COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Protecting Ass ets

The Endgame of Washington’s Arrogance, Wars, Asset Seizures, Boycotts, Spying and Military Adventures





Swiss Re to start using HSBC's Chinese bank

Published: June 22, 2015 7:22 a.m. ET Marketwatch

ZURICH―-Swiss reinsurance giant Swiss Re AG will begin using HSBC Holdings PLC's Chinese bank for custodian services, a move that further ties Switzerland to China's currency.
HSBC said it's the first custodian bank in China to service a Switzerland-based entity qualified to invest in China's renminbi-denominated markets.
An official at Zurich-based Swiss Re said the development is "an important step in Swiss Re's business aspirations."
Switzerland is vying with other countries, including Germany and the U.K., to become a hub for China's currency, as China seeks to expand the use of the renminbi for global trade and investment. Earlier this year, China extended a program for qualified foreign institutional investors to Switzerland, which included an allocation of 50 billion renminbi ($8 billion).
Last April, Swiss officials disclosed that state-owned China Construction Bank, or CCB, had applied for a banking license in Switzerland. That followed an agreement between the central banks of Switzerland and China last year, which allowed them to buy and sell their respective currencies.

Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com

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The United States has pursued empire since early in its history, but it was the Soviet collapse in 1991 that enabled Washington to see the entire world as its oyster.

The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in the rise of the neoconservatives to power and influence in the US government. The neoconservatives have interpreted the Soviet collapse as History’s choice of "American democratic capitalism" as the New World Order.

Chosen by History as the exceptional and indispensable country, Washington claims the right and the responsibility to impose its hegemony on the world. Neoconservatives regard their agenda to be too important to be constrained by domestic and international law or by the interests of other countries. Indeed, as the Unipower, Washington is required by the neoconservative doctrine to prevent the rise of other countries that could constrain American power.

Paul Wolfowitz, a leading neoconservative, penned the Wolfowitz Doctrine shortly after the Soviet collapse. This doctrine is the basis of US foreign and military policy.
The doctrine states:
"Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power."
Notice that Washington's "first objective" is not peace, not prosperity, not human rights, not democracy, not justice. Washington's "first objective" is world hegemony. Only the very confident so blatantly reveal their agenda.

As a former member of the Cold War Committee on the Present Danger, I can explain what Wolfowitz's words mean. The "threat posed formerly by the Soviet Union" was the ability of the Soviet Union to block unilateral US action in some parts of the world. The Soviet Union was a constraint on US unilateral action, not everywhere but in some places. Any constraint on Washington is regarded as a threat.

A "hostile power" is a country with an independent foreign policy, such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have proclaimed. Iran, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, and North Korea also proclaim an independent foreign policy.

This is too much independence for Washington to stomach. As Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated, "Washington doesn't want partners. Washington wants vassals."
The Wolfowitz doctrine requires Washington to dispense with or overthrow governments that do not acquiesce to Washington's will. It is the “first objective."

Entire Article

7 comments:

  1. HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — China and the U.S. have no shortage of things to talk about as they meet for their annual dialogue, but they might settle for spending the meeting just trying to smooth things over.

    With the seventh U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue kicking off in Washington on Tuesday, some of the hot topics expected to come up include the two nations’ bilateral investment treaty (BIT) — a pact under negotiation for the past two years that aims to offer equal treatment to each country’s companies — and the Chinese yuan’s USDCNY, -0.0177% possible inclusion in the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights currency benchmark.

    But fence-mending may be as much of a focus, given the growing discord and tension between the U.S. and China over such issues as cyber attacks, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the race to forge trade ties with other economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

    In particular, China hopes to pave the way for the visit by President Xi Jinping to the U.S., slated for this September, and help relieve the “strategic suspicions” in Sino-U.S. relations, according to Jin Canrong, a professor at Renmin University of China.

    In this vein, China will probably invite the U.S. to join its newly founded Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and its new “Silk Road” initiative to firm up China’s trade ties with the rest of the world, Jin said in an interview Monday with state-run China National Radio.

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  2. Mission Accomplished - Well done George W. Bush and The Neocon Dream:

    Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for civilians to live, according to new figures from the UK based monitoring group Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). Syria, Gaza, Nigeria and Pakistan round out the top five.

    Unenviably occupying the top spot for most civilian fatalities and injuries, Iraq has seen a renewed surge in violence since the rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

    More than 10,000 civilians have been killed or injured by explosive devices, including car bombs, roadside bombs and other IEDs, making Iraq the most dangerous nation on the planet for the second year running.

    Countries or regions which have endured sustained conflict, such as Syria and Gaza, also made the list of 10 ‘most dangerous’ released as part of a wider AOAV report on Monday.

    Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen, Lebanon and India also feature in the list.

    Seven of the top 10 are in the Middle East, with Ukraine, Nigeria and India the only counties situated elsewhere.

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    Replies
    1. http://rt.com/uk/268810-top-ten-dangerous-countries/

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  3. BSU official finds Iran safe, friendly

    Seth Slabaugh, seths@muncie.gannett.com 8:03 p.m. EDT June 19, 2015

    MUNCIE – Ball State University's Ken Holland went on a U.S. "educational diplomacy" trip to Iran that could help restore full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

    Holland, who traveled with a delegation of U.S. higher education representatives this month to Iran, calls it a safe country.

    While the U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to Iran, where some elements remain hostile to the United States, Holland told The Star Press:

    "Iran is a safe country, and the Iranian people were uniformly friendly and expressed positive feelings toward the United States. At no point did we feel concerned about our security."

    The United States has spearheaded international efforts to financially isolate Tehran and block its oil exports to raise the cost of Iran's efforts to develop a potential nuclear-weapons capability and to bring its government to the negotiating table, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

    In a news release, Allan Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education, said, "Educational diplomacy is at the forefront of opening up dialogue between two countries, often before full diplomatic relations have been restored. This was the case with China and Vietnam, and IIE has been leading these efforts in recent years, first with Myanmar and Cuba and now with Iran."

    At each of the 13 Iranian universities and research centers visited by Holland, who is director of Ball State's Center for International Development, the delegation asked if any any U.S. college students were enrolled there.

    "They all answered in the same way — they have no American students," Holland said. "The major obstacles are the U.S. State Department travel warning and U.S. government classification of Iran as a country under sanctions. My impression is that the Iranian government would issue visas to U.S. students to study in Iran. The obstacles seem to be on the U.S. side."

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    Replies
    1. http://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2015/06/19/bsu-official-finds-iran-safe-friendly/29004997/

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  4. Think something is happening?

    TORONTO — The first trading hub for China’s currency in the Americas will launch in Toronto on Monday, with an official inauguration ceremony between China’s ambassador and Canada’s finance minister.
    The opening of a trading hub for the renminbi, also known as the yuan, is touted as a development that will make the cost of doing business with Asian partners cheaper for Canadian companies, as well as boosting trade between the two countries.

    Toronto joins global financial cities such as London and Singapore that have inked similar deals to become trading hubs for the fast rising currency.

    “This deal goes a long way to facilitate investment and trade between the two countries,” said Charles Sousa, Ontario’s minister of finance, in an interview. “It strengthens our economic and business partnership with China in a whole new way.”

    The Chamber of Commerce has estimated that Canada could generate up to $32 billion in additional exports over the next 10 years with the establishment of the trading hub. The hub gives businesses the ability to convert yuan and Canadian dollars without going through a conversion into U.S. dollars, something the Chamber of Commerce estimates could save Canadian companies $6.2 billion over the next decade.

    The hub is seen as offering more than just currency savings. An HSBC survey last year found that 55% of Chinese businesses said they would offer discounts of up to 5% to global partners for transactions denominated in yuan.

    “By adopting the RMB as a payments currency, Canadian traders will have access to a wider universe of Chinese clients, and at the same time, improve their bottom lines,” said Peter Hall, vice president and chief economist of Export Development Canada. “This is because the vast majority of China’s traders are SMEs, most of which do not have USD liquidity.”

    http://business.financialpost.com/investing/renminbi-trading-hub-opens-in-toronto#__federated=1

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  5. "Death to the USA!!" chanted the Iranian 'Parliament' in unison, just recently.

    I think I'll just stay right here in the USA.

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