Finally, SOUTH AFRICA comes out of the closet as a BRICS nation in direction, not just in name.

GEOPOLITICS

Preface: It is vital to note that BRICS has emerged principally as a consequence of geopolitical maneuvering.

It is the emergence of great power's in the east that has altered the balance of power. That means ending the post WW2 hegemonic dominance of the Anglo American Western Empire (The US and its Capital Finance Petrodollar establishment of former colonial powers turned Western vassals).

To put it another way, United States and its reserve currency (USD) unipolar world is today already widely recognised as a multipolar world.  While it has been former cold war rival of the US, the then Soviet Union, todays Russian Federation, that has made the boldest and most sensational geostrategic and military advances, most notably the strategic defeat of the entirety of NATO through their proxy, Ukraine, the real momentum has actually been more gradually building quietly through China and India. In this way, many of the former Western vassals, the Petrodollar gulf monarchies and Iran, Brazil, Egypt and others have redefined global powers from OPEC, the G7 and The United Nations system and SWIFT financial instrument, to one taking shape and only recently finding actual implrmentation, around a BRICS structure.

Russia and China have sought to urgently diversify from their US Treasury holdings and found great success using gold and their own currency.   Russias oil for gold and oil for Rubles program's along with outstanding diplomacy have allowed them to defy weaponising of propaganda and such through the post Bretton Woods USD institution's.  This includes sanctions and measures by the US Departments of State and Pentagon, The UN, WEF, World Bank, EU, NATO to weaken their global standing.  Moreover, it has only resulted in stronger alliance's in BRICS as the emerging great powers know that they are stronger together and that each needs the other.

South Africa has been a slow starter and has only recently been making bold gestures of overt inclination towards the East as its economic destiny.

While SA's Manufacturing base has not been as supercharged as other BRICS nations and its trade balance is a deficit with BRICS partners, meaning it is still an import heavy nation, opportunities exist with commodities, energy and certain local niches such as the Rooibos tea grown only near the table mountain part of the globe. These are  products whose success in BRICS  is already ordained and only the absence of a gobal marketing  apperatus has left them unrealised.

This is what is missing from SA, and is the next step to take now that SA has been bolder it admitting publicly its BRICS aspirations and  in some cases even openly defied the US  attempts to them  to  heel.

Watch this space!

TRADE

There is no single formal "BRICS trade agreement," but rather a framework for economic cooperation with agreements on specific areas like customs and energy efficiency, supported by institutions like the New Development Bank. South Africa's trade with other BRICS nations is growing significantly, but it also faces a persistent trade deficit. The BRICS Business Council serves as a platform for the private sector to facilitate trade and investment, with a goal to create a more business-friendly environment. 

What is the BRICS Framework?

• An informal association: 

  BRICS began as an informal alliance of economic powers and has evolved into an association that supports economic cooperation and the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership. 
• Key institutions: 

  The group has established the New Development Bank (NDB) for financing infrastructure projects and the BRICS Business Council to connect the business communities of member nation
• No single trade bloc: 

  While focused on trade and investment, BRICS is not a formal trade bloc with a comprehensive, legally binding agreement. 

South Africa's Trade with BRICS Nations 

• Growing importance: 

  BRICS nations are significant trading partners for South Africa, with substantial growth in both exports and imports since 2016.
• Trade deficit: 

  South Africa has continuously recorded a growing deficit in its balance of trade with other BRICS economies, which has more than quadrupled since 2010, according to Business Tech.
• Key beneficiaries: 

  Significant growth in South African exports to China has been a primary contributor to the overall trade increase.

Opportunities for Trade and Investment

• Market access: 

  The BRICS framework aims to develop market access opportunities and inter-linkages between member countries. 
• Agribusiness interest: 

  The South African agricultural sector is particularly interested in leveraging BRICS to boost exports of products like fruits, wine, wool, and beef to China and India. 
• Conduit to Africa: 

  South Africa's developed infrastructure, including ports, railways, and logistics networks, positions it to act as a conduit for trade and investment into the wider African continent. 

Dramatic Shift in Global Power Balance

 

1) Turkey To Join BRICS

To understand the shifting sands of global power with regard to the rise of BRICS you can search this site or look for the tag "BRICS" going back several years.  The last post I made on this topic reflected some dramatic changes and is essential reading since the implications are tremendous and must be appreciated for what they are.

The inclusion of Turkey is just as significant, not for economic reasons but for geographical and military reasons.  Turkey has the second largest standing army in NATO after the US and houses some of the US nuclear weapons.  Turkey has been a NATO anchor and its trusted role regarding strategic weapons positioning has always been a factor since the drama of the Cuban missile crises where Turkey played a major role.   Since the defeat of NATO in the Ukraine proxy war in which the West has been waging against Russia, many have predicted the beginning of the end of the trans-Atlantic alliance, and this move surely signals that this is a reality that the next decade may present.  Furthermore, the potential for Turkey to host future Russian oil pipelines also gets a boost if European demand ever returns to Russia and soon the nation could be holding the EU hostage with its finger on both energy and refugee flow providing tremendous geopolitical leverage.

In terms of geopolitics there has been transformational change coming so quickly that it's difficult to assess the full implications, but once the dust settles, we will be very cognoscente of the fact that the Anglo-American dominated international climate is a totally different place where nothing is the way it used to be. The emerging powers of BRICS, lead by Russia, China, India and a host of new additions are determined to change the flavor of the "Rules Based Order"(a euphemism for US hegemony characterized by bullying, lies and a general lack of respect for the sovereignty of nations and the wellbeing of their citizens).  So far, the evidence shows that nations of the Global South and Middle East consider the diplomacy, basic manners and respects shown by the new power center to be a far more appealing option.

2) The Demise of the Petrodollar

In the next few days, the Petrodollar is up for renewal by the Saudis.  All signs point towards them not renewing it.  Here Here is a quick outline of the Petrodollar nuts and bolts along with a great little synopsis of its history. The reasons in their entirety are complex but simply put Saudi Arabia has moved into the BRICS sphere of influence and faced with the rise of other currencies being used for foreign trade it makes no sense to tie into one currency and only sell in USD.  Also, China has a 1.4 billion population, its growth prospects are tremendous, as are Indias.  Russia and Saudi Arabia can also work together to corner the global oil market, making OPEC somewhat redundant, and Russia has already stepped out of the dollar system, the nation has pioneered an oil for gold and oil for Rubles program using its own hydrocarbon reserves to protect its economy from US sanctions. For more on the Petrodollar you can click the "Petrodollar" tag or enter the word in the search bar. 

The drop in dollar demand is going to impact hugely on the US economy and affect the ability of the Anglo-American establishment to export inflation through the oil price in USD to the Global South.  Strap yourself in, we could be in for a bumpy ride!

Russia Discovers World's Largest Oil Reserves

 

If you think the geopolitical landscape is a total mess at the moment, you won't get too many objections from me.  Last century there was a war over the Falklands between Argentina and Britain, and there remain background tensions that we don't hear much about.  It may surprise people to learn that two nations went to war over an island with about 3000 British Citizens living on it, but it will make more sense one you discover how near Argentina they are, and how near to Antarctica too.

The penny will drop when you are reminded that the international treaty preventing a nation using its claims being prospected in antarctica comes to an end in 2048, and the Argentinian (now British) claim sits on enough oil to make a nation the next Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, over the last 25 years most global volatility has instead been as a result of about ten key factors.

Five of these could have a case made as five variations on one theme:

• Strategic oil and gas reserves/pipelines
• Tension between Russia and the West/NATO.
• The Rise of BRICS and the future of the USD as reserve currency.
• Petrodollar hegemony. With regard to the above, the use of USD international trade is driving up foreign USD demand & particularly the energy sector since oil is by far the largest traded commodity. 
• Russia and China have moved to trading in local currencies and look to expand this, particularly in the long term with new BRICS member Saudi Arabia. (The Saudi's are already combining their OPEC weight with Russia for strategic expediency and could conceivably corner the market)

So, when I come across a story that one could easily scroll past if not paying attention, but on second glance contains all the ingredients above (potentially), I usually like to make a note or diarize it for
assimilation over.  This blog is that diary, so have a read and file it somewhere in your mind, its not likely to be all over the headlines.

Russia Discovers Massive Oil and Gas Reserves in British Antarctic Territory | OilPrice.com

Let's just say that if Putin requires leverage in the event that the British and EU move forward with seizing Russian assets held in various Western financial institutions, it would appear that options are presenting themselves to offset all those billions.

DWAHTS Awards 2023

The 2023 year end awards

 I have decided to launch  my inaugural DWAHTS year end awards. 

...so let's get cracking

1) Media/Sport/Science 

The most banned, censored or ignored award: 

The award that guarantees you are on the right track.

JACKSON HINKLE

Jackson is young and fearless enough to have been thrown off every platform I followed him on, I think his presence still endures on Rumble and X, where I notice his followers only seem to grow. 

Truth-teller Award: 

JIMMY DORE

His podcast, unlike Jackson's, somehow survives on YouTube, serving as a modern-day miracle. 

This survival on the most censorship-heavy platform boggles the mind since his unyielding "go for the jugular" style doesn't allow any room for compromise. This survival has seen him call out even the softball cultural figures like Cornel West and RFK.

Award for popularity & influence

TUCKER CARLSON

Since being fired from Fox News, he has gone from strength to strength. Just recently he got Alex Jones reinstated on X just by interviewing him. His rise this year has culminated in the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN).

Twat of the year:

PIERS MORGAN

This Zio-cuck tosspot endures as Rupert Murdochs project to create a snobby twat and parade him as an ironic champion of the working man. It doesn't work because snobby twats like him are the reason that the working man is so screwed today. Being arrogant and rude on top of that isn't edgy, it's being a c#nt. Shouting matches on TV are not compelling viewing, they are the obvious contrivance of a ponce with disdain for the everyman looking to rub their faces in their own disenfranchisement and then lament the injustice of not being lauded for it.

Guest/Appearance of the year:

BASSEM YOUSSEF

Award for the years most epic revenge. 

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Djokovic was a close runner up for man of the year and for good reason. After being prevented from playing for over a year (at 36 that should have been the end of his career) he came back with one of the best and most dominant seasons ever winning 3 of the 4 grand slams, all the biggest masters 1000 events and the Year end ATP finals played in Round Robin format by the top 8 in the world. He won a record 7th ATP finals and extended his own record in Slams and Masters, finished over 400 weeks as the worlds top ranked player and another year end #1 blowing out all records held by Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic is now the undisputed GOAT of tennis. The only record of any significance that still eludes him is Jimmy Connors record for total tournaments won, 109,  and he is only 5 away from that. If he was not sidelined for the Vaccine nonsense he would have already surpassed it.

Hypocrite of the year:

BEN SHAPIRO

After making a career out of lambasting the left for their record suppressing free speech, this little bitch immediately devoted all his energy to suppressing free speech after October 7th.

Scientific achievement of the year:

CHANDRAYAAN 3/ India

India got to the moon and collected more data than any preceding nation at 1/50th of the cost.

Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation. 

The mission consists of a lunar lander named Vikram and a lunar rover named Pragyan, similar to those launched aboard Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. Wikipedia

Start date: 14 July 2023

Location: Satish Dhawan Space Centre

Distance driven: 101.4 m (333 ft)

Launch mass: 3900 kg

Manufacturer: ISRO

Orbital insertion: 5 August 2023

Power: Propulsion Module: 758 W; Lander Module: 738 W (WS with Bias); Rover: 50 W

_______________________

2) Politics/Geopolitics

Country of the year: 

Military of the year:

Economy of the year:

Leader of the year:

Person of the year:

RUSSIA / PUTIN

Ukraine, Economics, BRICS, Oil and Gas, the Middle East, you name it, Russia has come out on top in every conceivable sphere, and much of the credit goes to Vladimir Putin, what else is there to say.

New leader of the year: 

IBRAHIM TRARORE 

The Burkina Faso leader cuts an imposing figure on the worlds stage and embodies all the qualities of a new African leader.  He has cut all the right deals and played a vital role in kicking French Imperialism out of Francophile Africa especially in neighbouring Niger. 

Most incompetent leader of the year:

OLAF SHULZ/ Germany

For single-handedly deindustrialising Germany and being a total cuck turning the other cheek when supposed ally  the U.S. blew up critical infrastructure in the Nordstream II pipeline.

Most damaging policy:

ANNELINA BAERBOK/ Germany

The German Green Party clown never set a foot right all year.

Economic Award of the year:

Geopolitical Award of the year:

BRICS+

The significance of BRICS BECOMING BRICS+ IS DETAILED HERE.

Psycopath of the year:

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU / Israel

I what more can I say about this horrible little man that hasn't already been said?

BRICS+ Set to render the G7, OPEC and the Petrodollar obsolete in one devastating move.

 

Continued destruction of the G7 Globalist Tyranny and the Perodollar.

The blue countries will be members from 1 Jan 2024. Iran (who can now bypass US sanctions) and Saudi Arabia have put aside their differences after 70 years of US incited war. The UAE brings it's oil prospects too.

What does it mean? Well this part is the game changer.

From next year with RUSSIA (currently the world's largest oil and gas producer), Iran, Saudi Arabia (Second largest producer) and the UAE onboard, BRICS have not only cornered the world's oil market via consolidation of their OPEC membership to dictate the production output in response to demand, but in terms of the currency of sale as well bringing it into the BRICS alliance. 

In a devastatingly bold move they have IN ONE STROKE destroyed the Perodollar! 

Continued empowerment of the global South. 

The two biggest South American economies Brazil and Argentina will allow the whole region a way out of US neo-colonial exploitation. Ethiopia is there I suspect for strategic purposes, one of which (aside from Chinese economic prospects) could well be so that Russia can start planning strategically to build a gateway of access to aid the emerging African independence movement shed the shackles of French colonial legacy and US military bases. RUSSIA will surely get first option on the valuable resources that will become available to the open market as a reward. I'll make a bold prediction and suggest Ethiopia's reward will be on-the-house energy independence and a completed energy grid overhaul with Russian nuclear power probably, possibly supplied via a new power station but likely via the Russian nuclear power stations already running in Egypt, hence Egypts membership (Egypt also runs the Suez Canal, critical for global trade). This will be valued at untold billions worth over time that will kick start Ethiopias economy and save her 50 years of development time. That boost will spread benefit in the region and Niger can offer it Uranium at I'm sure fantastic rates and still triple the money it was making dealing with French oppression, and would gladly do it in exchange for Russian security guarantees but Russia would need to wrap up the Ukraine situation first. 

The geopolitical significance of this move cannot be understated. It means nothing short of the fact that the world has changed overnight.