On Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 1:57:59 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
A two part series by Jan Kirkke. https://asiatimes.com/2022/10/the-world-at-a-turning-point/
The author focused on some American behaviors in "The World at a Turning Point".
"Why is the United States concerned that Germany buys its energy from Russia? The US has no objections to Germany buying its computers from China, its motorbikes from Japan, and its cheese from the Netherlands.
The last four US presidents – Bush II, Obama, Trump and Biden – had little in common but they were united in their attempts to block Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline contructed in the Baltic Sea to carry Russian gas to Germany."
His answers:
1. The 2008 Financial Crisis exposed the risk of a world economy economy dominated by fiat US dollar.
2. The trend of de-dollarization beginning in Asia which could isolate the US from global trade and harm US economy if allowed to continue. And why Russia could play a pivotal role.
"The growing “de-dollarization” in Asia explains why it is crucial for the US to keep Europe in the dollar camp. It is necessary to prevent growing economic ties between Europe and Asia, which explains attempts by the last four US presidents to
torpedo Nord Stream 2.
Russia not only has enormous energy resources, but its imposing geography enables it to serve as a key link among China, India and Europe. A Eurasian economic region of 93 countries and 5.3 billion people, trading among itself, would not need to rely
on the dollar."
The second article entitled "Europe united on road to its own decline" focused on the likely outcome of the Russo-Ukraine conflict.
https://asiatimes.com/2022/10/europe-united-on-road-to-its-own-decline/
"Lack of resources prompted Germany to turn to Russia. Using low-cost energy from Russia
enabled Germany to add about a trillion dollars to its annual gross domestic product. Russia
benefited from a steady stream of billions of dollars flowing in from Europe every year,
obviously a win-win deal.
Between the 1990s and the 2020s, Europe and Russia built a massive network of pipelines
from central Russia that carried gas and oil to Northern, Central and Southern Europe. It was
by far the largest energy infrastructure project in the world.
Starting in the 1990s, EU-Russian trade grew from a few billion dollars a year to $270 billion
in 2021. In 2020, the EU was Russia’s No 1 trade partner, accounting for 37.3% of the country’s
total trade in goods with the world. Some 36.5% of Russia’s imports came from the EU and
37.9% of its exports went to the EU.
Successive US administrations sounded the alarm that Europe was becoming too reliant on
Russian energy, especially its natural gas. Then-German chancellor Angela Merkel had no such
concerns, nor did other many European countries that became part of the pipeline network.
Ukraine and Poland, major transit countries, earned billion in transit fees.
Entry and exit points of Russian gas through Ukraine.
Russia dissolved the Warsaw Pact after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, rather than disbanding, expanded eastward. The Europeans didn’t see the
contradiction of developing mutually beneficial relations with Russia while at the same time
stationing a large army on its the border.
The cost of losing Russia is incalculable. The pessimistic scenarios see Europe facing
deindustrialization, the loss of trillions in investment capital, and a drastic reduction in living
standards. Add to all this the fragile financial position of many EU countries and yet-to-be-tamed
inflation, and the bleak scenarios are warranted.
By the time Europe takes stock of its condition – and wonders why its political elite killed a
ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine – it will find itself alone. Russia will have
turned to the East. The US is likely to turn inward to deal with its own problems. Europe will have
little choice but to do the same, which may be the only positive outcome of the Ukraine tragedy."
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