MORE HOLES AND RAGGED EDGES IN THE AMERICAN ALLIANCE SYSTEM
Last week I blogged about the new Philippine President Duterte, and the growing estrangement of that long-time US ally/puppet in the Pacific. Others have noticed this as well, most notably Russia, as this article shared by Mr. B. outlines:
Why Moscow and Manila Will Make Ideal Allies
I noted in my previous blog that Mr. Duterte was a less "nervous" view of China than does his "big ally across the pond," though the Philippines have certainly opposed Chinese claims in the South China Sea. I also pointed out, however, that the Philippine president has also aired some strong displeasure about America and its current leadership. The bottom line for the Philippines, as with other US allies, is that the "big stick unipolarism" isn't working; in fact, it's driving allies away from the USSA. Consider only the Obama Administration's attempt to influence the outcome of the BREXIT referendum in the United Kingdom with the statement that if BREXIT happened, the UK would go to the "back of the queue in trade relations with the USA, a blatant threat to a long time ally, and one moreover, with which the US shares a language, culture, and from which it receives its core institutions and conceptions of law.
The BREXIT happened anyway. The message? We didn't bow to Berlin before, won't now, and won't bow to Washington either. (Although the bowing to Mecca appears to be proceeding apace, unfortunately.)
And now Manila appears to have had it too. The question is, what, really, is going on?
Here's a suggestion, from the article:
Jaime S. Bautista, former ambassador to Russia and professor of international law at the Philippine Christian University and Ateneo de Manila Law School, believes the Russian and Filipino leaders have a lot in common.
Putin, Bautista writes, is the tough leader who is able to hold immense Russia together and overcome the nation’s enormous challenges. “In our recent elections, Filipinos elected Duterte to the highest position in the country, seeing in him a macho, decisive, and a man of action who could impose law and order throughout our archipelago, and build an inclusive economy.”
He adds: “Based on my diplomatic experience I can appreciate that Russia, as a Pacific power with its own pivot to Asia, can influence events to preserve the peace and prosperity of our Pacific region.”
And this crucial insight from the Philippine Ambassador to Russia, Carlos Sorreta:
Philippine Ambassador to Russia Carlos D. Sorreta, who was the Director of the Philippine Foreign Service Institute, agrees. “Both Russia and China want a stable Central and East Asia,” he wrote in a discussion paper titled Security Developments in the Asia Pacific: Philippine and Russian Perspectives. “They want their 4209 km border secure. China has replaced Germany as Russia’s largest trading partner. Russia is selling arms once again to China. China’s moneyed investors have been looking at Russia.
“We believe that all this would not necessarily translate to Russian support for China’s efforts to claim the South China Sea. China clearly wants to be the dominant power in the region, something that could jeopardize Russia’s efforts to engage the region and develop its Far East area.
“The Russian International Affairs Council believes that Russia should implement flexible geo-political maneuvering in its relations with China. This would necessitate a careful balancing at that requires Russia to maintain good relations with China while deepening ties with countries in the region that may have issues with China.
“I believe this is a good strategy and one that that the Philippines could support. It is a strategy that would require Russia not to take sides on who owns what, but would allow it to support actions that are based on the principles of international law and that reduce tensions.”
The Philippine government of Mr. Duterte has read the geopolitical cards correctly, for this is indeed the pattern we've seen emerging in Russia's geopolitics in the Far East. I've been arguing that with the heavy Chinese investment in Russian energy and infrastructure development in sparsely-populatied Siberia, that the Russian response to this, in order to check undue Chinese influence in the region, would be to develop much closer ties with other nations able to counterbalance that influence by their own geopolitical, economic, and potential military weight. And that obviously means Japan. But it includes strengthening ties with India, and with the strategically located Philippines as well.
From the Philippine point of view, however, there is another reason that this foreign policy will not disappear, whatever Washington's reaction to Mr. Duterte's government might be, for the geopolitical reality is that the Pacific is turning not into an American lake, but rather, that the region is emerging as the first "multi-polar" part of the world, in spite of the best efforts of the USA to prevent that. This multi-polarity is not only evidenced by China's growing power, but by Japanese rearmament, and by the careful balance of power multipolar type of diplomacy that Russia has been pursuing. If anything, the Pacific is turning into a quarto-polar region, dominated by the intermeshed interests of the Pacific Powers: Russia, Japan, China, the USA, with India always hovering close by to provide a "deciding vote" as a fifth power on the edge of the region.
Like Japan, in other words, the Philippines is confronting the fact that the American empire, in the long term, is, if not in decline, then at least not the trusted ally it once was.
And the USA has only the post-9/11 "unipolarity" and bullying trade deals and foreign policy - and Zbgnw Brzznsk - to blame.
See you on the flip side...
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Just a point of interest…
There is a sleepy, small, backwater island with a geopolitical and geographic military dog in this fight, Sri Lanka. An English and Sinhalese speaking Socialist/Buddhist majority island off the tip of India sits in the shipping lanes of every international player. A 30 year war with Islamic radicals from the Tamils population ended recently with a bloody massacre by the government silencing them in a decisive way. The people of the island had had enough and stamped it out. The US/Obama/UN was/is furious and started berating the little island for its human rights violations (Not mentioning the 30 years of terrorist bombings and murder by the radical Islamist’s). It promised to be a huge international PR nightmare for the island. China shows up and starts investing heavily on the islands infrastructure and tourism. Tourism starts to boom. Now a great vacation spot by the way. Suddenly the US is silent. This sounds similar to the Philippines situation with regards to China and the US. I wonder if Russia is involved in Sri Lanka as well.
https://theguard1an.com/china-president-gives-duterte-5-billion-for-free-health-care-in-the-philippines/
You gotta admire Chinese diplomacy.
I don’t think they actually do diplomacy. I think they just do business.
Tiny nations all over the world have hospitals and industries, education etc.. Thanks to the Chinese and whatever strings, if any, are attached are most often only terms of trade. They don’t really give aid they build mutually beneficial business. They don’t demand real estate for military bases.
They are old enough to know that ambitions of global control are a short cut to bankruptcy.
On the flip side they don’t care if your population is enslaved under a dictatorship and won’t lift a finger to intervene as long as trade is profitable.
Well he must be doing something right money is coming in .
https://www.facebook.com/groups/199287650457405/permalink/292173707835465/
Russia knows when not to intervene in other peoples-nations business especially if doesn’t know all the facts or that intervention could makes the situation worse. As for the CSA it changers through political situations like a bull in a china shop as always without knowing or caring about the consequences of it’s actions.
Russia knows when not to intervene in other peoples-nations business especially if doesn’t know all the facts or that intervention could makes the situation worse.
Is all going to plan with the International Mother f..
er..; that is, I mean those IMF SDR actors waiting in the wings
for a new role in kicking the can down the ponzi-controlled road to serfdom?
Great insight, and I agree, for the most part.
However, people need to understand that Duterte is not the most intelligent person alive.
If any of this is as we suspect, then Duterte is just the puppet, and is being goaded and manipulated, behind the scenes.
He is a crass, boorish, idiot who has no idea how to run the country. He is a murderer, and as corrupt as the people he is apparently ‘going after’.
Look into his massive, unexplained bank account balances. Plus, judging by the anonymous donations from high-power Chinese ‘businessmen’, he is bought and paid for by the CCP.
I don’t know about your sources jarrett, but we also have our own see BS news in the PH. The president has publicly named narco politicians from city councilors to police officers, military generals to supreme court judges and an ex justice secretary. There’s over a thousand of them. The country is about to be turned into Mexico like drug cartel controlled state.
The president surely swears like you can’t imagine, but no one else is willing and capable of fixing the mess on such a scale.
Duterte himself and the govt is indeed inclined to turn to Russia and China for partnerships, as the president has pronounced such a stance.
Also, Duterte and Ferdinand Marcos Jr are close friends. Imelda Marcos in an interview mentions the wealth, which she said is intended to be distributed to nations. Sorry for the ramble folks. Hard to type a comment on the phone.
The Philippines is an interesting place. It has been a ‘subject’ nation most of the time since the Spanish arrived. It has no oil/mineral resources of note, so it has been more of a ‘backwater’ area – good harbors and restocking on the way to somewhere else…
With the withdrawal of US forces from Clark AFB and Subic Bay, the Philippines had its freedom – but also no foreign-dollar input. This was semi-fine, until China began throwing its weight around in the South China Sea. Now, the Philippines needed to put up or shut up. If they decided to ‘push back’ against China, they would need mega-dollars for weapons procurement. (Their armed forces are a joke.) What to do?
Philippine President Duterte seems to have decided to go the diplomatic route rather than the military procurement route. By enmeshing themselves with Russia, they have a ‘big brother’ to speak behind-the-scenes with the schoolyard bully. If it works, it is clever. They have avoided selling their children’s souls to the arms merchants and the banking families behind them. Moscow gets unknown ‘favors’ in return. Win-win…
(I don’t know why this comes up for me, but wouldn’t it be a hoot if the Philippines was the next place to report a mega-find of oil?)
LOL… Diplomatic route? No, this jackass doesn’t even know the definition of the word.
I know nothing about Duterte except what I have read on GDS. He reminds me of a Mussolini figure, a ‘get the job done’ type. Whether he is more for-the-people in this regard (or more self-interest), time will tell.
Whether it is called ‘diplomacy’ or not, Duterte may sense the way the wind is blowing. It may even be semi-blackmail. Putin may have described Duterte’s Swiss bank accounts to him. ‘Diplomacy’ comes in all forms…
goshawks, your are undoubtedly right with your thoughts about the change in Filipino thinking when “China began throwing its weight around in the South China Sea.” And of course since they are a poor country it is necessary for them to go the diplomatic route. It is also very interesting that – “The groundwork for expanding [Russian] military cooperation with the Philippines began in January 2012 when three Russian warships visited Manila (at the same time as two US destroyers). It was the first visit by the Russian Pacific Fleet to the Philippines in 96 years.” A short quote in an article found at Russia Beyond the Headlines dated Sept. 28, 2015 and titled “Geostrategic shift in the Asia-Pacific”
You sure? I’m fairly certain they have large nickel and copper deposits plus gold, silver and chromium.
And let’s not forget yamashita’s gold…
My long comment is out of moderation. Enjoy!
https://gizadeathstar.com/2016/09/mind-control-transhumanist-scrapbook-musk-wants-brain-hacking-technology/#comment-65592
I have only four words to explain the insane foreign policy of the US.
1) Barack Obama
2) John Kerry
These two morons should be put on the rack, then burnt at the stack.
You just need to remember you can’t blame the puppet for the puppet masters actions. These are just hollow individuals doing their master’s bidding. They are not much more than inanimate objects on strings.
Your right WD, I was just summarizing, the real deep state dudes are never in view, aka Wolfowitz and Cheney.
…..And, here is the outline that Ken has come up with in what to expect in regards to the Middle East situation…..
http://redefininggod.com/
IT IS ALL A PLAY ON A STAGE AND THE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE THE ENTHRALLED (AND BAMBOOZLE) AUDIENCE!!!!
What the United States Corporation in DC is doing, is following the Rockefeller Plan for the NWO. Here it is IN THEIR OWN WORDS below. This “multi-polar” world is the result of the Rockefeller Blueprint.
http://redefininggod.com/the-rockefeller-plan-for-the-brics-new-world-order-in-their-own-words/
chimera, very interesting link. Would you go so far as to claim that the Establishments fears, or hates Trump due to his claim, or goal to re-negotiate America’s trade deals, especially with China?
I believe like Joseph. Factional infighting on the direction USCORP takes.
Can someone please tell me how do you prononce this Zbgnw Brzznsk guy’s name.. there are no vowels.. I think his father rolled his head over a keyboard to be inspired when naming him.. Oki – I’ve got nothing to say about this article.. But I’ve been scooping round the internet.. and remember the Ringmakers of Saturn book thing.. Has anyone made a connection with the Dogon Tribe and their Nommos myths? Apparently the Dogon’s said that the Nommos came from Sirius’s companion star and came in huge spaceships and they were told about the rings of saturn…and the many moons of jupiter as well.. Isnt one of those supposed to be a falseartificial satellite?
Za-big-bignea Bra-zin-ske
Whoops……
Za-bignea Bra-zin-ske
Walter van beek may have thrown a wet blanket over the dogon/Sirius thing.
It maybe a load of hogwash but I’ll let you decide.
Check out skepdic.com for balance.
The artificial moon thing is harder to dismiss if not just for sheer volume of info.
It’s either true or it’s really really important to someone that we believe it.
There was a doctor who episode where the moon turned out to be an egg that hatched and then laid a replacement. That’s cool
Americans seem to conveniently forget we no longer have a legitimate government. We are ruled by a separate city state which is a criminal corporation and essentially a foreign power. It in turn is owned by the central bank. Its “citizens” are now the enemy, along with everyone else on the planet.
Hear, hear! Agreed!
Unfortunately, almost all Americans have social security numbers, which makes them “citizens” of the District of Columbia’s illegitimate corporate government.
It took me many years to find this out and boy what a shocker it was! Too bad most Americans just won’t hear of it or accept the truth of it… not to mention the fact that they MUST reject this usurper – this lying corporate government with all of it’s slippery tentacles – to ever hope of living in a truly free country again.
Which is exactly why I have decided NOT to vote this time. It will be the first time in many moons that I have finally decided to NOT participate in what I now know is nothing but a farce. The only reason the corporate government does anything even remotely in the best interests of the people, who THINK they have some say in what their government does, is to keep the truth from getting out! And as you can see, as this usurper corporate government accumulates more and more power over the willfully blind masses, they are starting to be more open and blatant about their total disdain and disregard for what any of those selfsame masses think and want.
Oh, the price of ignorance!
Jeannie, good choice not to vote, as there is no choice (presidential). It’s a cognitive dissonance when we make the choice between the lesser evil. It damages our psyche and feels bad, like giving your power away. Keep your power and vote for yourself. We all need a different way forward, we can’t play by their rules any longer.
My thoughts are if we used paper ballots, with the ability to write in the persons name for whom we wish to vote, it would make a world of difference. We would not be restricted to a “selection” of the lesser of two evils.
As it stands now, our only hope of ever regaining control of our nation for we the people is to eliminate every career politician from office.
Maybe but really? These are all just numbers and bits of paper your talking about.
Don’t mean to get all woo woo on you but these things are only as important as our attachment to them.
Of course they can jail your body or kill it but if we are serious that won’t stop us from claiming personal sovereignty above and beyond these numbers and bits of paper.
I’m fairly certain “they” are banking on us to continue to tow the line of the dominant paradigm for want of a better way, so…
Maybe we shouldn’t.
Foreign policy of the USA is appalling, really always has been. Sadly there must be not much foreign news on your telly’s. USA is good at “hero swagger” of all sorts preferably in over budget movies.