Despite Colin Powell’s presentation and the U.S. media’s embrace of it, every other nation on the Security Council, with the exception of Britain and Spain, was highly skeptical of the U.S. argument for war, including allies Germany and France.
If the Donbass city of Bakhmut falls to the Russians the U.S. may need to save face in order to reverse course in Ukraine, writes Joe Lauria.
The mobilization on Tuesday was the latest demonstration against a government initiative that is currently being discussed in the French Senate. While the bill calls for raising the retirement age, protesters want it lowered.
Having used arms control to gain unilateral advantage over Russia, the cost to the U.S. and NATO in getting Moscow back to the negotiating table will be high.
The German and French leaders have told Ukraine they must seek peace with Russia in exchange for a post-war defense pact, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Despite widespread opposition to raising the retirement age, many French lawmakers remain determined to fulfill the president’s election pledge to overhaul the nation’s pension system, Kenny Stancil reports.
Given the duplicitous history of the Minsk Accords, it is unlikely Russia can be diplomatically dissuaded from its military offensive. As such, 2023 appears to be shaping up as a year of continued violent confrontation.
Unlike Germany and France, for instance, which at times reluctantly follow Washington’s orders, Britain is an eager co-participant in U.S. adventurism, says Joe Lauria.
In SIPRI’s latest tracking, the U.S. remains dominant, China is in distant second, Russia has semiconductor and sanctions problems, Israeli sales are boosted by the Washington-mediated Abraham Accords and a Taiwanese company enters the top 100 for the first time.
Wagner Group soldiers are in Mali, but Vijay Prashad delves into the reasons why they are not the cause of the rift with France.