As expected. Reports are that he received 87% of the vote, with an extremely high turnout. In a time of collective Western war on Russia, both kinetic via the Ukrainian proxy as well as economic via sanctions, the results suggest a high degree of satisfaction with Putin’s handling of both the war and the economy—a mandate. Regarding the war, Putin is saying the notion that Russia would agree to a ceasefire or negotiations when its enemies are running out of ammunition is delusional. Yeah. Duh. Rules Based Order rules don’t apply.
NATO attempted to “meddle” in the Russian election by staging an invasion of Russia from Ukraine. Originally I believe this was supposed to be “dissident Russians”, but that threadbare subterfuge was blown away in the usual fashion—overwhelming Russian military superiority and examination of what was left on the battlefield. I’m going to embed a 20 minute video from The Duran which I highly recommend. The two Alexes stress that every aspect of this disaster bear the fingerprints of NATO coordination and support:
Now, here’s a second video from The Duran. This one is 28 minutes long and discusses the enormous favor Western sanctions have done for Russia: “Russian economic growth accelerates, major investment surge.” Alexander quotes the Washington Examiner to the effect that the Russian manufacturing base—which is now larger than Germany’s, Europe’s largest—is “vast”. Alexander maintains that Russia is following a “Hamiltonian” model (as in Alexander Hamilton). To give you a flavor:
Expansion in manufacturing continues to rise and in particular now a major surge in the car industry. The car industry seems to be zooming back and, of course, it's all now based or increasingly structured on domestic production--but also on Chinese cars. The Chinese are now busy setting up co-production factories in Russia. They're moving in, the Russians are taking control of all the Western factories--you know, the factories where Mercedes cars used to be made and all of these Western cars used to be made in Russia. What's happening is the Chinese are moving in, basically setting up co-production facilities with the Russian managers of these factories, and Chinese car production in Russia is taking off fast right across the board.
Incredibly, the Euros just double down on dumb. Take Norway. Norway is one of the richest countries in the world. My understanding is that the Norwegies have traditionally had a good relationship with Russia up in the Arctic. But now this, just as it’s become indisputably clear what the result of the war will be—Glenn Diesen summarizes an article from the Barents Observer:
- The main objective is to contest Russia's Northern Sea Route and the Russian claims to energy resources in the Russian Arctic
- The US has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and does not recognise the Russian or Canadian Arctic claims. The US considers this to be "international waters" where it will exercise "freedom of navigation"
- Norway has a policy of not allowing foreign bases on its soil, but this issue was resolved by calling the US military bases "dedicated areas". Norway is transferring sovereign control over territories to the US military outside that falls under US legal jurisdiction, but they cannot be referred to as military bases. It's like referring to torture as "advanced interrogation techniques" to legalise torture
- During the Cold War, Norway had a policy of being a good neighbour to the Russians and a good ally to the Americans. The balance meant we were part of NATO as a deterrent but did not invite foreign troops to the high north or host foreign military bases as it would be provocative to the Russians and trigger a response.
- This policy is gone. In the tradition of NATO incrementalism, Norway first had American troops in Norway on rotation to suggest they were not permanently deployed and thus not breaching our policy of no foreign bases. In 2021, Norway and the US agreed on a few military bases but called them "dedicated areas" and reassured us they were not to target Russia. Now there will be 12+ US military bases and Washington no longer conceals its intentions.
- We wrote a warning in the Norwegian media in 2019 that we were being converted into an American frontline state in the Arctic, an Arctic Ukraine. This was dismissed as Russian talking points as US has seemingly no other interest in the Arctic than to offer free protection.
- The West also suspended cooperation with Russia in the Arctic Council, an organisation for positive-sum and friendly cooperation that was previously divorced from geopolitics. With the entry of Sweden and Finland to NATO, all Arctic states besides Russia are NATO states. Russia subsequently invites China, India and other non-Arctic powers in the East to cooperate in the Russian Arctic. Why is there no debate about the logic of suspending diplomacy when there is conflict?
- You may think there would be a vigorous debate about abandoning the balanced foreign policy and instead become a frontline state. But you would be wrong. All discussions are dumbed down to a narrative of good versus evil. We can safely outsource our foreign policy and territory to the Americans as they are our allies and their interests are thus supposedly identical to ours, while the Russians are enemies with evil intentions so there is no need to discuss our provocations. Suggesting that our policies are provocative and may undermine our own security is dismissed as "Russian propaganda"
- In this NBC article about confronting Russia in the Arctic, American soldiers in Norway are posing with a HIMARS system (The)
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4:14 AM · Mar 17, 2024
What are they thinking?
Meanwhile in Africa …
Niger has its own model for foreign affairs, and it differs markedly from the Norwegie one. Having kicked the French out (France was paying pennies on the dollar for Nigerien uranium, a key for France’s energy needs), Niger is now kicking the US out of its big Niger Air Base 201. The base has housed up to 1100 US troops.
Niger pointed the exit door to the US military Niger breaks the military agreement with the United States, which allows American troops to remain on the territory of the African country, media report. http://t.me/megatron_ron
Loss of Western control over the Sahel region of Africa is a big deal because of the mineral riches of the region. Russia and China are replacing the US and France.
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I visited two polling stations. On Saturday I voted myself, on Sunday I accompanied my wife. The police were on duty at the entrance and asked to show the contents of bags if those entering had them. We had to go through a metal detector. The atmosphere inside was casual and relaxed. 3 days to vote is good: there were no queues. An election commission employee immediately helped me find the right table. I showed my passport, she issued a ballot (I signed for receipt). In the booth behind the curtain, I checked the box, went out and threw the ballot into the ballot box. Two minutes for everything. The most mundane vote in my life. Back in the USSR it was a celebration, marching music and posters everywhere. In the 1990s it was a hubbub, crazy people rubbing shoulders with apparatchiks, and cheap food as an incentive for people to come. In the 2000s, the atmosphere was enlivened by strange potential candidates seeking popularity (like girls from the teenage pop group Tatu) and political freaks (for example, candidates from the party of beer lovers). Since I do not approve of political exaltation, I consider this evolution an improvement.
I visited two polling stations. On Saturday I voted myself, on Sunday I accompanied my wife. The police were on duty at the entrance and asked to show the contents of bags if those entering had them. We had to go through a metal detector. The atmosphere inside was casual and relaxed. 3 days to vote is good: there were no queues. An election commission employee immediately helped me find the right table. I showed my passport, she issued a ballot (I signed for receipt). In the booth behind the curtain, I checked the box, went out and threw the ballot into the ballot box. Two minutes for everything. The most mundane vote in my life. Back in the USSR it was a celebration, marching music and posters everywhere. In the 1990s it was a hubbub, crazy people rubbing shoulders with apparatchiks, and cheap food as an incentive for people to come. In the 2000s, the atmosphere was enlivened by strange potential candidates seeking popularity (like girls from the teenage pop group Tatu) and political freaks (for example, candidates from the party of beer lovers). Since I do not approve of political exaltation, I consider this evolution an improvement.
If I were Norwegian, I'd be asking when I voted for US troops to enter my country. Hey, but that's just me.