The Voluntary Exchange Podcast: Not-So-Grand Chessboard

I thought this week I'd hit on a bunch of different geopolitical situations that could escalate in the near future.

Ukraine

Ukraine has been in the middle of low-energy civil war since the coup that took place in early 2014. It set the pro-EU, anti-Russian west against the Russian-speaking, breakaway west. Ukraine has always been a country trying to find an identity. Its borders have changed and so have its allegiances. At one time, it was part of Russia. For a long time in fact. It was called "Little Russia" for parts of the Middle Ages, and Russian leaders have always looked that it as part of Russian history.

The western area has felt more at home with the West. Parts of it were part of the Polish Kingdom, before breaking off and joining Great Russia in 1654 with the signing of the Treaty of Pereyaslav. The western region has more recently has tried to outlaw the Russian language in Ukraine, and in the past they called Russian-speakers "Cossaks", much like the Poles did.

Currently, the war has been more of a cold one. With the eastern regions continuing to support Russia, with Moscow expanding its influence over the area. The Ukrainian government from Kiev, and the Neo-Nazi political party that the United States helped take over, has seen the army become "fatigued", as most soldiers not on either extreme sides of the conflict. Much like the American Civil War, fighting your "brother" can become tiresome.

Germany vs Poland

An interesting development has come up in Poland. Poland has recently been controlled by a more right-wing, anti-EU party. Poland looks to gain back its national sovereignty from Brussels and the Neo-Liberals in Germany. It has refused to accept even one Muslim migrant, and thinks pretty highly of Donald Trump.

Poland's refusal to play ball has lead Germany to support regime change. They have gone so far as to have the Germany Defense Minister call for support of the new "youth resistance" in Poland. This "resistance" has been linked to George Soros, and seems to be another "color revolution". There have been a long history of these color revolutions in Europe, a few in Ukraine in the 2000s, before the successfully violent one in 2014.

Poland has pushed the envelope, looking to create its own "bloc" in Europe. This bloc would be built out of the "Three Seas Initiative". The initiative aims to bring together three different blocs within Europe, offering national sovereignty and some breathing room from the over-bearing governance of the EU. Some are calling the bloc: "Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 2.0". This does not sit well with Angela Merkel and her friends in Brussels.

The bloc would also be very anti-Russian, which would date back to the days of Communism.

Libya

The news out of Libya isn't really news at all. The story here is that CNN has finally decided to cover the ongoing slave trade in the country. This was being reported on by actual journalists back as far as April of this year, maybe before. CNN took it's time for a few reasons I'm sure.

During the revolt against Gaddafi, CNN took its talking points from the CIA-backed rebels on the ground. The rebels (the ones Hillary is so happy to take pictures with) made it clear that all black African migrants were really "mercenaries" brought in my Gaddafi to protect his regime. In reality, these migrants were brought in as workers by Gaddafi for development projects. But CNN ran with the "mercenary" term, giving the rebels the look of "freedom fighters" killing the evil mercenaries brought in by the evil dictator to stomp out any uprising.

These African migrants were hunted down and killed in large numbers. The ones that weren't killed, are the slaves you seen CNN talking about today.

The whole war was based off a lie. A lie that Gaddafi was going to slaughter his citizens in the streets. A story that has been debunked ever since.

In a war that has been dubbed "Hillary's War", it was exposed by Wikileaks that Clinton knew about the targeting of migrants, but she was more than happy to ignore that to achieve her end goals.

The reason I believe that this is finally seeing the light of day is simple. The United States wants to expand its imperial footprint in Africa (something I covered in a previous episode), and what better way to sell that to the American people then to tell them there is an actual slave trade going on. CNN of course will make no connection between the trade and the US-backed forces, or that they peddled the narrative that provided cover for this disgusting practice.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has always been the butt of everyone's joke. The country where a wheelbarrow worth of its currency buys you nothing. Where Bitcoin is at 13K apiece. Well, it seems like the corruption and economic criminality has finally caught up with President Mugabe.

This week, the military of the country took over the state radio & TV stations. It also put President Mugabe and his wife under house arrest. The military is not calling it a coup.

The president has been in power since 1980 and his now 93 years old. He is the oldest head of state on Earth, and planned to hand over power to his wife. As recently as today, Mugabe addressed the country on TV, surpising everyone by stating he was not stepping down.

The situation should be followed as it unfolds.

Iraq/Kurds

This week we also saw (maybe) the end of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq. Kurdistan's Regional Government declared that they support a "United Iraq", but them at odds with the more radical elements of the Kurdish population. Since this Iraq military's takeover of Kirkuk, the Regional Government has lost all of it's power. The politicians in charge seem to have made a deal with the central government of Baghdad. Iraq and its US backers wanted the selling of oil in the Kurdish region to flow through Baghdad, and that seems to have taken place. The idea of Kurdish independence in Iraq would seem to be dead.

Yemen

The situation in Yemen continues to get worse. Just this week the Saudi regime bombed the airport in the capital city of Sanaa, effectively shutting down another route for aid into the starving country.

Speaking of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Senator Chris Murphy spoke on the floor of Senate, calling out the US government for its role in the crimes taking place in the Middle East's poorest nation:

Let's hope maybe this brings some attention to the situation and guilt-trips a Congressmen or two to find their morals, if they have any.

Episode can be found here...The full episode archive can be found here and on ITunes.

Sources

• The Split Personality Of The Russian Soul: Moscow And Kiev
• Germany Clumsily Admits To Supporting Regime Change In Poland
• Geostrategic Insights Into the Joint Polish-Croatian “Three Seas Initiative”
• Brzezinski Mapped Out the Battle for Ukraine in 1997
• Zimbabwe army takes President into custody in apparent military coup
• Saudi Planes Bomb Yemen Airport, Blocking Aid Deliveries
• Iraqi Kurdish Govt Endorses ‘United Iraq’
• Lessons from Libya: How Not to Intervene
• Rebels wreak revenge on dictator's men
• Hillary Clinton Email Archive
• CHRIS MURPHY ACCUSES U.S. OF COMPLICITY IN WAR CRIMES FROM THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE
• Canceled language law in Ukraine sparks concern among Russian and EU diplomats
• People For Sale
• After getting “democracy” from a US and NATO intervention, Libya is now trading slaves
• Bitcoin hits $13,000 on Zimbabwe exchange
• Robert Mugabe stuns Zimbabwe by failing to quit in televised address

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / WordPress / Patreon