Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are to meet over the next couple days in Moscow, with this being Xi’s first international visit since being elected for his third term. Many things will be discussed there: trade between the two countries; the construction of infrastructure to facilitate that trade; the SCO; BRICS; the EAEU; and, of course, the Ukraine conflict. Russian officials have responded positively to China’s 12 Points for Peace, which is not a specific peace plan for the conflict but rather a proposed set of guidelines that this conflict and future ones should follow to reduce war throughout the world. Additionally, Xi will likely talk to Zelensky, as Ukraine does not (yet) have nearly the same level of distrust and hatred towards China as the rest of the West - though one can only guess what this will accomplish.
This happens in the backdrop of Russia taking down a Reaper drone flown by the United States, with transponders off, off the coast of Crimea. If this was to gauge Russia’s reaction, then America has its answer - it can choose to learn the lesson or not. This incident, and the ICC putting out an unenforcable arrest warrant for Putin (unless he wants to go to Europe or America I suppose), demonstrate the continued, tired attempts by the West to ostracize and isolate Russia and show its weakness to all. But putting the slow progress in the conflict zone aside - as the Russian economy continues to recover, and diplomatic and economic relations outside the West only improve, Russia has little to fear.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Here is the archive of important pieces of analysis from throughout the war that we’ve collected.
March 20th’s update is here on the site and here in the comments.
March 21st’s update is here on the site and here in the comments.
March 22nd’s update is here in the comments.
March 25th’s update is here in the comments.
Links and Stuff
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can, thank you.
Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. I recommend their map more than the channel at this point, as an increasing subscriber count has greatly diminished their quality.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have decent analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources. Beware of chuddery.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the warzone.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist (but still quite reactionary in terms of gender and sexuality and race, so beware). If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Another big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia’s army.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Last week’s discussion post.
Update for March 20th
Events
Globally
People’s Daily: OECD predicts fragile economic recovery
The report predicted that China’s economy would be the fastest growing in the world this year, increasing by 5.3 percent, while the U.S. economy to grow by 1.5 percent this year and 0.9 percent in 2024.
…
In its “Economic Outlook, Interim Report” released on Friday, the OECD predicted the global economy to grow by 2.6 percent this year and then speed up to 2.9 percent in 2024 as the lasting impacts of the Ukraine crisis, such as energy supply issues and inflation, diminish.
“Inflation is over” has real “the pandemic is over” energy.
Europe
RT: Putin’s staff to ditch iPhones – Kommersant
Members of the Russian presidential administration whose jobs focus on domestic policy have been instructed to discard their iPhones by the end of March, the business daily Kommersant reported on Monday. The decision was made due to the risk of Western espionage, the outlet said.
TeleSUR: Financial Strains Leave ECB’s Rate-Hike Path in Murky Waters
WSWS: Rough sleeping rises in UK amid tidal wave of homelessness
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that in 2022, an estimated 3,069 people were sleeping out on the streets of England, a rise of 26 percent. This is the biggest year on year rise since 2015 and exposes the pretense of the Conservative government’s 2019 manifesto promise to “end the blight of rough sleeping” by 2024.
TeleSUR: Paris Suffers From Piling Up Of Over 10 000 Tons Of Garbage
Common Dreams: ‘Macron Resign!’ French Protests Intensify Over Attempt to Force Retirement Age Hike
Protests in Paris and across France have ramped up since President Emmanuel Macron’s government on Thursday used a controversial constitutional measure to force through a pension reform plan without a National Assembly vote.
Jacobin: Jean-Luc Mélenchon: France’s Pension Battle Isn’t Over
People’s Daily: Demonstrators call for France’s withdrawal from NATO in Paris
WSWS: Drastic closures and job cuts at Germany’s biggest department store chain
RT: Swiss banks announce historic takeover
UBS agreed on Sunday to pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.24 billion) in stock to acquire its embattled rival in a takeover underpinned by government guarantees and 100 billion francs in liquidity assistance from Switzerland’s central bank. The agreed price of 1 UBS share for each 22.48 shares of Credit Suisse values the latter bank at less than half its market closing price on Friday. The transaction requires UBS to absorb up to $5.4 billion in losses at Credit Suisse.
Common Dreams: Uproar in Italy as Fascist Government Attacks Right of Same-Sex Parents to Adopt
Common Dreams: Furious Over Railway Disaster, Greeks Take to the Streets in Nationwide General Strike
East Asia and Oceania
RT: Former Taiwanese president plans historic trip – media
Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who made history by meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in 2015, reportedly plans to break new diplomatic ground again by making an unprecedented trip to the mainland later this month.
Ma will travel to China from March 27 to April 7 and visit the cities of Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing, and Shanghai, his office confirmed to Reuters on Sunday. His representatives did not disclose whether he intends to meet with Xi or any other Chinese government officials during the trip.
The visit will mark the first trip to the mainland by a current or former Taiwanese leader since Chiang Kai-shek’s supporters fled to the island in 1949. Chiang held his last meeting with Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese communist revolution, in 1945. Then-President Ma and Xi held their historic 2015 summit in Singapore, seeking to ease tensions and boost cooperation.
WSWS: Economic devastation worsens as Sri Lankan government imposes IMF austerity
Central Asia and the Middle East
MEMO: Turkiye FM visits Cairo, meets Egypt counterpart
MEMO: France: ‘No reason to normalise ties with Assad regime’
MEE: Iranian President Raisi welcomes invite from Saudi king following detente
MEE: Saudi Arabia tells Pakistan: No more easy money
MEMO: Hamas, Hezbollah hold talks on Palestinian, regional developments
MEE: Israelis and Palestinians meet in Egypt to ease tensions
MEE: Israel: Biden tells Netanyahu he backs compromise on judicial overhaul
MEMO: Taliban ban cannabis cultivation in Afghanistan
According to decree by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, the cultivation of cannabis is prohibited across the country. In case of a violation, the plantation will be destroyed and violators punished according to Sharia rules.
Cannabis is one of the most produced crops by farmers across the country, and Afghanistan became its top supplier in 2010, according to the UN.
Africa
MEMO: Tunisia interior minister’s resignation proves gov’t is crumbling, opposition says
WSWS: Kenyan government threatens crackdown against cost-of-living demonstration, as protests erupt across Africa
The Kenyan government of President William Ruto is threatening police violence against Monday’s protest against high costs-of-living. The protest is organised by billionaire opposition leader and former prime minister Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition Party. It coincides with mass rallies across Africa and Europe.
Africa News: Lagos governor re-elected in victory for Nigeria ruling party
Africa News: Cyclone Freddy: Fears that Malawi’s cholera outbreak will spiral
Africa News: French nuclear giant to explore potential of uranium deposit in Niger
Africa News: Gunmen kill 9 Chinese at mine in Central African Republic
…
However, the rebel coalition initially blamed by some for the attack put out a statement later in the day. Without providing evidence, it accused Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group of being behind the violence.
lmfao.
North America
WSWS: Tyson announces plant closures in Arkansas and Virginia, impacting nearly 1,700 workers
StatNews: Hospitals are not crumbling, Medicare experts tell Congress
Hospitals’ financial situations are not nearly as dire as industry groups are making them out to be, Medicare policy experts are telling Congress.
Profit margins hit all-time highs in 2021, and almost $200 billion of taxpayer subsidies provided hospitals with ample cushion to get through the worst of the pandemic, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said in its newest report.
Oh, thank goodness, profit margins for hospitals are way up.
Common Dreams: Climate Policy’s on Shaky Ground in the Farm Bill
Common Dreams: Nuclear Plant, Minnesota Officials Hid 400,000-Gallon Leak of Radioactive Water for Months
Xcel Energy in late November told Minnesota and federal officials about a leak of 400,000 gallons of water contaminated with radioactive tritium at its Monticello nuclear power plant, but it wasn’t until Thursday that the incident and ongoing cleanup effort were made public.
In a statement, Xcel said Thursday that it “took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment.”
“Ongoing monitoring from over two dozen on-site monitoring wells confirms that the leaked water is fully contained on-site and has not been detected beyond the facility or in any local drinking water,” the company added.
I get it, I’ve been there, in fact I think we’ve all been there - you wanna get something done but you just keep on procrastinating, and all the while, 400,000 gallons of tritium-contaminated water is seeping into the groundwater.
South America
TeleSUR: Mexico, Colombia & Cuba To Form Regional Medical Devices Agency
On Thursday, authorities from Mexico, Colombia, and Cuba met to boost the creation of the Latin American Agency for Medical Products (AMLAC), which aims to strengthen regional health capacities and expedite the approval of medicines and vaccines in health emergencies.
TeleSUR: El Salvador Lifts Electoral Reforms Ban A Year Ahead Elections
The War Against The West
RT: Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow
TeleSUR: Russia Does Not Recognize ICC Jurisdiction - Kremlin
What kind of evil country wouldn’t accept the jurisdiction of the ICC?
RT: Poland may end up ‘joining’ Ukraine conflict – diplomat
Rosciszewski squarely blamed the hostilities, which have been ongoing for over a year already, on Moscow, stating that it was “not NATO, not Poland, not France and not Slovakia” that was ramping up international tensions, but Russia. According to the diplomat, the situation now is “either Ukraine will successfully defend its independence, or we will be forced, in any case, to join this conflict.”
“Otherwise, our principal values, which are the basis of our civilization and our culture, will be in fundamental danger, so we will have no choice,” Rosciszewski stated.
The hawkish statement promptly made headlines in international media, prompting the Polish mission in France to elaborate further on the remarks made by its head. According to a message released by the embassy on Sunday, Rosciszewski’s comments were not actually an admission that Warsaw was ready to go to war with Russia, but merely a “warning” and a pledge to continue supporting Kiev.
RT: Ukraine only has one chance – Czech president
“The window of opportunity is open this year. After next winter, it will be extremely difficult to maintain the current level of aid,” Pavel told the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
“Ukraine will only have one attempt to launch a major counter-offensive,” he added as quoted by the outlet on Monday. If it fails, “it will be extremely difficult to obtain funds for the next one.”
This point is confusing to me. If you only have the resources left to do one more counteroffensive, then surely whether it succeeds or fails, you’re screwed afterwards. Like, okay, even if Ukraine’s wildest dreams come true and they reach the border of Crimea, then what? Does Russia just go “Okay, well, we still have a shitload of tanks and artillery in storage and we’re making more all the time and have hundreds of thousands of reservists, but as we all know, if you reach the border of Crimea then a video game victory screen comes up and we’re forced to say that you won” This is true even if you took back the entire occupied area of Ukraine. You’re basically hoping that the Russians will agree that you won the war and won’t just launch an offensive to push your exhausted forces all the way back to the Dniper. You generally win modern wars by defeating armies, not taking a certain amount of territory (unless that territory happens to be where the ruling government resides).
Open Democracy: Ukraine’s soldiers face drastic wage cuts as austerity bites
Analysis
Retrospectives, History, Theory, and Technology
Monthly Review: Karl Marx: Before all else a revolutionist
Jacobin: The Paris Commune Was a Unique Experiment in Running a City for Its People
On this day in 1871, the Paris Commune began its brief history before a conservative government drowned it in blood. While it lasted, the Commune sketched out a new way to run a major city based on democracy and the public good, not private profiteering.
Jacobin: Chile’s Attempt at Democratic Socialism Combined State Action and Bottom-Up Initiative
Chile’s socialist experiment was made possible by a confrontational working-class political party and a militant labor movement. The experience shows the promise, and the dangers, of a movement based in both government initiatives and grassroots militancy.
Monthly Review: Bush-era neocons should shut the fuck up about Iraq (and everything else)
David Frum and Max Boot, two neoconservatives who helped grease the wheels for the invasion of Iraq, have some thoughts they’d like to share with us as we approach the 20th anniversary of that horrific and unforgivable war. Both of these perspectives can be read in widely esteemed mainstream publications, because everyone who was responsible for inflicting that war upon our species has enjoyed mainstream influence and esteem to this very day.
Both men concede in their own ways that the war was a mistake, while simultaneously cheerleading the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine that has brought humanity closer to nuclear armageddon than it has been at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both men mix their Iraq War retrospectives with war apologia, historical revisionism, and outright lies. And both men should shut the fuck up. About everything. Forever.
Open Democracy: ‘20 years after Iraq, progressives must learn its lessons for Ukraine’
On the 20th anniversary of the West’s war in Iraq, progressives in the UK will remember the important moment in 2003 when millions stood up to an unjust invasion and said: “Not in our name.”
Yet more than a year into Russia’s war against Ukraine, this is also a moment of nuance. Today, progressives in the West have made a crucial distinction between their own country’s imperialist wars and another democracy’s war of self-defence against imperialism.
Indeed, I do support Russia’s war of self defence against NATO imperialism.
Anti War: 20 Years After the Invasion of Iraq, Will the Media’s Complicity Be Flushed Down the Memory Hole?
Yep.
Inside the Imperial Core
Naked Capitalism: Fed, Central Banks Created the Current Crisis and Are on Course to Making Matters Worse
Naked Capitalism: The U.S. and UK’s Submarine Deal Crosses Nuclear Red Lines with Australia
Yves here. If possible, this article understates how bad this nuclear submarine deal is for Australia. For instance, the US is making Australia buy three cast-off submarines. And it hopelessly ruptures Australia’s once-good relations with China. I recall when I live in Oz the government eagerly inking an LNG deal with China, and later liberalizing immigration rules, significantly to the benefit of Chinese, who then further big up Australia’s already overheated housing market.
Outside the Imperial Core
Valdai Club: Dilemmas of the World Majority
We are dealing with a rather unique example of a struggle in which the forces of the opponents are approximately comparable, although the superiority of the West is significant. We absolutely do not know how the countries of the World Majority would behave in conditions where the USA and Europe launched an offensive against a weaker adversary: for example, against Iran or another country of a comparable scale. Therefore, we cannot say to what extent the self-confidence of those countries that do not obey US orders now, would manifest itself in a different situation, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.
Climate Change
Monthly Review: Insect Apocalypse in the Anthropocene, Part 2
…
All by itself, the shift to monocrop farming has substantially reduced insect diversity. Some insects have evolved to live just about anywhere but many cannot survive without access to specific plants. Monarch butterflies, for example can only eat milkweed leaves, and their eggs will not hatch if laid on any other plant. The simplification of millions of hectares has radically reduced the number of monarchs, along with many other habitat specialists. For them, thousands of hectares devoted to corn, or soy, or wheat might just as well be deserts, for all the nutrition and life support they provide.
