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Biden, father of Cold War 2

by



Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates hit the nail on the head with his observation about Biden’s foreign policy skills. “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” Gates remarked about Biden. Today, Americans are witnessing the reality of Gates’ foresight. No U.S. President in the past 70 years has bungled American foreign policy as disastrously as President Biden and his loyal coterie of senior officials—Blinken, Sullivan, Austin, and Yellen.

America has managed to convert nations with whom we entertained reasonably good relationships—like Russia and China from 2000 to 2010—into countries hostile to American interests. Russia and China detest the Biden foreign policy of insult, exclusion, and hypocrisy so much that they have declared a “no-limits” partnership with each other, with crucial ramifications for world peace.

North Korea was once considered a pariah nation even by Russia and China, two major countries that share a border with the rogue state. Both countries have long refused to provide North Korea with military and logistics technology and support, key factors that have prevented Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons launch capabilities and firing missiles long enough distances to reach American shores.

Thanks to the disastrous Biden foreign policy, Russian President Putin visited the North Korean capital in a high-profile state visit, with gavel-to-gavel coverage on Russian media. The two countries agreed on military cooperation during his first visit in more than 20 years. North Korea would continue to supply ammunition to Russia, having already done so to the tune of 11,000 container loads, all of which are designed to be used against Ukraine, in return for Russian technology that could finally help North Korea achieve the missile launch capability it so desperately seeks. So, has Biden also pushed North Korea into the Sino-Russian partnership with “no limits?”

Biden’s reckless leadership and ill-advised lifting of sanctions have increased Iran’s oil revenues, which in turn have funded Iran’s proxies such as the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Iran could exploit Russian, Chinese, and North Korean grievances against the United States by joining the “no limits” partnership. (Iran’s drones are already a huge part of Russia’s offensive weaponry.) At present, Iran lacks nuclear technological capabilities to be a threat to the region. However,  the partnership countries could provide the capabilities to make it a formidable force and threaten the friendly relations that the Saudis had with us until just five years ago when the Abraham Accords were signed.

Thirty-four years after Presidents Reagan and Bush convinced President Gorbachev that the 30-year Cold War that the two sides engaged in was not beneficial to anyone, President Biden is taking the West to a significantly more intense Cold War, uniting serious powers against the United States.

Biden, whose worldview was shaped in part by his time on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee during the Cold War, mistakenly believes that the West can prevail in a new Cold War. However, the key difference now is that Russia and China are far more capable than the Soviet Union was in 1990.

Russia has the world’s largest nuclear stockpile and sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities, and China has the world’s largest standing army. China is the second-largest economy and the world’s manufacturing center, with such a lead in the development of green technology and products that the world is in awe.

In the Ukraine war, Russia’s economy has not only weathered brutal Western sanctions never before launched on any one country – but has grown. At the same time, Germany continues to be in a recession. On the battlefield, Russia continues to make gains. How would the West fare in an ideological battle against such powers?

The Us vs. Them attitude, a staple during the Cold War, was evident in Switzerland during the recent Ukraine peace conference. Western nations unequivocally supported the West’s stance on Ukraine. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea did not show up for the event at all. The non-aligned Global South countries—India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, and the UAE —attended the summit but did not sign the joint communiqué. If this is not a substantially more intense version of the Cold War, we don’t know what is.

The new Cold War could also last a lot longer. Unlike during the first Cold War, the gap in the living standards between the West and the former Soviet Union client states is no longer relevant. Glasnost and Perestroika were essentially economic messages to corral support from the Soviet people to abandon the Cold War. No such motivation exists among the people of Russia and China who see that the Biden administration continues to act as an irresponsible bully in Ukraine and Taiwan.

Today, Russia and China are relatively well-off economies with no bread lines or centralized resource planning. If anything, Western nations have become so indebted that their wealth is no longer sustainable. Many Western countries have debt-to-GDP ratios that exceed 100%, something unthinkable during the 1990s. France’s continued borrow-and-spend policies invited a rebuke this week from Brussels. America pays $1 trillion a year to service its $34 trillion in debt.

None of these alarming facts seem to matter to the Biden foreign policy leaders as they jet from meeting to meeting, making matters worse. It is truly remarkable that America was involved in no new wars for only five months, from Sep 2021, when Biden disastrously withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving a trail of violence and instability behind, and February 2022, when Russia invaded a third country, Ukraine.

Since then, the West has poured nearly $400 billion into the wars in Ukraine and Israel, with not much to show and no end in sight. Russia continues to advance in Ukraine, and a total ceasefire with Hamas eludes America-backed Israel.

Biden and his team’s disastrous policies will have severe implications for decades, besides unifying Western nations in Cold War 2.

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TIPP Takes

Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More

1. U.S. Disappointed By Netanyahu’s Criticism Amid Tensions Over Israel’s War In Gaza – Al Arabiya

The White House response came as national security advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned meetings with Netanyahu’s two top aides to discuss the Gaza conflict.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

Netanyahu issued an English-language video in which he said Blinken had assured him that the Biden administration was working to lift restrictions on arms deliveries to Israel, an exchange the top U.S. diplomat declined to confirm.

“The idea that we had somehow stopped helping Israel with their self-defense needs is not accurate,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

Related: Biden Blunders On Israel Military Aid


2. IDF Transfers Powers In Occupied West Bank To Pro-Settler Civil Servants – The Guardian

The Israeli military has quietly handed over significant legal powers in the occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants working for the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

On its website, an order posted by the Israel Defense Forces transfers responsibility for dozens of bylaws at the Civil Administration – the Israeli body governing in the West Bank – from the military to officials led by Smotrich at the defense ministry.

Smotrich and his allies have long seen control of the Civil Administration, or significant parts of it, as a means of extending Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.


3. Northrop Grumman To Produce Medium Caliber Ammo In Ukraine – Kyiv Post

Security and aerospace behemoth Northrop Grumman said the firm plans to fabricate ammunition in Ukraine in the first open-source announcement by a major American arms producer of intent to manufacture munitions in the country.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

Dave Bartell, Director of International Business at Northrop Grumman Defense System (NG), commented on the Eurostatory arms show in Paris and said Ukrainian defense funds would be used to set up the assembly line to produce “medium caliber” ammunition.


4. EU Countries Agree On Fresh Russia Sanctions That Include Ban On Liquefied Gas – RFE/RL

The fresh sanctions on Russia aimed primarily at closing loopholes in previous restrictions and, for the first time, targeting Moscow’s lucrative liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

The new sanctions package bans the transshipment of Russian liquefied natural gas and the export of helium. The bloc estimates that between 4 billion and 6 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG were shipped to third countries through EU ports last year.


5. Romania Agrees To Send Patriot Air Defense System To Ukraine – UPI

Romania’s defense council cited deteriorating security conditions inside Ukraine because of Russia’s constant attacks on its civilian infrastructure.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

Romanian officials said Ukraine’s situation has broader implications for neighboring Moldova, which already has a Russian insurgence and Euro-Atlantic security.

The United States, the Netherlands, and Germany have already provided Ukraine with one Patriot system, and Germany has promised to provide Kyiv with another.


6. U.S. To Redirect Patriot Air Defense Orders To Ukraine: Report – Reuters

The Financial Times reported that Biden’s administration plans to halt all open orders for Patriot air defense systems and interceptor missiles and redirect supply to Ukraine until its defense needs are met.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

The report, citing people with knowledge of the decision, said the move could be announced as early as Thursday.


7. Putin Warns S. Korea’s Potential Arms Supply To Ukraine Would Be ‘Very Big Mistake’ – Yonhap

The South Korean government said Thursday it will reconsider its stance on its arms supply to Ukraine after North Korea and Russia signed a treaty that involves military assistance without delay if one of them is attacked.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

“I hope it will not happen. If it does, then we, too, will make the respective decisions, which South Korea’s current leadership is unlikely to be pleased with,” the Russian President told a press conference during his visit to Vietnam, according to Russia’s news agency Sputnik.


8. Russia, China Find Payments Workaround As U.S. Sanctions Net Widens: Sources – Reuters

Sources said President Vladimir Putin’s Chinese visit last month has helped ensure the two countries have payment alternatives for now.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

Since Putin’s visit, specially authorized banks have been set up in border regions that allow Russian firms to open non-resident accounts (NRA) with Chinese banks. This step has become more important since VTB’s Shanghai branch was targeted with U.S. sanctions, they told Reuters.

Trade between Russia and China ballooned to $240 billion in 2023.


9. Drones, Missile Equipment Included In $360m Arms Package To Taiwan – UPI

The Biden administration approved the arms deal Tuesday, as the U.S. ally faces increasingly aggressive maneuvers by China.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

U.S. State Department officials said the arms deal aligns with the nation’s strategic national interests and supports stability in the Asia-Pacific region.


10. TikTok Says U.S. Refused To Engage In Serious Settlement Talks – Al Jazeera

TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance have urged a United States court to strike down a law that will ban the popular short video app in the U.S. on January 19, next year.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

In details released, the two companies said the U.S. government has refused to engage in any serious settlement talks since 2022. ByteDance said the U.S. government prefers to shut down than work on an ‘effective solution’ to protect U.S. users.

ByteDance says a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.”


11. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Will Become NATO Secretary-General – UPI

Mark Rutte will succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary-general in October. Rutte is a strong supporter of Ukraine and recently overcame Hungary’s opposition to his bid.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

Hungary’s Orban supported Rutte after he affirmed he would honor the agreement to allow Hungary to not participate in support of Ukraine.


12. North Korea Building Border ‘Wall,’ Satellite Images Reveal – BBC

New satellite images analyzed by BBC Verify also show that land inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) has been cleared, which experts say could violate the long-standing truce with South Korea.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

According to experts, this recent activity is “unusual” and comes at a time of rising tensions between the two countries. The DMZ is a 2.5-mile buffer zone between North and South Korea, which are still technically at war despite never having signed a peace treaty.


13. U.S. Puts Japan Back On Currency Manipulator Watch List After 1 Year – Kyodo News

The U.S. Treasury Department said it has once again added Japan to a list of major trading partners it monitors for potentially unfair foreign exchange practices.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

For the list, a country would have to have a trade surplus of at least $15 billion with the United States, a current account surplus of at least 3 percent of GDP, and if it has engaged in persistent, one-sided intervention in foreign exchange markets.


14. Somalia Asks Peacekeepers To Slow Withdrawal, Fears Armed Group Resurgence – Reuters

Somalia and neighboring nations have expressed concern that resurgent al-Shabab armed group fighters could seize power amid a ‘security vacuum.’

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a peacekeeping force, is committed to withdrawing by December 31, when a smaller new force is expected to replace it.

Four diplomatic sources and a senior Ugandan official said the European Union and the United States, the top funders of the force in Somalia, have sought to reduce the peacekeeping operation due to concerns about long-term financing and sustainability.


15. Eating Nuts May Help With Weight Loss – HealthDay News

Researchers said people who ate 1.5 to 3 ounces of almonds, peanuts, pistachios, or walnuts daily as part of a calorie-cutting diet wound up losing more weight than those on the same diet without nuts.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

“People often avoid nuts when trying to lose weight because they think that the energy and fat content in nuts can contribute to weight gain,” said senior researcher Alison Coates. Instead, it looks like nuts might help curb hunger more effectively.


16. Cyberbullying, Sexual Harassment Common In Online Gaming – HealthDay News

Nearly 96% of 145 video game players from 14 countries said they had been targeted online the previous year. Women and professional e-sports players are the most common targets of abuse, results show.

Biden, Father Of Cold War 2

“The more professional a player becomes, the more they are exposed to hostile behavior,” lead researcher Louise Trudgett-Klose said.


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