2014 foreign policy results of the year
The outgoing year was saturated with geopolitical events in the utmost concentration. Leafing through the pages of the newest storieswe are amazed how much two thousand fourteenth it contains. Here and the phenomenon of a powerful army of the Islamic State, and the sanctions of the West united against Russia, the fall in oil prices, the creation of the BRICS Development Bank, and the gas agreements of the Russian Federation with the PRC, and the refusal of Moscow from the South Stream project, and much more . Without claiming completeness and comprehensiveness (not to embrace the immense), we stopped at the twelve major events of the year, reflected in geopolitics and influenced the world economy.
1. Full life is better than independence. September 18 held a referendum on independence in Scotland. Citizens over sixteen were asked to answer the question: “Should Scotland become an independent country?” (“Yes” or “no”).
The main initiator and "instigator" of the referendum was the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party. Expecting success, he gave an interview to BBC Radio 4 before the plebiscite, where he said that only 1% of the EU population lives in Scotland, but there are 20% EU fish stocks, 25% renewable energy and 60% EU oil reserves.
Before the vote, British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Scotland. Speaking in Aberdeen, he warned that if Scotland leaves the UK, it will lose: a) a common currency with the kingdom; b) the armed forces; c) pension funds. The boundaries between Scotland and Britain will become international.
44,7% of voters supported the independence of the country, 55,3% was against. The turnout was 84,5%.
Only in four districts, the majority of those who voted supported the separation of Scotland from Great Britain: Dundee (57,3%), West Dumbartonshire (54,0%), Glasgow (53,5%) and North Lanarkshire (51,1%).
Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
As some Russian members of the forum and bloggers sneered, the humanitarian bombardment of Edinburgh was postponed indefinitely.
Relatively well-fed Scotland did not want to live worse tomorrow than it does today.
According to unconfirmed rumors, both Alex Salmond and David Cameron started to drink after the vote. The first one drank with grief, the second - with joy. On the "Military Review", I remember, we advised them to raise toasts for the friendship of nations and to drink Scotch whiskey by all means.
19 November 2014 of the year Salmond resigned from the post of first minister of Scotland.
2. Insidious fever. Outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever began in March 2014. The epidemics were recorded by doctors in Central and West Africa.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of victims of the disease has reached 7.588 people infected - 19.497 people. The cases reported in statistics relate to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Spain, and the United States of America. Most of the deaths from the virus (3.384) are in Liberia. However, the incidence in Liberia is decreasing. The growth of new infections in Sierra Leone is also slowing.
Russia is actively involved in the fight against fever. A few days ago, a mobile hospital for fever patients for two hundred people was set up in Guinea by Russian doctors together with colleagues from the local security and health services.
3. The phenomenon of "Islamic state". “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” is a powerful terrorist organization, operating mainly in Iraq and Syria. It was formed in 2006 in Iraq, however, it gained worldwide fame in the summer of 2014, after the fighting in the Middle East and the rapid seizure of territories in Iraq and Syria, reducing its name to "IG". The abbreviation tells the world community that the geography of militant activities can go beyond the Middle East. The "glory" of the army of terrorists was also brought by regular (videotaped) cutting of heads to prisoners, including the Americans.
The number of the army "IG" is unknown. Experts talk about several tens of thousands of militants (range of estimates: from 12 to 50 thousand people). Grouping has heavy weapons.
Islamists-terrorists indulge in any way, not disdaining anything: extortion, kidnapping with ransoms, including mass, oil production in conquered territories and its sale at dumping prices, drug trafficking, banditry, bank robberies, and so on. According to some estimates, the annual “budget” of the grouping is about 2 billion dollars.
Through its "news agency", called "Al-Furqan", "IG" is actively engaged in propaganda, including making films. In Russia, such materials are classified as extremist and prohibited.
It is also known that the militants of "IG" addressed (via video on the Internet) to the President of Russia. The Islamists translated a video message addressed to V. Putin to Russian. One thug spoke from the cockpit of a fighter standing at a captured military airfield in the region of Tabaka in the province of Rakka (Syria).
Recall the lines from the text of the appeal: “This is a message to you, O Vladimir Putin! These are your planes that you sent to Bashar, we will, by the will of Allah, send them to you, remember this! ”
Ramzan Kadyrov gave the militants a response: “I declare with all responsibility that those who had the idea to threaten Russia and utter the name of our country's president, Vladimir Putin, will be destroyed where he did it. We will not wait until he sits at the helm of the aircraft; he will go where his brothers, the terrorists Khattab, Abu Walid and other ambassadors of the West are rotting. ”
The Russian leadership proceeds from the fact that the activities of militants united under the IS flag are the result of ill-considered forceful actions by the United States of America and their allies. Intervention in the affairs of other states led to the aggravation of confessional and national problems and the decline of the economy. And now the militants are playing on the instability of the situation: they collect taxes, imitate the hiring of “civil servants” and the payment of allowances to them. There is evidence that, if possible, the IS militants even distribute cash benefits to the unemployed. All this attracts into their ranks a mass of supporters, idealists, who believe in social justice and a bright future, built on the basis of Sharia. The number of militants, according to some estimates, increases by about a thousand people per month.
4. Medieval America. After the 9 / 11 attacks, the CIA of the United States engaged in sophisticated torture prisoners. Subsequently, information was leaked to the press that President Bush especially liked to watch the imitation of drowning. However, dipping his head into a barrel of water fades in front of some other methods that were declassified by Democratic Senators 9 December 2014 of the year. Apparently, there have already been so many speculations about monstrous torture that the American lawmakers decided to give the people the truth - probably, it is not as terrible as fiction.
The American press got a large fragment of the report of the US Senate, which contains some details about the CIA program. The report was compiled by the Committee on Intelligence. The general public became aware of how they caught the "criminals" abroad, put them in stone bags and interrogated them according to "medieval" methods.
"Some of the most disgusting passages about the program" of the US Central Intelligence Agency were collected by the newspaper Washington Post.
Among the examples of barbaric treatment of people characteristic of CIA employees, the publication calls keeping people in icy water, forcing a person to go without sleep and at the same time stand (one prisoner stood 66 hours), chaining the detainee to the ceiling in diapers, performing operations rectal feeding ”and“ rectal rehydration ”, etc.
Abu Zubayda, detained by the CIA, lay 266 hours in a coffin-sized box. There he "cried, begged, implored and cried again", to which he was given the answer that he would leave this establishment only in this way - in a coffin.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times subjected to "waterboarding" (imitation of drowning).
The CIA officers forced their prisoners to strip naked, forcing them to stand naked for three days in shackles. So that the tormented ones cheered up a bit, they were constantly doused with ice water.
This is only a brief retelling of those acts that Tseerushniki were actively and apparently eagerly engaged in in prisons located outside the territory of the United States. We must also understand that the abominations perpetrated by the “investigators” and their assistants will never be known. We deal only with the Senate report, and the senators themselves admit that other prison details have become a revelation for them. What happened within the walls of prisons is largely a mystery.
By the way, the Obama administration did not even think of punishing those guilty of these atrocities.
5. See who came! The Declaration on the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank was signed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on the basis of the Fortaleza summit (held July 15-17).
A new international bank will begin work during the 2015-2016 period. and will specialize primarily in infrastructure projects in the territories of the countries participating in the association.
BRICS members also created a pool of foreign exchange reserves. In fact, it will become the future competitor of the International Monetary Fund. The initial pool size is 100 billion dollars. Contributions are divided as follows: China contributes 41 billion dollars, Brazil, Russia and India - on 18 billion, South Africa - 5 billion dollars. The currency reserves pool aims to protect the national currencies of the BRICS countries from the volatility of financial markets.
One of the objectives of the Development Bank at the same time is to provide financial assistance to non-BRICS countries, but suffering from economic instability, resulting from the expansionary monetary policy of the United States.
Recall the share of the BRICS countries in global GDP reaches almost a third - 30%. In five countries, almost half (45%) of the world's population live. With such indicators, the financial strategy of the new bank can really threaten the interests of the United States, which are accustomed, through the IMF under control, to impose their "reform programs" on developing countries.
6. West vs Russia. This year, the West, under the authority of the United States, imposed restrictive political and economic measures on Russia. The reason for the sanctions was the "destabilization" of Ukraine and the "annexation" of the Crimea. The EU countries have joined the decision of the USA, undoubtedly, under pressure from Washington, because, unlike the USA, the EU states are actively trading with the Russian Federation.
In addition to the EU, the G7 states and some of the US and EU partner countries joined the restrictive measures against the Russian Federation.
The first “package” of sanctions was put into effect in March — after Moscow recognized the results of the Crimean referendum on independence and accepted the proposal of the Republic of Crimea to join the Russian Federation. Participants in the first package were the United States, European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The sanctions extended throughout the spring of 2014. Then, a special reason for the introduction of additional sanctions was the crash of the Malaysian passenger liner "Boeing 777" (July 17).
Cumulatively sanctions strike of the West in 2014-2015 (over a year and a half), according to estimates by American financiers, should deprive the Russian economy of the sum of 100 billion euros.
In turn, Russia imposed "anti-sanctions" against those states that came out in the same bundle with the United States. With a sigh, the EU states began counting billions in losses, throwing tons of fruits and vegetables that were previously successfully sold to Russia, and resenting that Moscow decided to change the European food market to Egyptian, Argentinean, Turkish, Chinese, and so on.
December 19 Washington announced the expansion of economic sanctions against Russia, as well as a full-scale economic blockade of the Crimea. The Americans were supported by Canadians, claiming the completion of their sanctions list with the names of Russian citizens.
Washington said about the coming economic blockade of the Crimea.
The President of the United States, whose rating is kept at a low level (no higher than forty percent), spoke on CNN and told the public that Vladimir Putin had not at all “beaten” him in geopolitics.
“Three or four months ago, Putin was said to be a genius, beats Obama and the like. And now, with him (in Russia), the national currency is falling, there is a financial crisis and a severe economic downturn, ”the head of the White House said.
"It is unlikely that someone beat me or the United States," Mr. Obama added.
The cold war continues, comrades.
7. Cold War Herald. In April, “official rumors” began to circulate in the press of 2014 that John Tefft could become the US ambassador to Russia. This career diplomat was previously noted for fruitful work in Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine (with serious democratic results in the last two). Tefft also worked in Moscow as the deputy head of the American diplomatic mission in 1996-1999. It is clear that the appointment of Tefft will be a demonstration by the White House of the change of “reset” to the so-called “containment policy”.
The appointment took place at the end of July. Barack Obama nominated an experienced 64-year-old diplomat for this post on 10 July, and on July 29 his candidacy was supported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both Republicans and Democrats were in favor of Tefft.
At the hearings on the approval of his candidacy Tefft allowed himself sharp remarks against Russia. According to the diplomat, "The United States must clearly speak with our Russian partners to be sure that they understand the American position." In addition, Washington "must understand what the Russians think."
In September, 2014, Ambassador John Tefft arrived in Russia and handed over copies of his credentials to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In November, Mr. Tefft gave an interview to Kommersant. As it turned out, Tefft doesn’t like the Russian point of view on the Ukrainian crisis, according to which the West, which expanded NATO, is to blame for everything. The ambassador believes that the North Atlantic Alliance, having expanded, thereby strengthened security in Europe. And the West (and Europe, and the USA) benefited from this. Moreover, Russia won. “I don’t think that NATO is a threat to Russia,” the ambassador said. “I know that in Russia some people think differently, but the point is that NATO is a defensive alliance.”
John Tefft added that the United States would like to "see a world order in which international law and the rule of law are respected." And he quoted Henry Kissinger, who called unacceptable a situation in which one country "cuts off a piece" of another (it does not matter for what reason). That is exactly what happened in Crimea, Tefft said. And he expressed the hope that Moscow will not cut off even a piece of the Ukrainian east.
It is obvious that the line chosen by the State Department for its envoy is not without weak points.
Firstly, the point of view, condemning the "cutting off a piece" (in the form of the Crimea), looks unconvincing where the question of the collapse of the USSR, which the United States joyfully welcomed, is being lowered. Washington is pleased with everything that weakens his geopolitical adversary. The fact that the enemy strengthens, Washington is upset.
Secondly, NATO’s concern for peace and security looks so touching after the bombings of Yugoslavia and Libya! ... The only trouble is that it’s not Russia that surrounds the NATO countries with its bases, and NATO is spreading across Europe. It is unlikely that the alliance is going to attack the Russian Federation - rather, we are talking about the growing appetites of the bourgeois masters of the military-industrial complex. Nevertheless, the rapid expansion of the block to the east cannot but disturb Moscow. Over the last decade of the last century and the past years of the new century, 12 states have entered NATO!
8. Secret evidence. The crash of Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines, which was operating from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, took place on July 17 in the east of the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The 283 passenger and 15 crew members were on board. All people died.
According to Wikipedia, in terms of the number of deaths, this plane crash became the largest in history aviation from September 11, 2001, and entered the top ten largest in history.
After the tragedy, mass hysteria began in the United States, Europe, in Ukraine and in some other countries, including Australia (there were many Australians on board).
Ukrainian government and Ukrainian media, known for their bad habit of falsifying newsrepeatedly stated that the plane was shot down from the Buk air defense system and that the pro-Russian "separatist terrorists" in eastern Ukraine allegedly had such a complex.
The “separatists” of the charges, of course, have been rejected: they have no means in their arsenal to pray for a plane at such a height.
Later, at the APEC summit in Beijing, Australian Prime Minister T. Abbott tried to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin about a plane crash. Mr Abbott, according to the press, demanded an apology from Putin for the downed "Boeing-777" and even said that Australia had "all the evidence" that the aircraft had been shot down by Russian air defense systems. The complex was brought to the "separatists", and then, when the work was done, they took it back to Russia. According to some sources, the head of the Australian government even demanded money from Putin for the downed Boeing. Well, then Abbott threatened Putin. Apparently, such behavior is permitted by the Australian gentleman's code of honor.
However, the people of Australia did not appreciate the tricks of their prime minister. Citizens asked Abbott not to pose as an idiot in the eyes of the world community.
Some probable details of the tragedy became known from the statement of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. As reported on December 24 TV channel "RT"Investigators of the TFR met one Ukrainian soldier who voluntarily left his military unit and transferred to the territory of Russia.
This man said that the MN-17 board could have been shot down by a Su-25 combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, piloted by Captain Voloshin. “The combat mission was carried out from an airfield stationed near the city of Dnepropetrovsk. It was at this airport served as a witness. According to his testimony, he personally saw how, before the departure, the Voloshin plane was equipped with air-to-air missiles of the P-60 type, which, under normal conditions when carrying out combat sorties, Su-25 aircraft were not completed, "RT notes."
Earlier, December, 17, from the press it became known that the United States transferred to the Dutch investigators and the International Civil Aviation Organization some secret evidence on the accident "Boeing-777". This was reported by Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. She said that “secret materials” had been transferred to the Netherlands and the International Civil Aviation Organization. They cannot be made public yet, but the State Department believes that “with time” some part should be published.
How can evidence be secret? Who and what will they prove in this case? Most likely, the State Department is in no hurry to disclose the “secret” because the “data”, as usual, are fake. But “with time” the details are forgotten, and the tragedy is a thing of the past. As a result, the citizens of the world eat what the American propaganda will present to them, against the background of which the Herr Goebbels ministry has long seemed like a kindergarten (younger group).
9. Slacker in the Elysee Palace. The unrated president, the “gay liberator” and the “traitor socialist” (an expression of the French proletariat) F. Hollande continues to break the comedy with the Mistral helicopter carriers.
The last of a number of surprising statements about contract deliveries to Russia paid by Mistral Monsieur Hollande made December 19. He stated that there were no grounds for the supply of the Mistral.
As if no one signed contracts! With clauses about the penalty! Apparently, the chief contract lawyer in the world is B.H. Obama.
Obviously, Paris is leading the case to the so-called force majeure, in the documents written. However, Russia intends to put up with a similar approach to the matter.
"The explanations that, they say, have not matured any conditions in order to transfer these ships to us, no one is going to accept from our side, we do not consider it a force majeure, which is registered in the contract, it is just a demonstration if want geopolitical weakness of France ", - сказал the other day, Dmitry Rogozin.
It is interesting here and something else.
One French source told Interfax that Paris does not have the right to resell helicopter carriers without Russian permission. “France is not in a position to resell the Mistral helicopter carrier without Russia's consent, since the aft part of the helicopter carrier was carried out by Russian shipbuilders. If France does not deliver “Mistral” to Russia, this will affect the country's reputation in the most negative way, ”the source quotes. Kommersant.
24 December RIA News" led the statement of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anatoly Antonov. He noted that all the conditions for the supply of ships, as well as penalties, are stipulated in the agreement between Russia and France. “... Everything is spelled out in the contract: delivery terms, penalties, procedures, how we can demand a refund. No "Mistral" - return the money. There is nothing personal, this is business. The contract exists, it is necessary to fulfill the terms of the contract, ”he said.
By the way, by the end of the year, the support rating of President Hollande in France fell to 12% ( link at the source). Analysts say that Hollande showed the worst result among all French presidents in the entire history of modern sociological polls!
Monsieur Hollande! Do you want to raise your baseboard rating immediately by a couple of dozen percentage points? Apologize to Russia and show Obama a cookie!
Weak, of course. Where already there ... Kukish in due time will show the French woman - Marine Le Pen.
10. Union of bear and dragon. In the outgoing 2014, Russia and China signed two historic gas agreements.
The first contract worth 400 billion was signed by the parties in May. Analysts point out that the political conflict between the West and Russia over the Ukrainian crisis has contributed to the conclusion of the eastern deal.
The second agreement, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, was signed in November. In accordance with this contract, the blue fuel will be supplied not only through the “eastern corridor”, but also through the western one: gas from Western Siberia will go to Celestial through Altai.
It should be noted that the expansion of ties with the Asia-Pacific region is enshrined in the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation. The goal of Moscow is to increase the share of oil and gas products supplied to Asia from 2035% to 12% by 23. Gas exports are projected to grow by the 2025 year from 6 to 31,5%.
The signing of two gas agreements with the People's Republic of China speaks of Russia's historic “eastern turn”. In fact, this is Moscow’s direct response to “sanctioners” from Europe, which is currently the largest importer of Russian energy resources.
11. The forces of evil against the "South Stream". The construction of South Stream has been halted, the project has been closed, Ankara Miller told Dec 1 in Ankara in December. Vladimir Putin also said something about this: “Taking into account the position of the European Commission, which does not contribute to the implementation of this project, given the fact that we have just received, quite recently, permission from the relevant authorities in the Netherlands, however, positive decision, but given the fact that we still have not received permission from Bulgaria, we believe that Russia cannot continue the implementation of this project under these conditions. ” At the same time, the Russian president said that Bulgaria’s losses from the suspension of South Stream would amount to 400 million euros per year.
The representative of the National Security Council at the White House, Mark Stroh, said that Russia's decision to close the South Stream gas pipeline project is the result of Western sanctions.
But if the Russian pipe does not go to Bulgaria, it will go to Turkey!
The West did not even come to its senses when the Russian president and his Turkish counterpart R. T. Erdogan signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a gas pipeline to Turkey.
Many analysts immediately began talking about the Kremlin’s brilliant strategic course and the failure of the punitive policies of Washington and Brussels, as a result of which Russia first went to a close rapprochement with China, and now with Turkey. As for Bulgaria, which was a stumbling block on the South Stream route, the European Union is not going to pay compensation for the loss of profits.
12. Let's drink to win! In the autumn and winter, the price of oil in the world declined almost every day. The OPEC cartel (with the exception of Venezuela), however, behaved suspiciously calm.
Moreover, December 23 reports appeared in the press that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will not reduce fuel production, even if oil prices drop to $ 20 per barrel. This was announced by Middle East Economic Survey Ali al-Nuyami, the Minister of Petroleum of Saudi Arabia.
He kindly explained that cutting production was not in the interests of the producing countries. After all, a decline in, for example, Saudi Arabia’s oil production will cause a rise in prices in the market, and Russia, Brazil and the United States will immediately take up and take away Saudi market share.
In a sense, he is right: it is better to sell oil on 20 (more precisely, on 60 with a tail), than to be ousted by competitors. The Saudis understand that they are not the only ones on the planet who sell oil.
Earlier, the Arab "instigators" in OPEC noted that they will not be frightened either by the price of 60 dollars per barrel, or by the price of 40. Now, 20 doesn't bother them either. They are about to promise to give oil for free, just to take it.
It seems that the Saudis are carrying out an exhausting oil war simultaneously against Russia and the United States (despite the fact that Riyadh is an ally of Washington). The fact is that Russia is not a member of OPEC, and the United States is very upsetting the sheikhs with its “shale revolution”. It is unlikely that the price of oil will drop in the world to 20 dollars per barrel, but Riyadh’s determination to go to the end is alarming.
Experts-financiers link the ruble depreciation precisely with the fall in oil prices, combined with anti-Russian sanctions. Western media on “black Tuesday 2.0” (December 16) even wrote that after nine months of financial war with the West, Russia had lost. This very Tuesday, the Russian national currency dropped to the level of 80,10 rubles at the auctions. for a dollar.
However, in the West early rejoiced. Already 24-25 December, the dollar "weighed" fifty rubles with a small tail. Speculators overheated the market, and the predictable game for a fall began: the initiative was intercepted by other speculators.
The price of oil in the last week of December was at the level of 60-62 dollars per barrel (data on the “Brent” grade), which is very far from the “bid” of sly Saudis for 20 dollars.
So the world is entering a new, 2015, year. The year 2014 is saturated (rather, oversaturated) with events.
It became quite obvious that the cold war of the West against Russia not only did not stop (even in the “peaceful” Yeltsin years), but now it has even escalated, entering a new phase. The NATO Defense Alliance has been supplemented year after year by new member states. The alliance equated the will of the people in a referendum in the Crimea to "annexation". The cry "Russians are coming!" Is again in fashion in Europe.
Well, let them cry out. And we drink to win.
Happy New Year, comrades!
1. Full life is better than independence. September 18 held a referendum on independence in Scotland. Citizens over sixteen were asked to answer the question: “Should Scotland become an independent country?” (“Yes” or “no”).
The main initiator and "instigator" of the referendum was the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party. Expecting success, he gave an interview to BBC Radio 4 before the plebiscite, where he said that only 1% of the EU population lives in Scotland, but there are 20% EU fish stocks, 25% renewable energy and 60% EU oil reserves.
Before the vote, British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Scotland. Speaking in Aberdeen, he warned that if Scotland leaves the UK, it will lose: a) a common currency with the kingdom; b) the armed forces; c) pension funds. The boundaries between Scotland and Britain will become international.
44,7% of voters supported the independence of the country, 55,3% was against. The turnout was 84,5%.
Only in four districts, the majority of those who voted supported the separation of Scotland from Great Britain: Dundee (57,3%), West Dumbartonshire (54,0%), Glasgow (53,5%) and North Lanarkshire (51,1%).
Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
As some Russian members of the forum and bloggers sneered, the humanitarian bombardment of Edinburgh was postponed indefinitely.
Relatively well-fed Scotland did not want to live worse tomorrow than it does today.
According to unconfirmed rumors, both Alex Salmond and David Cameron started to drink after the vote. The first one drank with grief, the second - with joy. On the "Military Review", I remember, we advised them to raise toasts for the friendship of nations and to drink Scotch whiskey by all means.
19 November 2014 of the year Salmond resigned from the post of first minister of Scotland.
2. Insidious fever. Outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever began in March 2014. The epidemics were recorded by doctors in Central and West Africa.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of victims of the disease has reached 7.588 people infected - 19.497 people. The cases reported in statistics relate to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Spain, and the United States of America. Most of the deaths from the virus (3.384) are in Liberia. However, the incidence in Liberia is decreasing. The growth of new infections in Sierra Leone is also slowing.
Russia is actively involved in the fight against fever. A few days ago, a mobile hospital for fever patients for two hundred people was set up in Guinea by Russian doctors together with colleagues from the local security and health services.
3. The phenomenon of "Islamic state". “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” is a powerful terrorist organization, operating mainly in Iraq and Syria. It was formed in 2006 in Iraq, however, it gained worldwide fame in the summer of 2014, after the fighting in the Middle East and the rapid seizure of territories in Iraq and Syria, reducing its name to "IG". The abbreviation tells the world community that the geography of militant activities can go beyond the Middle East. The "glory" of the army of terrorists was also brought by regular (videotaped) cutting of heads to prisoners, including the Americans.
The number of the army "IG" is unknown. Experts talk about several tens of thousands of militants (range of estimates: from 12 to 50 thousand people). Grouping has heavy weapons.
Islamists-terrorists indulge in any way, not disdaining anything: extortion, kidnapping with ransoms, including mass, oil production in conquered territories and its sale at dumping prices, drug trafficking, banditry, bank robberies, and so on. According to some estimates, the annual “budget” of the grouping is about 2 billion dollars.
Through its "news agency", called "Al-Furqan", "IG" is actively engaged in propaganda, including making films. In Russia, such materials are classified as extremist and prohibited.
It is also known that the militants of "IG" addressed (via video on the Internet) to the President of Russia. The Islamists translated a video message addressed to V. Putin to Russian. One thug spoke from the cockpit of a fighter standing at a captured military airfield in the region of Tabaka in the province of Rakka (Syria).
Recall the lines from the text of the appeal: “This is a message to you, O Vladimir Putin! These are your planes that you sent to Bashar, we will, by the will of Allah, send them to you, remember this! ”
Ramzan Kadyrov gave the militants a response: “I declare with all responsibility that those who had the idea to threaten Russia and utter the name of our country's president, Vladimir Putin, will be destroyed where he did it. We will not wait until he sits at the helm of the aircraft; he will go where his brothers, the terrorists Khattab, Abu Walid and other ambassadors of the West are rotting. ”
The Russian leadership proceeds from the fact that the activities of militants united under the IS flag are the result of ill-considered forceful actions by the United States of America and their allies. Intervention in the affairs of other states led to the aggravation of confessional and national problems and the decline of the economy. And now the militants are playing on the instability of the situation: they collect taxes, imitate the hiring of “civil servants” and the payment of allowances to them. There is evidence that, if possible, the IS militants even distribute cash benefits to the unemployed. All this attracts into their ranks a mass of supporters, idealists, who believe in social justice and a bright future, built on the basis of Sharia. The number of militants, according to some estimates, increases by about a thousand people per month.
4. Medieval America. After the 9 / 11 attacks, the CIA of the United States engaged in sophisticated torture prisoners. Subsequently, information was leaked to the press that President Bush especially liked to watch the imitation of drowning. However, dipping his head into a barrel of water fades in front of some other methods that were declassified by Democratic Senators 9 December 2014 of the year. Apparently, there have already been so many speculations about monstrous torture that the American lawmakers decided to give the people the truth - probably, it is not as terrible as fiction.
The American press got a large fragment of the report of the US Senate, which contains some details about the CIA program. The report was compiled by the Committee on Intelligence. The general public became aware of how they caught the "criminals" abroad, put them in stone bags and interrogated them according to "medieval" methods.
"Some of the most disgusting passages about the program" of the US Central Intelligence Agency were collected by the newspaper Washington Post.
Among the examples of barbaric treatment of people characteristic of CIA employees, the publication calls keeping people in icy water, forcing a person to go without sleep and at the same time stand (one prisoner stood 66 hours), chaining the detainee to the ceiling in diapers, performing operations rectal feeding ”and“ rectal rehydration ”, etc.
Abu Zubayda, detained by the CIA, lay 266 hours in a coffin-sized box. There he "cried, begged, implored and cried again", to which he was given the answer that he would leave this establishment only in this way - in a coffin.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times subjected to "waterboarding" (imitation of drowning).
The CIA officers forced their prisoners to strip naked, forcing them to stand naked for three days in shackles. So that the tormented ones cheered up a bit, they were constantly doused with ice water.
This is only a brief retelling of those acts that Tseerushniki were actively and apparently eagerly engaged in in prisons located outside the territory of the United States. We must also understand that the abominations perpetrated by the “investigators” and their assistants will never be known. We deal only with the Senate report, and the senators themselves admit that other prison details have become a revelation for them. What happened within the walls of prisons is largely a mystery.
By the way, the Obama administration did not even think of punishing those guilty of these atrocities.
5. See who came! The Declaration on the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank was signed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on the basis of the Fortaleza summit (held July 15-17).
A new international bank will begin work during the 2015-2016 period. and will specialize primarily in infrastructure projects in the territories of the countries participating in the association.
BRICS members also created a pool of foreign exchange reserves. In fact, it will become the future competitor of the International Monetary Fund. The initial pool size is 100 billion dollars. Contributions are divided as follows: China contributes 41 billion dollars, Brazil, Russia and India - on 18 billion, South Africa - 5 billion dollars. The currency reserves pool aims to protect the national currencies of the BRICS countries from the volatility of financial markets.
One of the objectives of the Development Bank at the same time is to provide financial assistance to non-BRICS countries, but suffering from economic instability, resulting from the expansionary monetary policy of the United States.
Recall the share of the BRICS countries in global GDP reaches almost a third - 30%. In five countries, almost half (45%) of the world's population live. With such indicators, the financial strategy of the new bank can really threaten the interests of the United States, which are accustomed, through the IMF under control, to impose their "reform programs" on developing countries.
6. West vs Russia. This year, the West, under the authority of the United States, imposed restrictive political and economic measures on Russia. The reason for the sanctions was the "destabilization" of Ukraine and the "annexation" of the Crimea. The EU countries have joined the decision of the USA, undoubtedly, under pressure from Washington, because, unlike the USA, the EU states are actively trading with the Russian Federation.
In addition to the EU, the G7 states and some of the US and EU partner countries joined the restrictive measures against the Russian Federation.
The first “package” of sanctions was put into effect in March — after Moscow recognized the results of the Crimean referendum on independence and accepted the proposal of the Republic of Crimea to join the Russian Federation. Participants in the first package were the United States, European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The sanctions extended throughout the spring of 2014. Then, a special reason for the introduction of additional sanctions was the crash of the Malaysian passenger liner "Boeing 777" (July 17).
Cumulatively sanctions strike of the West in 2014-2015 (over a year and a half), according to estimates by American financiers, should deprive the Russian economy of the sum of 100 billion euros.
In turn, Russia imposed "anti-sanctions" against those states that came out in the same bundle with the United States. With a sigh, the EU states began counting billions in losses, throwing tons of fruits and vegetables that were previously successfully sold to Russia, and resenting that Moscow decided to change the European food market to Egyptian, Argentinean, Turkish, Chinese, and so on.
December 19 Washington announced the expansion of economic sanctions against Russia, as well as a full-scale economic blockade of the Crimea. The Americans were supported by Canadians, claiming the completion of their sanctions list with the names of Russian citizens.
Washington said about the coming economic blockade of the Crimea.
The President of the United States, whose rating is kept at a low level (no higher than forty percent), spoke on CNN and told the public that Vladimir Putin had not at all “beaten” him in geopolitics.
“Three or four months ago, Putin was said to be a genius, beats Obama and the like. And now, with him (in Russia), the national currency is falling, there is a financial crisis and a severe economic downturn, ”the head of the White House said.
"It is unlikely that someone beat me or the United States," Mr. Obama added.
The cold war continues, comrades.
7. Cold War Herald. In April, “official rumors” began to circulate in the press of 2014 that John Tefft could become the US ambassador to Russia. This career diplomat was previously noted for fruitful work in Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine (with serious democratic results in the last two). Tefft also worked in Moscow as the deputy head of the American diplomatic mission in 1996-1999. It is clear that the appointment of Tefft will be a demonstration by the White House of the change of “reset” to the so-called “containment policy”.
The appointment took place at the end of July. Barack Obama nominated an experienced 64-year-old diplomat for this post on 10 July, and on July 29 his candidacy was supported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both Republicans and Democrats were in favor of Tefft.
At the hearings on the approval of his candidacy Tefft allowed himself sharp remarks against Russia. According to the diplomat, "The United States must clearly speak with our Russian partners to be sure that they understand the American position." In addition, Washington "must understand what the Russians think."
In September, 2014, Ambassador John Tefft arrived in Russia and handed over copies of his credentials to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In November, Mr. Tefft gave an interview to Kommersant. As it turned out, Tefft doesn’t like the Russian point of view on the Ukrainian crisis, according to which the West, which expanded NATO, is to blame for everything. The ambassador believes that the North Atlantic Alliance, having expanded, thereby strengthened security in Europe. And the West (and Europe, and the USA) benefited from this. Moreover, Russia won. “I don’t think that NATO is a threat to Russia,” the ambassador said. “I know that in Russia some people think differently, but the point is that NATO is a defensive alliance.”
John Tefft added that the United States would like to "see a world order in which international law and the rule of law are respected." And he quoted Henry Kissinger, who called unacceptable a situation in which one country "cuts off a piece" of another (it does not matter for what reason). That is exactly what happened in Crimea, Tefft said. And he expressed the hope that Moscow will not cut off even a piece of the Ukrainian east.
It is obvious that the line chosen by the State Department for its envoy is not without weak points.
Firstly, the point of view, condemning the "cutting off a piece" (in the form of the Crimea), looks unconvincing where the question of the collapse of the USSR, which the United States joyfully welcomed, is being lowered. Washington is pleased with everything that weakens his geopolitical adversary. The fact that the enemy strengthens, Washington is upset.
Secondly, NATO’s concern for peace and security looks so touching after the bombings of Yugoslavia and Libya! ... The only trouble is that it’s not Russia that surrounds the NATO countries with its bases, and NATO is spreading across Europe. It is unlikely that the alliance is going to attack the Russian Federation - rather, we are talking about the growing appetites of the bourgeois masters of the military-industrial complex. Nevertheless, the rapid expansion of the block to the east cannot but disturb Moscow. Over the last decade of the last century and the past years of the new century, 12 states have entered NATO!
8. Secret evidence. The crash of Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines, which was operating from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, took place on July 17 in the east of the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The 283 passenger and 15 crew members were on board. All people died.
According to Wikipedia, in terms of the number of deaths, this plane crash became the largest in history aviation from September 11, 2001, and entered the top ten largest in history.
After the tragedy, mass hysteria began in the United States, Europe, in Ukraine and in some other countries, including Australia (there were many Australians on board).
Ukrainian government and Ukrainian media, known for their bad habit of falsifying newsrepeatedly stated that the plane was shot down from the Buk air defense system and that the pro-Russian "separatist terrorists" in eastern Ukraine allegedly had such a complex.
The “separatists” of the charges, of course, have been rejected: they have no means in their arsenal to pray for a plane at such a height.
Later, at the APEC summit in Beijing, Australian Prime Minister T. Abbott tried to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin about a plane crash. Mr Abbott, according to the press, demanded an apology from Putin for the downed "Boeing-777" and even said that Australia had "all the evidence" that the aircraft had been shot down by Russian air defense systems. The complex was brought to the "separatists", and then, when the work was done, they took it back to Russia. According to some sources, the head of the Australian government even demanded money from Putin for the downed Boeing. Well, then Abbott threatened Putin. Apparently, such behavior is permitted by the Australian gentleman's code of honor.
However, the people of Australia did not appreciate the tricks of their prime minister. Citizens asked Abbott not to pose as an idiot in the eyes of the world community.
Some probable details of the tragedy became known from the statement of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. As reported on December 24 TV channel "RT"Investigators of the TFR met one Ukrainian soldier who voluntarily left his military unit and transferred to the territory of Russia.
This man said that the MN-17 board could have been shot down by a Su-25 combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, piloted by Captain Voloshin. “The combat mission was carried out from an airfield stationed near the city of Dnepropetrovsk. It was at this airport served as a witness. According to his testimony, he personally saw how, before the departure, the Voloshin plane was equipped with air-to-air missiles of the P-60 type, which, under normal conditions when carrying out combat sorties, Su-25 aircraft were not completed, "RT notes."
Earlier, December, 17, from the press it became known that the United States transferred to the Dutch investigators and the International Civil Aviation Organization some secret evidence on the accident "Boeing-777". This was reported by Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. She said that “secret materials” had been transferred to the Netherlands and the International Civil Aviation Organization. They cannot be made public yet, but the State Department believes that “with time” some part should be published.
How can evidence be secret? Who and what will they prove in this case? Most likely, the State Department is in no hurry to disclose the “secret” because the “data”, as usual, are fake. But “with time” the details are forgotten, and the tragedy is a thing of the past. As a result, the citizens of the world eat what the American propaganda will present to them, against the background of which the Herr Goebbels ministry has long seemed like a kindergarten (younger group).
9. Slacker in the Elysee Palace. The unrated president, the “gay liberator” and the “traitor socialist” (an expression of the French proletariat) F. Hollande continues to break the comedy with the Mistral helicopter carriers.
The last of a number of surprising statements about contract deliveries to Russia paid by Mistral Monsieur Hollande made December 19. He stated that there were no grounds for the supply of the Mistral.
As if no one signed contracts! With clauses about the penalty! Apparently, the chief contract lawyer in the world is B.H. Obama.
Obviously, Paris is leading the case to the so-called force majeure, in the documents written. However, Russia intends to put up with a similar approach to the matter.
"The explanations that, they say, have not matured any conditions in order to transfer these ships to us, no one is going to accept from our side, we do not consider it a force majeure, which is registered in the contract, it is just a demonstration if want geopolitical weakness of France ", - сказал the other day, Dmitry Rogozin.
It is interesting here and something else.
One French source told Interfax that Paris does not have the right to resell helicopter carriers without Russian permission. “France is not in a position to resell the Mistral helicopter carrier without Russia's consent, since the aft part of the helicopter carrier was carried out by Russian shipbuilders. If France does not deliver “Mistral” to Russia, this will affect the country's reputation in the most negative way, ”the source quotes. Kommersant.
24 December RIA News" led the statement of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anatoly Antonov. He noted that all the conditions for the supply of ships, as well as penalties, are stipulated in the agreement between Russia and France. “... Everything is spelled out in the contract: delivery terms, penalties, procedures, how we can demand a refund. No "Mistral" - return the money. There is nothing personal, this is business. The contract exists, it is necessary to fulfill the terms of the contract, ”he said.
By the way, by the end of the year, the support rating of President Hollande in France fell to 12% ( link at the source). Analysts say that Hollande showed the worst result among all French presidents in the entire history of modern sociological polls!
Monsieur Hollande! Do you want to raise your baseboard rating immediately by a couple of dozen percentage points? Apologize to Russia and show Obama a cookie!
Weak, of course. Where already there ... Kukish in due time will show the French woman - Marine Le Pen.
10. Union of bear and dragon. In the outgoing 2014, Russia and China signed two historic gas agreements.
The first contract worth 400 billion was signed by the parties in May. Analysts point out that the political conflict between the West and Russia over the Ukrainian crisis has contributed to the conclusion of the eastern deal.
The second agreement, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, was signed in November. In accordance with this contract, the blue fuel will be supplied not only through the “eastern corridor”, but also through the western one: gas from Western Siberia will go to Celestial through Altai.
It should be noted that the expansion of ties with the Asia-Pacific region is enshrined in the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation. The goal of Moscow is to increase the share of oil and gas products supplied to Asia from 2035% to 12% by 23. Gas exports are projected to grow by the 2025 year from 6 to 31,5%.
The signing of two gas agreements with the People's Republic of China speaks of Russia's historic “eastern turn”. In fact, this is Moscow’s direct response to “sanctioners” from Europe, which is currently the largest importer of Russian energy resources.
11. The forces of evil against the "South Stream". The construction of South Stream has been halted, the project has been closed, Ankara Miller told Dec 1 in Ankara in December. Vladimir Putin also said something about this: “Taking into account the position of the European Commission, which does not contribute to the implementation of this project, given the fact that we have just received, quite recently, permission from the relevant authorities in the Netherlands, however, positive decision, but given the fact that we still have not received permission from Bulgaria, we believe that Russia cannot continue the implementation of this project under these conditions. ” At the same time, the Russian president said that Bulgaria’s losses from the suspension of South Stream would amount to 400 million euros per year.
The representative of the National Security Council at the White House, Mark Stroh, said that Russia's decision to close the South Stream gas pipeline project is the result of Western sanctions.
But if the Russian pipe does not go to Bulgaria, it will go to Turkey!
The West did not even come to its senses when the Russian president and his Turkish counterpart R. T. Erdogan signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a gas pipeline to Turkey.
Many analysts immediately began talking about the Kremlin’s brilliant strategic course and the failure of the punitive policies of Washington and Brussels, as a result of which Russia first went to a close rapprochement with China, and now with Turkey. As for Bulgaria, which was a stumbling block on the South Stream route, the European Union is not going to pay compensation for the loss of profits.
12. Let's drink to win! In the autumn and winter, the price of oil in the world declined almost every day. The OPEC cartel (with the exception of Venezuela), however, behaved suspiciously calm.
Moreover, December 23 reports appeared in the press that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will not reduce fuel production, even if oil prices drop to $ 20 per barrel. This was announced by Middle East Economic Survey Ali al-Nuyami, the Minister of Petroleum of Saudi Arabia.
He kindly explained that cutting production was not in the interests of the producing countries. After all, a decline in, for example, Saudi Arabia’s oil production will cause a rise in prices in the market, and Russia, Brazil and the United States will immediately take up and take away Saudi market share.
In a sense, he is right: it is better to sell oil on 20 (more precisely, on 60 with a tail), than to be ousted by competitors. The Saudis understand that they are not the only ones on the planet who sell oil.
Earlier, the Arab "instigators" in OPEC noted that they will not be frightened either by the price of 60 dollars per barrel, or by the price of 40. Now, 20 doesn't bother them either. They are about to promise to give oil for free, just to take it.
It seems that the Saudis are carrying out an exhausting oil war simultaneously against Russia and the United States (despite the fact that Riyadh is an ally of Washington). The fact is that Russia is not a member of OPEC, and the United States is very upsetting the sheikhs with its “shale revolution”. It is unlikely that the price of oil will drop in the world to 20 dollars per barrel, but Riyadh’s determination to go to the end is alarming.
Experts-financiers link the ruble depreciation precisely with the fall in oil prices, combined with anti-Russian sanctions. Western media on “black Tuesday 2.0” (December 16) even wrote that after nine months of financial war with the West, Russia had lost. This very Tuesday, the Russian national currency dropped to the level of 80,10 rubles at the auctions. for a dollar.
However, in the West early rejoiced. Already 24-25 December, the dollar "weighed" fifty rubles with a small tail. Speculators overheated the market, and the predictable game for a fall began: the initiative was intercepted by other speculators.
The price of oil in the last week of December was at the level of 60-62 dollars per barrel (data on the “Brent” grade), which is very far from the “bid” of sly Saudis for 20 dollars.
* * *
So the world is entering a new, 2015, year. The year 2014 is saturated (rather, oversaturated) with events.
It became quite obvious that the cold war of the West against Russia not only did not stop (even in the “peaceful” Yeltsin years), but now it has even escalated, entering a new phase. The NATO Defense Alliance has been supplemented year after year by new member states. The alliance equated the will of the people in a referendum in the Crimea to "annexation". The cry "Russians are coming!" Is again in fashion in Europe.
Well, let them cry out. And we drink to win.
Happy New Year, comrades!
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