STRATEGIC ALERT Service

Whoever wrote the speech the Pope gave to the authorities, civil society and diplomatic representatives in Kinshasa on Jan. 31, delivered a little poetic jewel. Francis used the image of diamonds to both address the potential wealth of the country, and expose foreign looting of its resources. He also compared the many qualities of diamonds to those of human beings, […]

The Schiller Institute will hold an urgent conference on the theme “The Age of Reason or the Annihilation of Humanity?” Please register for the event here. The invitation was sent out in last week’s issue of the Alert. (Conference language is English, with simultaneous translation provided in French, German and Spanish for those who register.)

Who’s living in the real world here? In a Jan. 29 interview with Canada’s CBC News, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he had written a “wish list to Santa” Claus. That may sound cute… until you hear what he wished for: “fighter jets, aircraft and probably rockets… long-hand options to hit the Russians’ fuel depots, ammunition depots and […]

The Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), a group of former intelligence officers opposed to Washington’s “permanent war” policy, has issued an “Emergency Memorandum” to President Biden, which denounces the reckless incompetence behind what he is receiving as intelligence, and urging him to pursue a peace option. Among the signers known to our readers are Col. (ret.) Richard Black, Graham […]

The European Union is that institution where, if a member state needs to borrow money, it must submit to intrusive inspections, implement “structural reforms”, cut pensions, health services etc., and forget fiscal sovereignty. But if you want money to wage a war, you get as much as you want, with no control over how it’s spent, whether you’re a member […]

The decision by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to authorize delivery of combat tanks to Ukraine has encouraged the Green Party warmongers in his coalition government to take their provocations one big step further. On Jan. 25, during a debate at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock cautioned Europeans to stick together, and not play […]

On Oct. 27, 2022, the German Bundestag voted an addendum to the Criminal Code’s Paragraph 130, No. 3 on denial and trivialization of the Holocaust, that comes down to opening the door for punishment of public remarks that fail to describe the conflict in Ukraine as a Russian “war of aggression”. Indeed, the addendum (No. 5) creates a gray zone […]

Africa has become a key theater in the battle between the current “rules-based order” and the new economic order emerging. That was reflected in intense diplomatic activity during the month of January. China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt Jan. 10-16 (cf. SAS 3/23), while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to South Africa, Angola, […]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Zambia was of special importance, as it was used to launch a new narrative on “China debt”, given the collapse of the “debt-trap” accusations. Beijing is now acccused of unwillingness to help resolve the debt crisis that many African nations are suffering from. The intention behind this is two-fold: China should bail out […]

In her visits to Algeria Jan. 23 and Libya Jan. 25, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni laid the first brick of what she calls her “Mattei Plan” for Africa. In Algeria, four memoranda of understanding were signed on energy, small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), and space science. In Libya, the Italian oil and gas company ENI and its Libyan counterpart […]