[Newfie]

Zeihan has posted his comments on todays update.

[theluckycountry]

We are in for some interesting times ahead

Lol, that's putting it mildly.

Oh well, it was a fun ride while it lasted I suppose. No chance of the Australian lapdogs joining, our wagon is firmly hooked to the US/British Empire. You have to be invited to join, so I can't see Japan ever getting in either. No one trusts them. They went to Saudi Arabia a few months back, hat in hand to arrange for more oil. But they didn't know how to talk to the arabs and the arabs told them to piss off, in a diplomatic way. It's a funny old world hey

June 2019
Saudi Arabia began courting Toyota two years ago to build a large car plant as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s grand plan to wean the kingdom off oil revenues and create jobs for young Saudis. But the Japanese carmaker has rebuffed Riyadh’s overtures following talks that dragged on without tangible results because high labor costs.

November 2022
A business forum of Japanese and Saudi government and business leaders set to take place in Tokyo next Monday has been called off after the Saudi delegation cancelled its trip... A separate Saudi-Japan reception hosted by Arab News planned for Sunday was also cancelled, JETRO said.

July 2023
Japan is making preparations for a meeting of foreign ministers from Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in Saudi Arabia in early September... Japan aims to strengthen ties with oil-producing countries to ensure a stable energy supply from the Middle East, where the influence of the United States is declining while China’s influence is rising

Now going WAY back in time
July 2001
Fresh Japanese attempts to restart negotiations for renewal of an oil-drilling concession in Saudi Arabia’s Alkhafji area to Japan’s Arabian Oil Company have failed, high-level government sources said yesterday... Saudi-Japanese negotiations to renew AOC’s concession in the Neutral Zone between the Kingdom and Kuwait failed in February last year when Tokyo rejected conditions set by the Kingdom. “The Japanese side tried again to convince Saudi officials to continue talks on the license issue. But the committee categorically refused,” the sources said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/214208

They should have sucked it up and played ball.

[theluckycountry]

Zeihan has posted his comments on todays update.

Zeihan
Have you ever seen a couple of 3-year-olds sitting on the playground talking gibberish and acting like they’re making life-changing decisions? Well, that’s what’s going on at the BRICS summit in South Africa this week.

BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and if you’re struggling to find some overlap between those countries…you’re not alone. With limited economic ties and diverse interests, this group of countries struggles to connect on anything meaningful.

https://zeihan.com/the-brics-summit-sig ... or-hoopla/

What a Patriot! I see why Zeihan is popular in US circles. He tells Americans exactly what they want to hear, that the US empire is strong and moving forward, that nothing else in the world is relevant.

And if you were hoping this would shake up the global landscape, I’m sorry to burst your bubble.

Actually, they already have, but he needn't worry, he'll still make lots of money along the way. And that's what it all boils down to isn't it. Making money. These 'analysts' don't work for free, they have a target audience they have to satisfy.

[Newfie]

I do not hear him as you do. I believe it is a matter of perspective, knowing his fundamental thoughts.

For starts his basic premise is that the USA is backing away from being the Global Cop, specifically that the USA will no longer be insuring safe commercial passage throughout the world. Nor does he take sides on that issue, he just states it as his bedrock assumption, the USA is moving from a Globalist agenda to a being a regional power. Everything else falls from that.

Of course there is a whole world of other places, and he spends a lot of time on them. And he does believe that North America is the place that will degrade slowest, but for very obvious reasons; 3 large countries with decent resources and extremely defensible borders. NA is unique in the world in that respect.