Instead of lowering the chances of war, the membership of the two Nordic countries increases the risk for the entire alliance.

Lithuania is waving a red cape at the Russian bear.

As the war in Ukraine drags on, already diverging camps in the Atlantic Alliance are likely to fracture further.

As NATO holds its Summit in Madrid on June 28-30, the war in Ukraine is taking center stage. During a pre-Summit June 22 talk with Politico, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg bragged about how well-prepared NATO was for this fight because, he said: “This was an invasion that was predicted, foreseen by our intelligence services.” Stoltenberg was talking about Western intelligence predictions in the months leading up to the February 24 invasion, when Russia insisted it was not going to attack. Stoltenberg, however, could well have been talking about predictions that went back not just months before the invasion, but decades.

The west is nostalgically caught up with outdated ‘containment’ policies, this time against Global South integration. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the world is moving on, together.

Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid spared no expense to build the sumptuous Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul during 1843 and 1856, which was constructed to impress the world. It had the largest Bohemian crystal chandelier ever installed and fourteen tonnes of gold to gild the ceilings.

The main message of the neocons is that the US must predominate in military power in every region of the world, and must confront rising regional powers that could someday challenge US global or regional dominance, most important Russia and China.

The United States will need to take into consideration historical shifts in the balance of power and influence in the world.

Empty mall parking lot and existence of a munitions plant nearby raise questions about official narrative advanced in mainstream U.S. media

Russia’s Ukraine miscalculation dates to 2014 when the Kremlin refused the request of the Donbass Russians in Eastern Ukraine to be reunited with Russia. Historically part of Russia, the Donbass region was attached to the Ukrainian province of the Soviet Union by Soviet leaders as was Crimea. These Russian populated territories, historically part of Russia, rejected the anti-Russian rule installed in Kiev when Washington overthrew the Ukrainian government and installed a puppet regime. Had the Kremlin accepted the request of the Donbass Russians, there would have been no necessity for a Russian intervention in Donbass.

We’re used to hearing about state-backed Twitter campaigns from the likes of Iran and Russia, but why do we never hear about US and UK social media ops? (Spoiler: it’s not because they don’t exist)

Yesterday I mentioned the burning shopping center in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, of which the Ukrainian president Zelensky falsely claimed that thousand people had been inside.

Germany’s Der Spiegel removes clip in which Azovstal evacuee criticized Ukraine

Barbara Tuchman’s March of Folly wins again.

So Biden, where is the “imminent Russian Invasion of Ukraine?” Where, Jake Sullivan, is the “major military action that could begin any day now?” Where UK government, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, NY Times, Bloomberg, Washington Post, BBC, and the rest of the presstitutes are the Russian hordes that are supposed to be overrunning Ukraine?”

Incongruity was the hallmark of the extraordinary NATO summit just concluded in Madrid. NATO offered bluster and promised muster: more troops against its “most significant and direct threat ,” Russia. Meanwhile, Russian “cauldron”maneuvers in Donbas methodically destroyed or enveloped major units of Kyiv’s army, further strengthening Russia’s position there.

Conflicts have a history of spinning out of control. Trotsky, the one-time close comrade of Lenin, reportedly said, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians were not interested in war until President Volodymyr Zelensky took his counterproductive stance on NATO membership and President Vladimir Putin subsequently launched his invasion and united most of Ukraine’s people against him.

After lying for months, the media are preparing the public for Ukraine’s military collapse.

The intensity of the Ukrainian conflict continues to rise. There’s a non-stop flow of statements by high-level US and EU officials suggesting Russia is the top threat to the world’s security and portraying Vladimir Putin as a mix of Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gadhafi, Osama bin Laden all rolled into one.

What is the Institute for the Study of War? And why do America’s elite media outlets trust it?

Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook recently admitted under oath that prior to the 2016 election Mrs. Clinton personally approved feeding the media a bogus story that Donald Trump had a back channel to Alfa Bank in Moscow.