The Worst Strategic Blunder in American History
Read this without letting your emotions get in the way. Be as objective as you can. We’ll start with a quick lesson in American history, from a purely geostrategic standpoint. No ethics, no values, just realities.
America during the British colonial period (1607-1783). Grew from a series of tiny settlements scattered along the eastern U.S. seaboard to a population of 4 million people and a unified nation that even then was already substantially larger than the nations of Europe. In 1783, the total area occupied by the United States was 827,000 square miles. By comparison, France today occupies 248,400 square miles (less than a third of the U.S. in 1783), the United Kingdom 93,600 square miles, Germany 137,988 square miles, and so on.
It’s true that some European nations had empires. The British Empire in 1783 was the largest empire in history at the time, covering almost 13 million square miles (about a quarter of the world’s land area). But by 1783 there could be no question that the geostrategic position of the United States, even at this early date, had been managed with incredible success.
Summary: This period showed the remarkable rise of the United States.
America from 1783 to 1815. Overall this was a period of exceptional American strategic victories led, it must be said, by statesmen with strong strategic foresight and diplomatic skill.
This was the period of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars in Europe, and the U.S. eventually got tangled up in it, fighting a second war against the United Kingdom (the War of 1812).
Before that happened, the U.S. purchased the gargantuan land mass known as Louisiana in 1803, which back then totaled 828,000 square miles. It’s noteworthy that even by the time of the Louisiana Purchase the U.S. had already added four states (Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio). But the Louisiana territory at that time was actually a hair larger than the total area of the original U.S. in 1783! Napoleon realized he had no real hope of managing it, nor any of his holdings in the Caribbean, so he essentially cut his losses and sold it for a pittance. America was the big winner here.
A decade later, America engaged in war against the United Kingdom. During that war, the U.S. entertained the idea of bringing the (not-so-friendly-in-those-days) Canadians into the fold. That failed. Additionally, the Brits briefly occupied the Capitol and even torched it up a bit (as the Yanks had done to the village of York, eg. Toronto). But even though the burning of Washington hurt American pride and morale, it didn’t change the outcome. American troops fought well in the Southern theater of war (Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans), inflicting serious harm on the British.
The war resulted in several significant strategic victories for America. One was the establishment of a clear northern border with Canada, which limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes and helped to reduce tensions between the two countries. Another was the acquisition of Florida from Spain in 1819 (negotiated by the outstanding diplomat John Quincy Adams). This gave America control over a strategically important region and eliminated a potential source of conflict with Spain.
The war of 1812 significantly strengthened the reputation of the U.S. as a strong (enough) military power and raised its influence in international affairs.
Summary: a period of incredible geostrategic victories for the United States.
America from 1815 to 1861. This period was marked by the lead-up to the great Civil War but it’s easy to forget the astonishing growth of American power.
First, there was the formal addition of Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas! All in a span of 36 years. Talk about a win streak; no wonder Americans went on and on about manifest destiny.
The country’s population increased rapidly as immigrants arrived from Europe and elsewhere. The United States also became a major player in international trade, particularly with Europe and Asia.
The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 asserted that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to European colonization or interference. This policy helped to establish the United States as a dominant power in the Americas.
In addition, the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 resulted in the acquisition of a large amount of territory for the United States, including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
By 1861, America was headed toward its horrific national conflict, but its growth in power and influence to that point had been off-the-charts, marked by win after win. By this time, America’s GDP was comparable to most of the larger nations in Europe, although Britain and France, with their global empires, both had larger total GDP than the U.S. at that time. Even so, America was clearly on the rise in a big way.
Summary: More astonishing growth and strategic power for the U.S.
America 1861 to 1914. There’s a lot of history in this period and I’m consolidating it for convenience.
Suffice to say that the Civil War did not slow down America’s rise to power and indeed enhanced it in the long term. It ensured the U.S. would not split into pieces and solidified the awesome growth of U.S. manufacturing. By 1914, the United States had easily surpassed Great Britain as the world’s largest economy ($36.5 billion to $25.5 billion). American manufacturing was the best in the world. America had spread to its current size within the Continental U.S. and had acquired Alaska and Hawaii as territories, along with control over other external territories as Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and the Panama Canal Zone. America had its own global empire.
Summary: Strategic win after win.
America 1914 to 2001 (The American Century): Again, a tremendous amount of history condensed into a few paragraphs. This was the true American Century. The decades from the 1920s through the 1950s were marked by an American GDP that was usually greater than the next nine nations combined. Repeat: combined. This dominance slipped starting in the 1960s although it didn’t really become a significant problem until after 2010, with the economic rise of China. And of course, America was the biggest winner of both World Wars.
Think of it this way. America had the most money, the world’s biggest military, and the ability to control or direct most of the world’s important infrastructure: petroleum, global finance, manufacturing (until the close of the century), culture and more. America developed a string of alliances (or you could say client states) in which American interests were usually assured. This was partly in response to the challenge of another Great Power (the Soviet Union), but was also simply integral to America’s projection of its own power in the world—which arguably was unprecedented in world history.
Having said that, the seeds of decline were already apparent. Vietnam was a “loss” but the real problem was not the military defeat but rather the beginnings of economic and financial damage that it inflicted on the US itself. The US went off the gold standard in 1971 directly as a result of the costs of that war. We moved into a new era, not immediately understood by most people at the time (or today). The creation of a huge array of international organizations and agencies (UN, Bilderberg, WEF, etc. etc.) were part of a broader process of internationalization of finance and a steady “de-nationalization” movement. One expression of this movement was the deindustrialization of the United States itself, especially following the end of the Cold War (1992). This was great for the bottom line of transnational corporations but significantly harmed American society itself, weakening its ability to function independently. Of course, when you stride among the world’s nations like a colossus, you might not worry about such little things — until you have to.
Fun fact: by the end of the 1990s, many American analysts really believed that the US would be able to continue dominating Russia (which it had done throughout that decade), and that China would liberalize politically as a result of the economic liberalization that it was undergoing. It was believed that both of these nations would become part of the “global system,” as defined and managed by the United States.
Summary: Unprecedented strategic victories which contained the seeds of decline.
America 2001-2021: After 9/11, America’s ruling class tore off the mask and openly introduced the Homeland Security National Security State. In far greater debt than ever before, the US threw itself into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and openly engaged in regime change operations seemingly everywhere (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and as always Cuba). Those are only the highlights among others.
The middle and working class continued to get hollowed out. Several financial crashes and overall a growing sense of alarm was definitely noticeable from 2010 onward regarding the rise of China and resurgence of Russia. The US truly thought it was going to be the sole global superpower and had actively assumed that it could control both Russia and China. Crazy as this seems today, the US during the 1990s absolutely believed this. This didn’t happen because both of those nations came to believe that the U.S. was primarily intent on restricting their power and range of action in the world, and was definitely interested in promoting color revolutions against their allies and against themselves as well. This took several years to sink in.
America spent (wasted) many trillions of dollars on wars during these two decades with no obvious upside. Indeed, alienation of much of the Middle East was heightened, not simply among the people, but key governments.
The most ominous development, from a purely geopolitical standpoint, might be the strong rapprochement between Russia and China. Ever since Nixon and Kissenger, Americans realized that it was important to play those two powers off of each other. As the second decade of the century wore on, those two nations realized that the U.S. wasn’t simply a rival, but was distinctly hostile to them both.
American diplomacy also fell substantially in terms of professionalism. It’s hard to overstate this. American diplomacy in fact had a long and distinguished history through the 19th and 20th centuries. Perhaps the feeling of not having to consider other powers brought out the insufferable arrogance and bluster that characterizes it today. Arrogance leads to blindness.
Summary: Lots of projection of American military power, but a clear trend of economic decline of the society as a whole. Also, a sense of desperation seemed to gain ground. Still, no significant overt geopolitical losses, but in fact structural changes were already happening, simply not fully acknowledged. The writing was on the wall.
America 2021 to Present (le déluge):
Some might say it’s too early to tell, but what it looks like so far is that the United States, in record time, has brought about the worst geopolitical and strategic blunders in its history.
Not just through one bad decision, but many. This is due in large part to the fact that U.S. policy is run by staunch ideologues, even revolutionaries. That’s the neocons, whose influence is as great or possibly greater than America’s War of Terror during GW Bush. I would argue it’s worse today because America’s overall relative strength is less than it was twenty years ago. Yet the arrogance and presumption to dominate all nations (including major rivals like China and Russia) has not abated.
The Covid revolution had seemed like a good thing for America’s power elite and the client states they controlled. Consolidating power over their citizens in the form of total surveillance, propaganda, and control over information seemed to be a great idea and likely to keep them in power for a long time. America’s political class assumed that they could ride through the relative decline of their position as long as they maintained dominant influence over their Western allies and global institutions, especially financial.
The war in Ukraine has thrown those fantasies out of the window. The plan was unlikely to work at any rate, since global dissatisfaction was already becoming evident. But the war has brought all of this into sharp focus.
- Contrary to what you might read in western curated news, Russia is not losing this war, but winning. Russia has not lost “hundreds of thousands” of troops (the best estimate is currently 14,000), they do not have 97 percent of their entire military tied up in Ukraine, they are not running out of missiles, they are not running out of anything. The Russian nation overwhelmingly supports the war. There is not going to be any regime change there. And if by some snowball’s chance, Putin is out of power in the near future, he would be replaced by people who are more hard-line than he is. That is the reality in Russia today.
- The sanctions on Russia have backfired. No other way to put it. Europe is hurting, Russia is not. Europe is still buying Russian hydrocarbons, but now they are mainly doing it via India, which is simply reselling it at higher prices. Russia’s economic outlook is strong, despite being subjected to the strongest sanctions in modern history. Europe’s (and America’s) is not so rosy, to put it mildly.
- Russia and China have moved closer together than they have ever done, even more than during the early Cold War. To the point where they are formal allies in all but name.
- Russia has proven that it has a military second to none and is fighting a war that the United States and any other NATO nation could not possibly fight. This is a war of artillery, drones, missiles, electronic warfare, and satellite surveillance. Russia excels in all of these except drones, and there it has gotten help from Iran and probably China. Plus, it is quickly catching up to speed in that department also.
- Russia has proven that its military manufacturing system is superior to that of the U.S. It’s not even a contest. The U.S. and the West in general has long used Just-in-Time principles. This is great if you are not at war and you want to save warehousing costs. That’s why it spread during the 1990s. But Russia and China don’t work that way. They have massive State-owned armaments production facilities that do not run at a profit the way Western companies try to run. Therefore, low- or no-profit items like artillery shells and cruise missiles don’t get produced at anywhere near the volume in the West that those two nations produce. The U.S. knows this and has no ability to compete in military hardware manufacturing for many years.
- Indeed, one of the biggest shocks has been how unprepared the U.S./NATO system has become to wage war against peer militaries (like the Russians). No ability to keep up in the manufacturing department, and with all the wrong weapons to boot (no ability to provide artillery, anti-aircraft missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, or aircraft in any significant amounts). It’s not that the West won’t provide these things to Ukraine … the West can’t.
- Global alliances. This has been a horror show for the U.S. Consider the loss of the following nations as critical allies to the U.S.
- Turkey. Turkey is a key NATO member — just look at a map to see how important it is to the U.S. in terms of counteracting Russian influence. But the U.S. has done everything possible to alienate the Turks. Turkey is interested in joining BRICS, and it’s interested in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It now also includes India and Pakistan. The SCO is not trivial: it “promotes regional cooperation” on everything related to economy, trade, security, investment, energy, and more. A few years ago India and Pakistan both joined. Think about any organization that can get those two nations both to join. The SCO is a force and is like a magnet. Turkey is clearly not happy with the U.S., NATO, or the EU (which has denied Turkey membership for years, despite all the current talk (galling to the Turks) about bringing Ukraine in). The Turks have worked things out with the Russians, they are good with the Chinese, and are even now willing to work with (gasp) the government of Syria over and above the objections of the U.S. (but with the definite support of Russia). What is going to happen to Turkey and its orientation to the West? Next to the U.S. itself, it has the strongest military in NATO. Turkey is more and more looking East. This would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago.
- Saudi Arabia. Saudi prince Mohammad Bin Salmon clearly dislikes President Biden, and the feeling is mutual. Political interests can overcome petty things like personal dislikes, but the fact is that the Saudis have not forgiven the U.S. and EU for trying to dictate the price of oil via the EU anti-Russian sanctions. That’s a simple fact. Moreover, the Saudis and the Russians have gotten along swimmingly throughout the Putin era, and never more so than now. The Saudis also have expressed strong interest in joining BRICS. I haven’t followed whether or not they want in on the SCO, but why in hell wouldn’t they? Also, the Saudis are clearly watching the de-dollarization occurring around the world and wondering how long they are going to prop up the U.S. petrodollar. The world is waiting for that shoe to fall off. For as much as Americans love to criticize the government of Saudi Arabia (understandable), it remains a fact that Saudi Arabia has been a key ally of the U.S. for years and its loss in that role would be incalculable. And it never looked more possible than it does today. All in the snap of a finger.
- India. The Indians have always tried to steer an independent path for themselves and continue to do so. India is not in a state of hostility per se to the West, but it’s getting there. India is economically and militarily very close to Russia and is warming up to China (which, for its own security and possible survival, it needs to). More and more it is being integrated into the Eastern system.
- Other nations including Iran (ostracized by the West but increasingly not by the rest), and huge portions of Africa and even South America are much closer to Russia and China than they were even two years ago.
- The level to which the U.S. has alienated China in the last few years is astonishing. No one wants to live in such a panopticon as what China has, but reality is reality. In a few short years, the U.S has made China into something like an enemy. It’s not that China is innocent of its own shenanigans, but the U.S. isn’t going to fix things by pretending they can dictate terms to the Chinese, like in Taiwan. It’s no longer going to work. The Chinese are biding their time; at some point they will occupy Taiwan, with which it already enjoys close economic relations.
- And of course there is the destruction of the Nordstream pipeline, which the entire world now realizes was done by the U.S. (and Norway and perhaps other nations) against not only Russia but against Germany and indeed the rest of Europe. A major longterm economic blow to the most important bastion of American power outside of North America itself. Can we even imagine how this will affect the long-term relationship of the U.S with Germany and the rest of Europe? At some point even the compliant Europeans are going to start talking back.
- Imagine that you were following the Second World War in real time and you were forming your opinions without studying the actual battles that were occurring. Imagine you just were not paying attention to the Battle of Stalingrad. That is the proper analogy for the West’s avoidance of what is happening right now in the city of Bakhmut, where as of this writing the Ukrainians are completely surrounded in what is the largest battle of the 21st century. I’m not saying the Battle of Bakhmut is as big as the Battle of Stalingrad. Of course it isn’t. But in terms of its importance to this war, it is every bit as important. Bahmut still in theory has an opening to the west but in fact even those roads are now covered by Russian anti-tank guided missiles. The loss of Ukrainian lives has been staggering. Yet hardly any Western voice comments on this. The implications are overwhelming to the outcome of the war.
- The continued U.S. and NATO talk about bringing Ukraine into NATO will assure the Russians that their only recourse is to completely destroy the power of the Ukrainian government and State. Of course Ukraine has not been independent since 2014, when the U.S. came in to run the operation, thanks to the machinations of people like Victoria Nuland and the rest of the neocons.
- The current U.S. move to increasingly sanction China, frankly, does not bode well for the West.
- There’s more but let’s leave it at that.
Summary: The worst strategic blunders in the history of the United States. Yes, Iraq and Afghanistan were bad. The destruction of the nation once known as Libya was terrible, to say nothing of what the U.S. did to Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But in terms of self-harm, nothing compares with what the U.S. is currently overseeing.
Ask yourself what are the key geostrategic goals that the United States has in the world today.
- Maintaining military dominance to deter potential adversaries and protect stated national security interests.
- Protecting access to vital resources such as oil and minerals around the world.
- Containing the influence of rival nations such as China and Russia through diplomatic, economic, and military influence.
- Ensuring compliance in regions that are important to American interests, such as the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
- Promoting free trade agreements with countries that provide benefits to American businesses and consumers. Or at least the global financial interests that dominate over all else.
That’s about what I could think of. Each of these goals has been severely undermined by U.S.-Western policy. I think the U.S. can survive a lot, and it can survive this, too. But the body blow to the global U.S. position is impossible to miss.
Perhaps these defeats were inevitable in the long term, but the last two years have seen a great acceleration of the trends. That’s what we are seeing now.
Finally, this is not to say who are the good guys or bad guys here. What there are, are national interests. That’s the reality and the U.S. has simply tried to ignore that other nations, especially other powerful nations, have their own interests. In the old days, the Americans understood this and at least recognized certain power realities, no matter what their stated “values” happened to be.
UFO Implications
For those of us primarily interested in the ongoing UFO reality, the developments listed above will have to have an influence. I can’t see exactly how all that will play out, but there is simply no way such a geopolitical nightmare for the U.S. can not have an effect.
During all the years that we have been aware of a UFO phenomenon, the United States had been the unquestioned leader of the world, the nation with a preponderance of power. This is now changing, I suspect irrevocably. It doesn’t mean the U.S. will be relegated to being a minor power. That won’t happen. But it will mean a substantial diminution of relative power, probably for a long time.
The UFO secret has been buried within a massive labyrinthian structure known as the U.S. national security state. That bureaucracy is massive, bloated, and is about to see a substantial overhaul at some point. People can be shielded from the truth for a while longer, but that won’t change the reality of the situation.
I don’t know if the time to pay the piper will be this year, next year, or sometime after that. But such a reckoning now seems unavoidable. We shall see how it all plays out.
Richard
Great article, thank you! I have one question about Ukraine and Russia and it’s been nagging me for months. While I agree western media is greatly exaggerating Russia casualties, how can we get a true and honest estimate of the losses on both sides? I’ve heard the same 100k plus figure for Russia you mentioned and I believe Ukraine has lost tens of thousands more than they’ll admit. I saw this tweet from the EU last year claiming over 100,000 Ukrainian officers had been killed, but that number seems high and possibly a translation error (https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1597913370023579648?s=20 ) Officers usually serve along with enlisted at a 15-1 ratio so that would imply hundreds of thousands of enlisted dead as well.
This is a long winded way of asking this question, but can you recommend a source for casualty data or suggest some accurate estimates for what Ukraine has lost up to this point?
Thanks again, I really enjoy your work. I came here following my interest in UFOs but as a former Army Captain and political science major I really enjoy your geopolitical work as well. The history of US false flags in particular was eye opening and one of my favorites. Best wishes and thank you!
So Richard, the F16 was operational in 1976 then the F117 Stealth Fighter was operational in 1983, that is 40 years ago and that fighter isn’t even mentioned these days. So what does the MIC have now that nobody knows about? Couldn’t 40 years of new stuff dictate some things?
Maybe, Michael Schratt could help you fill in what seem like some key missing points to your analysis as to whom is allowing what to happen to whom. -Cheers
I like reading your stuff. -A
Hi richard i will listen here, and i read really quickly to this point, and i am burned out before i got here, so……….I could be a little off base with this one. 🙂
“America 2001-2021: After 9/11, America’s ruling class tore off the mask and openly introduced the Homeland Security National Security State. In far greater debt than ever before, the US threw itself into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and openly engaged in regime change operations seemingly everywhere (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and as always Cuba). Those are only the highlights among others.” ”
So, what i quoted above, i would say it all applies before nine eleven happened. Certainly regime change operations and worse, had been happening in all those places you mention here, for a long time, and we aren’t even getting into all of the Latin American countries going back how many decades. And i must add it, because i don’t think there are many out there who even know why there is a ‘border crisis’. Because of the blatant ignorance of most Americans. And sadly and angrily i see that this includes folks who happen to be interested in crash retrievals and UAP. I see it in spades in that demographic. If someone knows of any one in msm who will ever go near that i would love to know about it. Never Tucker. No way, i will wager money with anyone who wants to prove me wrong. Nor would he back the Palestians, but i am off track here since i don’t trust him at all. Perspicacity folks. Sorry for dissing a hero. Nah, i don’t care. 🙂
I am positive Trump is clueless about the background history btw. That is a sidebar here. 🙂 Hillary Clinton would know, because she got called out about Honduras. But that is getting off topic.
But you are writing from one particular perspective via the title here. I get that. And i am not an historian and you have the literal facts here. I haven’t read past that part of your timeline though, but i guess the fact that it all has been predicated on genocide by the colonialists, etc, isn’t relevant. But me being me, i think it was predictable that it would implode. Because of what i just said. There are universal laws that trump all of this. No one needs to believe it, but i have found it to be apparent in many guises.
I know i am adding emotions and ethics and the qualities of decency and i think you are looking at it from that point of view, like when people say that Hitler’s big problem was “too many fronts”. I mean, that is one particular strategic analysis that is likely true. And if that is the scope of the analysis, such as, what was Nazi mistakes in that war strategy……………………Well, you know, i still actually believe that the genocide of of the Native peoples was a strategic mistake, just as the holocaust was for Hitler’s Reich. If you leave that out in the first place, i believe it colors everything else and places it in a kind of moral vacuum. And that is what i see in msm and most everywhere else. Denial is never helpful. Superficiality may be worse.
OK. I hope you understand why i feel the need to express this. I am quite passionate about it. And if we talk about what is going on in the u.s. and the world, we need a foundation based in reality. Because, well, i look around and see what happens when people are ignorant. Sorry, but that is the nicest thing i can say about folks who are up in arms against people and are too stupid and lazy to find out why it is even happening. Blowback is blowback.
It is all as obnoxious and insipid as “they hate us for our freedoms”. I see that kind of thinking in ufoland too. Very dangerous combination IMO. Before we get to hybrids and ET, etc, i think it would help to be grounded in a moral center and in truth about our own reality and history. But that is me.
Ok. Thank you Richard. I will listen to what you say because i don’t know where you go with this actually 🙂 Rita
“Don’t change before the empire falls, you’ll laugh so hard you’ll crack the walls”. That is a line that will be familiar. LOL.
“Read this without letting your emotions get in the way. Be as objective as you can. We’ll start with a quick lesson in American history, from a purely geostrategic standpoint. No ethics, no values, just realities”
I must have missed this originally, since it is exactly what i ended up doing. LOL. Anyway, i don’t believe that a purely geostrategic perspective is possible because nothing happens in that kind of one dimensionality. Compartmentalization isn’t reflective of ‘reality’. All levels impact outcomes. And decisions made are by humans and all actions will be based on values and belief systems, like it or not. Unless all of the decision makers have been robots.
As i said, the original genocide and broken treaties are the basis of the american ‘experiment’. That was strategic mistake and the foundation of what has ensued until now . I know you didn’t include that in the beginning, but i will keep saying it was a strategic mistake on many levels. Even on practical levels. We see how it turned out.
We can limit our scope but we will never learn from it. Empires will always collapse. Also, this continent had so many natural resources that existed no where else at that time that i know of. I know this will be called rita the snowflake, etc, but who came here and believed they owned it all because they were what? I have seen portraits and old photos. i think mainly western european. I am third generation so what do i know?
But my main point is that ‘reality’ doesn’t only reflect nuts and bolts. And if we analyze from that perspective i don’t see how anyone does better than they did a hundred years ago or a thousand.
Maybe we are saying, like with Hitler. American empire has too many fronts. Ocean, land, space full spectrum dominance. And how many bases does the u.s. have and how many bases for Russia and China? I think there are many out there who honestly don’t know the answer to this. Of course it is easy to find out, but…..
And i read and hear that ET is the ‘enemy’? I see that in the ‘community’ quite frequently. But that is another issue. I find it amusing and depressing simultaneously.
Thank you Richard. 🙂 I guess i should finish your article here to find out what your actual conclusion is!!! I still don’t know. Oy.
I am continuing reading this article right now. I have to say……………….OMG. You are one focused man. I mean, i will concede that i am very intrigued. 🙂 I even learned a new vocabulary word and i have never seen it before. “panopticon”. “panopticon noun 1 : an optical instrument combining the telescope and microscope 2 : a circular prison built with cells arranged radially so that a guard at a central position can see all the prisoners.” . I wonder which definition fits here? LOL.
I think the economic crash, which will be like the meltdown fifteen years ago but on steroids is coming soon. And all bets are off. I think that is the most likely, short termed scenario and game over. For the masses. I am actually grateful that i am not under forty years old now. And the economy isn’t the whole story on what is coming.
I still haven’t finished the article. I got side tracked with learning my new word!!! I do think this is a very good synopsis. And. Africa. That of course is a whole other history from hell. I think the ‘white man’ ……………………………………………I know. I am popular here. 🙂
Bravo for just plain putting this all together. But i am afraid to get to the UFO part. I cheated and took a quick scroll down. I don’t want to come back with more ramblings here!!!!!
Thank you, Rita. I appreciate that.
Richard,
I have to return to my theory that the present conflict is driven by climate change. Bear in mind, the financial capital of the West, if not the world is the City of London and the people who run it are the SHOT CALLERS and like any good parasite, they know that they will have to find a new host or base of operations. It may take a decade, fifty or a hundred years, but they will have to move. Greenland ice is melting faster than expected. The rate of the rising seas could accelerate a great deal once a certain point has been reached. Russia is a vast country with few people and the most likely place where the EU and other European and African countries will have to migrate to. War with Russia is indeed a very, very serious decision to take and there must be a compelling reason why NATO is at war with Russia. I find it interesting that Jens Stoltenberg was a UN Special Envoy for Climate Change before he was appointed Secretary General of NATO. I see this whole war as a desperate attempt to prepare for the rising seas by breaking up Russia, but I’ll concur with your assessment that it is the worst blunder on our history, thus far. But war with China is also on the horizon and the decision to go to war with China ( a big generator of greenhouse gases) will probably take the prize of worst blunder of the United States.
https://www.livescience.com/greenland-glacier-melt-model
https://theconversation.com/the-antarctic-ice-sheet-is-melting-and-this-is-bad-news-for-humanity-200972
Wow I fear you overestimate the situation my friend. Russia in particular has diminished to a minor player. Their military lacks for all the world to see. China has yet to face the massive inherent weaknesses it has. A technological country needs an educated population. This will slowly build as they realize they lack so many basic freedoms. It’s all just conjecture for the sad truth is the planet has reached the point of no return ecologically and environmentally. I doubt the visitors are here to bail us out.
And why do you have the idea that , i may be wrong about what you said here, China’s population is less educated than the U.S.? I think the u.s. is in the bottom of the barrel from what i see, hear and experience directly.
I absolutely love hearing you describe how bad those in power have screwed things up! Many of us know these things or feel it in our bones, but you bring an educated angle & a historical context to it, one thats rare in these censored woke times, and you believe in UFOs on top of it, unbelievable 🙂
I mean of course I wish they hadn’t squandered what was built, obviously people died for our standing in the world, but at the same time our leaders have been drunk on power for way too long and have held the people back in so many ways. We have become nothing but another arm of the globalist beast. I hope the world that emerges from these mistakes is one that is better for my fellow peons. Every time you write something like this I eat it up, please don’t ever be swayed by the people who don’t like to hear it, too bad if the truth hurts, nothing is gonna change with our heads in the sand.
Spent time on a comment that got eaten by a captcha that said “I might be a robot” , even though I correctly typed in the characters. What’s going on?
It’s almost laughable how hard you are trying to sell us the story that Russia is winning the war. They may well win, but almost all if your points about the economic effects of the war are just wrong. All one has to do is go to some unbiased news sources such as Al Jazeera to get the truth.
I admire what you have done in the field of UFOs etc, but your views on world politics are very skewed and it is getting tiresome to read them.
I would offer the overthrow of the duly elected leader of Iran in the 1950’s has had many more severe long term consequences than the war in Ukraine will ever have. Having the Shaw in power leading to the Iranian revolution has had far reaching global effects for decades. Ukraine not so much.
“Self harm” The Vietnam debacle is many times more of a costly blunder than Ukraine. The number of lives lost and ruined, the alienation of an entire generation of young people towards their government. Our country was in virtual turmoil for a decade over that war and the aftermath influenced our policies in harmful ways we are still dealing with. Ukraine pales in comparison.
The war in Ukraine was an unnecessary conflict and a stupid miscalculation, but unless the conflict ends in nuclear annihilation for the planet it is not close to our biggest blunder.
Indeed, it is difficult to find fault with the reasoning and implications of this summary. What goes up, it is said, must come down. We now seem to be viewing the inevitable ramifications of a ~200 year long process that, bolstered by the success and good fortune of the past, has increasingly moved towards arrogance and lack of concern for the common good with significant decline in quality of life for the average citizen. The truly frightening aspect of this process, however, seems to me the uncertainty of how the machinery of this state will respond if cornered by all the circumstances you cite here – will it lash out with a doomsday “hail Mary” in order to preserve dominance and control at all costs?
Thanks, Richard, for this concise overview of American history; this affords an overall perspective that might otherwise remain less in-focus. I appreciate your social conscience and intermittent reiteration of the fact that the ufo coverup is necessarily part-and-parcel of the national security apparatus, which is ultimately, hugely responsible for domestic and foreign affairs. This system of control that seeks to maintain the globalist narrative has kept the truth from the populace for decades. Perhaps, with an upcoming multipolar world, with other voices hopefully emerging sometime in the future, the phenomenon will be acknowledged to a greater degree. Until then, we’ll simply conduct our own, private investigations and enjoy the company of other like-minded people within our community.
Many thanks!
Richard, i can tell you that here in Europe everyone mocks the Americans. An Empire collapsing on identity politics. If Nukes weren’t a detergent China and Especially Russia would Obliterate America. America’s Army and Marines are at the lowest level ever. The soldiers they do have would never fight if drafted.. everyone at Pentagon knows this. The only thing that stops Russia and China from taking everything America has is their nuclear force. However with KTFS Satellites and AI locking down your ability to launch that strategy wont last more than 10 years. I would guess within a quarter century America Will be liberated by hopefully Russia but probably China. Unfortunately the men in the U.S. will neutered and turned into slaves.
Neutered? Really? Men as slaves. Are we afraid of a female takeover of the country? Or is this a plot to have hybrids take over america that is somewhere on the ‘web’?
@Lauren. “The only thing that stops Russia and China from taking everything America has is their nuclear force.” Did you give this comment any real, pragmatic context before posting? Derrr.
Thanks for the complete summary. I agree completely except that I am looking forward to returning to live in China again. I like bullet trains and a country that takes care of its people. Having lived there, your image of total government control was overblown… I think the United States currently is insane at least it is run by insane evil people. I am 71 and have witnessed the destruction of the middle class/working class in my lifetime. And also have witnessed the total corruption of this government which to me is now a fascistic Oligarchy. No justice for the US war criminals and assassins starting with JFK…The main stream propaganda makes me sick. I know we both listen to the same people so we both are aware of the same, I believe correct information, for example from people like The Duran , Jimmy Dore, Grayzone, Scott Ritter et al…to just name a few…Again thank you very much! I really enjoyed this post :-)…May the true UFO disclosure be close with the weakening of the US security state.
@Mark. Don’t let the plane door hit ya on the way out.
The Biden Empire has brought America to their knees.. the only chance America bhas in 2024 is https://t.me/TheConspiracyHole/38122
Luckily it doesn’t matter if all of America votes against Biden… Biden couldn’t fill a high school gym in the 2020 campaign Rally’s.. They still got him the 81 million votes to win. The American public knew it was a shame but they can’t do anything about it. They know that now more than ever. There probably not gonna even try and make the election look legitimate.
There is rumblings in Democratic circles John Fetterman may decide to run in 2024. Unfortunately he’s in a psychiatric hospital for depression. Fetterman has that every man quality the dying middle class loves. He’s a
Well, gee wilickers i , meritac, live in Pennsylvania. I haven’t heard anything about J.F. running for president. You seem to be more involved in u.s. election politics, than most who live here.
Which version of the u.s. empire did you like? I am not on my knees and i am in the homeland. I guess i am supposed to be ashamed of not enough personnel in the military? Not enough money for those folks. Too much money spent on health care. I have always said our military budget is too low and all the poor folk are getting my tax dollars. I have that as a bumper sticker in fact.
I say get rid of social security and medicare and give me bigger and better missiles.
I predict i am more likely to get a ‘like’ for this post than my long, original one. It is lonely in here. That i am quite serious about. Alien is what i feel like. And i am a human.
LOL. Did you see Trump’s crowds at CPAC? He’s a has been. He lost to Biden in the most examined election by a large margin. It would be much worse if he tries again.
Thanks for the thoughtful and factual summary Richard. I for one really value your analysis and commentary on global history and goings-on. My lap-dog Canada is a stupid accomplice in the mess, and we can only brace ourselves for the serious consequences to come. High regards, Carolyn
Hi Richard,
Let’s try again. Superb overview of American history. But we need to add an important factor: the extent to which we have a breakaway civilization versus an independent collection of UAP’s, each with its own jealous silo. For example, C.A. Fitts has maintained that the BC has been slowly draining the conventional economy, which implies an entity that is coordinating the various technological breakthroughs. Note that the BC is logically independent of UFO’s; we could have one from terrestrial genius and purloined patents. As far as UFOs go: merely verifying that they’re extraterrestrial would be enough to establish that our physics is incomplete, and native-born brains would eventually figure out the physics. (Unleashed imagination is the key. Historical example: once the intellectual prejudice against the infinitesimal was overcome, it was just a matter of time until the calculus was invented.) The way things are going, it seems like the BC goodies don’t emerge into public view until after the culling, and they will not be deployed for the survivors’ benefit.
Hi Greg, yes I agree with this. Thanks for adding this point.
Wonderful summary Richard! AND – I could find no fault(s). Thank you for again, tying it all together for us.
“Russians ‘forced to fight with shovels’ as ammo shortage undermines Bakhmut advance”. as reported by NBC ‘news”… what is the aim/purpose of these reports? who does it serve?
I know. Just when you think they can’t parody themselves any further…. they do. It is clearly not affecting the Russians, who are working on their own timetable, all too happy to let the Ukrainians fight in such a disastrous manner (at US urging). So what is it for? Simply to drag it all out and make as much $$ as possible? Perhaps that is part of it, but I think the crazies around Biden (which includes Biden himself) really believe they can pull out some magic and initiate regime change in Russia by putting a hurt to the Russians. I do know this is what they once thought … do they still think it now? Unbelievable, blind, idiocy.
Are you kidding? I don’t agree with Biden on many things, but crazy? The crazies and literally batshit insane crowd was in for four years. Just look at what the liars at Fox News really feel about Trump and the clowns around him, as revealed by the texts and emails made public in the Dominion lawsuit, that were screaming about election fraud. They didn’t believe a word Trump said and felt his four years were a total waste. That is a quote from Tucker that so many here seem to admire. You were lied to folks…every night, about everything, because they felt you were uninformed enough to believe them. And guess what? They were right.
Richard has presented a very good analysis here – I support and agree with his rationale on behalf of Airstrip One. This neo con manufactured war is representing a new low in media manipulation and the suppression of independent journalism.
I was able to access good accounts which indicate that several of the grandstand events which have bee used to maximise the ”evil Russian agenda” have been staged or augmented . Those who have attempted to report these questionable acts and tried to speak to genuine citizens have been treated appallingly.
This should not surprise us of course – and the old adage about truth being the first thing in the body bag is still relevant. It may surprise many, but the media are not being trusted as universally as before – the mendacious propaganda which outlets like BBC, ITN and SKY provided a conduit for in both Gulf wars, the so called Arab spring and the ”coloured revolutions ” has not been forgotten or forgiven But those voices of dissent are never heard and those who ask questions are shouted down or called appeasers by people who seem to have learned history from Hollywood.
I agree that this is (at least in part) a final act of desperation to support the overdrawn by 30 trillion with no collateral, dollars,fading supremacy as world exchange – That BICS now exists and that several sources report Chinese brokers trying to unload US debt for 10 cents on the dollar would indicate that desperate action was required – How far these neo cons are prepared to go to serve their shadow rulers presents the most worrying aspect – Destroying NORD was, as Hersch stated, ”an act of war”. That in my view was the most public confirmation we have ever seen in real time (after the event not thirty years later ), that ‘our side’ has abandoned its moral compass – if other stories – such as NATO actively participating in the training of and encouraging the formation of, neo Nazi battalions are true, then we are the oppressors – a hard concept to come to terms with – against all our programming
As Richard advises we do not have the ability to manufacture ordinance to support an artillery war- one that is currently eclipsing WW1 rates of discharge – Our logistical lines are dependent on airlift while Russia’s are internal – the Russian people have historically demonstrated a resilience which no Western nation could rival – Indeed if one were to look at the whole mess through the eyes of Sun Tzu you would immediately be able to predict the outcome . The danger – the real danger here – is that this war is unwinnable – unless one is prepared to deploy nukes
There are no black or white hats here only shades of grey – all war is a brutal tragedy and mechanised modern war is no different – the ordinary citizens of Ukraine are its pawns today – our turn may come. Bless and keep you all
Thank you…
It’s been so long since I have heard real information…I almost forgot what it sounded like.
Good grief, I couldn’t even attempt a simplistic opinion; everyone’s comments were really great and very interesting and I feel like I need more classes in geopolitics!
I do know this; that our country is at each other’s throats and if we are going to face either China or Russia or both, or if we face that the aliens might soon be our overlords, we better smarten up.
Thanks, Rich, interesting as always. I am downloading Vallee’s new book, I read all of his oldies years ago when I got them from Interlibrary loan, the man was prescient then and now.
Richard can you Interview Ross Coulthart? He reminds me of a 2015 Dolan. Extremely well spoken.. well researched.. and doesn’t have an agenda. His new book “In Plain Sight” is excellent. Also he has a podcast with your fellow author and Dark Skies producer Bryce Zabel.
Richard i would love for you to pick a classic UFO book from the past and discuss what it focused on. I want the people in here to know the history and not just the past 20 years.
Also everyone in here believes in Free SPEECH and they have assured me even though they may not agree with you they all acknowledge they have almost know actual knowledge of the things they get mad about. They admit there nothing but barking seals and get angry at anything CNN tell them to be angry at. Richard you just have ignore the screaming minions.. they have admitted there IQ is in the low 70’s.. Richard.. these people who get angry at you deserve your pity. There lives are pathetic and sad. Laugh at them as you would a bum who’s screaming at a light post.. Smile. Nod. Walk away….
Okay, these are good ideas. Coulthart, yes I am thinking of him. And I also like the book review idea. I’ll work on this, Lauren.
The biggest blunder was ousting Trump. Ukraine would never have happened.
LOL.
Again, look at the texts and emails from the Dominion lawsuit if you want to know the truth about Trump from those who publicly praised him.
Possibly but many would still be alive and others not displaced.
Richard I wasn’t triggered from this talk,and I did find it enlightening and educational . The United States blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline was a real shitty! move, and that the US is somewhat of bully. I am by no means on the side of China, but I don’t agree with the US trying put sanctions on China, that is going to backfire in the worse way .The US doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that China is now a super power ,and that China isn’t going to let the US have the final word on international matters anymore. There was time (WWl& WW2 )when the US was top dog, that other countries were indebted to the US , but that time has passed. It just pisses me off how Biden and his administration keeps sending billions of dollars to Ukraine; Ukraine is basically no more , many of the the people have fled the country, the government and the military is pretty much nonexistent. So where is all this money going? certainly not to the citizens of the former Ukraine. The only people who are going to see any of that money is the president and top government and military officials .We could be using a lot of that money in the US to help the homeless, or Native American reservations that are falling into disrepair, which the government is suppose to help with the up keep. I watched a documentary on You tube and I learned that the US government is suppose to help take care of certain issues on Native American land.
No one knows of course, but I have heard seemingly informed estimates that as much as thirty percent of the billions to Ukraine have gone into pockets of the Uber-corrupt group over there. And of course weapons going immediately to the black market and even sold directly to the Russians. Yes, that has happened. But what else can one expect regarding a government that (before the war, anyway) was universally regarded as the most corrupt in Europe and perhaps the world?
In a bigger sperpective.
Obvious blunders to those who are able to see between the trumpets of propaganda and lies but not to the ones who follow the wide path.
Now, what if all this is planned and the goal is some years in the future. The «green» goal to lower co2 levels is not green at all, plants need co2 to live and their exaust is air that we breed.
To me it seems like this planet is being terraformed to provide a better place for some other biological life then what we have now.
Maybe its not blunders but a small % of humans are aware this is «not good» while the large masses of population just follow the narrative.
Wide path vs narrow path, remember!!!!
Im not religious btw.