by Oui
Tue Jan 7th, 2025 at 08:07:30 PM EST
Fascism build on military power and refusal to live by international law, treaties and basic human rights. Circumstances can never be compared as culture and society changes ... revolution after an upheaval of society and/or economy. Mankind suffering as a new footing is found to live together on planet Earth ... policy of coercive diplomacy ... making more enemies than friends ... obvious attempt to comply by allies in a form of appeasement ... accepting the bully in global affairs.
How climate change is rapidly expanding access to Arctic resources ... America lacks rights as the Russian Federation, Canada and Denmark (Greenland) lead
Rapidly receding sea ice levels are making abundant deposits of oil and gas, critical minerals, and ocean fisheries newly exploitable.
Making Greenland Great Again (MGGA)
Donald Trump's Dream: Taking Over Panama, Canada And Greenland Is Nonsense | Nineteen Forty-Five |
Trump reiterated his interest, expressed in his first term, in purchasing Greenland. Shortly before Christmas, he announced Ken Lowery as ambassador to Denmark, which oversees the autonomous territory. Trump wrote: "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." He apparently desires the island's abundant natural resources and fears the possibility of Chinese or Russian control over it.
Greenland Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede responded: "We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our years-long struggle for freedom." Inuit Maya Sialuk observed: "We are still trying to recover from a colonization period of almost 300 years. Then there is this white dude in the States who's talking about purchasing us."
L E B E N S R A U M
Prelude to Lebensraum? Germany's Occupation of Eastern Europe in WWI
On 3 March 1918, the German Empire reached the height of its power. With the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany now controlled the Baltic countries, Poland, Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. Combined with its domination of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany now had direct or indirect control over almost all of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The Second Reich needed only defeat the Western powers or fight them to a draw to establish itself as the greatest continental power since Napoleon.
It didn't look that way in the beginning of the war. Indeed, for a few weeks in August 1914 it looked like Russia might conquer Germany, not the other way around. But a series of miraculous German victories at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes reversed that tide and drove it back. Beginning with the 1915 Gorlice-Tarnow offensive, the German army progressively conquered more and more Russian imperial territory until reaching its apogee in the aforementioned treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a treaty so humiliating for Russia that it took all of Lenin's powers of persuasion to get the Bolsheviks to consent to it.
Occupation, Order and Requisition
Where soldiers saw chaos and uncertainty, German military leaders saw a golden opportunity: here was the chance to develop German methods and German culture in its purest form. Poland had a puppet civilian regime by 1916, but the remaining territories were ruled by a military fiefdom known as Ober-Ost. Here, ambitious generals such as Erich Ludendorff could build a utopia of German Kultur, free of any interference from the civilian authorities back home.
Since at least the 19th century, German intellectuals and writers had cultivated a myth of the East which emphasized the role of Medieval German merchants and crusading knights in bringing prosperity to the more backward Slav tribes. It was the German vision of American Manifest Destiny - bringing order and civilization to an unruly and undeveloped frontier.
The Germans were as good as their word: they built roads and laid down rail and telegraph lines. They published newspapers in native languages, established native museums and even sent theater reviewers to learn as much as possible of native cultures. They also engaged in extensive health programs to try and extirpate disease. The administrators envisaged a sort of benevolent apolitical regime run by the army in which the natives could grow and become civilized.
[...]
Chamberlain's peace deal with Hitler | Imperial War Museum |
"NATO Expansion; A Bridge to the Nineteenth Century"
STRATEGIC RATIONALE FOR NATO ENLARGEMENT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1997
U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, DC.
The committee met at 10:14 a.m., in room SD-419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jesse Helms (chairman of the committee), presiding.
Present: Senators Helms, Lugar, Hagel, Smith, Thomas, Ashcroft, Grams, Frist, Biden, Sarbanes, Robb, Feingold, Feinstein, and Wellstone.
Also Present: Senator Warner.
The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Madam Secretary, as you know, we welcome you. We appreciate your being our lead-off witness as the Foreign Relations Committee begins its consideration of NATO expansion.
For nearly 50 years, NATO has defended democracy against communism and other forms of tyranny in Europe. Despite that success, many Americans will never forget the betrayal at Yalta which left millions of Europeans behind enemy lines.
Today, with the expansion of the NATO alliance, we have an historic opportunity to right that wrong by accepting Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO. All Americans should welcome these nations as they finally become equal partners in a community of democratic nations, thereby ensuring that their new democracies shall never again fall victim to tyranny.
Now, if Europe and the United States are to enjoy a century of peace, upcoming, one that does not replicate the bloody wars of the past century, we must embrace these democracies and guide them and show them away from their tragic histories of ethnic division and war.
That said, there's a right way and a wrong way to proceed with NATO expansion. We in the Senate recognize that this vital undertaking is not without cost to the United States, and I am convinced that the three new democracies are willing and eager to bear their fair share, but we must now make certain that our present NATO allies are likewise willing to fulfill their end of the bargain.
Just last week our allies made clear to us that they expect the United States, meaning the American taxpayers, to pay the lion's share of the cost of expansion. Now, Madam Secretary, ratification of NATO expansion by the U.S. Senate may very well succeed or fail on the question of whether you can dissuade our allies of that notion.
Clinton to Biden: Provoking the Russian Bear
30 years ago today: Kissinger on Russia & NATO expansion | PBS Newshour, w Jack Matlock - 5 Dec. 1994 |
The 1994 discussion between Henry Kissinger and Jack Matlock revolved around the contentious issue of NATO expansion and its implications for U.S.-Russia relations and Eastern Europe's stability. The debate was set against the backdrop of Russian opposition, articulated by President Boris Yeltsin, who warned that expanding NATO could lead to a "cold peace" and further isolate Russia.
Kissinger supported NATO expansion as a necessary step to ensure the security and sovereignty of Central European countries like Poland and Hungary. He argued that delaying expansion could create a geopolitical vacuum, leaving these nations vulnerable to influence from both Germany and Russia. Kissinger viewed NATO as a stabilizing force and an "insurance policy" against future uncertainties, emphasizing that such moves need not antagonize Russia if managed through diplomatic and military assurances.
Matlock, however, cautioned against hasty expansion, noting that Russia's current weakness did not pose an immediate military threat. He believed that NATO expansion might inflame nationalist sentiments within Russia, complicating its internal politics and its path toward democracy. Instead, he argued for prioritizing economic integration of Eastern European nations into the European Union and maintaining diplomacy to address Russian concerns. The conversation highlighted differing perspectives on balancing security, diplomacy, and the risks of escalating tensions in post-Cold War Europe.
President Clinton and Boris Yeltsin laugh attack
Neocon Years and NATO Expansion of 2008
George Bush this morning said he "strongly supported" Ukraine's attempt to join Nato, and warned he would not allow Russia to veto its membership bid.
Speaking in Kiev after a meeting with Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, the US president said both post-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia should be allowed to join the alliance - despite vehement objections from Russia.
Eretz Yisrael
Is Netanyahu's government pursuing a "Greater Israel" agenda? Rooted in biblical aspirations and Zionist visions, the concept has long been the subject of intense debate. Critics argue that Israel's policies, including its massive settlement expansion and annexation rhetoric, are aligned with a long-term vision of expanding control over historic territories. They also point to Netanyahu's alliances with far-right religious Zionist parties, some of which openly advocate expanding Israeli territory to include all of biblical Israel, as evidence of a broader strategy. Meanwhile, others argue that these actions are defensive measures in response to ongoing threats
Confrontation with Communist China
China strongly condemns extremely irresponsible remarks of NATO chief: FM | Global Times – July 2024 |
Stoltenberg's remarks also shift blame and shirk responsibility on the Ukraine issue, misleading the international community's perception of China's normal military development and its relations with outside countries. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this, said Lin.
Lin said that Stoltenberg has repeatedly ignored facts and China's repeated representations, using various occasions to smear and attack China, promoting the "China threat" narrative, and inciting anti-China sentiment. His intentions to cooperate with certain forces in suppressing and containing China has been fully exposed.
Such clumsy performances cannot help but arouse the world's vigilance and fully demonstrate that NATO, as a remnant of the Cold War and a product of bloc confrontation and group politics, only creates risks and challenges to world peace and stability, Lin said.
Lin said that certain Western politicians, who are nearing the end of their political careers, should not to attempt to leave a legacy through fanning the flames, provoking trouble, and shifting blame onto others.
