24 Comments

Agree. Many of us have known that Ukraine = USA EU NATO will lose their proxy war against Russia. If USA UK not have spoiled the peace agreement in Istanbul in 2022 there would not have been a war But they want a war against Russia because they thought they could weaken and defeat Russia A very stupid idea. Instead they have wasted many 100 billion of dollars and probably 1 million people are killed many seriously wounded and several million Ukraines have escaped and will not come back. The country is destroyed and look like Europe after WW 2. EUs economy are really bad and the national armies in almost all EU countries are totally useless and their weapon and ammunition depots are empty Denmark can’t even afford ammunition for their troops and they don’t have money enough to participate in NATO exercises. Even Germany have become poor and the second year they are in recession with negative growth France and UKs debt have passed 120% of their BNP long time ago. And their BNP are becoming less and less While the BRICS nations are growing Israel have for 78 years been in conflict with all their neighbors and now it have escalated to the worst crisis ever and the state Israel have become a terror regime who commit genocide and have killed nearly 50.000 people Mostly women and children and the have totally destroyed Gaza and now they also attack Lebanon and Iran. Both wars have in common that it is USA who are responsible for them and support them with money and weapons Without USAs involvement there would not be wars but both Ukraine and Israel was forced to let their diplomats negotiate a solution But diplomacy are non existent in USA. They only use threats sanctions and wars and will do everything to keep their military industry corruption and money laundering machine running. The world will not be the same when these wars are over. And the losers are USA and EU

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Looking forward to your article on ideology trumping realism (reality and self interest, actually) among the elites. And a paradoxically liberal but universalist and maximalist ideology at that.

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It seems that all western woke agendas are hitting a brick wall in near future but the majority of the population are totally ignorant and delusional because of the massive propaganda and misinformation the past three decades. The western elites which are dictating the narratives to the populations through the mainstream media and the politicians will of course not admit anything wrongdoing and will therefore continue to escalate the hostility towards Russia and Russians.

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Blow by blow commentary of fast moving, complex situations is very hard to do. But these three -- John Mearsheimer, Alexander Mercouris and Glenn Diesen -- definitely figure among the best on these two conflicts of utmost importance to geopolitical stability and global security.

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Mearsheimer makes a few errors.

1) He says the Putin didn't want this war because he thought it would be a "disaster" for Russia. This is not the case. He didn't know if his preparations would be enough (very few leaders if at all know how a war would end so rational leaders try to avoid war) but he didn't think it would be a disaster. He knew it would be costly but that this is the only way forward.

2) He says the Israelis fought wars by themselves. That is not true. If it wasn't for the air bridge to Israel from the US in 1973 they would have lost the war. If it wasn't for the diplomatic cover the US provided for the Israel would have faced much harsher international condemnation and resistance. If it wasn't for the financial and intelligence support that the US gave Israel over the years they wouldn't have had the means to do what they have done. If it wasn't for the diplomatic and financial pressure and bribery by the US to Israel's neighbors they would not have tolerated Israel's behavior and fought them much more vigorously and successfully.

It is disingenuous to say that Israel fought these wars alone.

Without the US there would be no Israel.

3) He states that many American Jews do not agree with Netanyahu and feel that what he is doing is bad for Israel. This statement is partially correct and requires more context.

The few American Jews that disagree because it is morally wrong and although they want Israel to survive they want to make peace with the Palestinians and give them their own state .. are rare. The majority of the disagreeing American Jews disagree with the MEANS and not the end. They too want the Palestinians out. They too want the greater Israel project. They too want to build the temple in Jerusalem. They just don't think that this will get them there -- that's why they disagree. If it did they would fully support it.

The points above are the mindset distortions that an American analyst has (and will always have) having grown up in an environment that is dominated by the ideology of American imperialism and Jewish Supremacy in American affairs.

It is a hard trap to escape from.

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Thank you and waiting to see more of your work. I have high respect for professor Mearsheimer. But he certainly has mistakes. And by the time he starts talking about China issues, I rarely agree with him totally.

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What I find of real value is the open discussion. None of us must agree with every statement made by any analyst, but we can listen to various viewpoints and discuss it in a public forum. This has become almost impossible on most western platforms. My thanks to all three participants on The Duran today.

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The U.S. knew when it pushed NATO on Ukraine that it would result in a war with Russia, and that is why they did it. Remember: the U.S. thought it could cripple Russia's economy with its sanctions (and by blowing up Nord Stream), and they thoroughly believed they could defeat Russia militarily on the battlefield.

The U.S. motive for war with Russia is and always has been obvious: destroy the Russian state, cantonize Russia, and plunder Russia's resources. Categorizing the endless litany of monstrous U.S. crimes throughout its history as "mistakes" attributes disproportionate weight to the stupidity of the U.S. ruling class, which indeed is palpable, and diverts attention from its ruthless cruelty and utterly malevolent inclination.

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What a useless discussion. Not once, not even once was any mention made of the primary factor that ties everything together. It is the ideology that has taken over every western country, the ideology that drives motivations, the motivations behind every decision, the decisions that produce every word and deed of every western leader. None of it is inexplicable, all of it is absolutely predictable. But when you deliberately refuse to acknowledge this ideology, all your conclusions about Ukraine or Israel are shallow and ultimately worthless.

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It’s unclear whether you watched the video, but you apparently missed Dr. Diesen’s explicit reference to western elite ideology and Dr. Mearsheimer’s request for him to write an article about it. I couldn’t help but notice that you, yourself did not describe this ideology. I suggest we all stay tuned.

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You deliberately miss my point. A vague reference to some unidentified ideology is certainly not what I'm talking about. Certain knowledge of that ideology, already identified, already studied, with such knowledge readily applied to the discussion, is the issue.

And for anyone such as yourself who does not already know what that ideology is, the one that is already in full control of your own society, then you are clueless and oblivious, and you deserve the tyranny you're already getting.

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Another non-answer. But I’m definitely into the “doubling down” approach. Just spit it out for Christ sakes 😁

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I'm not going to do your homework for you, honey. If you feel you deserve an answer, then you're even more clueless than I originally thought.

You act like the quintessential western midwit, entitled, oblivious, and intellectually lazy. No wonder the west is swirling down the toilet. Enough already.

"My enemies are evil, but my allies are stupid."

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Well sweet cheeks, it’s obvious you don’t have one. Just another naysaying arrogant blowhard.

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An interesting conversation but John Helmer has described the Russian maximalist position and I think Putin has no choice other than to take his foot off the break and let Ukraine collapse. Much depends (imo) on tzhe fate of Zelensky and whether he is brought to stand trial where the fear is that he will squeal on the Western powers and their shambles of international rules ...

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No, Zelensky will not be brought to trial as long as the USA-EU imperialism has the upper hand, because it would be the same as bringing the US and EU leaders to trial.

And I am not sure that it goes so smoothly as predicted by the critical alternative media that the Kiev regime is about to be finished, because its defeat would also be Nato´s defeat.

As Lenin wrote, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism and (national) capitalism can not survive without its global imperialist extension. In other words, imperialism is not an appendix to capitalism, quite the opposite. And people in the USA and Europe in general support imperialism not only because they are ignorant, but simply because it gives them material benefits. And why else is capitalism/imperialism so popular worldwide, especially among the upper and middle classes, but also among the upwardly striving bottom class. They can not get enough of materials gains. And that´s why we have endless imperialist wars and climate crisis.

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- And that´s why socialism failed.

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Why do we let Israelis hide their unprecedented crime against humanity by using words like:

Zionism. We should call it Colonialism.

Self Defense. We should call it The Second Holocaust.

Our response to Condemn October 7 and Hamas: Are you saying we should condemn the Jews that fought the Nazis such as the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

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“ Israel has similarly got itself in deep trouble by failing to reach mutually acceptable settlements with its neighbours.”

This is interesting. Does not it takes two to tango?

When Egypt presented itself as a rational partner for a tango, Israel REACHED mutually acceptable settlement with Egypt in 1979 and there have been peace between two countries since. 45 years worth of peace.

When Jordan presented itself as a rational partner for a tango, Israel REACHED mutually acceptable settlement with Jordan in 1994(?) and there have been peace between two countries since. 30 years worth of peace.

When Palestinians began terrorise a Palestinian state Jordan in 1970, the King Husain murdered a bunch sending the rest hundreds of thousands out and the world made not a single pip. Why? No Jews, no problem?

When the same Palestinian terrorists began terrorise a Lebanon in 1986, another bunch of terrorists were murdered sending the rest hundreds of thousands out …

When the same Palestinians began terrorise their hosts in Kuwait in 1991, all 440,000 of them were sent out and the world made not a single pip. Why? No Jews, no problem?

Now descendants of the same Palestinians treat Israel just like they treated Jordan, Lebanon, and Kuwait and Israel somehow should just go along?

When Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally, it left behind green houses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. First thing Hamas guns did was destroying these green houses. Then … there used to be videos of Hamas terrorists entering wedding halls leaving in a short while not a single soul alive: women, children, elderly, -no matter -, all left in a pool of blood. They have been throwing gays off roofs …

If it was NOT Israel’s turn to defend itself, would anyone make a pip?

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Is anyone aware of John Mearsheimer being wrong about anything he’s weighed in on?

Is anyone aware of an instance when the US government has followed his advice?

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Oct 23·edited Oct 24

In a word? No. Mearsheimer is more than solid. The apparent difference in attitudes to China between Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs can be easily explained. Mearsheimer is typically adopting a positive outlook where he simply attempts to explain Great Power dynamics. Sachs is adopting a normative outlook where he argues that the USA ought not to be in conflict with China but should adopt a more respectful, conciliatory, cooperative attitude towards China.

In my view, both scholars are fundamentally correct. Mearsheimer is correctly using the structuralist Realist approach to predict Great Power competition. Sachs is correct in that the USA is choosing the wrong path in its relations with China. The USA would retain far more influence over China if it worked hard to maintain respectful, cooperative relations with China.

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The U.S. would retain more power and influence around the globe if it decided to practice diplomacy again, e.g. respect, conciliation, and cooperation. I think this is Dr. Sach’s core message.

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