As I write this, the two delegations from the FUSA and Mordor – er, Russia – are now meeting at a military base outside of Anchorage, Alaska, to sort out peace in our time (supposedly). It has been rather tiring trying to keep up with the news on this subject – if you did, you might end up convinced this is the single biggest diplomatic summit since Reagan and Gorbachev met in Reykjavik to come to an agreement on arms control, back in the mid-eighties.
Here is my grumpy old man prediction for this particular summit:
Nothing substantial will come out of it.
Think about it. On the one side, you have the ‘Murkins, led by Angry Short Trump, who is very clearly desperate for a deal of some kind, that will save his rotundous ass from the consequences of a truly calamitous defeat in Ukraine. That, in fact, is precisely what is looming, because the front lines in Banderstan are not merely buckling – they are collapsing rapidly, as the Russians smash through what is left of severely weakened Ukrainian lines and quickly expand multiple bridgeheads and encirclements throughout Donbass and Kharkov region.
On the other side, you the Russians, led by the Neo-Tsar, CHADrov, Nabiullina, Belousov, Dimitriev, Ushakov, Siluanov, Shoigu, Novak, and about a half-dozen other of the Russian government’s top officials. Every single one of these people carries DECADES of experience in international politics, economics, law, defence, strategy, and numerous other skull-subjects. These are extremely intelligent, refined, cultured, and capable people.
And they are up against, as far as I can tell, a pack of clowns.
Moreover, the Russians are in the driver’s seat in this negotiation process. The American side has literally ZERO leverage over Russia any longer. No one in Russia cares anymore if the FUSA huffs and puffs and sanctions everything away. Russia is already the most sanctioned country on Earth, by far. Its friends in India and China have continued to buy Russian oil and gas, and have stuck two fingers up to the US and told Donny-boy where he can stick his tariff threats.
The US has an extremely weak hand. This is merely an attempt by the Neo-Tsar to give Ornj Boi a face-saving off-ramp.
He would be wise to take it.
The choice of venue for these negotiations is also rather interesting. Alaska, as my ‘Murkin readers will know, was once a Russian colony. Indeed, it was Russia’s farthest-flung overseas possession. However, the Russian Empire, as it was at the time, did not have the logistical resources or the manpower to maintain such a distant outpost. The Russian presence in Alaska never exceeded more than a couple of thousand people, at most.
Eventually, the Russian Empire wisely decided to sell it to the US. The cost in time and treasure to maintain it was simply too high.
However, given the Russian dominance in nuclear icebreaker technology, and its growing technological dominance at sea in general – especially considering its exceptionally advanced nuclear submarine fleet and hypersonic anti-ship missile arsenal – it might just be time for the Russians to rethink that, and stake their claim to Alaska again…
I jest, of course, because if you talk to Russians themselves, they regard the American presence in Alaska with good humour and a heavy dose of irony. As far as they are concerned, their country is already too big for them to begin with. Another overseas possession will do them little, if any, good.
But, one can dream…
And speaking of dreams, let us get to this week’s lovely lady. This here is Hannah Roberson, apparently from Texas. I’ve no clue what she does, but it seems to involve wearing bikinis to support her ample… arsenal.
Happy Friday, all.
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