The Growing Threat of War and the Critical State of the Global Financial System (Source globalresearch.ca)

Three developments are shaping the current world situation: an increase in social tensions, the intensification of international political conflicts and the increasingly undisguised preparation of the Western alliance for war against Iran. The war – the critical state of the global financial system. Journalists are bending over backwards to convince the public that the global economy has completely recovered from the 2007/2008 crisis, that we are witnessing a global economic boom and that the dangers in the system are under control. In fact, none of these claims are true. The simple reason is that they all ignore the historic importance of the cross-border manipulation by the central banks, which was necessary to save the system from collapse after it nearly broke down in 2007/2008, and which still keeps it alive today. Without money injections and low interest rates and without the purchase of government and corporate bonds by central banks, the global financial system, as we know it, would no longer exist. The world’s leading central bankers are well aware of this. This is shown by their futile attempts to turn the wheel. Even the most timid announcements to contain the flood of money and significantly increase interest rates send such shock waves through the financial community that it is already clear: there can be no return to a normality in which no excess money is printed, interest rates are raised to a level that was once considered normal and no more bonds or shares are bought by the central banks. So what will happen next? Will central banks simply continue the policy of the past ten years? After all, nobody can stop them from printing unlimited amounts of money and lowering interest rates – along the lines of the Swiss Central Bank – into negative territory. In fact, nobody can stop them, but the consequences these measures would bring with them are foreseeable: A further increase in speculation, even greater volatility in the markets, an even stronger inflation of the bubbles, which are almost bursting already, the complete destruction of the classic banking business (lending against interest rates), the disintegration of traditional commercial banks and savings banks, the complete takeover of markets by investment banks and hedge funds, the collapse of pension systems – to name but a few of the expected consequences. Worse than any of these consequences is the creeping loss of confidence in the entire monetary system, which has not been tied to any real value since the decoupling of the US dollar from gold in 1971. It can be assumed that at some point it will affect the entire system, lead to a panic in the markets and cause the global financial card house to collapse.

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The missile defense system that the US and its allies rely on fails just about everywhere it’s used (Source Business Insider) Houthi forces in Yemen fired seven missiles at Riyadh. Saudi Arabia confirmed the launches and asserted that it successfully intercepted all seven. This wasn’t true. It’s not just that falling debris in Riyadh killed at least one person and sent two more to the hospital. There’s no evidence that Saudi Arabia intercepted any missiles at all. And that raises uncomfortable questions not just about the Saudis, but about the United States, which seems to have sold them — and its own public — a lemon of a missile defense system. Social media images do appear to show that Saudi Patriot batteries firing interceptors. But what these videos show are not successes. One interceptor explodes catastrophically just after launch, while another makes a U-turn in midair and then comes screaming back at Riyadh, where it explodes on the ground. It is possible, of course, that one of the other interceptors did the job, but I’m doubtful. That is because my colleagues at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and I closely examined two different missile attacks on Saudi Arabia from November and December 2017. In both cases, we found that it is very unlikely the missiles were shot down, despite officials’ statements to the contrary. Our approach was simple: We mapped where the debris, including the missile airframe and warhead, fell and where the interceptors were located. In both cases, a clear pattern emerged. The missile itself falls in Riyadh, while the warhead separates and flies over the defense and lands near its target. One warhead fell within a few hundred meters of Terminal 5 at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. The second warhead, fired a few weeks later, nearly demolished a Honda dealership. In both cases, it was clear to us that, despite official Saudi claims, neither missile was shot down.

China imposing new tariffs on US meat, fruit, other products (Source Associated Press) China said it’s rolling out new tariffs on meat, fruit and other products from the United States as retaliation against taxes approved by U.S. President Donald Trump on imported steel and aluminum. The Chinese finance ministry said in a statement that the new tariffs begin Monday. The announcement follows warnings Chinese officials have made for several weeks in an escalating trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. China’s Customs Tariff Commission is increasing the tariff rate on pork products and aluminum scrap by 25 percent. It’s also imposing a new 15 percent tariff on 120 other imported U.S. commodities, from almonds to apples and berries. The White House didn’t respond to a message from The Associated Press on Sunday seeking comment. The tariffs mirror Trump’s 25 percent charge on imported steel and 15 percent hike on aluminum. Trump has also announced separate plans to slap tariffs on nearly $50 billion in Chinese imports. Trump’s planned tariffs are partly aimed at punishing Beijing for allegedly stealing American technology and pressuring U.S. companies to hand it over. But the Chinese response could end up hurting American ranchers and farmers, many of whom are from regions that voted for Trump in 2016. U.S. farmers shipped nearly $20 billion of goods to China in 2017.

US lowering threshold for using nukes causes deepest concern – Lavrov (Source RT)

Russia is worried the US could respond with nuclear weapons to a wider range of circumstances and that its priorities lie in establishing “military supremacy and upsetting parity” when it comes to “strategic stability.”

“The US policy of lowering the threshold of using nuclear weapons causes the deepest concern,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the Moscow Conference on International Security. Washington’s latest Nuclear Posture Review expands a number of scenarios in which a nuclear response would be considered. The US is also planning to replace outdated ballistic missiles with new, less powerful nuclear warheads to have them available and ready to give a “flexible response.” NATO’s growing military activity near the borders of Russia and further efforts to deploy missile defense systems there is another worrisome factor for Moscow. “In the sphere of strategic stability, Washington attaches priority to gaining military supremacy and upsetting parity,”. Lavrov said the West should finally realize that they will no longer be able to play the “one goal game.”

“There are no prospects for them to seek to achieve unilateral advantages at our expense and that security in the Euro-Atlantics, in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world as a whole should be equal and indivisible.” “We are not interested either in confrontation or in setting off an arms race. But Russia will safeguard purposefully and effectively its interests, its sovereignty and independence, using the entire arsenal of tools available to us,” Lavrov said.