Europe (and the UK) responds by planning to re militarise, funded by a mixture of welfare cuts, tax rises and borrowing.

I haven’t blogged on political matters for months, largely because of the disconnect between the scale and pace of geopolitical change (Ukraine, The Near East, Syria, China, the collapse of the Biden administration and the election of Trump etc) and my ability to keep abreast and respond in a timely and considered manner. On a number of occasions I have felt that I had something to say but before the pieces were no more than outlines events made them, if not redundant, then certainly ‘old news.’ I have found this frustrating because there is no doubt momentous things have been happening, things that would be worthy of comment.

The current ‘thing’ is the apparently changing relationships between the US, Europe, the UK and Russia with the particular focus on the war in Ukraine. So momentous in my view are these changes that I am going to cheat. I am not going to offer comment of my own but rather signpost to a geopolitical analyst who has the knack of frequently cutting through not only western mainstream media propaganda but also the often philosophical idealism and wishful thinking of many in the alternative media – ex US marine Brian Berletic.

The video is 43 minutes long – so not a short listen, but worth it in my view for the potted historical context and the analysis of what the collective west is currently up to. For those who just want to hear the instructions direct from Pete Hegseth go straight to 8 minutes 30. This includes the requirement that Europe must level with its population about the threat posed to it by Russia.

So (even) more propaganda coming our way.