At the precipice of the new World War

The clash of two systems of governance, as George Soros famously formulated it in his remarks to the World Economic Conference in May, seems to have reached a phase transition. Russian President Vladimir Putin has returned from last week’s summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference in Samarkand with a palpable sense of confidence and … Continue reading At the precipice of the new World War

Eurasian integration: is it lights out for high priests of Davos?

Last August, when the Taliban walked into Kabul and took over Afghanistan almost unopposed, I wrote that this might have been the empire's mortal wound and that we would see a very extensive redrawing of global alliances and security architecture. In my 17 September TrendCompass report, I wrote: "Nations that have held onto some degree of sovereignty … Continue reading Eurasian integration: is it lights out for high priests of Davos?

Why the loss of Afghanistan will ultimately end the Empire

Former Fed Chairman Arthur Burns said that, “A subtle understanding of economic change comes from a knowledge of history and large affairs, not from statistics or their processing alone.” So far as large affairs go, the recent events in Afghanistan could hardly be any larger. On Sunday, 15 August Taliban fighters entered Kabul unopposed and … Continue reading Why the loss of Afghanistan will ultimately end the Empire