Jane Kelsey in her latest piece in TDB, is headed The US-Driven IPEF – “what is this thing?” She is referring to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) meeting in Brisbane last week.
“IPEF is the centrepiece of the US’s strategy to counter the influence of China in the Asia Pacific, alongside the explicitly security-focused Quad with Japan, Australia and India. The four pillar framework of trade, resilient supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (tax and corruption), is split between the US Trade Representative (Pillar 1) and the Commerce Department for the rest.”
It’s pretty obvious what is happening. From Obama’s pivot, to Trump’s trade war to Biden’s call to stop China taking over the world, we are being sucked, deal by deal, into a NATO East with obligations to join the US coming war on China over Taiwan. This latest move, the IPEF, is to update the Asia Pacific partners in the methods of economic warfare where the US uses its hegemonic power to sanction Russia and China’s economies, isolating them from Western finance, trade and security controls.
It is a desperate move because so far this strategy has backfired and Russia and China are forging ahead with building an alternative economic bloc capable of challenging the Western bloc. Anybody who understands why we are now facing a bipolar world, in which the US in decline is forced to act unilaterally to draw all its allies and proxies into a bloc against the rise of Russia and China, can see what is at stake here. It is the 20th century Great Game, 21st century style, revived by the US in sheer desperation to contest China and Russia for control of Eurasia and therefore the world.
This is not the result of some aberration, a US gone rogue under the neo-cons or the deep state, but the inevitable outcome of capitalism in terminal decline, incapable of developing any further, but rather destroying the natural material base of its ability to even survive without destroying human civilisation.
In the realisation that the oncoming global economic collapse is about the survival of the fittest, and that Russia and China have proven not only that the collapse of the soviet world was not the world historic victory for capitalism, but the transformation of the soviet world into more powerful imperialist rivals, the US led West is running out of time and is now gambling on an all or nothing, zero-sum, fight to the finish.
NZ joining the US led bloc is choosing the losing side in this historic endgame, and risking taking us to our doom in a nuclear WW3. We need to reject support for both imperialist sides in this showdown, and carve out our own neutral, independent and sustainable path to survival. In the process we set an example to the vast majority of nations who do not want to be part of a nuclear holocaust, and help create whatever chances there are left for survival in a human, free, equal, sustainable and just world.
Dave Brownz is TDBs Guest Marxist, because every left wing blog should have a guest Marxist.
Very well said.
I have only one criticism. That is that I believe that China will behave much more benignly that the British and US empires. They hold a view of international democracy. By this they mean respecting the sovereignty of other states, no matter how repressive or progressive they are. They have also shown generosity in forgiving billions of dollars of African debt.
It’s a case of keeping a careful eye on them, and as you rightly say, forging our own path. Unfortunately the US will use it’s still enormous power to bring us to heel.
Yes well said DB.
It’s super scary that because of our historical colonial international alliances, we could find ourselves playing a major part in some war against China. As a sort of natural segue from our gushing support of NATO/US in Ukraine.
Yes we need to carve out our own neutral and independent foreign policy. We need better media that doesn’t just regurgitate mainstream negative hostility towards China and Russia. Why is everyone so worried about China anyway? They’re surrounded by our American and Australian friends military bases! We couldn’t be safer! Not.
The media barely covers any Oceania and Pacific news. Did anyone catch the Tuvalu Prime Minister’s speech at the Pacific leaders forum earlier this year? It was great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBBsv0QyscE They have no inclination towards building any alliances to serve imperial or corporate ideology – their only imperative is to survive.
Or did any main stream media cover the proposal led by Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands at the International Maritime Organisation meeting in London recently – the proposal is to have the shipping industry to pay for their polluting and to decarbonise by 2050. These are the countries that we should be building alliances with as a policy continuation of nuclear free and independent (and de-colonised and decarbonised) Pacific.
Our immigration policy needs to be much friendlier towards our south Pacific neighbours. Tuvalu is sinking and we still make it nearly impossible for Tuvaluans to migrate here.
What have we got to lose by having a nuclear free and independent Pacific policy as the basis of all our international relations? The only war we should be involved in is the war against climate change. We’d be really fucked if we take a side in a potential US/China military showdown.
I don’t think the Uyghurs, Tibetans, Inner Mongolians, Fulan gong would agree with your assessment of the CCP as being benign. Not when the Chinese Criminal Party openly practices the murder of thousands simply to harvest their organs.
Japan being threatened with nuclear strikes probably don’t share your views either. Or the Aussies with similar attitudes. Or the rest of the countries within the Indo Pacific region.
Finally, the working people may be able to escape the misery of complete domination by Wall Street and the military-industrial complex.
However this will require a vigilent popular movement in the streets, as the U.S. intelligence services will quickly overthrow any independent-minded government that doesn’t want war with China (and local U.S. bases to fight it).
The B.R.I.C.S. countries and the wider S.C.O. alliance provide a clear path out from the imperialist U.S. ‘forever wars’, loss of sovereignty, and crushing neoliberal asset stripping.
Via a simple bilateral agreement, China could quickly provide the machinery to resume import substitution using re-opened local factories, and eventual local production of heavy machine tools — directly from state firms.
Connecting to the B.R.I. means immediate access to Chinese bullet trains, complete with financing and construction crews. All closed rail, tram and trolleybus lines could soon be reopened and extended.
The S.C.O. has new financial infrastructure to escape from the tyranny of the paper U.S. Dollar and its sanctions, and return to the use of gold in trade/banking/coinage.
Russia can provide equipment to reopen the State Mines, and ship all minerals or energy which cannot be found locally.
China and Russia can also provide the machinery and designs to reopen the local electronics factories, including computer production. This is the path to returning control of communications to the Post Office, smashing the censorship and surveillance of the Silicon Valley monopolies.
Reversing Rogernomics can only happen once the NATO toadies in Parliament are swept away.
A bizarrely incorrect premise right from the start. Allow me to put you straight:
We are not facing a bipolar world. Instead, we are facing a UNIPOLAR world.
Russia has already lost and will in short order become a basket case nation. So too has China, but most people aren’t aware of it yet. The Chinese economy is cratering as demographics, geography, de-globalization and their own corrupt autocracy work against it. Thus, there will be no attempt to invade Taiwan because the CCP looked at the result of the Ukraine invasion and saw what a monumental error it was. (Their recent sabre rattling was probably just to get President Xi another 5 years at the top.)
Thus, New Zealand faces two medium term problems:
Firstly, our largest trade partner (China) may slide back into a ‘warring states’ mode just like it has done repeatedly between dynasties for the last 3000 years and not be able to absorb our exports.
Secondly our decades long ambivalence toward the USA and ANZUS may put us at the back of the queue when it comes to trade deals with the only global power.
Happy Christmas
This is pure delusion IMHO
It is highly likely
Russia and China: Low debt, controls huge natural resources, industrial powerhouse, huge combined population, rising living standard.
U.S.A. and its E.U. vassals: Unpayable amounts of debt, needs to invade countries for natural resources, totally reliant on foreign factories, small population, collapsing living standard.
It is unusual for me to agree with you although in this case while I support your conclusion about a Unipolar world it is based on a sound interpretation of Revelation 13:11-17 which is demonstrated by the events you mention. While the mostly secular west has removed the need for God the fact remains that no other explanation for our existence has any merit and that we are living in a time of judgment. There are 2 false powers (Apostate religion & Atheism, represented by the king of the North & South respectively) that Daniel 11:40-44 tells us will see forced worship imposed around the Earth starting in the USA.
I’m glad this situation is now being addressed on TDB. This is a door that needs to be opened-out wide. This situation is amongst the truths being stifled by wall-to-wall propaganda posing as journalism and mindlessly passed along the chain with the helpful addition of social media being censored and controlled by the US spy-complex.
In NZ, claims of nazis under the bed and everywhere else, absolutely anywhere there is a hint of alternative thinking -nothing but far-right naziism. Apparently.
We are going down. The middle class is terrifyingly oblivious to the fact that the US is a crumbling ex-empire symptomatic of western neo-lib economics at end-game.
We’re here, now, and we are in real trouble along with the earth we have pillaged to very-near destruction.
It’s happening and we need to get real.
Ah, the North China Sea. Wipe It. Off. The Map.
“…..Russia and China are forging ahead with building an alternative economic bloc capable of challenging the Western bloc.” Dave Brownz
We must guard against, replacing one set of imperialists with another set of imperialists.
The resounding defeat of the Russian imperialists by Ukraine resistance and Russian revolt, will be the beginning of the end for the entire rotten system of global imperialism and rivalry and war.
Come on, Pat. Zelensky is a U.S. puppet, ruling over an extreme coup regime that the U.S. installed, fighting a war the U.S. started, in order to break up Russia (whose finance capitalists aren’t even ready to form the basis of an imperialist power).
> Pat wrote: “It’s important to show that leftists are also defending Ukraine, fighting against the invasion, and making possible a common future for all of us.”
Their parties have all been banned, and the opposition press has been shut down by Zelensky!
The only parties Ukraine have banned are the pro-Russian ones and that’s fair enough in a war situation. There are still opposition blocs led by Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. More lies from the pro-Putin camp – you should be ashamed of yourself Kristoff R. or are you Nick J in disguise?
Keep on sucking up the propaganda
https://www.european-left.org/end-the-ban-nof-opposition-parties-in-ukraine/
The only opposition parties left are rightist
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/21/why-did-ukraine-suspend-11-pro-russia-parties
All of this is available, yet you choose to tow the party line
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