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limesonline uploaded a new video
(1 month ago)
How does the US see EuRussia? Officially, the problem doesn’t exist. But...
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How does the US see EuRussia? Officially, the problem doesn’t exist. But when the German-Russian flirt becomes too evident, Washington’s irritation appears, showing how distasteful the EuRussian perspective can be for America.
Seen from the White House, this Europe is stable and impotent enough not to deserve a specific attention. It is not a problem, nor a resource. Therefore, Obama doesn’t count much on Europe to pull his country out of the quagmire it was thrown in by Clinton’s and Bush’s imperial dreams.
But with gas, is different. Obama hopes to re-establish a useful, if not trustful relation with the only power currently able to destroy America.
As noted by the bipartisan commission on US policy toward Russia, Washington can’t but “recognizing the importance of cooperating with Russia, in order to reach paramount US goals, such as preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, dismantling al-Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan, or ensuring stability and prosperity in Europe”.
Nevertheless, these chances of cooperation are threatened by the expansion of Nato, sought after by the US and endured by many Europeans.
Anyway, in the current “retuning” taking place between Moscow and Washington, nothing seems impossible. Not even the future integration of Russia in the Atlantic Alliance.
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limesonline uploaded a new video
(1 month ago)
Big dream or big nightmare, according to the points of view, EuRussia is...
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Big dream or big nightmare, according to the points of view, EuRussia is already a part of our present. A geopolitical subject whose spine is represented by the oil and gas pipelines that bring Russia’s hydrocarbons to Europe. A vast energy network that’s about to be expanded, thus reinforcing the political and energy ties between the East and the West.
Today, most of the Russian gas flows through the strategic Ukrainian hub. But two newly planned pipelines, North and South of the European landmass, will soon allow to bypass Kiev, freeing the energy flow from the constraints of the Ukrainian bottleneck.
Furthermore, the Russian gas still to be exploited could find a promising market in China and the Far East. Though plans here are lagging behind, given the mutual distrust between Russia and China.
Europe has been importing Russian gas since the Soviet times, and today like yesterday, Russia needs our revenues to fill its coffers. The Brandt-Breznev “gas for pipes” pilot agreement dates back to 1970. The first share of Russian gas flowed toward West Germany 1973. Today, it covers 25% of our energy needs, and this figure is growing.
But it’s not just a matter of pipes: the idea is to tie Moscow to Europe through our growing gas imports, thus contributing to Russia’s wealth and preventing it from disintegrating. If we need the Russian gas, Russia can’t do without our money.
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limesonline uploaded a new video
(1 month ago)
Gas and soccer define today’s EuRussia. The pipes bringing Russia’s gas ...
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Gas and soccer define today’s EuRussia. The pipes bringing Russia’s gas to the EU, covering a quarter of Europe’s energy needs, and the European Champions League linking Moscow to London, are two concrete examples of this relationship.
But new and more ambitious projects are underway: an axis between Europe’s big economies and the Russian Federation to create a new geopolitical subject, able to confront China and the US. Or a G2 — a smaller version of the recently celebrated G20 – between Beijing and Washington, increasingly tied together by China’s holding of US debt and by America’s purchase of Chinese goods.
After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, and in the wake of the current economic crisis, everything is possible.
The main element of EuRussia is an axis between Germany and Russia: a growing relationship, that in the eyes of the German intelligence could rival the French-German couple, historical engine of the European integration. The final result could be a new Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis, able to bring Europe back among the global powers.
The way is not easy: Russia and Europe have been contending for continental spaces for at least four centuries. When they can’t win over each other, they try to find a common way. A powerful symbol of which was, in 1703, the foundation of St Petersburg. Where, not by coincidence, both Putin and Medvedev come from.
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limesonline uploaded a new video
(2 months ago)
When in his Berlin speech, given in July, Barack Obama spurred to tear d...
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When in his Berlin speech, given in July, Barack Obama spurred to tear down “the new walls that divide us”, he did not imagine that two months later his words would be followed by the crash of Wall Street, the symbol of US finance.
The financial crisis puts an end to the unipolar project, that framed the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and represented an extreme attempt by the sole superpower to keep its credibility, that guaranteed a constant flow of credit.
The new President will find on his desk a US intelligence report titled “Global Trends 2025”, according to which in 2025 “the United States will still be the pre-eminent power, but its dominance will be greatly diminished”.
Unless the US give in to the temptation to open new war fronts, the new Administration will have to surrender to austerity. That means budget cuts, more than social reforms or great infrastructure programs. But, most of all, it means less money to fiends and allies and a deeper focus on America’s own needs. The next years will see a world where the US won’t be able nor willing anymore to play the global policeman.
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limesonline uploaded a new video
(2 months ago)
The current crisis has three different outlooks.
The first is based on s...
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The current crisis has three different outlooks.
The first is based on some sort of agreement between China and the US and their respective currencies, the Dollar and the Yuan. In fact, that would be an agreement between the world’s factory and the world’s biggest consumer. Today, US-China bilateral trade rounds 300 billion dollars. Thanks to its exports, China holds a massive 1,8 trillion Dollars in reserves, 500 billions of which is invested in US Treasury bonds. This puts the only superpower and its main competitor in a relationship of close interdependence.
The second outlook extends a possible agreement on the game rules to Russia and Europe – mostly Germany and France. Together with the US and China, these powers could craft a new Bretton Woods, that could come to light in the G8 summit of New York, at the end of November.
The third, most pessimistic scenario sees an increase in current unbalances and ongoing conflicts. That would be a highly risky situation, given the many nuclear powers that crowd the world’s scene.
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