Why assumptions are the the mother of all fuckups! Leadership quicksand looks like solid ground that can confidently and competently be stomped on, but it’s not. In fact, it’s not like it seems at all.  When leaders walk head held high, chest puffed out, all knowing with ego leading the way, that’s the surest way to sink in deep. Leaders often make assumptions in four areas that have [...]

The US-centralized empire functions like a giant blob that absorbs nations and turns them into imperial client states. Once absorbed, it is rare for a country to escape and rejoin other genuinely sovereign nations. The new president-elect of Bolivia, Luis Arce, has told the Spanish international news agency EFE that he intends to restore the nation’s relations with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran. T [...]

Since the 1990s, politicians have cited the threat of North Korea to demand funding for missile defense programs that became examples of government waste. Republican politicians responded almost reflexively to the North Korean nuclear test on Tuesday by demanding more spending on missile defense programs that have historically proved ineffective at preventing an enemy strike — but are built by [...]

Switzerland has adopted sanctions against Russian individuals and companies involved in the construction of the bridge over the Kerch Strait that connected the Crimean Peninsula with continental Russia, the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs said on Friday. "The Federal Department of Economic Affairs has made amendments to the list of individuals attached to the directive on the preventi [...]

Why the Gulf States, the Kurds, the Turks, the Sunnis, and the Shia Won’t Fight America’s War In the many strategies proposed to defeat the Islamic State (IS) by presidential candidates, policymakers, and media pundits alike across the American political spectrum, one common element stands out: someone else should really do it. [...]

After the shock of the New Year’s Eve assaults, and the subsequent backlash, some migrants are trying to teach refugees about the challenges of life in Germany and about mutual tolerance. Skinny-dipping, gay relationships and parenting all form part of Magdi Gohary’s crash-course introduction to a strange new home [...]

Created by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik V was the first SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to be registered anywhere in the world, with dozens of countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America expressing interest in obtaining it. Russia began a coroanvirus vaccination campaign using Sputnik V last month. The New York Times has published a comprehensive arti [...]

When the French Prime Minister starts talking of the "end of Europe" and Germany announces indefinite border controls amid the growing refugee crisis - it is time to get concerned. The crisis is not new, so why the sudden panic? The answer lies in the fact that next year – 2017 – the French will go to the polls to elect its president and Germany votes-in a new Bundestag. [...]

Former US president George W. Bush claimed that despite the jaw-dropping violence unleashed by his own policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was left “sick to my stomach” by the January 6 raid on the US Capitol. Admitting he “can’t remember what [he] was doing” at the time he learned Trump supporters were swarming the Capitol building, Bush told the Texas Tribune he became physical [...]

Moscow has denied Turkey’s accusation that a Russian Su-34 bomber violated its airspace on Friday. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Ankara couldn’t have determined which country the jet belonged to under the circumstances they described. He stressed that the airspace controlling radar stations that Turkey has can only determine the altitude, flight line, and speed of an aerial vehi [...]

A coalition of Israel’s opposition parties have announced they have reached an unlikely agreement and now have the votes to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader. Naftali Bennett, former defense minister for Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid will lead the opposition parties under this new agreement that would split power in a “unity gover [...]

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a five-star general in charge of the Normandy Invasion and a popular two-term President of the United States. Today he would be called a “conspiracy theorist.” “This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. [...]

Moscow has signalled to the world that it's not happy with NATO’s Exercise Sea Breeze manoeuvres in the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula. Russia is warning Western allies that nothing good will come out of provocations in the Black Sea as any attempts to test Moscow’s willingness to defend its borders are “doomed to failure,” Russia's Embassy in Washington told Newsweek. "Manoe [...]

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the speaking fees paid to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and an analysis published Saturday sheds some light on exactly how much Wall Street and other major corporate powers ponied up for the former Secretary of State and her husband, President Bill Clinton. [...]

If crisis creates opportunity, we couldn’t possibly have squandered the possibilities presented by 9/11 more spectacularly. We certainly couldn’t have failed its tests more completely. Twenty years after 9/11, it is clear that the United States is ruled by idiots and that we, the people, are complicit with their moronic behavior. We had to do something. That was and remains the generic [...]

The European Commission says going back to internal border controls on a long-term basis is likely to cost €18 billion. This is just the direct cost and excludes possible secondary effects. “If a process is set in motion putting at risk the depth of economic integration, including the proper functioning of economic and monetary union, the medium-term indirect costs may be dramatically highe [...]

United Airlines has been ordered to temporarily halt its Covid-19 vaccine mandate that would see unvaccinated employees put on unpaid leave after six employees filed a federal lawsuit arguing against their firm’s policy. On Tuesday, US District Judge Mark Pittman responded to a class action brought by plaintiff and United Airlines captain David Sambrano, a North Texas resident. Sambrano was [...]

Former European Union and US Agency for International Development (USAID) advisor Paolo von Schirach said that the agreement between the United States and Russia to effect cessation of hostilities in Syria confirms that Moscow has emerged as the real power there. [...]

In the face of vociferous anti-Chinese sentiment from many former Soviet nations in Europe, and pressure from the US on NATO allies to fall in line with Washington, China is still receiving a warm welcome around the Mediterranean. For the past year, China has been battling to keep its relationship with Europe alive in the midst of growing pressures from multiple directions. It has one core st [...]

Trump is positioned to win big on Super Tuesday. The Republican Party is running out of time and options to stop Donald Trump after winning as expected in Nevada’s Tuesday night caucuses, although party insiders are increasingly desperate about what to do. [...]

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, Gibraltar has canceled official Christmas events and “strongly” discouraged people from hosting private gatherings for four weeks. Gibraltar’s entire eligible population is vaccinated. The government of Gibraltar recently announced that “official Christmas parties, official receptions and similar gatherings” have been canceled, and advised the publ [...]

Political instability arising from European states’ crippling debt burdens may lead to the Eurozone’s implosion, ex-Bank of England (BoE) governor Mervyn King has said. The former central banker and staunch Euroskeptic made the prediction in his latest book, The End of Alchemy: Banking, the Global Economy and the Future of Money. [...]