The History of the Byzantine Empire

If you’re a Castalia History subscriber, you just might want to visit the Castalia Library substack today, as there is an announcement there concerning the fifth book in the Castalia History series, the April-May-June subscription book.

Also for Castalia History subscribers: there are about 20 Annual subscribers who still need to renew their subscriptions manually since we are not permitted to do so automatically in this particular situation. If your subscription has not been renewed, or if you need to make a catchup payment, you will receive an email shortly informing you of the need to do so.

And since we’re talking about Castalia History, I strongly recommend the daily excerpt from STUDIES IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, as the chapters on the tales of the secret services feature stories worthy of an action-adventure movie. The recently completed chapter on Brother James, who travelled through the enemy empire searching for a missing Spanish army that found itself surrounded by allies turned enemies in the aftermath of Napoleon’s decision to replace the Bourbon King of Spain with his brother Joseph, really has to be read to be believed.

In April La Romana had begun to be perturbed at the way in which the stream of dispatches and private letters from Spain, which had hitherto arrived regularly, had suddenly dried up. An officer who got through from Madrid with details of the accession of Ferdinand VII brought a complaint that the Home Government had got no dispatch from the expeditionary force for many weeks. Napoleon had stopped the post at both ends. This caused much alarm and evil surmises. They were more than fulfilled when on June 24th there was delivered to the Marquis a dispatch from Bayonne, announcing that the Bourbons had abdicated, that Joseph Bonaparte had been proclaimed King of Spain, that he had been acknowledged by the whole realm, and that he was to transmit the news to his army, and order the regiments to swear allegiance to their new sovereign.

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Looking for a Way Out

Both the USA and Ukraine are desperately trying to find a way to surrender to Russia in a manner that will be permitted by its Clown World puppeteers. One trial balloon was floated last month in The American Spectator:

How does the Ukraine-Russia war end? In an October surprise. Ukraine, which became independent on 24 August 1991, will be dissolved and a New Ukraine will come into being by virtue of a unilateral declaration by the present Government of Ukraine, with the support of the military high command. The de jure boundaries of New Ukraine will reflect and be co-terminus with the territory currently under the de facto administrative control of the present Government of Ukraine. New Ukraine will be compact; cohesive and well-integrated politically, economically, and socially (i.e., ethnically, linguistically, and culturally); and will have demonstrably defensible borders. Accordingly, New Ukraine will have the strategic autonomy to decouple from Russia’s sphere of influence without joining economic and military blocs such as the EU and NATO.

Simply put, from a realpolitik perspective, Russia has achieved its necessary and sufficient vital national security objectives with respect to its southwestern flank by virtue of the earlier takeover and annexation of Crimea and the strategically vital naval base of Sevastopol in March 2014, and the subsequent annexation (September 2022) and conquest (over the February 2022 – May 2023 period) of portions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk provinces to form a robust cordon sanitaire to protect Crimea. (READ MORE from Samir Tata: Coca-Cola Faces a Challenge in Its China Market)

Moreover, per the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Russian economy grew by 3 percent in 2023 and is expected to grow by 2.6 and 1.1 percent in 2024 and 2025 respectively, which is comparable to U.S. growth rates over the same period and far better than the economic performance of Germany. The challenge for Russia is to safeguard its hard-won national security gains and have the strategic patience to allow the Government of Ukraine to recognize that pursuing the military path is a dead end.

Clearly, what matters from Russia’s perspective is “which Ukraine” would fall outside the penumbra of the sphere of influence of the Russian Federation. As suggested by Vladimir Putin in his seminal speech in 2008 at NATO’s Summit in Bucharest, Ukraine as it was then constituted would break apart if there was a serious attempt to accept the invitation to join the military alliance. As Putin pointed out in the same speech, the core territories of western Ukraine were carved out of Poland and incorporated into an expanded Ukraine in 1939. Eastern Ukraine (Crimea and the strategically vital portions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk provinces) is now under de facto Russian control. A unilateral declaration of a downsized New Ukraine is unlikely to encounter a Russian objection.

An ‘October Surprise’ From ‘New’ Ukraine Is Possible, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR, 3 March 2024

This is, of course, absurd. It’s literally the USA’s point of view, which is based on the US military’s need to concentrate on a single front; note that the USA is also attempting to negotiate a surrender to the Yemenese forces that have defeated the US Navy’s attempt to take control of the Red Sea.

The suggestion that the Russians will stop and accept nothing more than what they have already taken by force is obviously only an opening offer; Odessa and its port will obviously be a non-negotiable demand and NATO membership of a militarized “downsized New Ukraine” is an obvious non-starter.

As always, the fundamental flaw can be seen in the false assumptions revealed in the description of the situation. The current war is not just between Russia and Ukraine, or even Russia and NATO, it is between Russia and the masters of Clown World. And those satanic masters apparently believe that if Ukraine falls, they will fall with it. So, they are going to try to fight to the very last European and the very last American in order to save themselves, but neither the Europeans nor the Americans have shown any willingness to fight for Ukraine let alone them.

Furthermore, as Simplicius notes in his April 3rd Sitrep, Ukraine probably doesn’t have until October to make a serious offer of surrender before the Russians are in possession of more than the US trial balloon purports to give them.

Things continue to feel like a calm before the approaching storm. There is not too much overt activity in the battle space, but various rumblings of a large looming escalation continue to trickle through the grape vine. In a recent article I had mentioned how the Western press and elite commentariat for the first time began using the taboo ‘C’ word, i.e. “Collapse”, for Ukraine. Now this has opened up the floodgates, causing more and more worried publications to begin turning off their previous holding-the-line narrative filter and actually start describing the Ukrainian situation with truthful urgency. The U.S. has already emptied almost its entire store of usable surplus mainline weaponry for Ukraine, i.e. tanks, artillery, light armor—not counting things like ammo… even if the $60B were to pass, U.S. has little of actual value to send to Ukraine beyond small arms munitions and things of that nature. There are no more surplus Bradleys left, and none can be built as the factory closed down decades ago.

This highlights the essential danger for a nation accepting foreign rule. Once in control, a foreign elite will unhesitatingly destroy the entire nation over which it rules in order to save itself from the negative consequences of its own actions.

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Devil Mouse Continues Suicide

The Disney shareholders had a chance to at least try changing course, and they rejected it.

Disney (DIS) has successfully fended off activist investor Nelson Peltz in his quest to secure board seats at the company, officially ending a highly contested proxy battle that has plagued the entertainment giant and its CEO Bob Iger for months.

The company revealed the news during its annual meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, confirming the current Disney board will remain intact following a shareholder vote that gave Disney a win “by a substantial margin.” About 75% of retail shareholders voted in favor of Disney’s current board, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Disney’s stock traded lower immediately following the results, with shares down more than 1%.

The results of the vote lend additional credence to the notion that once a corporation is completely converged, there is no way out except bankruptcy. The Disney executives will continue doubling down until their fate is sealed, assuming that it isn’t already.

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Is Switzerland Still Democratic?

It appears we’re going to find out. Because you know both Clown World and its pet politicians are going to be pulling out all the stops to prevent this referendum on immigration from passing:

The Swiss People’s Party submitted 114,600 signatures to the federal chancellery in Bern on Wednesday. It demands that a new article on “sustainable population development” be added to the constitution.

According to the initiative, the population of permanent residents must not exceed ten million people before 2050. The government should then set a limit based on the birth rate. If 9.5 million people live in the country before 2050, the Federal Council and Parliament would have to act.

For example, temporarily admitted persons would then no longer be able to obtain a permanent residence permit. Family reunification is also to be restricted. International agreements with exemption or protection clauses would have to be renegotiated. If all this is not enough, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the European Union would have to be cancelled.

According to a party statement today, the high level of support for this initiative, “shows that the population urgently demands sustainable and independently controlled immigration for Switzerland.”

This sort of measure is absolutely necessary, and indeed, long overdue, for every European nation as well as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA. It’s not only Clown World that can weaponize migration, after all; many have forgotten the global outcry that greeted China’s plan to settle 100 million Chinese in Africa. Already, in Namibia, Chinese immigrants account for more than 5 percent of the 2.8 million population there and have accounted for most of its post-2000 population growth; they could become the voting majority there in the blink of an eye if Beijing was ever inclined to wage unrestricted warfare against the Namibian people and thereby harvest its natural resources.

And the same, obviously, is true of the smaller European nations.

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A Warning to Taipei

It appears geoweaponry has been unleashed on Taiwan amidst rumors that the island province is working steadily toward a reunification agreement with the mainland.

A major earthquake struck Taiwan during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami warnings in Japan and the Philippines. At least seven people were reported dead, officials said. More than 700 were missing, The Associated Press reported.

The quake hit near the eastern city of Hualien at 7:58am local time (2358 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, making it the strongest quake to hit since 1999. The depth was about 35 kilometers (22 miles), which is considered shallow. Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2.

Strong shaking was felt in Taipei, the capital, some 100 miles away, with aftershocks continued for roughly two hours. And there were reports in China that people as far away as Shanghai, about 500 miles to the north, could feel the earthquake.

According to Taiwan media, the last earthquake of a magnitude 7 or greater to hit the island was the Sept. 21, 1999, “Jiji” earthquake that measured 7.3, which destroyed thousands of buildings and killed more than 2,400 people.

Sure, it could be a coincidence that this happened as US troops are being stationed on Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam are being pressed to join some new form of SEATO, and the US has largely prioritized its conflict with China over the current war in Ukraine.

But there are no coincidences and we know that geothermal weapons exist. This is no more an act of nature than the recent Maui and Texas fires were, or than a tidal wave that just happened to hit Manhattan would be one.

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This is not Self-Defense

The IDF murdered seven aid workers yesterday, three of whom were British special forces veterans, in three targeted drone strikes.

Late on Monday night three cars from the World Central Kitchen pulled out of the organisation’s warehouse in Gaza to distribute aid to Palestinians. Each vehicle was clearly marked as working for the humanitarian organisation, followed an IDF-approved route and had GPS trackers and SOS beacons broadcasting their positions.

But despite taking every precaution, the seven brave volunteers inside the cars were being watched – and were soon deemed hostile targets and eliminated.

Among the doomed passengers were former Royal Marine James Henderson, 33; former SBS soldier John Chapman, 57; as well as a British military veteran named last night by the BBC as James Kirby.

the IDF unit responsible for securing the area ordered UAV operators to attack one of the vehicles shortly before midnight.

It deployed a precision R9X Hellfire missile which smashed into one of the armoured cars. Passengers were seen scrambling from the wreckage and jumping into the other two vehicles.

They informed authorities monitoring their movements that they had been hit and sped off.

After travelling just 900 metres the Hermes 450 fired once more. The second armoured car was hit, leaving just the soft-skinned 4×4 remaining. Surviving passengers loaded the wounded into the final vehicle and pulled away.

But having made it 1.5km further along the coastal road the UAV fired for a third time – blasting the remaining vehicle to bits.

And then, as part of their diplomatic strategy to win friends and influence people, they bombed an Iranian consulate in Syria.

This isn’t self-defense. These attacks are not even taking place in Israel. No wonder Netanyahu is whining about how the whole world now hates Israel. Because it’s rapidly becoming impossible for any sane or impartial individual to not despise what the Israeli government and the Israeli military are doing.

Many wicked people were once victimized themselves. But having been a victim does not justify victimizing others.

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Tuesday Arktoons

AESOPS FABLES Episode 37: The Goat and the Goatherd

CHATEAU GRIEF Episode 349: Let’s be Syrias Now

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BLACK JACK Episode 51: You Just Try Too Hard

DIARY OF A POSTWAR PIRATE Episode 18: Acne’d Plot

REBEL DEAD REVENGE Episode 108: The Shadows Are Moving Too Fast

STONETOSS Episode 281: Transcendent

Also of interest to Arkhaven fans: we have finished Volume One of MIDNIGHT’S WAR. We’re waiting for the proof to arrive, and once we can sign off on it, we will a) send it to the backers and b) release it to distribution.

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Why the Empire Always Falls

Philip K. Dick called it The Empire That Never Ended. Miles Mathis called them the Phoenecian Navy. I call them the Prometheans. Most people today call them globalists, but Jesus Christ called them the Synagogue of Satan. We don’t know what they call themselves, but they a) often appear to identify publicly as Jews and b) always criminalize expressions of Christianity and antisemitism.

And the latter points toward why they always fail, and why they have never, in more than 1,500 years, been able to successfully establish or maintain their own society or civilization despite occasionally possessing all the necessary instruments of power and influence in societies as powerful as pre-Imperial Spain, Tsarist Russia, post-Imperial Britain, or the post-Cold War USA. This cartoon sums up the essential cause of the failure.

For some inexplicable reason known only to themselves, the Prometheans always insist on a completely subjective law. And while that’s very useful for acquiring power, it is absolutely fatal to preserving it, because subjective law necessarily imposes the very sort of inequality that renders a society unstable. This is why every society that has successfully developed into a civilization has an elite that not only practices some form of noblesse oblige, but holds the members of the elite fully accountable to objective laws that are not substantially different than the laws the plebs must obey.

In short, to rule, one will be held responsible. To rule successfully, one must be capable of responsibly looking after the interests of the ruled.

Any elite that does not do so is viewed, correctly, as parasitical and illegitimate, and in Chinese terms, does not hold the Mandate of Heaven. And if there is one thing that is clear about the current Clown World super-regime, it is that it is illegitimate by its own self-proclaimed standard of democracy and its laws are entirely subjective. Which is why Clown World, like Babylon, is going to fall.

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The Retreat from Japan

Goldman Sachs reverses course and exits the Japanese market:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is exiting transaction banking in Japan, less than a year after announcing plans to enter the business of managing cash flows for big companies in the country.

“We are stepping back from building out this business here in Japan,” Tokyo-based spokesperson Hiroko Matsumoto said in an emailed statement. “Consequently we are closing Goldman Sachs Bank USA Tokyo Branch whose sole function was to support transaction banking in this market.”

The bank will remain focused on growing its transaction banking operations in the US, UK and European Union, Matsumoto said.

I don’t know what this might signify, but I assume it is something important, perhaps even on the level of China’s 2015 decision to spurn Clown World’s invitation to become the new headquarters of The Empire That Never Ended.

What we know is that a decision by the Japanese government, or its replacement, to change sides and support China instead of the United States would be a global shift of tectonic proportions.

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Spengler and the Clowns in the Bunker

David Goldman, the Asia Times columnist formerly known as Spengler, was invited to an elite conclave of Clown Worlders to discuss the current state of their war with Russia. And if he is to be believed, there is no Plan B for Clown World:

Somewhere last weekend a few dozen former Cabinet members, senior military officers, academics and think tank analysts met to evaluate the world military situation. I can say that I haven’t been so scared since the fall of 1983, when I was a junior contract researcher doing odd jobs for then Special Assistant to the President Norman A Bailey at the National Security Council…

Russia’s economic resilience in the face of supposedly devastating sanctions is only one reflection of a great transformation of world trade. China’s exports to the Global South doubled during the past three years and China now exports more to the South than to developed markets. China’s unprecedented exporting success, in turn, stems from the rapid automation of Chinese industry, which now installs more industrial robots per year than the rest of the world combined.

This is evident, I added, in China’s newfound dominance in the world automotive market but it also has critical military implications. China claims that it has automated plants that can make 1,000 cruise missiles a day—not impossible given that it can manufacture 1,000 EVs a day, or thousands of 5G base stations.

The implication is that China can produce the equivalent of America’s inventory of 4,000 cruise missiles in a week while American defense contractors take years to assemble them by hand.

No one disputed the data I presented. And no one believed that Russia is taking 25,000 casualties a month. Facts weren’t the issue: The assembled dignitaries, a representative sampling of the foreign policy establishment’s intellectual and executive leadership, simply couldn’t imagine a world in which America no longer gave the orders.

They are accustomed to running things and they will gamble the world away to keep their position.

Success always plants the seeds of failure. The current set of Clown Worlders are the third generation in the West, and like every third-generation heir, they are well along the generational pattern of build-crusie-lose that so often produces the rags-to-riches-to-rags-again story so witnessed in once-successful families over time. The current elite no longer understands the differences between the situation they face and the historical challenges surmounted by their predecessors, and they are trying to use the same tactics and techniques that worked for their predecessors in a different time and on a very different set of people.

What we’re witnessing on a grand scale across the West is no different than watching the founder’s grandson resolutely steering the family company onto the rocks even as his siblings, wives, and children blithely spend away the family’s resources in imitation of the second-generation’s unproductive champagne lifestyles. Not only do they have no idea how to go about succeeding, but they can’t imagine failure, not even when it is simultaneously staring them in the face and biting them in the behind.

No wonder Spengler is terrified. The comeuppance for the corrupt clowns who destroyed the wealthiest and most successful societies in human history is almost certainly going to be one for the history books.

UPDATE: The Europeans are finally beginning to figure out that the clowns have abandoned them and they are on their own. But they obviously aren’t smart enough to accept defeat, give up their pretensions, and negotiate a settlement with Russia while they can still get very reasonable terms.

Washington has sent a clear message to European NATO members that they can no longer rely on its military protection, the head of German defense giant Rheinmetall has claimed. For decades, the EU has taken it for granted that the US would come to its rescue in case of war, but “that will no longer happen,” CEO Armin Papperger told The Financial Times. He cited the failure of the US Congress to approve continued military assistance to Ukraine as a signal to Europe that the Americans are not willing to pay for its security.

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