Articles
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
The West has, over decades, used its technological capabilities to spy on a host of other countries and organisations. Spy hardware was built into communications systems by Crypto AG. Crypto was a Swiss firm founded in 1952 and secretly bought by the CIA and the West German spy service. In all, 120 countries were sold apparatus which enabled their communications to be decrypted by the US National Security Agency (NSA). The information gathered was actively used by the West to intervene for example, in the Egyptian/Israeli negotiations at Camp David in 1978, and to aid the British during the Falklands war. Crypto continued in use until 2018 its capabilities having been superseded by the use of software. We are now all spied on through our use of search engines and social media and the NSA has a huge capacity to process all that data fed in from Google, Facebook etc.
Monday, November 2, 2020
The right wing and liberal media are united in their attacks on so-called Russian interference in western elections. This has been so hyped that it is almost taken for granted, yet the evidence does not stack up. The Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report failed to substantiate allegations of Russian interference. It blamed the lack of evidence on spooks not having looked hard enough. Yet the ISC used this non-evidence as a basis for arguing that Britain should boost its offensive cyber warfare capabilities, calling for more resources for the National Offensive Cyber Programme set up by GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence. This year a National Cyber Force was also established and Britain hosts the NATO Intelligence Fusion Centre at RAF Molesworth.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
We are now only too used to a world of war, including in Europe in the Balkans and the continuing conflict in Ukraine. The cold war is portrayed as a time of great world tensions, yet there was far less armed conflict and more attempts to achieve peaceful relations between states. The Helsinki Accords were an attempt to create a binding framework for security and cooperation in Europe, but did not fulfill their potential due to the West's lack of commitment.
Monday, October 26, 2020
The West demonises Russia and Putin to stir up hostile sentiment to a rival. Putin has stood up to this, which has provided an important counter-balance to Western power. However, that does not make his regime a positive one for the people of Russia. The West has its favoured opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny, but there are other forces on the ground.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
The West has a strategy of trying to encircle Russia with friendly states. Since Belarus hasn't voluntarily gone down this route it was set up for another 'colour revolution', following a familiar pattern from the likes of Ukraine. However, its President Alexander Lukashenko didn't give in to that either and has resisted the attempt to oust him from power.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic continues to demonstrate the inability of capitalism to deliver for people. The more neo-liberal and parasitic countries are then the worse they have done. Trump's handling of the crisis has been catastrophic for Americans, but whatever damage it does, the United States remains the world's hegemonic superpower. It is now, however, facing conflicts with other capitalist powers over their different strategic interests. Above all the US has decided to ramp up tensions with China as it seeks to prevent it challenging its global dominance.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Cuba and china have offered support to other countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Their actions have been dismissed by the EU and worse the US has warned other countries not to accept Cuban help.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The post 2nd world war settlement was supposed to guarantee peace in Europe, but the actions of the West and NATO have stoked tensions over the years. A huge exercise, Defender-Europe 20 was due to last 5 months and would have been the biggest military deployment in Europe for 25 years. Only the coronavirus outbreak prevented this massive military build up from happening.