Western military analysts frequently deride and ridicule the Russian military for its slow-pace of advance in taking back territory from Ukraine in 2023 and 2024. But the perceived slow-advance was not the result of poor leadership or bad tactics… It was a manpower issue. On the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine (which began on February 24, 2022), the Russian Armed Forces significantly outnumbered those of Ukraine in terms of active personnel. But even that number is misleading. If you are going to capture defensive positions held by Ukraine, you need ground forces.

 

One Reason the Russian Military Advanced Slowly in 2023 and 2024

by Larry C. Johnson

 

At the end of World War II in 1945, international relations quickly coalesced around two superpowers (the USA and the USSR), giving rise to a bipolar world. Since then, the quest for a balance of power, fueled by the space race and the expansion of spheres of influence, has fostered a logic of escalation and a mutual perception of threat that continues to divide relations between Washington and Moscow today.

 

Trump is fighting neither for peace, nor for Ukraine, much less for Russia, but for the survival of the United States

Mohamed Lamine KABA

It beggars belief that the outgoing head of the RSL, Greg Melick, has abused the quiet solemnity of Remembrance Day to lecture and berate the Albanese government on its defence policy.

Worse, he carelessly flung around the tired epithet of ‘appeasement’ at the Prime Minister and his Ministers.

 

Paul Keating

Another RSL dope wants to draw us into a major war

 

Yet this is a government that has consistently said it will ensure Australia has what it needs to provide for the defence of Australia. And is currently hosting major US military apparatus here. Indeed, the Government is currently preparing the next iteration of its Defence Strategic Review.

In succumbing to a lust for the limelight, the ASIO director, Mike Burgess, is not making it easier for the government and citizens to retain confidence in him and the organisation he’s trying to run.

Unlike his predecessors, all of whom kept low profiles, Burgess has thrust himself into the public square with statements and speeches in which he’s shown an appetite for lurid half stories, boasting, questionable judgment and a fragility with evidence.

 

Paddy Gourley

ASIO's Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight

 

In the last few years Burgess has said that:

 

For decades, Washington treated Damascus as untouchable. Now, for the first time since Syria gained independence in 1946, a Syrian head of state has walked through the doors of the White House. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s official visit to Washington marks a remarkable moment – not only for Syria-US relations, but for the broader political landscape of the Middle East. A handshake that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago now signals a subtle but significant shift in how the West perceives Damascus.

 

A ‘historic’ visit wrapped in old distrust: The harsh truth about Syria’s White House moment
Al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington was hailed as historic – yet behind the smiles lie sanctions, red lines, and a fragile balance of power

When one mentions Zbigniew Brzezinski, it is like advancing the concept that the devil is a great proponent of Christianity because it gives him (the devil is male, transgender or female — depending on your bent) more material to work with.

So what about good old professor Jeffrey Sachs? This is a case of understanding the game being played.... and it appears Jeffrey Sachs realised he had been played like a pawn on the grand chessboard of geopolitics...

 

Here we go:

 

Jeffrey Sachs: “It all started 170 years ago, when Britain wanted to surround the Russian Empire and deprive it of its status as a great power in the Black Sea region and prevent it from having access to the Black Sea, and this policy was continued by Brzezinski.”

The European Commission plans to establish a new intelligence division directly under President Ursula von der Leyen, even as the move faces resistance from the EU’s existing spy apparatus, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The new structure will reportedly operate within the commission’s secretariat-general, drawing staff from national intelligence agencies. Its role will focus on sharing intelligence across the bloc rather than conducting covert operations abroad, according to FT sources.

The EU already has an intelligence body, the Intelligence and Situation Centre (INTCEN), created after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks under the European External Action Service (EEAS). Officials within INTCEN fear von der Leyen’s new service would duplicate existing functions and weaken the foreign service, according to the newspaper.

President Donald Trump has claimed that the US faces a “national security catastrophe” if the tariffs he introduced against most trading partners this year are ruled illegal.

Trump launched his tariff drive in April, accusing US partners of creating unfair trade imbalances. He described the tariffs as a “reciprocal” measure to secure better trade terms, invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis. The act allows the president to regulate or block international trade and financial transactions during a declared national emergency involving foreign threats. However, the move has drawn criticism from lawmakers who warn it could harm the domestic economy.

‘Hermann Göring loved his kids. That’s what’s terrifying’: James Vanderbilt, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon on Nuremberg....

Russell Crowe has a malevolent charm as the Nazi on trial in a compelling new film. His co-stars and director explain how they understood this monster – and the persistence of evil today

 

Ryan Gilbey writes about film and theatre for the Guardian

From the outset, Kallas’s appointment as High Representative and Vice President was cast as bold and symbolically significant. The Commission’s website emphasises her responsibilities in “strengthening Europe’s security and defence … developing a more strategic approach to our neighbourhood, working closely on relations with candidate countries and the Eastern Neighbourhood.”

 

Kaja Kallas and the Erosion of European Diplomacy: Why the EU Needs a Reset at the Top

Ricardo Martins

 

we expect something in return 

we atheist being nice to another run

makes us hope others will be nice to us

for the believer needs to be better plus

to get a place amongst virgins and angels

unless god demands wars against the infidels

to fill his kingdom with the cadavers of devils

that were our souls we grew with nasty wills

so life continues with her dying in his arms

because she chose him and he chose her

in a way that only happiness fathoms

in joys and sickness forever together

under the rattle of drones and the drench of bombs

so we blame the others for our lives lost 

being born in the wrong corner of humanity

on the planet of the ape, dumb as a post

 

where the wrongs of millions

are crawling more than gold bullions

 

 

Patrik Baab argues that Western governments—especially in Europe—refuse to pursue a negotiated settlement with Russia because their political survival depends on continuing the war. He claims Ukraine is being sacrificed (“brought to the butcher”) to serve Western geopolitical interests, primarily the U.S. goal of weakening Russia.

According to this view:

U.S. “deep state” institutions (Pentagon, CIA, parts of both parties) want the war to continue, and European leaders align with them.

Zelensky and his circle, described as dominated by right-wing nationalists, also depend on the war for their power.

The speaker believes Western elites act against their own populations’ interests, driven by ideology, survival instincts, or influence from defense industries and financial actors profiting from the conflict.

Now is the sinister time of year when the Barons of Big Oil gather together, under the auspices of the United Nations and with the blessing of most world leaders, to celebrate the 350 million needless deaths they plan to cause between now and 2050 in the name of profit.

 

Julian Cribb

The black work of big oil

 

Yes, it’s the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, also known as COP30, the event where the fossil oligarchs toast their victory over humanity and its future - and the fact they have successfully played the entire world for mugs, hypnotising us into climate paralysis. This time the ‘Conclave of the Pernicious’ was hosted by Brazil.

 

People closer to the action than I are suggesting that the end is nigh for Sussan Ley. They may be right; momentum is often all in these matters.

But I would be cautious about thinking the walk to the gallows is imminent. There are only so many metropolitan seats that angry old men in the Liberal Party can lightly wave away.

 

Jack Waterford

It’s Ley, or virtually certain Liberal self-immolation

 

Long, long ago – almost as if yesterday really – Ukrainians were promised that if enough of them were to die in a Western proxy war against Russia first, then, in an ill-defined, probably far-away future, their country – or whatever would be left of it – would be allowed to enter NATO. It is now considered rude to mention that promise, because the West has in effect broken it, while asking Ukrainians to please keep dying, preferably for a few more years at least.

 

Ukraine is too corrupt to join the EU, and the West is too dishonest to trust
Brussels has noticed the obvious problems with Vladimir Zelensky’s regime, but would still like Ukrainians to keep dying in its proxy war with Russia

BY Tarik Cyril Amar