Russia is showing the world that de-dollarization is nearer than many think.
According to the Bank of Russia, Russia’s central bank, the Kremlin holds more gold in its reserves for the first time in history than the US Dollars. It is a warning to the United States that Russia is willing to risk de-dollarizing its economy.
Since 2014, Russia has been reducing its holding of US Dollars. To replace them, it has accumulated gold and non-American currencies, primarily the Euro. The Bank of Russia reports that only 22% of its international reserves are in US Dollars, while gold accounts for 23%.
Russia holds approximately $591 billion in international reserves. Its largest reserve…
Evidence of a dangerous new era.
Russia terrified the West on June 23rd by announcing that it had not only fired warning shots at Britain’s HMS Defender but also dropped bombs in the British warship’s path.
The incident happened off the coast of Crimea. More than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed the British warship.
Crimea is a peninsula located on the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe, almost surrounded by both the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the northeast.
This peninsula was part of Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
A terrible future awaits humanity.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute warned in a June 14th report that nuclear-armed states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals.
The report revealed that the number of operationally deployable nuclear weapons rose from 3,720 in 2019 to 3,825 in 2020.
SIPRI also highlighted that “around 2,000 of these nuclear weapons belonged to Russia or the United States.” Also, both countries keep these nuclear weapons in a state of high operational alert.
The report also highlighted that the number of nuclear weapons stockpiled worldwide declined from 13,400 at the start of 2020 to 13,080 at the beginning of 2021. …
Beijing’s space ambitions reach new heights.
China recently completed two monumental accomplishments in outer space exploration. The first involved landing a rover on Mars.
Thus, China is the third country to ever land a spacecraft on Mars, after the United States and Russia.
China is the sixth country to successfully get a probe to Mars, after the United States, the Soviet Union, India, the European Space Agency, and the United Arab Emirates.
China’s second accomplishment was the launch of three astronauts to reach the Tianhe core module.
Mars Mission
The Mars mission’s name is Tianwen-1, which means “Questions to Heaven”. …
The Islamic Republic is increasingly filled with confidence due to appeasements by the Western Powers.
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, won a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election on June 18th. Raisi won 62% of the vote (17.8 million out of 28.6 million votes).
Raisi, who enjoys broad support from the conservatives and hardliners, will remain Chief Justice until he takes over from President Rouhani in early August.
He will take power at a crucial time as Iran seeks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and free itself from punishing US sanctions that have crippled its economy.
His election marks a consolidation of power by the conservative and hardline camp…
In the 1970s, the Chinese economy was a sham, while the American economy was the most powerful the world had ever seen.
But over the past fifty years, the Chinese economy has skyrocketed. As a result, it is the second-largest economy worldwide.
China hosts four of the world’s top ten most competitive financial centers (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shenzhen).
In 2020, China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment globally, receiving inflows of about $163 billion. In comparison, the United States brought in $134 billion during the same year.
What is behind China’s deepening foothold in Afghanistan?
China announced on June 3rd that it would expand its Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan as the United States withdraws its forces from the war-torn country.
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the declaration during talks with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
After 20 years of fighting, America aims to pull its remaining 3,000 soldiers out of Afghanistan by September.
Wang Yi and other Chinese Communist Party officials want to convince Afghans to use this new opportunity to allow China establish deeper influence in the nation.
Fortunately, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan agreed to deepen and expand…
No other country is capable of matching China’s economic and investment might in Central Asia.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the foreign ministers of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan in Xi’an, Central China, on May 12th.
During the high-level talks, Wang called on Central Asian countries to increase their cooperation with China on infrastructure projects to connect them to the Belt and Road Initiative.
Among the specific infrastructure projects discussed include the China-Europe railway, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, and other transnational railways.
According to the Asia Plus report, the total accumulated Chinese investment in Tajikistan surpassed $3.1 billion at the end of 2020. …
Nord Stream 2 will bind Berlin and Moscow in a way that will undermine the US Dollar & NATO.
While addressing business and political leaders during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 4th, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced the completion of work on the first line of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
He also stated that once Germany gives the go-ahead, the pipeline can start supplying gas within ten days. However, the second line has approximately 34 miles left to be completed, which the Kremlin estimates will take about two months.
Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is an extension of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Both are the world’s longest subsea pipelines.
It starts from Russia’s…
Global Trade is gradually being reconfigured away from the United States.
From Lisbon to Tokyo, groups of European and Asian nations are hammering out massive trade deals and constructing billions of dollars worth of infrastructure to connect themselves better.
With the ideological divide between the West and East fading away, trade links between Asia and Europe are expanding at a colossal speed.
Apart from Europe and Asia, Latin America is being drawn deeper into the Eurasian sphere.
These trade deals, trends, and infrastructure projects have one common denominator; they exclude the United States of America.
Rebuilding the Ancient Silk Road
China has taken the lead towards integrating Eurasia through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The…
Meziechi Nwogu
Passionate follower of Geopolitics, Military and Economic issues that impact our world. 2.4 Million reads on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Meziechi-Nwogu
