38 North’s Post

https://lnkd.in/g28mNdat Does multilateralism and rules based order being dismantled by American exceptionalism? This is the allegation by Russian FM Lavrov? Bilateral and unilateral are here to stay as regional economic blocs are everywhere.

Treaty changes for an EU that works for citizens The European Parliament last month endorsed proposals for treaty changes which would trump nationalistic vetoes. In today’s treaty framework, most EU decisions require a ‘qualified majority’—endorsement by at least 55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population. So they are supported by a large number of member states with strong representativeness among European citizens. Decisions in some key policy areas however, such as the EU budget and common foreign and security policy, still require unanimity among the member states. Historically this was important, when former enemies came together for what was initially designed as a common economic project, but today it is threatening the EU’s capacity to act. The success of the integration process now requires a substantial change in the way decisions are taken in the EU. The last decade has shown that some member states do not shy away from exploiting the unanimity principle and their consequent veto power from nationalist motives, thereby putting the credibility of the entire union at risk. We have seen this, for example, when Hungary blocked the sanc-tions against Russia after the onset of its war of aggression in Ukraine. .

The secret annex to the recently released Russian Foreign Policy Concept highlights why Russia 🇷🇺 should utilize all the tools of disinformation, cyber intrusions, and election interference to cause political turmoil in the nations of the Euro-Atlantic world. The ultimate goal? Eroding the cohesion of the Western bloc.

Attempts to achieve regime change According to the expert, the US wants to "achieve the overthrow of the current government in Georgia and plant supporters of ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili in commanding positions." "Such a scenario, according to Suslov, "will be fraught with a deadly threat to Georgian statehood". The analyst also believes that the threat to impose sanctions against Georgia indicates "the final loss of all decency in US foreign policy." "They are no longer hiding their rude interference in the internal political affairs of a country, which, in their opinion, is behaving wrongly," he continued. "They confirm that all speculations about democracy, human rights, standards and so on are hypocritical, and that the democracy of a state is evaluated through the lens of whether it serves American foreign policy interests well enough. In this particular case, whether or not it participates in the hybrid war against Russia." The Americans, as Suslov noted, have been pushing Georgia to pursue an appropriate policy since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, but the current Georgian leadership has refused to play such a role. In retaliation the US stepped up pressures. What about relations with Russia? The further march of events will depend on whether the US manages to stage a new color revolution in Georgia, Suslov believes. "If the Georgian leadership withstands the unprecedented US pressure, then, of course, relations between Georgia and the West will be frozen for a long time, while Russian-Georgian relations will significantly improve and strengthen. I think the question may even arise about the resumption of official diplomatic relations," the expert predicted. He also recalled that while the bill on foreign agents was still in the discussion stage in parliament, despite the heavy support from protesting supporters of Saakashvili it turned out to be impossible to organize a color revolution. "The Georgian leadership stayed firm. It avoided acting like [former Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovich," the expert pointed out. "It achieved the approval of the bill in the final, third reading, although the opponents of this law and members of the pro-Western circles, enjoying support of the United States and its European satellites, tried to storm the building of the Georgian parliament." However, now the United States is increasing pressure. It will impose sanctions on the Georgian leadership. The EU is likely to withdraw its decision to grant Georgia the status of a candidate for accession, Suslov predicts. At the same time, he said, the West is hoping that a clear regression in relations with Georgia "will cause an even greater wave of protests, an even greater mobilization of the pro-Western factions, which might make it possible to overthrow the current Georgian government by hook or by crook." (Part Two, Continued in Part Three in the next post) #business #finance #financialservices

Very important article on Foreign Affairs Magazine 'The message the EU sends in its election campaign must be a strong counterpoint to an isolationist, antidemocratic rhetoric: Europe will be able to protect its own borders, defend human rights, help safeguard open trade, fight climate change, and champion democracy, even if the United States won’t. And the United States may, in fact, be able to look to Europe for help and inspiration if it stumbles.' https://lnkd.in/dWiwYRf6

The 12 states where ECIPS can host its presence without any interference from government today will soon expand when the rest of EU join Treaty EST124 as below.

This bilateral treaty of a great powerful America has approved the sovereignty of the Republic of Vietnam to follow Article Third of the United States Constitution which is why the United States Congress has self-enacted H.R 7885-Pub.L 88-205 to allow President Kennedy. Let him send the American Armed Forces to invade and subvert the Republic of Vietnam. After thirty-years in evil war, the United States has self-torn all multilateral treaties and the thirty-seven bilateral treaties to let the United States sell its close Republic of Vietnam ally to socialism. So, the United States has not only deprived the right to self-determination of the Vietnamese people but also violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because the United States Congress deprived the freedom of thoughts of the Vietnamese People which is why the United States Congress abused the mighty to bully the small foreign nations like Vietnam when the United States Constitution didn't allow the United States Congress to enact law to invade and subvert to any foreign nations to let the United States build so many wars in the whole world, but the United States has never wanted any victory in invasion and subversion wars. Bright Quang

Istanbul treaty can serve as basis for dialogue with Ukraine — Kremlin Dmitry Peskov pointed out that any political and diplomatic search of the solution "can only be based on negotiations" MOSCOW, April 12/ The Istanbul treaty prepared in March 2022 can be the basis for talks on Ukraine, but a number of new realities have emerged in two years, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This [return to negotiations] is possible only in the form of dialogue, readiness for dialogue. Our readiness for negotiations was confirmed yesterday by the president [Vladimir Putin]. As a rule, negotiations are still based on something. It was said that, among other things, we could rely on this document [the Istanbul treaty - TASS], but, of course, a lot of changes have taken place since then. We have new subjects in the Constitution, which was not the case two years ago. Therefore, there are indeed a number of new realities that we cannot abstract from, but at the same time this (treaty - TASS) could be a certain basis for the start of negotiations," the spokesman said. Peskov pointed out that any political and diplomatic search for a solution "can only be based on negotiations." "President Putin has repeatedly confirmed his readiness for such talks," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized. "The president has also previously spoken about our readiness, it was a confirmation of our well-known position, which is often distorted in the statements of various representatives," the spokesman added, answering the question whether the Russian and Belarusian president’s words about the Istanbul talks could be seen as an offer to Kiev to resume direct negotiations without Western mediation. The Kremlin spokesman also pointed to the Russian leader's words about the unproductive nature of the talks without Moscow's participation. "It was said and emphasized that attempts to hold forums in search of a settlement without Russia's participation can hardly be considered rational and potentially fruitful," Peskov concluded. #business #finance #financialservices

🎯 💯🏆Andreas Kluth, Bloomberg [excerpt]: It’s tempting to argue, as Lyle Goldstein at the think tank Defense Priorities does, that America “should not go to war over rocks or reefs or shoals.” But there’s more at stake than fish, coral and sand... The #SouthChinaSea, like the Red Sea, is one of the world’s busiest waterways, with more than $3 trillion in goods passing through every year. Allowing #China to fortify the sea to a point where it can close off maritime #trade to specific countries in the event of a war would seem poor strategy. But China wouldn’t do that at first; it would merely seize shoals and reefs. In doing so, however, China would again disdain and break #internationallaw, or what the US (which itself doesn’t always want to be bound by that law) prefers to call the “rules-based order.” In that way, the South China Sea is analogous to #Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine with a tale as spurious as China’s nine-dash line: a mystical narrative that Ukrainians are really Russians and therefore belong to the Kremlin. Russia is now trampling on the sovereignty and integrity of a fellow member state of the #UN. If Putin isn’t stopped, he will go on — to Moldova and elsewhere. Likewise, if Beijing got away with seizing a Vietnamese or Philippine island, it would grab more. The UN Charter and international law would become as irrelevant as the League of Nations did when it failed to stop Mussolini and Hitler. Admittedly, the Filipinos wouldn’t experience anything remotely as disastrous as the Ukrainians are suffering. The latter are fighting for their national existence, being bombed in their own homes and mourning the loss of children the Russians have abducted. The former, at least initially, only stand to lose some uninhabited islands. But there’s also the #defense alliance between the US and the #Philippines to consider. If the Chinese seized the islands, America’s other allies would observe Washington’s response. South Korea would determine whether it can still feel safe under the US #nuclear umbrella against North Korea, as would Japan with an eye to both Pyongyang and Beijing and #NATO members such as Estonia that are in Putin’s crosshairs. If the US reneged on its commitments to defend the Philippines, all its other #alliances would lose value, triggering new nuclear and conventional arms races and inviting aggression by America’s enemies. ...The other worry is about China and #Taiwan — Beijing indeed sees the cross-Strait question as linked to its ambitions in the #SouthChinaSea. ... All these conflicts ... involve nuclear powers .... . As it’s been said, such wars “cannot be won and must never be fought.” But the US would be wrong to conclude that it should therefore deter itself rather than its enemies. The best way to ensure a world that’s worth living in is for the US to make clear to its adversaries that it would, if it came to it, go to #war — even over reefs, shoals and rocks. #news