The Afghanistan ‘peace deal’ riddle — Pepe Escobar

Backgrounder. More complicated than meets the eye. As always, it about money and power.

Asia Times
The Afghanistan ‘peace deal’ riddle
Pepe Escobar

At China-Kazakh border: New Silk Roads in action — Pepe Escobar

Central Asia, between China and Europe, is bustling

Take the tour with Pepe.

Asia Times
At China-Kazakh border: New Silk Roads in action
Pepe Escobar

Pepe Escobar — Far from quiet on the US vs Russia-China front

As Valdai Club top analyst Yaroslav Lissovolik told me, there was much discussion “on the state of play in emerging markets in light of the developments associated with the US-China trade stand-off.” What emerged was the necessity of embracing “open regionalism” as a factor to neutralize “the negative protectionist trends in the global economy.”

This translates as regional blocks along a vast South-South axis harnessing their huge potential “to counter protections pressures”, with “different forms of economic integration other than trade liberalization” having preeminence. Enter “connectivity” – BRI’s premier focus....

Asia Times
Far from quiet on the US vs Russia-China front

Pepe Escobar

Pepe Escobar — How Astana is leading the way in Central Asia

Backgrounder on newly emergent Central Asia aka "the stans." The area is important for understanding geopolitics, geostrategy, and the future development of the global economy.

Central Asia is the "sleeper" in the unfolding history of the 21st century. But it's not yet even a blip on the screen for most in the West, other than the elites, multinational corporations, and the militaries, which regard it as a prize to be captured, and certainly not lost to adversaries. It is a key piece in neoliberalism, neo-imperialism, and neocolonialism.

While not mentioned in this post, it is also relevant to US interest in Afghanistan and Iraq-Syria, as well adversarial toward Russia, China and Iran, which surround Central Asia. It also explains why the US would be greatly hampered by "losing" Turkey, which is also adjacent to the region, where many Turkic people also live. India is also a factor in the mix.

Obviously, the US and West are disadvantaged if only by distance. Moreover, the West is viewed in the region as historically imperialistic and liberalism is not in favor in countries where Islam (real traditionalism) is dominant.

Asia Times
How Astana is leading the way in Central Asia

Pepe Escobar

Pepe Escobar — The Syria connection to Iran, Afghanistan and China

Backgrounder. 

It's complicated. The US doesn't do nuance.

Asia Times
The Syria connection to Iran, Afghanistan and China

Pepe Escobar

Tomgram — Pepe Escobar, The Pivot to Eurasia

The quickly evolving Great Game. Good summary of recent developments on the geopolitical and geostrategic front and their implications for geopolitical realignment, with huge economic implications globally.

Tom Dispatch
Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, The Pivot to Eurasia

Interfax — Russia discontinues transit of weapons, military equipment to Afghanistan

Russia has discontinued the transit of all military equipment and weapons to Afghanistan. A decree to this effect has been signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 

The document, which was posted on the official legal information website on Monday, says the decision was made due to the expiration of the provisions of Resolution 1386 of the UN Security Council.

Russia Beyond the Headlines
Russia discontinues transit of weapons, military equipment to Afghanistan
Interfax

Andrew Korybko — The Hoagland-Blinken Doctrine Is Washington’s Updated Plan For Central Asia

Russia's near abroad, pipleistan, and securing US control over Eurasia, or at least preventing Russia and China controlling it.

Oriental Review
The Hoagland-Blinken Doctrine Is Washington’s Updated Plan For Central Asia (I)

The Hoagland-Blinken Doctrine Is Washington’s Updated Plan For Central Asia (II)
Andrew Korybko

See also

US Wages Geopolitical Warfare Against Russia in Central Asia and Caucasus

Steven MacMillan

Joshua Kucera — U.S. Ambassador Reignites Cold War Rhetoric in Kyrgyzstan

Unusually blunt comments highlight the country’s role in the battle for influence in Central Asia.…

The United States ambassador to Kyrgyzstan has said that the country’s increasing ties with Russia is threatening its democracy, an unusually blunt statement that drew criticism in the country’s pro-Russian media.

Kyrgyzstan’s “growing partnership with Russia … [is] a challenge to our efforts to support Kyrgyzstan’s democracy,” the ambassador, Pamela Spratlen, wrote in an article for an association publication for American diplomats. Spratlen did not elaborate on the claim about the threat to Kyrgyzstan’s democracy, but she did note that as a result of Russian pressure and influence, Kyrgyzstan evicted a U.S. military base, is set to join the Russia-led Eurasian Union, and has largely accepted the Russian narrative of what is happening in Ukraine.

“Kyrgyzstan’s new leadership would welcome a partnership with the United States, but places a priority on its relationship with Russia, which often comes at our expense. It remains an unanswered question how Kyrgyzstan can maintain its democratic trajectory while pursuing this partnership. President [Almazbek] Atambayev’s decision to enter the protectionist Customs Union by the beginning of 2015 exemplifies this challenge,” Spratlen wrote. “Confronted with a sea of internal and external challenges, President Atambayev has forged a strong partnership with Russian President Putin, seeing Russia as one of his few options for much needed assistance. This partnership has had its impact on our efforts, leading to the closure of the United States military presence at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, while Russia retains its Kant Air Base outside of Bishkek.”

The statements highlighted Kyrgyzstan’s role as the most overt U.S.-Russian battleground over influence in Central Asia, and were a rare U.S. public acknowledgment of that competition.…

…the response to her statement was predictable. “It’s not at all a coincidence that the anti-Atambayev and anti-Russian demarche of the U.S. ambassador was made ahead of Kyrgyzstan’s entrance into the Customs Union and illustrates the poorly hidden intention to interfere in the process of Kyrgyzstan’s integration into the vitally important economic space with its strategic and regional partners,” wrote the Congress of Peoples of Kyrgyzstan, a nationalist group. “Kyrgyzstanis are well aware of these American ‘efforts’ to support democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria and how these countries were plunged into chaos and the abyss of civil war and then called for ‘independence’ in Ukraine.”

“From Pamela Spratlen’s article it’s clear that Kyrgyzstan is strategically important for the U.S. After all, normally diplomats don’t speak that openly,” said Mars Sariyev, a local pundit. That she wrote it, he added, demonstrates that “U.S. policy in Kyrgyzstan has failed.

The Diplomat
U.S. Ambassador Reignites Cold War Rhetoric in Kyrgyzstan
Joshua Kucera

For background, see:

The US Grand Strategy and the Eurasian Heartland in the Twenty-First Century
Emre İşeria
School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment (SPIRE), Keele University, UK
See especially the section, "Geo-Strategic Dimensions Of The Eurasian Heartland," p. 33-39

The Heartland Theory and the Present-Day Geopolitical Structure of Central Eurasia

Eldar Ismailov and Vladimer Papava 

Foreign Affairs — Sep/Oct 1997 issue
A Geostrategy for Eurasia
Zbigniew Brzezinski

Mike Whitney — Why is Putin in Washington’s Crosshairs?

Pincer movement to encircle and weaken Russia and China to preserve US global hegemony.

US provocations in Ukraine cannot be understood apart from Washington’s “Pivot to Asia”, which is the broader strategic plan to shift attention from the Middle East to Asia. The so called “re-balancing” is actually a blueprint for controlling China’s growth in a way that is compatible with US hegemonic ambitions....

So what does controlling China have to do with the dust up in Ukraine?

Everything. Washington sees Russia as a growing threat to its plans for regional dominance. The problem is, Moscow has only gotten stronger as it has expanded its network of oil and gas pipelines across Central Asia into Europe. That’s why Washington has decided to use Ukraine is a staging ground for an attack on Russia, because a strong Russia that’s economically integrated with Europe is a threat to US hegemony. Washington wants a weak Russia that won’t challenge US presence in Central Asia or its plan to control vital energy resources....

What matters is global hegemony and world domination. That’s what really counts. Everyone knows this. To follow the daily incidents in Ukraine as though they could be separated from the big picture is ridiculous. They’re all part of the same sick strategy. Here’s a clip from former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski in Foreign Affairs explaining how–as far as Washington is concerned–it makes no sense to have separate policies for Europe and Asia:

“With Eurasia now serving as the decisive geopolitical chessboard, it no longer suffices to fashion one policy for Europe and another for Asia. What happens with the distribution of power on the Eurasian landmass will be of decisive importance to America’s global primacy and historical legacy.” (“The danger of war in Asia“, World Socialist Web Site)

It’s all about the pivot to Asia and the future of the empire.

 Recall Halford MacKinder's heartland doctrine about the Eurasian landmass as the geographical pivot of history. It's still in play in the minds of US strategists.

Counterpunch
Why is Putin in Washington’s Crosshairs?
Mike Whitney