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!
