Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Monday said that Ukraine should cede to Russia the territory Moscow and the Donbass separatists controlled before invading to end the war and called for negotiations.
Trade
Russia Will No Longer Depend on West, Deepen Trade Ties with China – Lavrov
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would pivot its economic relationships away from the West and towards China, suggesting Moscow could even rebuff an offer to reopen trade with the US and its allies. Speaking with reporters in Moscow on Monday, the Russian diplomat said that while his country would consider rebuilding ties with Western states, it is inclined to stick with more dependable partners going forward. "If they [the West] want to offer something in terms of resuming relations, then we will seriously consider whether we will need it or not," he said, adding...
Russia Sets Conditions to Ease Black Sea Blockade
Russia has offered to relax its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, but only in exchange for sanctions relief from the West, amid fears that the war raging in Eastern Europe is driving a major international food crisis.
By Banning Russian Oil, Europe Forgot How It Won the Cold War
The European Union is close to reaching an agreement on banning the import of Russian oil. Some Eastern-European member states, particularly Hungary, are trying to obtain exemptions or delays on the implementation of the ban. All in all, however, it seems likely that many if not all EU members will soon agree to ban Russian crude oil completely within the next six months, while refined oil would be phased out by the end of 2022. The ban is only the latest EU disciplinary economic measure which the bloc has levelled against Russia. On February 24, the starting day of the Russian invasion...
Trade Restrictions Are Depriving Our Infants of Formula
For parents who rely on baby formula—whether by choice or due to medical necessity—the nationwide baby formula shortage has become increasingly difficult to ignore. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walgreens, Target, CVS, and Kroger have all begun rationing supplies of formula. Covid lockdowns, combined with a product recall by formula manufacturer Abbott Nutrition has created a very real shortage in a product that is key for proper nutrition in many children. With the shortage has come the usual half-baked bromides about "evil corporations" and how baby formula companies are...
‘America First’ Means Anti-Bush, Not Antiwar
Donald Trump, despite not being perfect (far from it), was useful in making the idea of chronic interventionism and foreign entanglements unpopular, but as much credit as the New Right is given, they are hardly antiwar. The New Right is largely a rejection of the moderates—the neoconservatives and neoliberals—and their exemplars, the Clintons, Cheneys, Bushes, and Romneys. There is certainly an aversion towards our involvement in the Middle East, with Trump telling Jeb Bush in 2016 that, “Your brother lied,” about WMDs in Iraq. But while they may not be Middle East hawks like the...
Joe Biden Blames Everyone for Inflation (Except Himself)
Speaking at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Joe Biden on Tuesday morning declared inflation to be his top “domestic priority” and insisted that inflation would not be a problem were it not for covid and the war in Ukraine. There was little room, however, for any sound economics in a speech that was little more than a campaign speech for the ruling Democratic Party in an election year in which the party looks to take a beating at the ballot box. In truth, it is the U.S. regime itself—and the regime's central bank—that is the real cause of today's galloping inflation....
Iran Sells Oil to Venezuela as Washington’s Negotiations with Caracas and Tehran Appear Frozen
Venezuela has begun importing heavy crude from Iran as the White House maintains severe economic sanctions on both countries. While the Biden administration has sought to increase ties with Tehran and Caracas, recent development suggests that a deal with either government is unlikely. Documents from Venezuela’s state oil company show that 200,000 barrels of Iranian heavy crude oil arrived in mid-April. A second shipment - double in size - is currently being discharged at the Jose port. Iran is also delivering diluting agents to Venezuela, helping Caracas access its reserves. The...
Lessons from Douglas Murray’s ‘The War on the West’
“We appear to be in the process of killing the goose that has laid some very golden Eggs.”- Douglas Murray, author of The War on the West “[A]s recently as 2006, about 18% of social scientists self-identified as Marxists.”- Bryan Caplan, Ph.D., The Prevalence of Marxism in Academia (March 21, 2015, EconLib.org) I was always ashamed to be a Westerner. A civilization, I was told all through my public schooling years, uniquely contributed to the world in the following ways: slavery, child labor, bad working conditions, greed, sexism, genocide, racism, McCarthyism, and a bunch of useful...
Europe Is Trapping Itself Through Monetary Manipulation
There’s a lot of news flying around about the changes happening in global currency trading. From “Gas for Rubles” to “What the Hell is Going on With the Yen?” there are a lot of questions and very few answers as to what it all means and whose on which side of the divide. The Fed just hiked 50 basis points for the first time since 2000 and will be running off its balance sheet forcing the Treasury to stop issuing new debt at stupid rates. The European Union unveiled a sixth sanctions package against Russia which calls for a complete embargo of all Russian oil. Further to this the EU is now...