Transcript: Putin’s Speech at SPIEF

I welcome all participants and guests of the 25th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

It is taking place at a difficult time for the international community when the economy, markets and the very principles of the global economic system have taken a blow. Many trade, industrial and logistics chains, which were dislocated by the pandemic, have been subjected to new tests. Moreover, such fundamental business notions as business reputation, the inviolability of property and trust in global currencies have been seriously damaged. Regrettably, they have been undermined by our Western partners, who have done this deliberately, for the sake of their ambitions and in order to preserve obsolete geopolitical illusions.

Today, our – when I say “our,” I mean the Russian leadership – our own view of the global economic situation. I would like to speak in greater depth about the actions Russia is taking in these conditions and how it plans to develop in these dynamically changing circumstances.

When I spoke at the Davos Forum a year and a half ago, I also stressed that the era of a unipolar world order has come to an end. I want to start with this, as there is no way around it. This era has ended despite all the attempts to maintain and preserve it at all costs. Change is a natural process of history, as it is difficult to reconcile the diversity of civilisations and the richness of cultures on the planet with political, economic or other stereotypes – these do not work here, they are imposed by one centre in a rough and no-compromise manner.

The flaw is in the concept itself, as the concept says there is one, albeit strong, power with a limited circle of close allies, or, as they say, countries with granted access, and all business practices and international relations, when it is convenient, are interpreted solely in the interests of this power. They essentially work in one direction in a zero-sum game. A world built on a doctrine of this kind is definitely unstable.

After declaring victory in the Cold War, the United States proclaimed itself to be God’s messenger on Earth, without any obligations and only interests which were declared sacred. They seem to ignore the fact that in the past decades, new powerful and increasingly assertive centres have been formed. Each of them develops its own political system and public institutions according to its own model of economic growth and, naturally, has the right to protect them and to secure national sovereignty.

These are objective processes and genuinely revolutionary tectonic shifts in geopolitics, the global economy and technology, in the entire system of international relations, where the role of dynamic and potentially strong countries and regions is substantially growing. It is no longer possible to ignore their interests.

To reiterate, these changes are fundamental, groundbreaking and rigorous. It would be a mistake to assume that at a time of turbulent change, one can simply sit it out or wait it out until everything gets back on track and becomes what it was before. It will not.

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DEATH MASK, Nightvale Book 2

I believed I promised you that we would have a book announcement of our own this weekend, and here it is.

KARA’ZIN

Empire of perfidy.

With Menuvia little more than a funeral pyre, Xerdes flees to the Traitor’s Kingdom of Nazgan. Where larceny is legal, honor is fatal, and it pays to keep a low profile.

For the deserts of Nazgan are not empty. A lethal legend now haunts the badlands, thirsty for sinful blood. A hooded horror none dare name.

Even as the masked wraith carves its way through the underworld of two separate countries, it has only ever uttered a single world.

“…Xerdes.”

Razorfist has written the second book in his Nightvale pulp fantasy series, which is being published by Dark Legion Books. He’s releasing a limited edition of 750 signed copies, of which only 340 are left after he announced DEATH MASK on his stream about eight hours ago, so don’t wait if you’re interested in a signed copy. Seriously, don’t wait. They will probably be gone before the Darkstream tonight.

Fortunately, you can also preorder both the regular hardcover and paperback editions until June 30.

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Even Worse Than Expected

The Devil Mouse is putting its literally satanic agenda on public display in Lightyear.

You weren’t planning to see it anyway and you are right to avoid it.

This film is a Pedomouse spectacular. Lightyear is a product of Reimagine Tomorrow. The lesbian kiss was the least of it.

The entire film is centered around the lesbian relationship. In fact the lesbians get pregnant. So, forget about awkward questions from your seven year old about two women in love. Pedomouse wants you to have discussions about how two women can get each other knocked up. That is the family conversation Disney/Pixar is pushing with Lightyear.

Then there are the values this film is pushing like a bulldozer:

“Let’s just say that Lightyear does not deal in subtle messages. Instead, it has a mission to convince you that meritocracy is bad, masculinity and instinctual decisions are wrong, and we all need to accept each other as we are with all of our flaws rather than to see the potential in each person. It dives into those themes with the nuance of a caffeinated kid with a baseball bat swinging for a pinata.

It’s so awful, and so converged, and so likely to lose vast quantities of money, that Dark Herald actually suggests it might be a harbinger of the Devil Mouse’s exit from the movie business.

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Eurofragility

SHOT: French demand for Russian natural gas has been on the rise for the last four years. The upward trend continues in the current year as well. From January 1 through June 5, 2019, Gazprom’s gas supplies to France totaled 5.8 billion cubic meters, an increase of 5.6 per cent from the same period of 2018. In 2018, Gazprom supplied to France 12.9 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 5.4 per cent against 2017 (12.3 billion cubic meters).

CHASER: Russian natural gas flows to France via pipeline from Germany have ceased. Russia’s Gazprom will reduce gas supply to Italy by 50 percent today, says the energy company Eni.

I wonder how the politicians in Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden who threw away their nations’ neutrality in order to participate in those stunningly self-destructive sanctions are feeling now? The presumably unintended consequences have boomeranged so horrifically on the neoliberal economies that they could not unreasonably be charged with being Russian agents.

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Summer Book Sale

This is not a Castalia sale, but rather, one by a number of our friends, allies, and associates. Please don’t hesitate to support them if there is anything you happen to find interesting. We will, however, have a publishing announcement this weekend.

Check out the Super Summer Book Sale running now through Tuesday June 21. Indie and small-press authors have banded together to offer over 160 ebooks priced at $0.99 with many titles free. The sale includes over sixty works new to the sale, and Terror House Press has joined in offering their entire catalog of ebooks for $0.99. Science fiction, fantasy, and adventure from established and emerging talents – there’s something for everyone.

The sale includes works from John C. Wright, Peter Grant, Russell May, Leigh Bracket, Tom Kratman, John Ringo, David Weber, H.G. Wells, Robert Kroese, and the sale also features “Centrism Games,” the first offering from Professor Rachel Fulton Brown and her Dragon Common Room.

Author Larry Correia recently explained, “There’s a lot of really good stuff out there that isn’t woke garbage. There’s a lot of amazing art from brilliant people that’s more focused on entertaining that shoving message down your throat… [T]here are lots of great authors out there who get zilch attention, in an industry that actively black balls them for wrongthink.”

So support non-woke creators and get yourself some great summer reading books from authors who don’t hate you, today!

Running on Empty

The Tree of Woe contemplates the global economic order and the reinvention of the Third World in a four-part series.

Part I of this series explained that the US dollar is the world’s first reserve currency that is not backed by precious metals. Instead it is backed by other people’s oil. Because of a secret treaty between the US and Saudi Arabia, petroleum can only be purchased with dollars. Every country needs oil, so everyone country needs dollars and sells imports to the US to get them. Demand for dollars has made the USD the primary American export, allowing the US to deindustrialize and financialize its economy.

Part II explained how the petrodollar has grossly enriched American asset holders (stocks, bonds, and real estate) and painfully impoverished American wage earners. Under the petrodollar system, dollars are created by private banks for profit. These dollars are recycled into the economy by OPEC nations, causing stocks, bonds, and real estate to rise. This profitable exchange is enforced by American military might, which punishes any country that seeks to exit the petrodollar system.

Part III explained that for the petrodollar system to function, America needs to be able to project power worldwide to secure international trade and enforce the system. America secures global commerce and projects military power by commanding the World Ocean, by which 90% of all goods are trafficked. To overcome America’s naval supremacy, both Russia and China have sought to establish control of the World Island, the Eurasian supercontinent that houses most of the world’s population and resources. The Russo-Ukraine War is a proxy war between the uncontested master of the World Ocean (America) and the would-be masters of the World Island (China and Russa).

In Part IV, we’ll discuss how faulty expectations by both sides in the Russo-Ukraine War have led to sanctions of such severity might cause the petrodollar system to break down.

It’s an excellent series, and you’d expect, although my perspective on the military situation is a little bit different. I don’t think Russia expected to quickly knock Ukraine out of the war. I think they hoped to do so with their opening gambit that included the lightning light infantry assault on Kiev, but that Operation Z never depended upon it.

The relatively small number of troops utilized, the way in which Russia has not heavily utilized its air and sea superiority, the second-rate units utilized, and the way Russia has methodically focused on attrition warfare in the Donbass all demonstrate that Russia has been holding its forces in ready to take on NATO directly. Just as the Germans were surprised by Russian manufacturing capabilities, Russian shell production has resulted in NATO complaining about Russia’s overwhelming artillery advantage, with the Russian forces able to fire up to 60,000 shells and rockets per day several months after we were informed that Russia was going to run out of ammunition within two weeks.

However, this doesn’t undermine Tree of Woe’s case so much as it underlines it. Russia has clearly been planning for a long and unrestricted confrontation with NATO and the USA from the start, one which includes both the military and the economic conflicts. Which is precisely why I think it is highly unlikely that the special military operation is going to end with a Ukrainian surrender and a negotiated settlement that brings Russia back into the neoliberal economic order.

While the World Ocean would cheerfully settle for that now, both Russia and China are obviously aware that it would merely mean putting off the larger conflict for a few years and giving their adversaries time to better prepare for it.

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The Return of MIDNIGHT’S WAR

We’re just wrapping up Issues #5 and #6 of Midnight’s War, and a new episode is available on Arktoons. More will be coming soon. I’ve also had requests to keep posting the daily links here, so we’ll see what we can do about that.

MIDNIGHT’S WAR Episode 37: What Have You Done?

THE AWAKENER Episode 43: Planetary Rule

CHUCK DIXON’S AVALON Episode 59: My Day in Court

SPACEKRAKEN Episode 4: Jurassic Science

STONETOSS Episode 95: Killing Time

ALT★HERO Episode 60: Entering the Catacombs

CHESTER AND FRIENDS Episode 6: My Flower

SOMETHING BIG Episode 48: Out of Luck

THE STRANDED Episode 26: Meeting the In-Laws

BOB Episode 41: Hi!

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He Was Doing So Well

The inimitable Francis Fukuyama, whose idiotic thesis about “The End of History” will haunt his reputation for generations after his death, actually managed to correctly contextualize the Russian special military operation in Ukraine back in March.

I think all of us have an interest in supporting Kiev’s fight because the broader liberal democratic order is really what’s at stake in this current war. It’s not a war just about this country, Ukraine. It’s really the attempt to roll back the entire expansion of the realm of liberal democracy that took place after 1991 and the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

Very good. So, unlike the mainstream media and the average individual, Fukuyama correctly grasped that Ukraine was not the real focus of the conflict, but “the broader liberal democratic order”. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t stop there, as evidenced by his recent statement this June.

This new order is taking shape. It is the result of several years of struggle by the Western democratic camp against authoritarian regimes, mainly against Russia and China. This war is the culmination of this process. Russia is heading for a rout. It has already suffered a series of battlefield defeats, and now it is about to be driven out of Donbass by the Ukrainian Army. This is a real disaster for Putin. He turns out to be just a shoddy leader. And not just as a warlord: It’s also a complete political debacle. Russia will have a very hard time climbing out of this abyss into which it has fallen. It will be excluded from the international world order like North Korea.

And Iran. And China. And India. And Brazil. And the Arab countries. Wait a minute, now just who is excluding whom? Berlusconi was considerably more perceptive when he observed that while the “West” is excluding Russia, the rest of the world is excluding the “West”.

That, right there, is one of the reasons the globalists and their neo-liberal rules-based order is doomed to failure. Their top intellectuals are retarded, addicted to their word spells, and incapable of seeing, much less admitting, the obvious, even when it is right in front of them.

In light of the epic errancy of Fukuyama’s thesis, it is amusing that US diplomats are angrily resorting to outdated and discredited rhetoric and denouncing China for choosing to side with Russia and the rest of the world by claiming that China is “on the wrong side of history”.

China would appear to be unconcerned about which side of history it is on.

AFP: On the phone call between the Chinese and Russian heads of state yesterday, the US State Department spokesperson expressed concern about it and said nations that side with Vladimir Putin will “inevitably find themselves on the wrong side of history”. I wonder if you have any comment on this?

Wang Wenbin: On the Ukraine issue, China has always independently assessed the situation on the basis of the historical context and the merits of the issue. We always stand on the side of peace and justice.

Whereas the US reneged on its word, pushed NATO expansion eastward and brought conflict and confrontation back to Europe, China is committed to dialogue and cooperation for common and sustainable security and called for a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework. Whereas the US has clamored for a fight “to the last Ukrainian” and fueled the conflict, China has actively promoted peace talks and called on the world to enable negotiations, not fighting, to continue between Russia and Ukraine. Whereas the US has exercised maximum pressure and sanctions, causing the crisis to spill over and spread, China has firmly opposed attempts to politicize, instrumentalize and weaponize the world economy. China stressed that what has been achieved through international economic cooperation over the decades cannot be just wiped out, still less should the ordinary people around the world bear the cost. People will come to their own conclusion as to who is on the right side.

The US keeps claiming itself to be on the right side of history, but is it entirely confident when saying that? Maybe the US is just whistling in the dark.

Wang Wenbin, Foreign Ministry, June 16, 2022

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