💬 Pepe Escobar: Date with destiny - BRICS offer hope in a time of war

“The context for what will be decided in Kazan this week is no less than incandescent, as the uncontrolled chaos of the Hegemon’s Forever Wars – from Ukraine to West Asia – has even materially affected the heavy work of BRICS and the necessity to build a new international system of geoeconomic relations practically from scratch,” says veteran international affairs observer Pepe Escobar, commenting on the imminent kickoff of the BRICS bloc’s long-awaited summit in Russia on October 22.

Citing bloc members’ broad agreement on ‘the need for a comprehensive reform of the global financial architecture to enhance the voice of developing countries and their representation’, Escobar stressed that when it comes to existing, Western-dominated institutions, “it remains clear the US has less than zero interest in a profound reform of the IMF, the World Bank and the Bretton Woods system.” Therefore, “Russia and China, especially, are fully aware that what is needed is a post-Bretton Woods.”

Listing off other major initiatives on the agenda in Kazan, including a cross-border payments initiative, the operation of the BRICS’ New Development Bank, dedollarization and the creation of new digital currencies’ related infrastructure, Escobar stressed that in geopolitics too, the summit is expected pump up the BRICS’ international profile, with a special session on Palestine a case in point.

“All of the above is highly significant for the BRICS context because the Forever Wars in West Asia have been seriously interfering with the work within BRICS. And on top of it, the Forever Wars, cold, hybrid, and hot, are in fact essentially directed against three BRICS members, Russia, Iran and China – not by accident described as the Top Three existential threats to the Hegemon.”

“The stakes in Kazan could not be higher. By the end of the week the Global Majority will know whether Kazan will go down in History as the landmark of a new, emerging system of international relations, of if crass Divide and Rule tactics will keep postponing the inexorable demise of the Old Order,” Escobar summed up.

#BRICS2024

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🇷🇺🇦🇪Key statements from talks between Putin and UAE President:

🔸 Interaction between Russia and the UAE in the international arena is important for issues of global nature.

🔸 Russia-UAE relations are qualitatively developing in the economic, trade and energy spheres.

🔸 The UAE is ready to make efforts to further increase trade with Russia, which has exceeded $11 billion in 2023.

🔸 The UAE will continue to assist Russia and Ukraine in exchanging prisoners and is ready to make additional efforts to resolve the crisis situations.

During the negotiations the president of the United Arab Emirates stated that he values relations with Putin and noted that relations between Moscow and Abu Dhabi are of historical and strategic importance.

#BRICS2024

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📹 Don't miss: exclusive backstage video from Sputnik correspondent in Russia's Kazan

The BRICS Summit will be held in Russia's Kazan on October 22-24. Representatives of more than 30 countries are expected to take part in the international event.

#BRICS2024

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📹Putin, Al Nahyan unveil Russia-UAE education development center

Prior to their negotiations, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurated the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Center for International Cooperation in Education at the Primakov Gymnasium.

The heads of state attended an Arabic lesson for the Russian students of the center.

The Center for International Cooperation in Education with the UAE is dedicated to developing programs and courses for students and young teachers from across Russia. It also organizes Olympiads, field trips for students and educators, and hosts international scientific and practical forums for university faculty, teachers, and research center staff.

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💲 What were the milestones leading to the global dollar system’s collapse? Part 1 👉 Part 2

The 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) are opening on October 21 to focus on skyrocketing global public debt, which is expected to reach $100 trillion by the end of this year. The debt, in large part, is driven by the borrowing binge of the US, where the government debt currently stands at $35.68 trillion.

Meanwhile, the US’ share of the global economy calculated using purchasing power parity has reached a historic low, plunging below 15%, Sputnik’s analysis of World Bank and IMF calculations has showed. It is expected to sag further, to reach 14.76% by the end of President Joe Biden's term.

When did US finances and the global dollar system start losing clout?

◻️ The US is estimated to have accounted for 48-52% of global GDP and about 60% of global industrial production in 1944.

◻️ America secured its economic superpower status at the end of WWII, when the international monetary system known as the Bretton Woods system was forged in July 1944. The Bretton Woods Conference officially crowned the US dollar as the global reserve currency, backed by the world’s largest gold reserves. Other currencies were pegged to the US dollar’s value.

◻️ International rules for foreign trade were laid out in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947. In 1995, the agreement was transformed into the WTO. The US wielded these “tools” to secure geopolitical influence across Europe and Japan. Eastern Europe, the USSR, and China remained outside the zone of American expansion.

◻️ Under the Marshall Plan, the US provided money, chiefly in the form of grants, to rebuild war-ravaged European economies. At the same time, it funneled lucrative orders to American companies, stimulating its own economy while solidifying its influence over Western Europe's economic systems. US gross national product rose from about $200 billion in 1940 to more than $500 billion in 1960.

👉 Part 2

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💲 What were the milestones leading to the global dollar system’s collapse? Part 2 👉 Part 1

◻️ The US had exhausted its wave of growth by the end of the 1960s, after it got mired in the Vietnam War in an effort to scoop up another lucrative market. The US economy was scathed by its Vietnam debacle, as war spending by the end of the 1960s had led to rampant inflation and a swelling trade deficit.

◻️ In 1971, the gold standard was officially abandoned by the US, with countries forced to use the most common fiat currency system, not backed by any physical commodity.

◻️ The 1973 Arab-Israeli War ultimately led to an oil boycott by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that pushed energy prices upward. Inflation soared, federal budget deficits grew, and the stock market sagged. The US entered a period of "stagflation" (inflation and stagnant business activity). The government resorted to greater borrowing, which in turn pushed up interest rates and increased costs.

◻️ The economic policy of then-President Ronald Reagan – Reaganomics – was implemented in the 1980s to revitalize the crisis-mired economy with reduced government spending, slashed taxes, less regulation, and a slowdown of money supply growth to control inflation. In effect, reliance on unlimited and unrecoverable loans ignited a period of economic growth that lasted until the early 1990s. Under Reagan, the massive federal budget deficit increased from $834 billion in 1980 to $1.5 trillion in 1986.

◻️ During the Great Recession in 2007-2009, when the US housing bubble burst and large amounts of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and derivatives plummeted in value, domestic product declined 4.3%.

◻️ The first alarm bell for the global dollar system rang in 2014, when the West imposed sanctions against Russia after Crimea rejoined the country following a referendum. While Russia displayed resilience, global GDP fell by $4.23 trillion (5.35%) – more than during the 2008 crisis.

◻️ Quarantines and supply chain disruptions in the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020 cost the global economy another $3.7 trillion (4.2% of global GDP).

◻️ The global trend to abandon the increasingly weaponized US dollar has been gaining steam amid sanctions targeting Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, and companies in other countries cooperating with Russia. The trend is led by members of BRICS, with the group developing a new currency transaction platform to advance the digitalization trend and transition to other currencies in mutual settlements.

👉 Part 1

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State Dept's Crusade Against Rybar Affirms Popularity of Warblog's Approach, Says Founder

The State Department’s offer of a reward up to $10 mln for info “leading to the identification or location” of foreign nationals connected to Rybar under its ‘Rewards for Justice’ program is “a measure of success” for the explosively popular milblog, Rybar founder Mikhail Zvinchuk has told Sputnik.

Highlighting his initial “surprise” at the State Department program’s use against Rybar, since its self-proclaimed aims revolve around the search for suspected terrorists, Zvinchuk suggested the move may be an effort by the State Department to stamp out Rybar’s fledgling presence in the US, “because they understand that if we’ve managed to organize our work in Europe, Ukraine and other countries well – if we touch the US – which we don’t really even care about, perhaps the US will face some difficulties. Seeing us as a potential threat, they’ve decided to be proactive.”

“Rybar set the task for itself of providing high-quality coverage of issues in the information space, primarily concerning geopolitical challenges facing Russia, as well as quality coverage of crisis-stricken regions of the world. Since both the Americans and the British have had a hand igniting these crises, and we engage in the systematic monitoring of what is happening around Russia…it’s likely that the reason [for the listing] was the high-quality processing of information by our analytical team, by our analytical center, of these threats.” This, in turn, “prompts our government and relevant structures to respond to these threats in a timely manner,” Zvinchuk said.

The State Department’s “primary goal is to simply blame the talented Russian team for its own failures and blunders during the election campaign...What can they do in this situation? They can’t say that their own political and media strategists aren’t doing their jobs, so they blame everything on the Russians,” Zvinchuk summed up.

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