The Post-Partisan Emporium

The Big Stiff: Russia-Iran dump the dollar and bust US sanctions News of Russian banks connecting to Iran’s financial messaging system strengthens the resistance against US-imposed sanctions on both countries and accelerates global de-dollarization. By Pepe Escobar February 09 2023 The agreement between the Central Banks of Russia and Iran formally signed on 29 January connecting their interbank transfer systems is a game-changer in more ways than one. Technically, from now on 52 Iranian banks already using  SEPAM , Iran’s interbank telecom system, are connecting with 106 banks using  SPFS , Russia’s equivalent to the western banking messaging system SWIFT. Less than a week before the deal, State Duma Chairman Vyachslav Volodin was in Tehran overseeing the last-minute details, part of a meeting of the Russia-Iran Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation: he was adamant both nations should quickly increase trade in their own currencies. Ruble-rial trade Confirming that the...

Behind the Tin Curtain: BRICS+ vs NATO/G7 The west is nostalgically caught up with outdated 'containment' policies, this time against Global South integration. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the world is moving on, together. By Pepe Escobar June 28 2022 Once upon a time, there existed an Iron Curtain which divided the continent of Europe. Coined by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the term was in reference to the then-Soviet Union’s efforts to create a physical and ideological boundary with the west. The latter, for its part, pursued a policy of containment against the spread and influence of communism. Fast forward to the contemporary era of  techno-feudalism , and there now exists what should be called a Tin Curtain, fabricated by the fearful, clueless, collective west, via G7 and NATO: this time, to essentially contain the integration of the Global South. BRICS against G7 The most recent and significant example of this integration has been the comi...