Doug Casey On The Shocking 2025 “Deagel” Forecast

[F2d5thCav]

Quite right. It ISN'T 1989 any more. There is no more Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact. There is no enemy left there - why are they continuing to hold on when there is no longer a target to shoot at?

That is a statement you should direct to people who live under the shadow of Russia in central Europe.  Just be prepared to get an earful, because they DO believe their right to self-determination, to include the political blocs and alliances they choose to participate in.

As they see it, their choice is "the West" -- one system with plenty of problems, but -some- rule of law and -some- orderly process; or, to become complete kleptocracies dominated by the kleptocracy in Moscow, with rule of men and arbitrariness in what passes for governance there.

We have all been coached to believe that big countries have a "right" to push small countries around, declare that those countries are part of their "sphere of influence", etc.  But that is nothing but propaganda on the part of the big countries.  The Germans and Russians have tried to completely extinguish the national existence of peoples in central Europe for centuries ... and it doesn't work, no matter how brutal the approach.  The only legacy of the brutality of the last go-round is that the countries of central Europe deeply distrust both Germany and Russia, but realize they have to maintain formal relations while attempting to survive economically ... and so the faces smile at each other at summits even while the national leaderships engage in mutual dislike.

I don't find the continued existence of NATO to be so much a problem as is the EU's desire to set up a parallel military alliance that includes the same countries.  That is a recipe for problems.

That guy interviewed in the OP has been duped by Russian propaganda.  He is all about Russia's perceptions, claims, feelings ... without once wondering about the smaller countries affected by Russian policy ... as in, what do THOSE countries and peoples want?  Russia ain't the only player at the table in these power plays.  Failure to realize other peoples have their own national goals and aspirations is a non-starter.  And that is where Russia consistently fails.  When a neighboring country protests Russian policy, some guy in the Russian Duma opines that "dwarf nations" can be nuked out of existence ... and hears no rebuke from the Moscow kleptocracy for doing so.  Overwhelmingly, Russia's problems are of their own creation, because they are so tone-deaf in dealing with other European countries.  And that -- is no reason for other countries to surrender aspects of their sovereignty.

As far as US meddling in Russian/ Eastern European affairs goes when Russia is no longer any direct threat to us

This is again something that can be looked at from the standpoint of the former Warsaw Pact countries.

If they choose Russia or Germany as their "big brother" in the international sphere, they know that ultimately, the Russians and the Germans, being neighboring countries, will always make grabs for their manpower, their resources, and their national territory.

The USA offers them a unique option: a "big brother" who is not a European power and operates on their territory purely for the reasons of power projection. Those countries could host 100,000 U.S. troops and never have to worry about being absorbed by the USA. Of course, the existence of this option for these countries infuriates the so-called 'elites' in both Berlin and Moscow. Beware both Russian and German propaganda when it comes to the policy making of the former Warsaw Pact countries.

Cheers