Phil Butler

There’s a blazing truth staring Russia in the face. It’s a truth 193 other countries have been forced to face too. Americans, by and large, do not give a damn what wars we are in, or if we win or lose. The plight of other nations, or even our next door neighbors’ catastrophes, are too far outside our empowered exceptionalism. I know, I know, it’s a shocking revelation…

Did you know that Russia is in a ruthless pursuit of geopolitical, strategic, commercial, and economic interests in Africa and beyond? This is how western think tanks and other organizations aligned with the liberal order frame Russian foreign policy, Russians, and especially Vladimir Putin. Funny, isn’t it, how one word can make all the difference. (see bolded termsDahJTkfw Look what…

The caption under a photograph of a familiar public figure on a boat somewhere reads, “Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the modernization of Russia’s navy.” In my ever more cynical geopolicy brain I hear echoing, “Good God people, stop him before he manages to do his job!” I mean, just what the hell else should Russia’s president be doing in the face of a trillion…

The scenes from Kabul prompted ten thousand newspapers to frame Saigon evacuation images alongside those from Afghanistan. Only this time Youtube was available to show human bodies falling from US Air Force planes, as Afghans clung to landing gear to escape the Taliban. The scenes, the bitter reality of it all, brought back the memory of America’s Southeast Asia…

Why does it always start with the same weak lead-in, the Russophobia, I mean? This time the mighty New York Times overrode journalism 101 to let author Julian E. Barnes properly propagandize what publisher A. G. Sulzberger needs to say about those pesky Russians. The “story” begins like this: “A new campaign appears to be spreading falsehoods about the potential…

The more idiotic geo-policy analysis I read, the more I wonder where my honorary Ph.D. is. Take a recent Euronews bit concerning “bad old” Russia against “sweet little” France and the Americans in Chad, Mali, and the Sahel region overall. Former Aspen Institute director Nicolas Tenzer now blames Russia for France’s yo-yo policies…

The last time I looked, Africa was not doing all that well. The world’s second-biggest continent is no better off than it was under European colonial rule. Some places are worse off, as the number of desperately poor in sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise. Meanwhile, the same outside forces act as pirates to steal the legacy of 1.2 billion people. And despite all the rumors…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been “found out” again by the Sherlock Holmes clones inhabiting western investigative media. When I first read the story of how a mysterious document titled “No 32-04 vd” had been leaked to The Guardian by some idiot at the Kremlin, I was stupefied, I’ll admit. I even asked myself…

In June, the United States and Morocco cooperated in operation African Lion, the largest ever US military exercise conducted on Africa. Somehow, think tanks around the world did not publish analyses or complaints of American hegemony and aggression, though. Russia’s state-run RT did not launch a special series blaming America for all the problems on that continent…

July 26, 2021, the US State Department’s propaganda bullhorn Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty (RFE/RLDahJTkfw had a new cause for celebration when a Gazprom pipeline broke and burst into flames in Russia. Is RFE/RL sending subliminal messages about another pipeline? It would not be the first time. The pipeline, which is located in Russia’s Perm region…

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is jumping up and down, screaming the US, German deal on Nord Stream 2 pipeline will ‘undermine’ US national security. It turns out he is right. That is if America’s national interests include keeping Russia and other countries from going anywhere economically. And if heaven or good reason does permit cooperation, there…

The very positive development of a new US/Russia cooperation to address climate change has Washington think tanks stewing in their Russophobic juices. In the coming weeks, it’s possible we will see renewed collaboration between Washington and Moscow, but not for the brilliant detente. Instead, a world in an unprecedented emergency forces the most prominent…