When the leaders speak of peace
The common folk know
That war is coming
When the leaders curse war
The mobilization order is already written out. — Bertolt Brecht
With Europe once again on the brink of war and new cold-war alliances forming and splintering from day-to-day, French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Russia for a private meeting with Russian President Putin. France is part of the NATO alliance but has always had an independent streak when it comes to European defense and foreign policy especially during the Trump years and more recently after being cut out of the profitable nuclear submarine deal between the US, UK and Australia (AUKUS).
I’m not sure what Macron hoped to get out of his meeting with Putin. Probably he just wants to have a seat at the big-power table and keep France is in the mix when the dust settles on Ukraine.
But some crazy shit went down as Macron made his way to Mocow. He refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test before his meeting with Putin. He reportedly was afraid the Russians would “get hold of his DNA”
I’m not sure what Macron thought the Russians would do with his DNA. Maybe make a MACLONE? But his refusal meant that a 20-foot distance from Putin was required in order to “protect Putin's health.” Thus the giant table (above) in the Kremlin separating the two.
You heard of The Squad. Now there’s The Quad.
A new alliance of anti-China Cold military/economic powers, US, Australia, Japan, and India self-named The Quad, has come together as part of AUKUS, armed with nuclear subs and hypersonic missiles to make sure the Indo-Pacific region stays free from "coercion” (Don’t laugh. This is serious).
Coercion is code language as you might have guessed, not for western missiles and subs in the South China Sea, but for China’s growing economic influence in the region.
It’s only fitting that on this day 77 years ago, when the victorious big powers redivided Europe into spheres of influence at Yalta, that a new block organized by the US, should emerge. This one definitely NOT anti-facist as it has India’s fascist Modi regime as a part of it. The irony is that Yalta, among other things, set the stage for the Atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and yet, here’s Japan back in their imperial mode in Asia.
"We agreed to boost maritime security support for Indo Pacific partners to strengthen their maritime domain awareness and ability to develop their offshore resources, to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight and to combat challenges such as illegal fishing," Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said after the Quad meeting.
Illegal fishing? Surely you jest, Minister Payne.
Japan happens to be the world’s largest consumer of high-value fish, such as bluefin tuna, and the third-largest seafood importer after the European Union and the United States. This makes Japan vulnerable to importing large amounts of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) seafood, and according to a recently published study, its lax traceability requirements all but guarantee that illegal seafood has a market in the island nation. On July 1st, 2019, Japan resumed commercial whaling after leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC).