Russia seems to be in the news more and more lately. Russian leader Putin is seen closing trade deals with China. Speculation runs rampant that Russian troops and equipment have moved into the Ukraine. The US and Russia seem to be locked in a new kind of financial war with the US pushing sanctions and (some say) pressuring the Saudi's to let oil prices drop (which hurts major oil producer Russia).
Russia appears to retaliate with random cyber attacks (even on the White House) and buying large amounts of gold. Both Russia and China are seeking to displace the US dollar as sole reserve currency where ever they can. Russia has been been projecting military power all over the world by sending out war planes and ships. Below are links to articles on all these issues.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bloomberg View - Putin is the Biggest Gold Bug
Russia Direct - Now Comes the Moment of Truth for the Russian Ruble
Russia Today - Building Alternative to SWIFT
Russian Jet Forced Out of Baltic Air Space
Russian Military Planes Buzz Canadian Warship
Russian Bombers Reach to Gulf of Mexico
Russia Stations Warships Off Australian Coast Ahead of G20 Summit
NY Times - Russia Behind Cyber Attacks
CNN - Russian Troops Move into the Ukraine
Business Insider - Russia and China Gas Deal
Bloomberg - Russia Signals Ruble Defense Amid Currency Rout
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Added Comments:
By now you get the idea. Russia and the West (especially the US) are engaged in a global chess match. War is being waged in a new and modern way. No bullets or missles are being used, but war is clearly ramping up.
If you follow the news articles on all this from both the western media and Russian media perspective, you will find that the western media emphasizes how badly the sanctions are hurting Russia. They talk about the fall of the ruble and how falling oil and gold prices are hurting Russia and Putin. The Russian media emphasizes all the trade agreements being done between Russia and China and how the US dollar is losing its reserve status around the world.
Western media projects Putin in a negative way while Russian media projects him in a postiive light. For example, here is a Russian media article talking about how the west "demonizes" Russia and Putin. Contrast that with this Australian media article where western leaders call him a bully trying to "recreate the lost glories of the Soviet Union".
So what is Russia up to lately? A lot.
What should readers here take away from all this?
Readers here should realize that both sides in this war are going to constantly spin whatever happens to try and get public opinion on their side. The media is just another weapon of war in this type of conflict. Readers should look at the source of any media coverage of events and factor that into the way the coverage is spun. It's pretty easy to see if you are watching for it. Here on this blog, we will follow the events to see how they may impact major monetary system change over time.
No comments:
Post a Comment