the real world today

Biden remarks on Xi were a boast, not a gaffe

So Biden’s remarks were not a gaffe, not a slip. They are not words of petty anger, even if they are the simmering resentment of Captain Ahab’s obsessive revenge. Biden's remarks are more boastful than angry, though they have that edge too. Biden is angrily defending his inflated image of his own prowess as political leader and foreign policy leader, and indeed the infinite 'possiblilities' of America.

history, the real world today

Ukraine Crisis Shows Fault Lines of Multipolar World

We are not entering World War III, I think, I hope, I insist on believing. But we are entering the final phase of the Hundred Years Cold War of the Anglo-American Powers against Russia. My forecast is that the system of power that has led this war will collapse, perhaps surprisngly quickly, but likely over five to ten years. Seven great fault lines are cracking open during the Ukraine crisis that will shape the social, political, cultural and international orders we navigate through.

Flowers of the Mind

Flowers of the Mind 17

A holiday of regeneration. The crisis in Europe, Ukraine, the failure of American diplomacy and the end of NATO. The Siege of Leningrad, Vladimir Putin, Operation Barbarossa, and Dmitri Likhachev on the Russian Soul. Elena Shvarts and the Flora of Ukraine. Russian Ark and the survival of culture in the floating hermitage of the Neva.

history, The Burning Archive Podcast

Podcast #18 – After Kabul, the Task Ahead for Australia

The fall of Kabul has raised questions for Australia about the reliability of its alliance with the United States of America. Will the fall of Kabul and the rise of Eurasia provoke the same questioning of foreign policy by Australia?

history, The Burning Archive Podcast

Podcast #17 – Letter to America: you are not the captain now

The latest episode of The Burning Archive Podcast is out and available on all the usual platforms, including Apple and Spotify. America’s defeat in Afghanistan has provoked an imperial crisis. This imperial crisis is not just a geostrategic or diplomatic game. It is a crisis of the ideas driving the empire - American culture, society and politics - its core… Continue reading Podcast #17 – Letter to America: you are not the captain now

history, the real world today

The Looming War of the American Succession

In 1700 Charles II, King of Spain and Emperor presiding over a vast global empire, died without a child and without a clear successor. His death triggered a great war over geostrategic control of the possessions of the declining Spanish Empire by rival dynasties and rival great states. France and Spain were diminished, and the… Continue reading The Looming War of the American Succession

history, The Burning Archive Podcast, the real world today

Podcast #15 – Imperial Crisis in Afghanistan and the World Island

The latest episode of The Burning Archive Podcast is out and available on all the usual platforms, including Apple and Spotify. America's capitulation in Afghanistan has provoked an humanitarian disaster, an imperial crisis, and a change in the balance of power between great states in Eurasia. The crisis threatens not only American prestige in the world but some of the… Continue reading Podcast #15 – Imperial Crisis in Afghanistan and the World Island

history, The Burning Archive Podcast, the real world today

Podcast #14 – Afghanistan and the end of America’s 43 Year War

 I have released a special episode of The Burning Archive podcast on the situation in Afghanistan. It is available on all the usual platforms, including Apple and Spotify. In this special episode, The Burning Archive makes some fast history, and reflects on the meaning of the capitulation of the American Empire in Afghanistan. There are eight quick takes… Continue reading Podcast #14 – Afghanistan and the end of America’s 43 Year War

history, the real world today, Uncategorized

The World Island vs The Atlantic

This year, 2021, may be remembered as a pivot year in world history. Not because of the pandemic. Not only because of the protracted crisis of the American republic. But because of the changed balance of power in international relations brought about by the decrepitude of the American Atlanticist Alliance and the strengthening of the… Continue reading The World Island vs The Atlantic

history, the real world today, Uncategorized

The fall of the American Empire’s Potemkin Province

Thus , in a few blitzkrieg weeks, after the Americans declared they would "draw down their civilian footprint" to meet a publicity deadline of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Taliban have exposed American power and control in Afghanistan as a projection of illusion, a Potemkin Province of an anxious empire in decline.

history, the real world today

America’s Coming Century of Humiliation… begins

A tragic sense of history does not limit the depth of the fall of the mighty and flawed, nor does it pretend that prevailing orders degrade in a slow, controlled and managed decline. Collapse of political orders, institutions, empires and cultures as often comes quickly, almost suddenly, and rarely with expert forecasts pre-loaded. So it… Continue reading America’s Coming Century of Humiliation… begins

culture

Sound and fury told by the American cultural “elite”

There are few funny stories to emerge from American politics over the last two months, especially during the constitutional embarrassment of the latest faux and cursed impeachment. There is, however, one story that stands out as laugh-out-loud funny, and symptomatic of the cultural decay, which has been a constant theme of this blog since its… Continue reading Sound and fury told by the American cultural “elite”

history, the real world today

America’s fate: civil war, fragmentation or collapse?

Today after the distressing events and death in the Capitol building of Washington DC that interrupted the process of confirming electoral college votes, I am reposting this piece from five months ago. It may be more relevant today than then. I would place my bets on fragmentation or collapse at this stage *** Original Post… Continue reading America’s fate: civil war, fragmentation or collapse?