Go to home page

This article appears in the May 20, 2022 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this article]

International Briefs

China Releases ‘Fact Sheet on the National Endowment for Democracy’

In a move meant to kill “many birds with one stone,” the Chinese government has released a “Fact Sheet on the National Endowment for Democracy.” The fact sheet explains how the Cold War CIA operations to undermine foreign governments were transformed into a public-private mechanism labeled as an “NGO,” to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and shape the policy of these countries to bring them into line with U.S. geopolitical goals. It then goes through country by country to document NED’s operations to foment color revolutions and overthrow popularly elected governments which didn’t see eye-to-eye with the United States. These include a rundown of NED’s operations in Poland, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Mongolia; as well as countries in Ibero America (Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela); in Africa (Libya, Uganda, and Sudan); and Thailand in Southeast Asia.

The fact sheet also runs through the extensive operations NED has conducted against China, including their campaigns for Hong Kong independence, Tibetan independence, and the “genocide” and “human rights” claims in Xinjiang. It also notes NED operations run in tandem with elements in Taiwan. Rather than deal with these issues individually, the background to the situation in Ukraine or the nature of the operations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the “Fact Sheet on the National Endowment for Democracy” focuses on the modus operandi characteristic of U.S. policy in attempting to overthrow governments that would pose any threat to U.S. hegemony. The publication of the Chinese fact sheet may also be a preemptive strike against the “China Policy Review” that was expected to be announced this week by Secretary of State Blinken, which was delayed after his being diagnosed as being infected with the COVID virus.

Sinn Fein Wins Historic Election Victory in Northern Ireland

The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein won an historic victory in the May 5 elections in Northern Ireland. It is the first time that Sinn Fein was entitled to the post of First Minister in Belfast since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921.

“Today ushers in a new era,” Sinn Fein Vice-President Michelle O’Neill said shortly before the final results were announced. “Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work.”

Sinn Fein won 27 of the 90 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Democratic Unionist Party, which has dominated Northern Ireland’s legislature for two decades, captured 24 seats. The tricky task will be to bring together a new government, which will have to be pulled together under complicated power-sharing agreements and post-Brexit arrangements. One can be sure the Queen will stick her bloody paws into the situation to destabilize Northern Ireland once again. If a new government is unable to be formed within six months, the administration will collapse, triggering a new election and more uncertainty.

Ukraine ‘Insiders’ Name Britain as Demanding the Cancellation of Peace Talks

Kyiv’s Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper reported May 5, based upon information from officials “close to” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that “even if Ukraine was ready to sign some kind of agreement with Russia, the West was not.” Their account is that Johnson swept into Kyiv April 9, “almost without warning,” bringing with him “two simple messages.” One, that Putin was “a war criminal, who should be prosecuted and not negotiated with,” and, two, that the West would not have an agreement with Russia. The West “now felt that Putin was not really as omnipotent as they had imagined” and all sorts of heavy weapons would now flow into Ukraine.

Modi Maintains Non-Aligned Stance in European Tour

While India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been under considerable pressure from the West to speak out on Ukraine and to condemn Russia’s military operation, he continues to hold his own, as he has visited the various capitals. In Denmark, he was given a red-carpet treatment, and talked about the joint concerns of Denmark and India on climate. In Germany, the Indians politely said “No” to a joint press conference, but instead issued a declaration in which Chancellor Scholz condemned the invasion, but Modi simply reiterated his call for peace negotiations. In France, Modi congratulated President Emmanuel Macron on his recent re-election victory, but much to the chagrin of the British geopolitical goons, he maintained his non-aligned views.

Putin Accepts Indonesia’s Invitation to G20 Summit in Bali

Indonesian President Joko Widodo personally called Vladimir Putin to issue his invitation to the G20 Summit, which is to be held Nov. 15-16 in Bali. Jokowi, as he is called, has been under massive pressure to dis-invite Putin and to join in the illegal and genocidal sanctions against Russia. President Joe Biden publicly called for Russia to be expelled from the G20, as it was expelled from the G8 by the Western powers.

However, Indonesia, along with all the nations of the world outside of the Five Eyes, the EU and Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, have refused to join in the sanctions policy, and instead, support Indonesia in remaining impartial in diplomacy.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen led a walkout by the U.S., UK, and Ukraine at the April 13 meeting of G20 financial representatives when the Russian representative was speaking. It is yet to be known if Biden will further isolate the U.S. from the majority of the world by skipping the G20 Summit.

Climate Czar Carney: Now Not the Time To Go Wobbly on Green Genocide

Speaking at the Net Zero Delivery Summit in London, Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, told an audience of bankers and Green financier ghouls that while the war in Ukraine and related sanctions have negatively affected global energy supplies and caused a higher cost of living in the West, this is no reason to derail climate “progress” that will help achieve the 1.5°C limit on global warming, London’s Guardian reported May 11.

Carney was adamant that there can be no deviation from the net-zero agenda. Seeking alternatives to Russian oil by pumping more oil elsewhere and ramping up coal usage result in higher emissions “and [are] leading some ... to argue to temporarily set aside our climate goals.” But, he warned, “the more we emit now, the more radical action will be needed later. We need to speed up, not slow down” in implementing Green depopulation.

Carney told his audience not to use the Russian denazification operation in Ukraine as an excuse to delay so-called climate targets. Now is the time to speed up investments in Green energy, he said. “Russia’s war underscored that a resilient system needs more diversified and reliable suppliers.... Once built, clean energy systems are more affordable, efficient, resilient, and reliable. No one owns the wind or the sun, and hydrogen is literally everywhere.”

Crypto Market Larger than Subprime that Triggered Global Crisis

In their May 11 “Wall Street on Parade” column, Pam Martens and Russ Martens took note of a particularly significant question asked of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee May 10. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked:

“Last week Fabio Panetta, one of the European Central Bank’s six Executive Board Members, noted that the crypto currency market is now larger than the subprime mortgage market which triggered the global financial crisis.... He says this $1.3 trillion [crypto] market shows strikingly similar dynamics.... Do you see any financial risk because professional investors and high net worth individuals hold almost two-thirds of the Bitcoin supply?”

Yellen dodged the issue.

The Martenses noted that Bitcoin futures have plunged 55% from their high of $69,355 last November, down to $30,930 on Monday, May 9. They then made a broader point about the financial crisis:

“The most amazing aspect of this hearing is that the one word that encapsulates the greatest and most imminent threat to the stability of the United States’ financial system was not uttered once from the mouth of any Senator from either party. That word is derivatives.”

The article goes on to say:

There is currently “$234 trillion in notional (face amount) derivatives sitting on the books of these [American] megabanks.... Just five bank holding companies are responsible for $200.18 trillion of that exposure or 86% of the total. Those mega bank holding companies are JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America. Each of these banks required bailouts during and after the financial crisis of 2008 and some would have completely collapsed without that assistance. Each of these Wall Street banks also owns a deposit-taking bank that holds massive sums of federally-insured deposits.

“If one wants to talk about ‘concentrated’ risk, why not talk about $200 trillion of risk in derivatives in addition to $1.4 trillion of risk in crypto?”

Back to top    Go to home page

clear
clear
clear