BOOKMARK THIS PAGE FOR RECENT UPDATES – REGION NEWS INDEX – NEWS ARCHIVE – Editorials appear in italics.
EUROPEAN UNION:
Zelensky calls for ‘army of Europe’ against Russia
‘In a way that no one can say no to Europe’
‘WE NEED A UNIFIED FOREIGN POLICY…OF COMMON EUROPE’
The Times (London), Feb 15, 2025 – The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for “an army of Europe” and for its leaders to speak with “a single voice” to defend the continent against Russian aggression, indicating that it can no longer rely on America under Donald Trump for its defence.
“As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the armed forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference.
VANCE TORCHED THE EUROPEAN ELITE FACE-TO-FACE AND THEY ABSOLUTELY HATED IT
Breitbart, Feb 14, 2024 – In most cases an audience can bring itself to at least raise half-hearted, polite applause but in Munich on Friday Vance couldn’t even get that: In a room of hundreds, perhaps a thousand top military, security, and political figures…. The response was particularly frosty mid-speech as Vance listed some particularly egregious recent cases in European states where the government has cracked down on liberties, from arresting Christians for silent prayer to cancelling elections, and when he outright accused the leaders of the continent of Soviet, anti-democratic attitudes. Worst of all, he said, they held these feelings towards their own people.
If Europe’s paternalist elites hated this shock therapy, populists in Europe loved it. Britain’s Nigel Farage amplified the notion Vance had better articulated the future of Europe than those elites could, while Reform MP Rupert Lowe called it a “brutal” tour-de-force of “Truth, after truth, after truth.”
NORTH AMERICA:
Canadians want an ‘economic union,’ says Kevin O’Leary
US would gain access to Canadian resources ‘in a free flow — no tariffs’
‘LET’S JOIN THE TWO ECONOMIES, BECOME A BEHEMOUTH — COMMON CURRENCY PERHAPS — AND THEN TAKE ON CHINA’
VIDEO: Fox Business – The Evening Edit, Feb 10, 2025
See also:
TRUMP’S CANADA ‘JOKE SPARKS HEGELIAN DIALECTIC TOWARD NORTH AMERICAN ‘ECONOMIC UNION’
‘ECONOMIC UNION’ IS LEVEL 4 (USMCA LEVEL 1):

A MIDDLE EAST UNION?
Blinken: ‘We’re much closer’ to ‘integration in the Middle East like the European Union’
Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C. Headquarters, Jan 14, 2025
COUNCIL CEO FREDERICK KEMPE: “This path to the future – and let’s not forget where Europe was up until 1945, before the European Union, before NATO, before all of that. You talked, I think, about Saudi normalization almost in that spirit. And some people have talked about a path of integration that could create economic integration in the Middle East like the European Union, military integration – not a NATO necessarily, but countries coming closer together. Are we closer to that now?….“
SECRETARY BLINKEN: “Look, I believe we’re much closer to it. And what we’ve done over the past four years, building on the Abraham Accords, was to try to get to their ultimate realization, which is normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. A lot of work went into that, including, as I described, agreements necessary between the United States and Saudi Arabia as well as between Saudi Arabia and Israel. And as we sit here, it’s ready to go. That could move forward tomorrow.
“But it requires two things. It requires an end to the conflict in Gaza and it requires a credible pathway to a Palestinian state. So Israelis will have to decide if actually realizing a foundational dream – being integrated into the region, being treated like a normal country, and benefitting from being part of a security architecture that we saw in action when Iran attacked Israel….”
CEASEFIRE PAVES WAY FOR REGIONAL BLOC AGAINST ‘TROUBLEMAKER’ IRAN, BLINKEN SAYS
Iran International | Volant Media (UK), Jan 16, 2025 – Speaking in his valedictory press conference days ahead of the second administration of Donald Trump, Blinken hoped the end of the 15-month war would pave the way for regional peace….
A ceasefire to the war in Gaza and regional cooperation to repel Iranian strikes on Israel pave a way towards the unity of Mideast countries opposed to Iran, secretary of state Anthony Blinken said….
“Israel now sees powerfully what it stands to gain from greater integration in the region, including a common security architecture … all can see this is a way to effectively isolate the troublemaker in the region, Iran.”
FROM THE ARCHIVES: AN OPEN QUESTION: OPEN BORDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
CircumspectNews, Jan 6, 2024
EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION:
Russia’s Plans for New World Order Leaked
Depicts long-term plans to rival existing blocs
Kyiv Post, Feb 10, 2025 – According to the FT, Russia sought to create a Moscow-led, trade-oriented Eurasian “macroregion” to restore its global influences – a bloc that would also connect the Global South by granting each side access to raw materials, as well as developing financial and transport ties….
The bloc, as per the Kremlin’s vision, would eventually counter other economic blocs, including those of the US, the EU, and Moscow-ally China.
[The leaked report] said there are “systemic problems” in the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, evidenced by the preference of Western payment systems when Russia’s banking access became limited.
RUSSIA’S FEARS OVER EX-SOVIET NATIONS LAID BARE IN LEAKED PAPER
Rare insight into how Moscow sees invasion of Ukraine harming ties with close allies
Financial Times (London), Feb 9, 2025 – The report says western countries have successfully threatened central Asian countries into complying with sanctions through a “carrot-and-stick” approach while offering them access to global markets, transport corridors and supply chains that bypass Moscow….
EUROPEAN UNION:
You’re ‘Wrong’: JD Vance Berates Brussels for Its Social Media Censorship Rules
European Conservative, Feb 10, 2025 – The sidelines of the ongoing AI Summit in Paris will provide the perfect setting for Vice President JD Vance to clash with Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and other European Union executives on the bloc’s content moderation rules under its infamous Digital Services Act (DSA).
Although Vance arrived in France to deliver a keynote speech on AI…. they will likely concentrate more towards the DSA and the threat of free speech-oriented American platforms being slapped with enormous fines, for refusing to censor everything that Brussels deems “hate speech” or “misinformation.”
EUROPEAN UNION:
Trump’s divide-and-conquer tactics overshadow EU leaders’ retreat
EU flailing and adrift, awaiting Trump’s next move
The Parliament, Feb 4, 2025 – Donald Trump may not have been in attendance at EU leaders’ first-ever ‘informal retreat’ on Monday, but his presence could be felt….
The lack of any decision or even a collective statement left the impression of an EU flailing and adrift, reduced to being a mere spectator of global events as leaders await Trump’s next move.
SE ASIA – ASEAN:
Trump’s Sudden Impact and Implications For Southeast Asia
DISRUPTIONS TO SUPPLY CHAINS SHOULD BE EXPECTED
ADMINISTRATION’S AID CUTS, TARIFFS, AND NEW CHINA STRATEGY ARE ALL SET TO FURTHER TEST ASEAN
The Diplomat, Feb 4, 2025 – Donald Trump’s administration has lived up to expectations by slashing USAID programs, slapping tariffs on major trading partners, and issuing a list of demands for the rest of the world to follow.
Within Southeast Asia, deep cuts to USAID have already resulted in the suspension or curtailing of a wide range of programs targeting land mine clearance, health services for refugees, and education, forcing the region’s governments to reach into their own pockets if those humanitarian needs are to be met.
SOUTH ASIA – BIMSTEC:
Push for tourism with common Bimstec visa, currency
Kathmandu Post, Feb 7, 2025 – On Thursday, the Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) network of tour operators—an international organisation comprising seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations with a combined population of 1.73 billion—held its third meeting in Kathmandu.
Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, said as members of Bimstec, “we share a common vision of regional prosperity, and tourism is one of the strongest pillars that can drive us forward together”.
“To enhance intra-regional travel, we must prioritise simplifying visa processes, streamlining border crossings, and improving infrastructure,” he said.
“Additionally, easing currency convertibility is equally crucial for hassle-free travel. Moving towards a more integrated Bimstec travel network, we should explore solutions such as multiple-entry regional visas, digital travel permits, and improved border facilitation to make cross-border tourism seamless.”
AFRICAN UNION – ECOWAS:
Three military-run states leave West African bloc – what will change?
ECOWAS COUNTRIES HAVE RIGHT TO LIVE, WORK IN ALL MEMBER STATES
BBC, Jan 29, 2025 – The withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is a huge blow to Ecowas, which at 50 years old is considered Africa’s most important regional group….
While Ecowas works out the terms of its future relationship with the three countries, it says it will continue to recognise all passports and identity cards bearing the Ecowas logo held by citizens from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The countries will also remain in the bloc’s free-trade scheme….
Ecowas – which stands for the Economic Community of West African States – was founded in 1975 in a bid to improve economic and political integration in West Africa.
Prior to Wednesday’s shake-up, the bloc had 15 members, including states like Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Citizens of all Ecowas countries currently have the right to live and work in all member states, while goods can circulate freely.
EUROPEAN UNION OR EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION?
Armenians Should Prepare for ‘Several Cold Winters,’ Lavrov on Yerevan’s Aspirations for EU Membership
Asbarez, Jan 27, 2025 – Moscow intensified its criticism of Yerevan’s efforts to garner membership in the European Union, with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, signaling that Armenia’s population should prepare for “several cold winters.”
“Unfortunately, the republic often reacted favorably to the unsubstantiated promises of the United States and the European Union as a replacement for Russia for Armenia,” added Lavrov.
He asserted, however, that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization is “the cornerstone of Armenia’s security,” adding that Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union “is the guarantor of its economic well-being.”
ARAB GULF, GCC – REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE:
Gulf railway project gains momentum
Semafor, Jan 27, 2025 – The project, set to be completed by 2030, will connect Kuwait to Saudi Arabia and, eventually, to a line linking Manama, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat.
Projected to transport eight million passengers and 95 million tons of cargo annually by 2045, the 2,117-kilometer (1,300-mile) Gulf Cooperation Council network is seeing contracts awarded across most Gulf countries, according to AGBI.
One of the busiest routes — the Abu Dhabi-Dubai corridor — will feature a high-speed train capable of transporting passengers between the two cities in just 30 minutes at speeds of up to 350 kilometers (215 miles) per hour.
‘MADE IN NORTH AMERICA’:
Mexico creates nearshoring incentives in push for regional integration
Long-term plan to bolster Mexico’s role in North America’s supply chains
Supply Chain Dive, Jan 24, 2025 – The package’s goals would include strengthening the national economy while increasing regional integration, jobs, pay and overall wellbeing, Sheinbaum said. Furthermore, it would help Mexico substitute imports with domestically produced goods….
Broadening the funding was necessary to push domestic companies of all sizes to better integrate into regional supply chains, according to the decree.
THE ‘NEW MERCANTILISM’:
Trump and fear : the new alliance between mercantilism and geopolitics
PROJECTION OF A WORLD DIVIDED INTO CONTINENTAL BLOCS
Etudes Economiques, Jan 16, 2025 – The final stage of the Trump rocket is the continental projection of power and the capture of resources…. This sort of “mercantilist geopolitics” was on display at the muddled press conference he gave at Mar-a-Lago last week. …This type of projection of a world divided into continental blocs controlled by dominant powers – a well-known pre-war grammar – risks encouraging those nostalgic for empire, and those who would like to belong to the club of powerful countries, to move from thought to action.
From the archives: KISSINGER’S ‘NEW MERCANTILISM’ OF ‘COMPETING REGIONAL UNITS’
HENRY KISSINGER, ‘THE CHANCE FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER’
New York Times, Jan 12, 2009
NEW REGIONAL ORDER:
Economic Outlook for 2025 Weighed Down by Fragmentation, Debt and Political Uncertainty
World Economic Forum, Jan 16, 2025 – Business responses to the increasing fragmentation of the global economy are expected to include restructuring supply chains (91%), regionalizing operations (90%) and focusing on core markets (79%).
THE FUTURE OF GLOBALIZATION: REGIONALIZATION AND THE EMERGING ECONOMIC ORDER
Global Banking & Finance Review (London, UK), Jan 15, 2025 – Regional alliances and trade agreements are surfacing as mechanisms for mitigating geopolitical risks and enhancing economic resilience. These alliances often operate based on mutual interests and complementary economic profiles, creating more robust and adaptable markets to global disruptions.
For instance, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Asia—uniting ASEAN nations with major economies like China, Japan, and South Korea—illustrates the strategic pivot towards creating self-sufficient regional economic hubs….
Regional trade agreements emerge as powerful instruments, enabling nations to synchronize economic policies while fostering market access, and ensuring stability in a fragmented geopolitical environment.
NORTH AMERICA and ‘THE ART OF THE DEAL’:
Trump’s Canada ‘joke’ sparks Hegelian dialectic toward North American ‘economic union’
KEVIN O’LEARY: DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TRUMP NOISE, SIGNAL
‘NOBODY SAID YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR SOVEREIGNTY, BUT MANY CANADIANS ARE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING THE ECONOMIC UNION’ WITH COMMON CURRENCY, PASSPORT, TARIFF POLICY, DEFENSE
CircumspectNews.com, Jan 15, 2025 – Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary, also a bombastic deal negotiator of Shark Tank fame, recently visited President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He insists that Trump’s joke about Canada statehood is merely bombastic noise to begin a dialogue, even as he signals that his real objective — to which O’Leary is in agreement — is an “economic union” of the two nations that would resemble the development of the European Union.
The possibility that O’Leary is right about Trump’s real objective being “only” economic union should prompt consternation among Trump’s nationalist MAGA supporters. But Trump has orchestrated this entire sequence of comments and perceptions across two nations, and it certainly has been a master class in misdirection.
SE ASIA – REGIONAL PROTECTIONISM:
Asean sees opportunity amid shifting trade dynamics
Southeast Asia’s Asean bloc is turning inward
New Straits Times, Jan 16, 2025 – As global trade faces increasing uncertainty and shifting economic policies, Southeast Asia’s Asean bloc is turning inward to reinforce regional ties.Amid concerns over the impact of US tariffs and the ongoing fragmentation of the global economy, Asean member states are exploring deeper cooperation, creating new opportunities for growth and stability.
WHY MALAYSIA-LED ASEAN COULD GO TOE TO TOE WITH TRUMP
Asia Times, Jan 17, 2025 – With the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and intensifying superpower rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, the year ahead will be crucial for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its place in the global security spotlight….
ASEAN will increasingly struggle to effectively “hedge” between competing powers as both the US and China press for advantage in the vital and strategic region….
The incoming Trump administration, however, will likely have little patience for ASEAN dithering or any hint of China-friendly opportunism dressed up as diplomatic “hedging.
NORTH AMERICA:
Sheinbaum ‘ready’ for dialogue with Trump administration
BELIEVES INTEGRATION OF MEXICO, US, CANADA ECONOMIES ALLOWS NORTH AMERICA TO ‘BETTER COMPETE’ WITH OTHER REGIONS OF WORLD
Mexico News Daily, Jan 15, 2025 – Asked how the federal government would “combat” Trump’s pledge to impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican exports to the United States, Sheinbaum responded that her administration would “have dialogue with the United States government,” but didn’t say how soon it would occur.
DONALD TRUMP’S ‘BOMBASTIC’ TALK OF ANNEXING CANADA IS ABOUT FORMING ECONOMIC UNION, KEVIN O’LEARY SAYS
The Glob and Mail (Canada), Jan 13, 2025 – Mr. O’Leary, also a reality TV star, has visited the U.S. president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida a number of times since Mr. Trump won the 2024 presidential election, most recently with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith this past weekend.
Donald Trump’s ‘bombastic’ talk of annexing Canada is about forming economic union, Kevin O’Leary says
Mr. O’Leary said one idea that was discussed multiple times during his meetings at Mar-a-Lago was getting rid of Canadian tariffs on U.S. imports and a removal of interprovincial trade barriers.
His vision would include a common currency between Canada and the United States and granting Canada as many as two seats on the board of governors of the U.S. federal reserve system.
MEXICO’S SHEINBAUM LAYS OUT PLAN TO CUT CHINESE IMPORTS IN APPARENT NOD TO TRUMP
Reuters, Jan 13, 2025 – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday rolled out an economic plan aimed at curbing imports from China in an apparent nod to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his allegations that Mexico is a back door for Chinese goods entering the United States….
The plan includes boosting local sourcing for industries reliant on Chinese imports, like textiles and autos….
Sheinbaum also plans to bump investments up to 28% of GDP, adding 1.5 million manufacturing jobs by boosting local production and cutting red tape.
Mexico plans to boost its position using trade agreements, tariff policies and strengthening customs enforcement, a government presentation showed.
EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION, EUROPEAN UNION:
Armenia navigates European integration while staying in the Eurasian bloc
KREMLIN: ARMENIA CANNOT BE MEMBER OF TWO DIFFERENT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Kursiv Media Kazakhstan, Jan 15, 2025 – Armenia’s government has no plans to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) while simultaneously pursuing European Union (EU) membership, according to the country’s Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, as reported by the Interfax news agency….
In response, the Kremlin remarked that while Armenia has the sovereign right to pursue such actions, it highlighted that the country cannot simultaneously be a member of two different international organizations.
RUSSIA VIEWS ARMENIA’S EU ENTRY MOVE AS BEGINNING OF EAEU EXIT
News.Az (Azerbaijan), Jan 15, 2025 – Russia has expressed concern that Armenia’s decision to initiate the process of joining the European Union marks the start of its withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
SOUTH AMERICA – MERCOSUR, UNASUR:
Lavrov: “Latin America is one of the powerful poles of the emerging multipolar world order”
RT (Google Translate), Jan 14, 2025 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday before local and foreign journalists , described Latin America as “one of the powerful poles of the emerging multipolar world order.”….
“Russia maintains relations with Mercosur , with Unasur , with the Central American Integration System ( SICA ), with ALBA , of course, and much more,” he added.
‘NORTH AMERICAN EQUIVALENT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION’
Kevin O’Leary says he wants to talk to Trump about a U.S.-Canada ‘economic union’
Comments come after repeated statements by Donald Trump encouraging Canada to become ‘our 51st state’
‘SOMEBODY HAS TO START THE NARRATIVE’ – SOURCE OF DISCUSSION FOR DECADES
National Post (Canada), Dec 27, 2024 – “What is of interest and what has caught the imagination of Canadians is an economic union beyond what we have now….” Leary told the Post….
“There’s obviously a lot of issues and more details, but what this could be is the beginning of an economic union. Think about the power of combining the two economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all that resource up to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door.”
The idea of deeper integration between Canada and the U.S., and sometimes Mexico, has been a source of discussion for decades, often compared to a North American equivalent to the European Union, with a shared currency and identification papers. O’Leary pitched similar ideas for an “economic union” during his Fox Business appearance.
CANADIAN ‘SHARK TANK’ STAR KEVIN O’LEARY SAYS HE’S GOING TO MAR-A-LAGO TO CONVINCE TRUMP TO MERGE US AND CANADA
COMMON CURRENCY, TAXES, ‘NEW, ALMOST EU-LIKE PASSPORT’
Gateway Pundit, Dec 27, 2024 – O’Leary continued, “Think about the power of combining the two economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all that resource up to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door. So secure that give a common currency, figure out taxes across the board, get everything trading both ways, create a new, almost EU like passport.”
‘Iran to become key partner of Eurasian Economic Union’
Significant step towards deeper economic integration with the bloc
NourNews (Iran), Dec 21, 2024 – Iran is set to become a significant partner of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), following a decision by the union’s member states to grant the country observer status, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry official.
Jalaleddin Alavi Sabzevari, Director of Multilateral and International Economic Cooperation at the Ministry, on Friday confirmed that the EAEU heads of state approved the decision during a summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia….These developments are expected to elevate Iran’s role as a key partner within the union, the official said.
The EAEU comprises five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. With this new status, Iran joins Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Cuba as an observer in the union’s activities, marking a significant step towards deeper economic integration with the bloc.
NORTH AMERICA:
‘A CONTINENT-WIDE INDUSTRIAL POLICY’?
Toward a Cleaner, Smarter USMCA
Carnegie fellow proposes North American carbon duty, mineral processing, power transmission, Australian, UK membership
By C.J. Mahoney and Peter Harrell, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Dec 17, 2024
First….Uniform duties based on the carbon content of steel imported into North America could offer a way to harmonize the three countries’ approach to this issue. The concept might be extended to other carbon-intensive import sectors as well.Second….North American cooperation could be particularly beneficial in developing a viable alternative to Chinese mineral processing….Any negotiations on this front would need to overcome historic Mexican sensitivities about outside influence over extractive industries. Third USMCA negotiations provide an opportunity to align on a strategy for building clean power generation and transmission capacity in North America…. Finally, the negotiation could provide a jumping-off point for the parties to expand cooperation on clean energy supply chains beyond North America, perhaps by offering the carrot of USMCA membership.Two possible candidates would be Australia and the United Kingdom. Trade agreements traditionally have been used to lower tariffs and eliminate subsidies and other market-distorting policies. A joint North American effort to strengthen and relocate supply chains likely would require using some of those previously disfavored tools in pursuit of a continent-wide industrial policy.
Peter E. Harrell is a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From January 2021 through 2022, Harrell served at the U.S. White House as senior director for international economics, jointly appointed to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.
EUROPE, SOUTH AMERICA:
The EU and a South American trade bloc reach a giant trade deal after 25 years of talks
Associated Press, Dec 6, 2024 – The European Union reached a blockbuster free trade agreement Friday with Brazil, Argentina and the three other South American nations in the Mercosur trade alliance, capping a quarter-century of on-off negotiations even as France vowed to derail the contentious accord….
It marks the first major trade agreement for Mercosur, which is comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and, newly, Bolivia. The bloc had previously only managed to conclude free-trade deals with Egypt, Israel and Singapore.
‘MADE IN NORTH AMERICA’:
Mexico’s Ebrard proposes North American ‘plan B’ to counter Chinese imports
‘ADDITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AIMED AT INCREASING MANUFACTURING CAPACITY IN NORTH AMERICA’
THE NEXT LEVEL FOR NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION:
‘UNIFORM TARIFFS’?

Mexico News Daily, Nov 25, 2024 – Do Mexico, the United States and Canada need a common plan to increase manufacturing capacity in North America and reduce reliance on Chinese imports?
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard appears to believe they do, and floated the idea that Mexico should take the initiative and propose one to its northern neighbors and USMCA trade partners….
While Ebrard didn’t go into details about what a common North American plan to increase production and reduce reliance on Chinese imports would look like, a likely starting point would be for Mexico, the United States and Canada to have uniform tariffs on Chinese imports.
See older article links, summaries in NEWS ARCHIVE

VIDEO: GLOBAL SHAKEDOWN (2015)
The world’s developing and projected regional blocs. (Excerpt @ 20:15 of 27:33)
Kissinger’s false choice:
‘world order’ or ‘competing regional units’:
The ‘new mercantilism’ of emerging regional blocs
‘WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS’

“AND AT THE SAME TIME THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF BEING AT WAR, AND THEREFORE IN DANGER, MAKES THE HANDING OVER OF ALL POWER TO A SMALL CASTE SEEM THE NATURAL, UNAVOIDABLE CONDITION OF SURVIVAL.”
George Orwell’s 1984, Part 2, Chapter 9 (Goldstein manifesto, “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism”)
REGIONAL RIVALRIES IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD: COMPETITION, CONFLICT, ‘PERPETUAL WAR’
The Ukraine war is triggering the next stage in globalism’s great Hegelian dialectic. If nations fall for globalist Henry Kissinger’s “new mercantilism” of “competing regional units,” then nationalism will not subdue globalism–the ultimate antithesis to nations. Instead, EU-style regional blocs will become the globalists’ synthesis of both, and regional infrastructures will continue to usurp nations’ sovereignty.
“Regionalization” may appear to be a setback for globalists’ goal of “one-world government.” But Machiavellian globalists believe that imposed conflict among their emerging regional blocs will strengthen their world order in the long term.

‘…BREAK IN PIECES AND BRUISE’
Machiavellian globalists are using war mongering and mercantilism to prompt emerging blocs to jostle against each other, pressuring the blocs to further strengthen and develop simultaneously, in response to economic competition and perceived security threats from other blocs. This crisis pretext is being used to spook populations into allowing regional institutions to consolidate power and regulatory control of resources away from the sovereignty of each bloc’s member nations, as has already occurred in the European Union.
‘THESE HAVE ONE MIND’
Once consolidation of power within regions has occurred, alliances with other blocs can be forged. All the blocs can then be tied into an authoritarian “New World Order” federation of regional blocs, with minimal resistance.
THE NEW MERCANTILISM: ‘ORDER OUT OF CHAOS’

As was typical of historic mercantilism, media reports within both sides of today’s Ukraine crisis acknowledge that military/economic threats from the other region are useful in the deeper integration/consolidation of power within their own regional bloc. Here are some examples:
● THE GREAT EURASIAN ECONOMIC REALIGNMENT Sanctions may accelerate Russia’s economic integration with Asia City Journal, March 17, 2022 – What has not been widely considered, however, is the possibility that Russia welcomes this outcome. If Russia is betting on economic divorce from Europe, including in energy, then sanctions and boycotts counterintuitively support, rather than frustrate, Russian strategy.
● EUROPEAN UNION AMBASSADOR SAYS RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS HAS UNIFIED THE EU AND NATO: ‘FOR US, THIS IS EXISTENTIAL’ CBS News, Feb 16, 2022 – “I think Russia thought it could divide and conquer us, and it has actually united the European Union and NATO more than we have arguably been ever before,” he said.
● HOW WILL RUSSIAN AND ASIAN TRADE DEVELOP IF THE US & EU PUT MORE SANCTIONS IN PLACE? Moscow has already diversified its supply chains away from the EU Russia Briefing, Jan 17, 2022 – In short, the Crimea sanctions have had the effect of motivating Russia to diversify its supply chains, reduce dependence upon Europe, and to develop new markets, especially in Asia.
● WESTERN SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA MAY BOOST EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION – RT (Russia Today), March 20, 2014 – “What would then happen is that the Eurasian Economic Union would accelerate in scale very rapidly.”
● ‘THANK YOU, MR PUTIN’ – DW (Deutsche Welle, Germany), March 21, 2014 – “With your annexation of the Crimea you have thrown a much-needed lifeline to…European integration…”
● VLADIMIR PUTIN: HERO OF THE EUROPEAN UNION – Breitbart, March 14, 2014 – “Vladimir Putin’s adventurism in the Ukraine has had a strange side effect: it may well have prolonged the life of his chief rival and antagonist – the European Union…”
‘you’re going to see regional orders spring up’
“I think you’re going to see the evolution of regional organizations, and that regional – because it’s so hard to create a world order – I think you’re going to see regional orders spring up. And then you would have links between regional orders. But they will be very much guided by economic interests, social interests and also security interests….” Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council Comments at the World Government Summit, March 29, 2022 (Video excerpt starts at 17:11)
WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST, “HAVING SEVEN HEADS, AND TEN HORNS” Revelation 17:3
VIDEO: BLOC HEADS Part 1 of 10: Intro (Africa), European Union (2013) 13:32
King Neb’s ‘Feet and Toes’? Daniel 2: 40-45
GLOBALIZATION ISN’T AS DEAD AS YOU THINK | OPINION
‘REGIONAL HUBS WILL CREATE A WORLD LED BY TWO NEARLY EQUAL POWERS, SURROUNDED BY TRADE SATELLITES’
Penn Live, May 12, 2023 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 7) – The notion of the ‘one large power’ is over. The idea is that globalization could never have been a monolith – a self-sustaining whole but rather something that is interrelated with local and regional needs. Regional hubs will create a world led by two nearly equal powers, surrounded by trade satellites – one we expect to be a U.S.-led side that includes USMCA, Latin America, and Europe. The other, a Chinese-led side that will include Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, and parts of Africa.
The writer’s number of regional “satellites” is short of the roughly ten major regional blocs that are in existence today. They are still in a state of flux, conflict, development and consolidation of power, but the Bible’s latter-day scenario of ten contemporaneous kingdoms is coming into view.













