common thread in all of this is the U.S. saying, 'do what we want or else'
---------------------
China has never used this type of coercion on anyone. China trades with both Ukraine and Russia. Only the U.S. demands that everyone else must comply.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Mar 23 2023 18:04 utc | 42
Whoever is the senior or junior partner, the alliance is bad news for the west. As you point out our arrogance has helped to create this situation. The west's comments are more propaganda than recognition of the real issue. This is a sign of decadence which was probably discernable in the denouement of the Roman and other empires in history. I spent the 1980's in trade policy which was anchored in the myth of western superiority and which has now fostered our economic decline - de-industrialization, bank failures, polarization of income. Karl Marx might point to decoupling as the final decadent phase of capitalism. However the Chinese have adopted the market system with draconian penalties for the excesses we see in western capitalism. Imagine if the head of Credit Suisse was sentenced to death for failure, it might keep Wall Street, Frankfurt, Geneva and London in line.
Posted by: Mike Price | Mar 23 2023 18:05 utc | 43
@41 xyz:
"Now we're at a point where a child can be removed from their family if that family doesn't consent to having that child permanently and grotesquely altered based on childish whims and brainwashing on "gender identity" and various other pieces of insanity."
Not bright enough to really understand what you are referring to?
The actual plan is to forcibly remove non-binary kids from their supportive parents and place them with Dark Ages relatives, even in another more medieval state, to prevent them from becoming who they are.
You would probably be happier in Afghanistan or Uganda.
Posted by: hedlykarok | Mar 23 2023 18:12 utc | 44
In an article published by Katehon, "Axis Moscow-Beijing 2.0", Alexander Dugin makes the following observation in his introductory paragraph:
"Both Xi Jinping and Putin give the whole picture of the world in their texts. It is already multipolar, with China, Russia and the collective West as the most established poles. At the same time, both leaders emphasize that neither China nor Russia seek to impose their own model on other peoples, recognizing the right of each civilization to develop according to its own logic, that is, to become a full-fledged pole with a sovereign system of values. The West adheres to the exact opposite attitude, and does not give up its hopes to save the unipolar model, which is completely discredited itself - with only one (liberal) ideology, with the system of gender politics, unlimited migration, total mixing of societies and posthumanism. Russia and China unanimously reject Western hegemony and declare their unwavering will to build a democratic, truly free multipolar world." [Emphasis Original]
All that was gleaned from the two op/ed articles written by Putin and Xi combined with the current context. He also makes some further observations that we've discussed here, this one in particular:
"Another thing is that the West and the Kiev Nazi regime categorically rejected Xi Jinping's plan without even beginning to discuss or consider it. Therefore, it is unlikely to be of much significance. But its very existence and the agreement in principle by the two great powers is already big deal." [My Emphasis]
The remainder of Dugin's essay is this, "Now a few words should be said about how the visit is perceived in Moscow," which I'll leave barflies to explore, although I will note many items Dugin mentions have also surfaced here.
Posted by: amongus | Mar 23 2023 17:53 utc | 37
Great point. America is not holding either card, but you can bet the current crop of morons at the White House, Foggy Bottom, and the Pentagon will loudly insist that the cards never existed. Fantastical, increasingly untethered, dangerous world building on the part of the USG/military/media has almost completely replaced careful diplomacy and respect. Being a junior partner seems more preferable to me than being what nearly all of America's "greatest allies" are; Cruel co-conspirators, dependents or business partners.
Posted by: Private Inlet | Mar 23 2023 18:15 utc | 46
@ pyrrhus #25
"Russia has three things that China desperately needs...vast oil+ gas and mineral resources, 6000 nukes, and hypersonic missile technology..."
And submarine/anti-submarine military technology. The large surface fleet China has is vulnerable to stand-off weapons launched from outside the area and from submarines. As are commercial container ships and bulk carriers with food and fuels. So they can try to blockade and starve China out with conventional arms and without risking much in the way of assets (and strategic nukes are always there in the background).
... aside from this issue, note that the trolls are trolling today.
Posted by: BillB | Mar 23 2023 18:16 utc | 47
pretty obvious, but i couldn't resist. this was the 1st thing that came to mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qo-uiAq58
great dictator - 2 chairs scene
what childishness.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 23 2023 18:16 utc | 48
Russians are sensitive to being considered less than it's a big inferiority complex. So junior partner is meant to irritate Russia and cause division.
That's all, it means nothing else.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 23 2023 18:17 utc | 49
Outraged @39--
Thanks for your reply. I've argued that China's people have attained all Four Freedoms as Freedom From Want is directly connected to Freedom From Fear and Freedom to Worship is directly connected to Freedom of Speech; and I can also argue that the Outlaw US Empire has become the primary enemy in keeping nations and individuals from similar liberation--Islamophobia and the persecution of Julian Assange being the best examples of the latter two remaining unfulfilled, while tent cities confirm the lack of attainment of the first two. I suppose it could be argued that as long as the Outlaw US Empire exists Fear will also, Fear of War mostly but also the destruction of the other three, which happens to be the Empire's announced policy that all too few know about.
what does it matter what the nature of the partnership is if they are kicking uncle sam's ass?
the 1st order of business for every person on this planet is to get out from under and destroy the yoke the Pentagon and Washington have imposed on the planet. I don't think a Moscow-Beijing alliance is some kind of savior of the future but i know who the destroyer of the present is. it sure as hell ain't Putin and Xi.
but are they "kicking the ass of the US"? i don't know. as long as the US populace is supine, the USG might be able to play this war game for a long time. That's why, for people in the West, relying on Russia and/or China to do for us what only we can do, ie, unseat and destroy the Western, US-led mafia, such reliance is a serious mistake. one might as well just wait for Jeebus to return and save us.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 23 2023 18:27 utc | 51
Since the dawn of civilisation, societies have ben ruled by those is possession of two things: weapons and money.
Money buys you weapons, and if you have weapons... you can just take anyone else's money. Russia has biggest guns, China has the biggest economy. Seems like a perfect match of very complimentary capabilities.
Determining which of these two is the 'junior' partner makes about as much sense as investing into the chicken and egg argument.
Posted by: Et Tu | Mar 23 2023 18:28 utc | 52
An all too obvious attempt to divide Russia and China by inciting competition and envy. Fantasising about humiliation to undermine, if ever possible, the still relatively new unity. The only thing that helps is not to listen to it, not let it penetrate the consciousness at all.
Worse still is the use of horror stories for propaganda purposes that is now omnipresent in the 'serious' Western media, which leaves out no perfidious Nazi lie. Disgusting and on the lowest possible level.
Posted by: Pnyx | Mar 23 2023 18:30 utc | 53
Make no mistakes the Russians know who they are. They do not want anything to do with the West and it’s so called values and political lies and broken promises and neoliberalism.
Posted by: amongus | Mar 23 2023 18:31 utc | 54
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 23 2023 18:17 utc | 49
nation states don't have feelings. nation states are not real.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 23 2023 18:31 utc | 55
In response to [email protected],
MSNBC, Politico, Financial Times and the like aren't widely read nor respected in Russia. This is meant to pacify a Western audience. These headlines in Western rags, seen as discredited in Russia, will only serve to undermine similar arguments made by Russian nationalists domestically, whose internationalist opponents can now point to Western narrative management and draw parallels.
Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 23 2023 18:32 utc | 56
GDP, even when converted to "purchasing power parity," is a rubbish statistic.
I mean, looking at the Wikipedia site for Hong Kong, we get that it has a GDP per capita that is $49,700, the 18th highest in the world. It's basically the same as Canada.
And yet the average resident of Hong Kong lives a life that is much, much poorer than someone in Canada. The average person in Hong Kong can't even DREAM of owning a car, or a house, or grilling steaks in the backyard... and objectively, a lot of people in Hong Kong are pretty darn poor and live in what could charitably be called chicken coops.
https://hongkongfp.com/2016/11/27/hungry-decent-diet-poor-families-hong-kong-cant-afford-eat-well/
What we should have is the old index of how many hours of work does it take to buy a (for example) pound of butter (AFTER taxes and all expenses). We used to use that statistic a lot... until it started to get embarrassing.
Posted by: TG | Mar 23 2023 18:34 utc | 57
Thanks b, for shining the light on this coordinated Cry-Fest. And not enough tears to fill a teacup. Escobar also observes "the crybabies" and "foaming at the mouth"
• Failed sanctions
• A failed UKR proxy war
• Collapsed Financial sector - more biggy banks will timber
Pepe Escobar’s latest:
In Moscow, Xi and Putin Bury Pax Americana
https://www.unz.com/pescobar/in-moscow-xi-and-putin-bury-pax-americana/
What has just taken place in Moscow is nothing less than a new Yalta, which, incidentally, is in Crimea. But unlike the momentous meeting of US President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in USSR-run Crimea in 1945, this is the first time in arguably five centuries that no political leader from the west is setting the global agenda.It’s Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin that are now running the multilateral, multipolar show. Western exceptionalists may deploy their crybaby routines as much as they want: nothing will change the spectacular optics, and the underlying substance of this developing world order, especially for the Global South.
What Xi and Putin are setting out to do was explained in detail before their summit, in two Op-Eds penned by the presidents themselves. Like a highly-synchronized Russian ballet, Putin’s vision was laid out in the People’s Daily in China, focusing on a “future-bound partnership,” while Xi’s was published in the Russian Gazette and the RIA Novosti website, focusing on a new chapter in cooperation and common development.
Right from the start of the summit, the speeches by both Xi and Putin drove the NATO crowd into a hysterical frenzy of anger and envy: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova perfectly captured the mood when she remarked that the west was “foaming at the mouth.”[.]
Read on
do not ignore the "understandings laid out in the military sphere" While not a formal announcement, it is low keyed to avoid western leaders suffering a heart anomaly.
Prof Hudson was not too early to observe and wrote of the death of western civilization. Done and Dead.
Keep an eye on the Western G-SIBs - the big banks. More than black swans.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 23 2023 18:39 utc | 58
I could not help laughing out loud upon reading all the links of the West's petulant display of helplessness in the face of the birth of a genuine new world order without the presence of the moribund West. It's such a pity that there is no one in the position of power in the West with a modicum of decency to accept what cannot be changed with grace.
Posted by: Steve | Mar 23 2023 18:40 utc | 59
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 23 2023 17:44 utc | 34
I intend to let the ignorant trolls remain ignorant since it wouldn't understand that China has also eliminated the fourth fear by providing Freedom From Want. Anything positing China as a dictatorship is a troll ipso facto and really deserves no response.
But that freedom seems more like a bribery. Keep the public fat and decadent and they won't care about the other three freedoms. And why do you need to dehumanize other human beings by calling them "it".
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Mar 23 2023 18:41 utc | 60
From Paul Wallis at the "Digital Journal" (whatever dafuq that is) linked by b under the synchronized media:
The Russian Federation is NOT the Soviet Union. It’s much less capable. The only reason anyone cares is the nuclear stockpile. The Soviet Union did not have to use nukes as a diplomatic weapon. The Russian Federation has to do so, because it literally has nothing else.
A "diplomatic weapon" LOL. Only a stupid American would confuse diplomacy with war. After having long ago given up on actual diplomacy Washington is uniquely positioned to project its own psychosis onto others.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2023 18:42 utc | 61
Thank you b for this extensive and comprehensive collection of western meme on trying to drive a wedge between China and Russia in this critical juncture of de-hegemonization of the Empire--sorry, I meant to say global order. I think this meme is doomed to fail.
The west has actually been doing this for quite a while, ever since the Gorbachev/Yeltsin era. Just that, at first there wasn't much that needed done because China-Russia relationship wasn't that warm nor strong. But the clumsy and arrogant ways the west has treated Russia, especially since the Clinton era, has given impetus to Russia's incentives to avoid being a junior partner to the west. Russians are simply too proud (unlike the Poles, Germans, Brits, et al) to be 'yes man' du jour to whom they consider an evil political entity. In 2008 they took action in the Caucasus to give the west a bloody nose. The table was turned sustainedly--nah, perhaps even permanently!
In the last 15-20 years the west tried other means--offering what seems to be economic incentives to Russia or China to lure each away from the other; posting threats and/or economic actions (sanctions...) against each to force some kinds of Russian/China parting, as they are doing now, and try to use propaganda and lies (as always) to highlight any ethnic differences to rouse emotions and frictions. None of these are working. The Russian-Chinese relationship is on a steady growth path. That path is enveloping more and more RoW nations into itself, the Middle East and the Lati Americas being the promonant examples.
As to being the 'junior partner' or not, vis-a-vis China, when SCO was formed, Jiang Zeming was asked to stand in the middle of the 5-nation group at the time on Yeltsin's insistence. I saw that video and was surprised. It indicated that Russia even then began to realize its sorry shape. In any case, China had no incentive nor the self-confidence to take the steering wheel on a western-confrontational drive, Jiang and Yeltsin ended up standing side by side for the inaugural picture. The inter-nation relationship of the SCO/BRICS/FutureGroupingsToCome, etc. will be the same--union of anti-hegemon nations without pecking orders. We see that clearly within SCO, that Kazakhstan et al are no 'yes men' to neither Russia nor China. That's a healthy relationship--equal partners.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 23 2023 18:47 utc | 62
One would up think, that, give how wanked up is the US , that the propogandists might use a more fuluid transactional analyis to describe the China/ Ruasia or Russia/China relationship; i.e sometime one might be the parent , the other the child and vice versa or sometime, one adult to another adult, etc. Of course, from a geo- political viewpoint, if indeed the neocons have China in their sights, then framing a description of a jr. partner, vis a vis, proxy Ukraine to client US to proxy Russia to to client China; then by the 'art of manuever',one would think it prudent to hash things out at a peace table. This won't happen as long as the neocons & European 'elites' are patting themselves on the back for their policy 'tour d'force' of driving Russia and China together in a 'synbiotic ("characterized by or being a close, cooperative, or interdependent) relationship. Now What?
Posted by: TMartin | Mar 23 2023 18:51 utc | 63
Breaking ... Syria is coming in from the cold ... and Assad is still Smiling. :)
Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations after ~12 years. Without Russian and Iranian efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria, or China's diplomatic mediation efforts to create a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, never would have happened.
Saudi Arabia to reopen embassy in Syria after more than a decade of closure - PressTV.ir, 2 hours ago.
Saudi Arabia and Syria have agreed to reopen their embassies after cutting diplomatic ties more than a decade ago when the foreign-sponsored Syrian conflict started, a report says.Reuters news agency, citing a source with knowledge of the matter, reported on Thursday that contacts between Riyadh and Damascus had gathered momentum following a landmark agreement earlier this month between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the restoration of bilateral relations after seven years.
The two governments were “preparing to reopen embassies after Eid al-Fitr”, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, a second regional source aligned with the Damascus government said.
The decision was the result of talks in Saudi Arabia with a senior Syrian intelligence official, another source noted.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
...
Are regional hegemons not a thing? Clearly the US feels threatened even by that kind of thing, far, far away from its own borders and coastlines. Just on its face, I don't see any kind of definitional issue with multiple regional hegemons, but Uncle Scam won't accept that and everything brainwashed Americans say or think about anything other than the current dying global hegemony of the USA is couched in their own fear of losing dominion over the world. But one state can have 'dominance' over other states in its own region and that would still be a multi-polar multi-hegemonic state of affairs.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2023 18:55 utc | 65
@Skiffer, #38:
The standard of reporting is so low and the narratives so vitriolic, people don't have any clue about what's going on in the world -- all they know is who they hate. The only way of discussing politics at all is by using the Socratic method.
You hit that nail on the head!
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 23 2023 19:00 utc | 66
I think #10 above is one of many who's made the point I'm about to add to. So hasn't the UK been a pathetic yapping "junior partner" to the US's Imperial misrule, since Tony B.liar was being called out "Yo, Blair" by his Daddy Bush Jr., BoJo ran to sabotage UKraine's ability to remove its head from the jaws of the bear last year with a peace deal, etc? As with much political kabuki, this crap is obviously all just massive Projection from the losers in the West who see their Empire being pissed away, while banks collapse domestically and the Feds print $30B in a week for bailouts (per Ben Norton recently). The only other point that could be added is that of course toadies like the MSM ghouls and the NeoCon Wrecking Crew see everything as Kiss Up & Kick Down, so how else could they "insult" Russia with school playground level taunts. I am so embarrassed that I have not yet escaped from U$A, but I may soon have that arranged, & not a minute too soon. Unfortunately they have ruined the European continent, so I may have to look at Spanish speaking countries as the most viable at this point.
Posted by: SkepticalThinker | Mar 23 2023 19:07 utc | 67
The senior partner does not go to see the junior partner. It is the junior partner that travels to kiss the senior partner’s ring.
Posted by: Phil Garber | Mar 23 2023 19:07 utc | 68
@Neofeudalfuture, #49:
Yes, I agree! That's all the intent in this latest western meme.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 23 2023 19:08 utc | 69
I swear the west would never be able to top their own childishness over the years but yet they keep doing it, like a schoolhouse bully that doesn't know when to quit.
It would be more amusing if it did not also harbor an unlimited desire to shed other peoples' blood in its own interest, to pull impressionable subjects, with geopolitical scores to settle of their own, into their psychotic game.
The west has past due. It is long expired. We will see if liberalism can be salvaged from this horrific wreck.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Mar 23 2023 19:08 utc | 70
Thanks for the posting b.
I agree with other commenters that emphasize the term partners which is more important than relative position in the relationship.
The petulance this shows on the part of empire is just another message to the RoW about how empire bends every morsel of information into a turd of propaganda.
This is just more piling on of rotting discourse on the top of vapid threats by poor losers in the game of species evolution.....Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 23 2023 19:12 utc | 72
I'm not sure the 'arrogance' of the West has caused its decline. The tendency of the rate of profit to fall in the M0-C-M1 relationship pivots capital out of manufacturing and into rent-seeking and financial instruments (M0-M1). You then go from being able to wage wars to financing others to wage wars. Eventually, when you need to be able to wage wars you discover you lack the industrial base, and that's when you look down to see 'Welcome' in front of the dustbin of history. Arrogance, in other words, is a symptom of decline not its cause.
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 23 2023 19:13 utc | 73
Let Kevin in Shanghai dispel some cultural misconceptions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpgLeXa6enE
Posted by: Stubbs | Mar 23 2023 19:14 utc | 74
Global Times featured article today is "China's diplomacy to make 'more global contributions'; Vision on community with shared future implemented with real actions and notable results". There was one rather funny comment at the article's end: "The US side should show sincerity." IMO, sincerity isn't in the Empire's lexicon. There're many useful citations within the article, one of which follows upon the lack of sincerity:
"Li said that in the past, China found that as long as it stabilizes ties with the US, ties with other nations will not see big problems, but since the Trump administration, China has found that the US is the biggest troublemaker and shows no sincerity in fixing ties, no matter how China expresses its kindness, so now, it's time for China to be more proactive and invest more resources in developing ties with other countries rather than prioritize ties with Washington."
IMO, this short appraisal by one of China's top scholars says far more than the few words used:
"Zhang Weiwei, dean of the China Institute at Fudan University, told the Global Times that although Russia has been isolated by the West, 'the West is isolated' by the rest of the world. Irresponsible acts carried out by the US have backfired on its own hegemony."
I believe this is the Xinhua article referred to above, "Xi Focus: Building better world with a shared future".
More projection of the same zero-sum mindset from the Swamp. There can not be any partnership or meeting of equals between sovereign states. Russia is just a gas station colony assimilated by the Borg collective CPP. How people swallow this stuff is beyond me.
Posted by: Jun | Mar 23 2023 19:19 utc | 76
@55 most russian people feel this way and they constitute and animate the nation state which is as real as the people that sustain and direct it.
@56 there's a global propaganda network run by..interested parties.. that spread this message into other markets.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 23 2023 19:20 utc | 77
There is a good reason the Korean War is completely forgotten and ignored by western media. Since American society want to whitewash modern military history as fundamentally highly-mobile and fast paced, a war where american soldiers were locked in post-ww2 trench warfare for a whole year against a vastly inferiorly-equipped enemy is something not good to remember. But it is extremely well remembered in China and Korea. Americans made films about the war only in the 50s, they are very good and I recommend them also to understand good reasons why China would like see americans, and the rest of the west burn in hell.
Posted by: A200 | Mar 23 2023 19:26 utc | 78
The US could reverse the situation by immediately dropping all sanctions on all nations, thereby making itself the center of the global economy.
Posted by: BD | Mar 23 2023 19:27 utc | 79
If Junior Partner nonsense is what western MSM can come up with supposedly to downgrade the importance of Russia-China relations, then it means they are at the end of their creative thinking. They target western audience where majority have lost critical thinking abilities. People in other parts of the world don't give a hoot about western MSM Bullshit.
Posted by: maskazer | Mar 23 2023 19:32 utc | 80
Free and independent western journalists do what they always do: Write what all the others write.
Posted by: Tapio | Mar 23 2023 19:33 utc | 81
The anglos that have accaparated the power with colonialism and slavery will fight teeth and nails to keep their domination on their slave countries. I expect a decade of violence and hatred. Ultimately the world would become bipolar or multipolar. Is the USA doesn't wake up from its exceptinalist narcissism , the country may be divided like other large countries.
Posted by: Virgile | Mar 23 2023 19:34 utc | 82
The entire structure of today's civilization, that is, the developed world, is based on the relationship between master and subject. A pagan and primitive form of existence. "concreted" in all aspects of education. For example, it is especially incomprehensible to Westerners that there can be a relationship, economic, military or any other, without one side representing the "boss". A large part of the world has fallen behind for this imposed reason. It is probably the natural sequence of man. But I think that if civilization does not begin to accept the cooperation of equals regardless of GDP, we will not get out of this dead end of human evolution. We could disappear as a species. We are armed with all possible weapons and I see that He does nothing to stop us.
Posted by: Sanjin | Mar 23 2023 19:40 utc | 83
Breaking! The USA is under operational encirclement. Will they retreat? Will they negotiate a settlement?
But seriously, no multipolar world will emerge until there's a new architecture. The UN, World Bank and IMF are corrupt hijacked instruments. For the US to participate in the new international legal order their wings would have to have been clipped and a sober sensible delegation sent to negotiate in good faith. Since good faith is something they will have to learn the hard way, there will be war. The new allies will need to destroy US military capacity and tame the dollar. Until then the USA can do a lot of damage on the way down, a LOT of damage.
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 23 2023 19:46 utc | 84
According to Borzzikman's recent video, there was a joint statement of China and Russia that they declare full support to North Korea in confrontation with US. Which is a little surprising but logical. No wonder NK started fielding hypersonic cruise missiles and more advanced ballistic missiles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX-bZ9AouoQ
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2023 19:47 utc | 85
The body language of the 2 leaders, sitting in chairs at the first "informal" meeting showed Putin to be calm and self-assured, while Xi was a bit tense and eager to please. These did not look like artificial poses.
2 great countries practice diplomacy and the Global South is lining up to join in.
Meanwhile, in the "garden" now decending into the dark ages (pun intended) the Dominatrix U$A and junior minions use Mean Girls script for foreign affairs.
Go figure!
Posted by: Suresh | Mar 23 2023 19:48 utc | 87
Sadly, those in the West in positions of power are not at all versed in diplomacy. They are students of the corporate capitalist cut-throat hostile takeover and have learned that culture well. Win-lose, zero-sum, take no hostages. I see no will or skill on the part of the Western "diplomats" for true diplomacy and meaningful coexistence. Just absurd and disgusting determination to continue fighting for what they consider to be their western birth right as the chosen ones to lead this world.
We need a whole new culture of diplomats - real ones. But who is still around to train them up and where is there a real culture of coexistence for them to stew in?
Posted by: Irish | Mar 23 2023 19:50 utc | 88
Unfortunately for all concerned the Washington Empire views everything as a game of domination/submission wherein cooperation is out of the question. The US moves towards, at minimum, an authoritarian, non-Constitutional, post-democratic system with a strong movement towards a techno-totalitarian state when even our blood chemistry will be controlled (the tech is here folks). So it's coercion and bribery that fuels US foreign policy almost exclusively--this was not always the case but became completely dominant after 9/11. This is all in high contrast to personal life where cooperation is still the something widely practiced in most of the United States.
The virtual Ministry of Truth has decreed that the word of the day is "junior." It's laughable as many have written here today. What comes to mind is a book I've been rereading called the *Chalice and the Blade* where the great divide is between cultures based on domination/submission and those who feature cooperation. Washington is overwhelmingly the former.
Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Mar 23 2023 19:52 utc | 89
Posted by: XYZ | Mar 23 2023 18:00 utc | 40
Funnily enough, White House officials are also spending humongous amount of effort in pushing LGBTQ agenda in Uganda. They failed, and so recently they also slapped sanctions on Uganda.
Then they are crying because losing influence in Africa, lol. Well, let's return that issue after The Western society has collapsed and rebuilt itself in maybe 100 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPeLaMMDz5g
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2023 19:52 utc | 90
The US government is junior partner to Wall Street, or perhaps it’s to the defense industry, or perhaps it’s to both.
Posted by: Rob | Mar 23 2023 19:52 utc | 91
@Rob (#91), everyone knows the US is a junior partner to occupied Palestine (Israel), they have even confirmed it several times.
@imperator (#91), so your ilk would like to see western society rebuilt in the model of Uganda?
Nice, that is progress innit.
Posted by: hedlykarok | Mar 23 2023 20:01 utc | 92
@Patroklos, #84:
Agreed with what you said. There will be calamity before serenity. The calamity may not even result in serenity, but I do hope it does.
Also unknown at this point: how bad would the calamity be??? I hope it does not result in demise of half of humanity.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 23 2023 20:02 utc | 93
They are an Empire and they create their own reality. Of course it bears no relation to actual reality, that is the point.
But you can see how they do it. That is a nice compilation of headlines, with all of the "free and diverse press" putting out the same line. ("Free and diverse", of course, also is not reality. Ask Julian Assange about that.)
The TV does the same thing and I have seen compilations of talking heads putting out the same line, such as "free speech is a threat to our democracy", practically in unison.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Mar 23 2023 20:07 utc | 94
Posted by: hedlykarok | Mar 23 2023 20:01 utc | 92
You fail to separate between homosexuality, and on the other hand, homosexuality, which is hijacked as a colonial tool of US government.
US government is attempting to force African governments to implement LGBTQ laws, which in the US have led to children being taken away from parents who criticize force feeding that culture to children in schools. Why is US specifically pushing this agenda everywhere? Why aren't they pushing something like saving flying squirrels?
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2023 20:08 utc | 95
Every time I see these examples of lockstep marching of commentators using phrases like this I'm reminded of a quotation from Keith Laumer's book Retief's War:
"Yours is a distorted view of the evolution of representational government here on Quopp," Magnan said reprovingly. "Closer attention to your Daily Bulletin from the Bird's Nest would go far toward homogenizing your thinking on the subject.""I thought that was something they did to milk."
"The term refers to voluntary alignment of viewpoint toward a group-oriented polarity; a sort
of linkage of moral horsepower for maximal thrust toward the objective.""I'm not sure that pasteurized thinking is rich enough in intellectual vitamins to satisfy my
growing curiosity about just what Ikk is up to."
The idea that these people are doing the thinking for most people in our society horrifies me. But at least it makes the phenomenon easy to recognize.
Posted by: Fred the Gator | Mar 23 2023 20:13 utc | 96
Referring to my previous comment: when I used the word "commentators" I was thinking of media commentators, not the commentators I read here, just to make that clear!
Posted by: Fred the Gator | Mar 23 2023 20:15 utc | 97
Martyanov has been saying what b mentioned in his post: Russia is the superior military power and can provide China with whatever it needs to enhance its military to withstand the West. b's link to Andrei's "China's Naval Problem" is illustrative. Everyone should read it, especially tbe bloviating hater.
And the agreements made this week between Russia and China probably is exactly the solution to China's problem: hypersonic missile technology, submarine technology and aircraft technology may well be in the cards to be supplied to China from Russia in the near future.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 23 2023 20:17 utc | 98
Posted by: wagelaborer | Mar 23 2023 20:07 utc | 94
"they'll be singing songs about us."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOrhjgt-_Qc
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 23 2023 20:22 utc | 99
CIA would want to create the perception that the government wouldn't be pursuing the public interest and undermine Moscow's image abroad.
That said, people shouldn't kid themselves : Chinese officials care about Beijing's interests and that's all. Xi Jinping saw Moscow getting weakened and isolated from its major partners - He would take opportunities to sign profitable agreements. That's up to Russian officials to maintain Russia's sovereignty but considering these people were destroying the country's youths and foolishly left billions of euros-dollars in enemies' banks, I wonder if these people are loyal to Moscow's interests or that incompetent.
Posted by: Kristopha | Mar 23 2023 20:27 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Every action the West is taking is bound up in this false estimation of the size and strength of Russia and of China too. The pain they feel is only going to ratchet up over time. The times they are a'changin....
Posted by: mtw | Mar 23 2023 16:25 utc | 1