Don't know if you've noticed, since not many folks are talking about it, but all of the major countries either having problems, or are on the US shit list are members of the BRICSA bloc of nations.
In case you are a bit behind, the BRICSA is a somewhat loose association between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICSA). Over the years, they have built up amenable trade and cultural ties, and have tried to synchronize policies in such a way as to benefit and promote the member countries.
The latest BRICSA efforts have centered around creating a new financial clearing system to compete with the ubiquitous SWIFT system, and the essentially Western lap-dog JSCC system in Japan.
Why is this important? Well, SWIFT handles nearly all the major inter-nation settlements for securities, bank transfers, credit card purchases, and so forth. Basically, SWIFT is the world's financial system. Without it, most major economies would simply shut down, because backing the SWIFT system are, for the most part, seven major players who insure the transactions. For instance, if the US needs to transfer a few billion bux to China on account, one of the players will insure the transaction at value for the few seconds it takes between hitting "enter" and the blips showing up at the other end.
The SWIFT system is enabled by a fleet of secure satellite transponders and the most intimidating (not really the largest and no one is sure if the strongest) military forces on Earth. It is this system that is the fundamental underpinning of US hegemony since the last World War, and the primary reason that the US dollar is the world's reserve currency.
Along come these BRICSA upstarts who understand the power and influence exerted by the SWIFT system, and they decide they are going to take a stab at making a parallel system that is not beholden to Western power centers, specifically the seven groups who underwrite the transactions.
Well, the Western banksters ain't having none of that.
Since the moment Russia and China announced their intentions to create this new financial system (about five years ago), Russia has been on the NATO target list, China's South China Sea activities have gained increasing attention at the Pentagon, India is suddenly not as chummy as it used to be, and Brazil...well, we'll get to that in a minute. As for South Africa, hell no one's paid any attention to them since the end of Apartheid.
Most of the world's big geo-political problems can be traced back to this one thing: replacing SWIFT. If you have any doubts about who runs the Western powers, just look at the Western militaries and their behaviors since the SWIFT system came under close scrutiny.
NATO has suddenly gotten all up in Russia's face. US covert operations stirred up the Ukraine. The US navy and air assets have been buzzing around the South China Sea like disturbed hornets and sea lice. India is suddenly not the hot IT paradise it once was. And Brazil...well...
Brazil was given the Olympics a few years back as reward for being such good boys and girls and playing nice in the US sandbox. But, when Brazil started getting uppity and electing people like Dilma Rouseffe, who dared to think her country could be a little more independent, POOF! Along comes the Zika virus, which first made headlines in Brazil, and where most of the severe cases (so we are told) are at the moment. Next thing you know, Rouseffe is impeached, folks start pulling out of the Olympics and Brazil is close to being stuck with a huge bill if the games are cancelled due to...um, Zika, yeah Zika.
This whole mess is quite obvious from a certain point of view. Of course the media won't connect the dots because the wizard doesn't want you peeking behind the curtain.
Brazil is receiving special attention because, 1) it is over a barrel with the Olympics, and 2) it is in the US backyard, where other powers are not allowed to play. You see, the US has this thing about keeping South America and Europe tied tightly to its apron strings. That's why Venezuela was dealt with so harshly, and Obama made a hurried trip to Argentina for the first time in his administration (the Chinese are making big investments there), and why a bankster (there is no former) is in the lead for president of Peru.
Of course, the BRICSA are fighting back. All this immigration mess? Yup, you guessed it. Just turn the US' and EU's lax immigration laws and policies back on them. Quiet. Subtle.
As for the US, we have Killary, whom everyone knows is in the bankster pocket, but Trump? Well, guess what? All those billions he brags about? Gosh, they could all vanish with a keystroke, and he still has to use the SWIFT system to move his bux around, no matter how independent he thinks he is.
In the end, nearly every single problem in the world for the past five years can be traced back to competing financial systems. The Western oligarchs have gotten used to controlling to world's money, and they won't give up easily. Think Al Capone, but on a far grander scale.
We are witnessing turf wars, plain and simple, though played out on a global scale, with a game of Risk thrown in for good measure. Armies move around and deploy, satellite ground stations get built over here, man-made islands appear over there, national economies rise and fall based on whose turf they want to play in.
On the one hand, it's a ridiculous mobster game, but on the other, there are a lot of innocent folks who will get caught in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
Remember the shakedown of 2008-9? Now, imagine this: a couple of well-heeled guys walk into your shop and say, "Pay us some protection money, 'cause I wouldn't want to see your business fall apart or nuttin'." Same thing. Gee, Congress, don't wanna pay up? Ooh, did you feel the economic earthquake just now? Better hurry or we won't be able to protect you much longer.
It's all one big alphabet soup: SWIFT, JSCC, US, EU, TPP, TTIP, BRICSA...
But it all boils down to one thing: it's an international game of gangsters and mafia, and we are all pawns. They have the power to destroy nations who don't play along - on either side. The Big Question is, who will win? The next question is: how many of us will get crushed in the stampede?
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