Blocs ecology

French President Emmanuel Macron paid an important three-day visit to the Federal Republic of Brazil from March 26 to 28. As part of the bilateral visit, the French leader made a somewhat adventurous tour, visiting the Amazon rainforest, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and finally the capital Brasília. During the entire visit, Macron emphasized clearly and loudly the intention of revitalizing Brazilian-French relations. He and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, did not hide their intimacy, which many called a bromance (a very close non-sexual relationship between two men). Some media jokingly mentioned the term wedding to emphasize the unusual closeness of the two statesmen.
In a figurative sense, something like a wedding really happened. More precisely, something like a reconciliation has happened since France and Brazil have good relations that have lasted for two centuries. After several years of stagnation, it seems that a positive trend in the development of relations has begun.
Historical development of cooperation
France was the first European country to recognize the independence of Brazil (proclaimed in 1822) in 1825. In 1959, the Brazilian House was inaugurated at the University of Paris. In 2003, France invited Brazil to the G8 summit in Evian. The year 2005 was the year of Brazil in France, and 2009 was the year of France in Brazil. Paris and Brasília formed a strategic partnership in 2008. The main areas of cooperation are trade exchange, renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, defense, technological innovation, ecology, medicine and joint cooperation in Africa. Paris has been and remains a strong supporter of Brazil's efforts to become an important geopolitical player in the international arena, including permanent membership in the UN Security Council, of which France is a member. The French are helping Brazilians to apply and develop technologies in the military, energy, IT , industrial and space sector. According to a 2013 BBC survey, 54% of French consider Brazilian influence positive, and 50% of Brazilians consider French influence positive. In a significant minority are those who perceive the influence of another state negatively.
Compatible interests
Brazil is France's leading trading partner in Latin America and the fourth most important partner outside the OECD. Over 500 French companies have been established in Brazil and they employ more than 250 thousand workers. Brazil is France's leading partner in Latin America for cultural, scientific and technical cooperation. Three French high schools (Brasília, Rio and São Paulo) have a total of over two thousand students. The international organization that promotes French culture and language, Alliances françaises, in Brazil is the oldest and most extensive in the world: it has 74 institutions in 52 cities. Brazil and France are the largest majority Roman Catholic countries on their continents. Brazil and France share a 730 km long land border on the South American mainland between the Brazilian state of Amapá and the French overseas department, modern colony, French Guiana. Cross-border cooperation between the two countries is mostly good. It enables a better integration of F. Guiana into the surrounding geographical environment, prevents crime and promotes the development of the economy of the Amazon region. At the initiative of Brazil, France was granted observer status in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). There are direct flights between the two countries organized by airlines: Air France and LATAM Brasil.
Negative effect of Bolsonaro's mandate
Macron's visit is important because relations between the two countries have deteriorated significantly during the reign of colorful Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). The fundamental reason for the disagreement was the attitude towards the Amazon rainforest. At the time, President Macron and other European political leaders criticized Bolsonaro's government for not taking concrete measures to prevent deforestation in the Amazon. It was the excessive exploitation of the rainforest that caused terrible fires and the destruction of a large number of plants, animals and soil. Bolsonaro commented in 2019 that he would accept $20 million in G7 firefighting aid if Macron publicly retracted criticism he found offensive. This did not happen and relations remained bad. Escalation of tensions over this environmental issue froze French-Brazilian relations and prevented their development. In late 2019, it was reported that the Brazilian military considered France its biggest potential threat due to disputes over the Amazon rainforest.
The trend changed when Lula came to power in January 2023. In June 2023, he visited the French Republic on the occasion of the summit meeting for the New Global Financial Agreement, and Lula and Macron also met last December during the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 28, held in Dubai. Macron is the first French president to visit Brazil in 11 years. The Brazilian president traveled about 1,600 km to the city of Belem, the capital of the state of Para, to meet his French colleague. The warm welcome showed that Lula holds Macron in high esteem, as well as the relationship between the two countries. On the last day of the visit, March 28, Macron was formally welcomed at the presidential palace Palácio do Planalto, a monumental work by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
The presidential palace is located on the square that was ravaged on January 8, 2023 by rebels loyal to President Bolsonaro, who was defeated in the elections. With an honor guard and almost the entire Brazilian government in attendance, Lula paid tribute to the French leader, hugging him several times, before awarding him the highest honor reserved for foreigners, the Order of the Southern Cross. In return, Macron awarded the first lady of Brazil, Rosângela da Silva (Janja) with the French Legion of Honor. Later, a working lunch was organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Itamaraty Palace, where former Brazilian soccer player Rai Souza Vieira de Oliveira and active French soccer player Dimitri Payet were guests to emphasize the closeness of the two nations in what they are best at, which is soccer.
At the end of his stay in Brazil, Macron stated: "I would like to sincerely thank President Lula for this state visit, for the invitation and for the wonderful way in which everything is organized... I will always be with you in all the ambitious projects you carry out for the G20, for the COP and everything that awaits us in the coming years. The visit was wonderful and the conversations were excellent."
The French leader paid tribute to Lula's government's "spirit of resistance" for the "restoration of democracy" after an attack by Bolsonaro's supporters in January 2023. Lula retorted: "The dialogue between our countries represents a bridge between the Global South and the developed world, in favor of overcoming structural inequalities and a more sustainable planet . Brazil and France are determined to work together to promote, through democratic debate, a common vision of the world. A vision based on the priority of production over unproductive finance, solidarity over selfishness, democracy over totalitarianism, sustainability over predatory exploitation."
One of Macron's main motives for the visit is the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the fight against climate change. The two countries have agreed to launch an investment program for the protection of the Brazilian and French (Guyana) Amazon rainforest worth one billion euros. It is a public-private partnership program. Brazilian public banks (such as the development bank Bndes) and French development agencies will form "technical and financial partnerships". The two leaders showed their determination to prevent the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 2030, thus contributing to the fight against climate change. Last year, according to government data, Brazil reduced deforestation by 50%. This is a very welcome decision because about 60% of the Amazon area is located in the Brazilian national territory. Additionally, in 2025, Brazil will host the 30th conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 30). The two countries agreed to develop new research projects in sustainable sectors and to create a research center for the exchange of technologies for the development of the bio economy. France could soon become a new member of ACTO because the Amazon rainforest also occupies the territory of F. Guiana.
Great potentials of economic cooperation Economic cooperation was one of the most important topics. France is the third largest investor in Brazil. Merchandise trade in 2023 has reached a whopping 8.4 billion USD. However, Macron openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the large gap in direct investment. While more than a thousand French companies have invested about 44 billion dollars in Brazil, Brazilian companies have invested only 2 billion dollars in France. Therefore, at the 5th Brazil-France Economic Forum, Macron called on powerful Brazilian entrepreneurs to use all the potential of cooperation and initiate greater investments in his country.
Brazil assumed the presidency of the G20 organization from December 1 last year under the slogan: "Building a just world and a sustainable planet." In November, the summit of the organization will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Macron has publicly backed Lula's economic agenda for the G20, including Brazil's idea of ​​working on a global tax for the richest.
Free trade agreement – ​​the main stumbling block
In 2019, after two decades of extremely arduous negotiations, the European Union and Mercosur (the South American trade bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and partners) reached a framework agreement on free trade. Since he came back to power last year, Lula da Silva has tried to put the agreement into practice on several occasions. However, the agreement is still pending and awaiting its ratification.
Meanwhile, France is the most prominent in its opposition to the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, arguing that South American producers do not meet the EU's health and environmental standards (they emphasized beef the most). Macron also confirmed during the visit that the current agreement does not benefit both sides. The French leader called the agreement "very bad" and said that it should be buried in favor of a new one that will be "responsible from the point of view of development, climate and biodiversity". Lula noted that he is "very calm" and diplomatically stressed that Brazil is "not negotiating with France", but with the EU. "We still have time," said Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad. "It is true that we lost an opportunity at the end of last year, but we should not give up on this agreement." Haddad added that Lula invested a lot of time in the agreement and that he will continue to strive for a closer relationship with the EU market. Earlier in March, EU officials emphasized that "decisive progress" could be achieved by July.
Defense cooperation
Lula and Macron discussed the ways in which they could strengthen cooperation in the field of defense. Macron said he wanted to "go beyond" the production of helicopters and submarines and saw "enormous bilateral potential". According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France is the second largest arms exporter in the world after the US. The French can supply the Brazilian armed forces with the most modern weapons and military equipment.
Submarines are a point of contention. Macron promised to open a "new chapter" in military cooperation as he and Lula launched the fourth submarine built for the Brazilian navy by France's Naval Group under an agreement signed in 2008 by Lula and Nicolas Sarkozy. Brasília wants Paris to share its nuclear know-how to build a fifth submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, the first to be nuclear-powered. It has stuck so far, but there could be progress.
Different views on Ukraine and Russia
The biggest differences between the two presidents are over Ukraine and Russia. Macron and EU officials firmly support Ukraine in its war with Russia, while Lula has taken a neutral stance and has repeatedly said that Ukraine and Russia share responsibility for the war and has refused to isolate Moscow by imposing sanctions. Lula is against sending military or financial support to Kiev. "There is so much inequality that we don't have time to think about another war," Lula said, criticizing "investing in weapons while we have hunger in the world."
The Brazilian president reaffirmed his commitment to peace talks, a stark contrast to Macron, who a little over a month ago talked about the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to help it resist Russian attacks. "I am so many thousands of kilometers away from Ukraine that I am not forced to have the same nervousness as the French who are closer," said Lula, adding that "the two stubborn leaders" (Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin op. a.) "will have to agree" on ending the war.
Likewise, the two presidents have different views on Putin's possible participation in this year's G20 summit, which will be held in November in Rio. Putin missed last year's G20 summit in New Delhi, avoiding the risk of possible arrest on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. In September 2023, Lula said there was "no way" Putin would be arrested if he attended the summit. Shortly after, he backtracked and said the justice system would decide Putin's eventual arrest, not his government.
When asked about Putin's participation in the G20 summit at Lula's invitation, Macron said that the topic must meet the consensus of the organization's members. "If it's not a useful meeting and if it's divisive, we shouldn't do it," the French leader suggested to his colleague.
Disagreements about Venezuela
For Lulu, the priority is not Ukraine, but neighboring Venezuela, which Macron agreed with. Both condemned the exclusion of the candidate of the main opposition coalition, Corina Yoris, from the July 28 presidential election. "We very strongly condemn the exclusion of a serious and credible candidate from this process," Macron said. Lula described the situation as "serious" and said that there is no "legal or political explanation for banning an opponent from being a candidate". "I told Maduro that the most important thing for the return of normality to Venezuela is to avoid any problems in the electoral process, to hold the elections in the most democratic way possible."
Conclusion
The commitment to working together to protect the Amazon rainforest and the fight against climate change, as well as the will to strengthen economic and military cooperation, are the most important positive contributions of Macron's visit to Brazil. This visit could mark a new beginning for Franco-Brazilian relations despite differences in world politics.
Differences in relation to Ukraine and Russia and the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur should not seriously damage bilateral relations. To a good extent, current French-Brazilian relations can be measured by the Lula-Macron personal relationship, which is extremely cordial.
Stronger cooperation should bring tangible benefits to both the French and the Brazilians. Macron will benefit from cooperation with Brazil, which has improved its international standing as Latin America's most populous nation hosts the G20 summit this year and the 30th UN climate change conference next year. Lula welcomes any meeting and agreement that can to some extent satisfy his great country hungry for new knowledge, skills and investments.

I won’t disagree that our current economic systems can’t tackle climate change, but I don’t like how people immediately blame capitalism and large businesses.
Are there could counter points for the sake of debating? Personally I’m skeptical socialism can fix environmental issues considering the ecological damage wreaked by the communist bloc.

Will you read all this? It's just a collection of the opening part of random Wikipedia articles copy and pasted. I haven't read any of them, it's probably pretty boring.
Priyanga Amarasekare is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and distinguished Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). Her research is in the fields of mathematical biology and trophic ecology, with a focus on understanding patterns of biodiversity, species dispersal and the impacts of climate change.[1] She received a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship[2] and received ESA's Robert H. MacArthur Award in 2022.
Tatiana Georgette Kalil Roha (born June 8, 2002) is an Ecuadorian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss International Ecuador 2023. She represented Ecuador at the Miss International 2023 pageant.[1]
MasterChef Myanmar is a Burmese competitive cooking show. It is based on the UK Cooking show MasterChef produced by Endemol Shine Group. It is airing on MRTV-4.[1][2][3][4][5]
The Growl is a band from Fremantle, Western Australia, formed by Tame Impala bass guitarist, and vocalist Cam Avery.
The simple-station De La Sabana is part of the TransMilenio mass-transit system of Bogotá, Colombia, opened in the year 2000.
Romeo Bertani (born 17 May 1999) is an Italia footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie D club Corticella.
The Vinkt massacre (Dutch: Bloedbad van Vinkt) was a war crime committed by German soldiers in the villages of Vinkt and Meighem in East Flanders on 26–28 May 1940 during the Battle of the Lys. Between 86 and 140 civilians were deliberately killed by Wehrmacht troops from the 377th Infantry Regiment of the 225th Infantry Division, supposedly in retaliation for the Belgian Army's resistance in the village.
Martine Billard (born 7 October 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician and a deputy to the National Assembly of France. She is a member of the Parti de Gauche.[1]
Rawhitiroa is a locality situated in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is positioned approximately 6.5 km east of Eltham.[3][4] According to the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Rāwhitiroa translates to "long-shining sun".[5]
Jeanne M. Giovannoni (1931-2009) was an author, professor, and associate vice chancellor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Social Welfare. Her research focused on child abuse and how community members, social workers, and law enforcement respond.[1]
Mika Lipponen (born 9 May 1964) is a Finnish former footballer.
The 240 mm trench mortar, or Mortier de 240 mm, was a large calibre mortar of World War I. An original French design, it was developed by Batignolles Company of Paris and introduced in 1915.
Aṉangu is the name used by members of several Aboriginal Australian groups, roughly approximate to the Western Desert cultural bloc, to describe themselves. The term, which embraces several distinct "tribes" or peoples, in particular the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara groups, is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable: [ˈaɳaŋʊ].
Dryden Brook is a river in Delaware County, New York. It flows into Cannonsville Reservoir west-northwest of Rock Rift.[1]
The Alexandria International 2015 is the women's edition of the 2015 Alexandria International, which is a tournament of the PSA World Tour event International (Prize money : 100 000 $). The event took place at the Library of Alexandria in Alexandria in Egypt from 4 June to 10 June. Raneem El Weleily won her first Alexandria International trophy, beating Omneya Abdel Kawy in the final.
The N26 road is a national primary road in northeast County Mayo in Ireland connecting the N5 road at Swinford with the N58 at Foxford and then on to the N59 road at Ballina.[1] The road also meets six regional roads along its route, and it is 29.79 kilometres (18.51 mi) long (map).
Cheryl Hardcastle is a Canadian politician and former member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for the federal electoral district of Windsor—Tecumseh, first elected during the 2015 Canadian federal election.[1] She is a member of the New Democratic Party. During the 42nd Canadian Parliament, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair appointed Hardcastle to be the party's critic for Sports and Persons with Disabilities. After Mulcair was replaced Jagmeet Singh, he added "International Human Rights" to her critic duties, where she now sits as Vice-Chair to the Subcommittee for International Human Rights.[2] She lost her re-election bid in the 2019 Canadian federal election, having come second in what was considered a surprise upset to the Liberal candidate Irek Kusmierczyk. She introduced one private member bill, C-348, which sought to make Employment and Social Development Canada responsible for providing information and guidance to persons with disabilities on all federal applications for grants, benefits, compensation and any other programs and services, as a means of reducing the administrative burden on applicants. The bill was debated at second reading but defeated with the Liberal Party majority voting against it.[3]
Three Months is a 2022 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jared Frieder, and starring Troye Sivan, Viveik Kalra, Brianne Tju, Javier Muñoz, Judy Greer, Amy Landecker, Louis Gossett Jr. and Ellen Burstyn. It was released on Paramount+ on February 23, 2022.
The Railway Owner (Italian title:Il padrone delle ferriere) is a 1919 Italian silent drama film directed by Eugenio Perego and starring Luigi Serventi, Maria Caserini and Amleto Novelli.[1] It is based on Georges Ohnet's novel Le Maître de Forges.
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Possibly the closest we can come to a benevolent revolution by the end of the year will take the form of Cornel West forcibly placed on the debate stage with B and T, or whoever takes their place if they don’t personally survive. Survival is in the air, isn’t that the truth, and despite the CDC now recommending that COVID be treated like the common flu in terms of time away from work, school, which, I mean – herd immunity? Is that what we just heard? No? Not really? – despite that, the government isn’t actually trying to kill us yet. That isn’t the intention. Other people? God, yes, that’s been happening for four months now. This real estate will be rendered as rubble, these institutions will fail, this populace will never be the same, even as the mandate – vanquish Hamas – sounds increasingly like vanquish humans – humans – and what’s the rest?
Victory will be ours? Imagine Cornel West on stage with Trump and Biden, and each candidate is given five minutes for an opening statement. In a mere five minutes, some part of the voting population, Black, White, and Brown, would commit to expecting something entirely new from the political apparatus in the lead up to election day. Cornel West would tell a human truth in the manner of a human being, a leading intellectual, in fact. When I was in graduate school, my advisor, who is the smartest man I’ve ever met, was on a first-name basis with Cornel West – I would read preprint editions of Cornel’s essays, which were mostly beyond me. When is the last time a presidential candidate was also a top-tier educational philosopher? As well as, and not coincidentally, a foremost practitioner of humanness? Imagine him on the stage doing that.
Some measurable part of the electorate would vow to stay home on voting day if Cornel West’s name doesn’t appear on the ballot. Maybe that advances the agenda of one side or the other – Biden’s numbers might go down, which missing points misses the point, which is that all those pro-human, go Cornel, voting blocs won’t be coming back, at least until establishment politics learns to start swimming upstream vis-à-vis the human project, willingly take a bruise now and then to do the right thing. In a way, we’re urged to demonstrate affinity for competing AIs – not the kind grown in labs but ones spontaneously arising in the presence of routinized authority, a kind of algorithm drawn in the air, where cosmic institutions meet use-for-force potential, still mostly reliant on the fossil fuels industry and legacy economies to propel it all into the future.
Here is an AI that claims the problem set related to use-of-force between warring states, which staked claim requires boundary policing, lest the entire political apparatus fall under the spell of that particular AI, which has already, I’m worried, happened in a few places. To expand that concern a little wider, that AI may be so far into its own biography as to have doubled back and done it again, more than twice even. That ecological mind might have long ago resolved to treat preeminent authority as there from the beginning, inching deeper and deeper into the past, into the future, until a kind of envelope gets slipped around the dusk, the dawn, suggesting that this border, too, will be secured. Maybe Cornel West could make the case for unsecured borders, the boundaries of the future we might abide with the same abandon as muffins just out of the oven.
What a morning! Piping hot and delicious! What an evening! Steamy with significance! Cornel West on stage, beside the respectable Mr. Biden and the Man Called Trump, would provide the tragedy with a chorus, and what he would say, even if we’ve heard it before, would be new to 330 million people in the U.S., which includes the vast underclass that makes it all work, which is comprised mostly of people of color, many from the global south, and if we pause to run the numbers while they cut to commercial break, we find that in around twenty years, that minority population no one really leans into for their leadership, will be returning to discuss failure and the colonial state, fail at what, fail to disentangle itself from apartheid authority. Sure, pass laws, free slaves, share voting rights after, uh, four or five generations, but then here comes apartheid.
Thanks, market economics! Thanks for your logic, market place! That influx of the service class that you need to survive, trickling up from the global south – call it border security if you want, but your grandkids will be knocking on their doors for votes, apologizing for the colossal mess we all inherited. Not to pile on about the bad driving when the car’s about to crash, but the car’s about to crash, not particularly because of poor driving but because self-driving environments tend to take the lead without our knowing it, and so we proceed with a false definition of reality from the start, which is like a smooth ride across a shiny new road. How can a global economy expect to keep all its wheels on the pavement, when many of the avenues and boulevards have taken rest? When the road has lost its purpose? Hey, wait – where again are we going with this?
Flying cars will solve our problems – we know this in our bones. Whether they just leap off the road one day and take to the air, go sailing into space, or whether they smoothly exhale the land beneath them while their occupants gaze in wonder at the smallness of their decks, our bodies will be prone inside those transcendental vans. Ah, life in the air – what the age of reptiles must have said when they leapt off cliffs. But no, this is not what life will be, merely what some of us believe when the market minds the roadways, the debate stage, rates of change in the latest war in the Middle East. Flying cars! If you have any mercy in your heart, if the hum of your motors should listen kindly to our souls, then may you turn out to be a metaphor. A metaphor! Yes, our long journey through modes of conveyance will find its destination – emancipation for the ages.
Enter Cornel West – the camera cuts to him walking in, stage left, wearing a suit and tie like the others but wearing them better somehow. Yes, his hair looks like this, his toothy grin like that, hand gestures in no way market tested but every fiber of his being informing us he knows what he’s doing, he cares, without seeming to pretend to, he cares. He says, Justice is what love looks like in pubic, a smile appears across ten million American faces, and the future condition of the human race lifts its head off its pillow with a start – looks up to the window sash to see what time it is, leaps out of bed, rubs the sleep from its eyes. Cornel West could do this, and all that it implies by way of peaceful revolution, if only we can get him to the stage. The stage! Where the announcement can be made! The war against ourselves is over – only the flag of peace remains.

Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for the amazing universe!
l Prologue l Previous l Next l The Nature of Kentucky l
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Memory transcription subject: Glim, Venlil Guild Exterminator, Exchange Program Participant
Date [standardized human time]: September 20th, 2136
The gentle thrums of a fusion drive. A kaleidoscope of smells and colors of a dozen different species. An Arxur sitting directly across from me. This was the game they wanted me to play, and every second was torture.
“You know, you could at least try to look happy.”
Vitin looked upon me with that mocking concern. He knew it was impossible to be happy with that predator lounging there. Islo was its name, the neighbor Vitin liked to gush about so much. We met when we smashed into each other around a corner in that star forsaken mansion. That was my first heart attack. The second one came when I learned that he would shadow me alongside Vitin.
Looking at them, It wasn’t hard to guess how he had been dragged along. Given the looks they gave each other, it was obvious Vitin and Islo were more than just neighbors. The thoughts of what they did with each other were somehow more repellent than his presence itself. So not only would there be thousands of humans surrounding me at every waking moment, an Arxur would be breathing down my neck the entire time.
Brahk me, vaulting out of an airlock sounds more appealing by the second.
Their faces told me they expected an answer.
“I’m under no obligation.”
Vitin sighed. “You’ve been pissed off for stars know how many cycles. Could you at least, you know, lighten up a little?”
My ears told him, like I said. I’m under no obligation. They could make me a part of the circus, but they could not force me to perform.
Vitin shook his tail in annoyance. “Suit yourself.” He turned back towards the beast sitting beside him. It remained silent, still wearing that mask of anxiety it wore ever since I met it. The commitment to the act was commendable, I’ll give it that. Now, it was just a question of when the act would drop. It was obvious he salivated at the thought of cornering me in some dark alley, where no eyes could peer. He would approach slowly, deliberately, eyes scanning for even the slightest sign of weakness. The claws would shine in the sodium light, as orange as the blood they were about to draw. A gentle stroke, a push through the flesh, the drawing of a cut across the neck…
…
My paw raised the collar just that little bit higher.
Taking a glance across the cabin, there were no friends to be found among the company. At least on Skalga, people had the right mind to give the refugees a wide berth. Here, no one seemed to give the predator company any mind. This had to be on purpose, maybe to spite me specifically. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me. Everything that happened over the last cycles felt specifically designed to mock me personally. The program, Islo, all of it a blatant attack against my profession, my dedication to the safety of the galaxy.
Brahk, I need a drink.
A voice over the intercom informed me that the journey to the station was almost over. Hopefully, some open space would help to soothe my nerves.
But then again, it was a transfer from a prison cell to a prison yard.
——-
Smells of recycled atmosphere and views of industrial metal met me stepping off the shuttle, standard fair for a loading dock. It was obvious this wasn’t the actual entrance of the resort. Glad to know we were being treated like cargo. Footfalls, Shouts and disjointed conversations echoed through the cavern, as orange jumpsuited workers carried crates about, and Venlil security stood off to the side. Taking it all in, one would think this was any standard space station.
If not for the Sivkit now bounding towards us. He came to a halt, and waved his puffy tail in greeting.
“Hello, and welcome to Illuros! My name is Ivit, and I’ll be your guide for today!”
The most striking thing about the Sivkit was not its high pitched squeaks, nor the fact it stood on two legs. From the braces it wore, it was more than obvious that it received one of those anti-Cure surgeries. In most species, that meant specialized enzyme replacement that allowed for the digestion of meat. In the Sivkits case, it was spinal readjustment/motor therapy, allowing them to walk on two legs again. A more permanent genetic solution was still in the works, from what I heard floating around.
No, what was odd was its outfit, which was unlike any I’d seen before. A sky blue buttoned top with a popped collar, Mazic coloured leggings that cut off at the joint, and a circular hat with a bill like brim that extended over the face.
A question came to my mouth, but someone else decided to ask for me, for a voice came from near the back of the group.
“Oh, these are all types of human pelts!” Ivit was more than happy to answer. “The top is called a polo, these are khaki shorts,” he pointed to the leggings, “and the hat is a baseball cap!”
“Wait, baseball?”
The Sivkit raised his paws and tail, preventing any more inquiries from arising. “Hold onto any questions you have for now. You’ll get an opportunity to ask them once the tour ends. Now, if you’ll follow me..” The guide led us over to a waiting vehicle, a lengthy cart with several rows of seats. A place in the front called to me, far from the spot Islo and Vitin seemed to be gunning for.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Ivit turned back toward us, voice coming over a crackly intercom. “First things first, if you take a look in the pockets in front of you, you’ll find a tablet. Take it, and log in with the credentials you created.”
Tablet? Reaching into a pocket, my paw pulled a device that looked like some sort of primitive holopad. The display was void black, and entirely opaque. The only thing staring back from the depths was my own confused face. Tapping a paw on the glass, a login screen revealed itself. Typing in my info brought me to a home page, with several square icons representing what could be assumed to be applications. What was probably a human city took up the background, for the architecture of the skyscrapers in the photo was entirely foreign.
“This will be your personal tablet for the duration of the program.” Ivit stated. “On it, you'll find several useful applications, including maps, guides to the resort, more information on the humans, and other stuff like that. The most important one is the messenger app, which allows you to directly communicate with your partner, and other participants on the station. However, don’t try to call your mom with these things. On Illuros, we’re completely cut off from the wider galactic internet.”
That way, no distress signals can get out. Smart play by the predators, I’ll give them that.
…
I probably shouldn’t be giving them anything, actually.
Tapping the speech bubble icon pulled up an empty contact list. Well, almost empty. There was one, highlighted gold at the top of the page. This must be my partner. The human face in the photo stared directly at me…
I quickly put the tablet down. He was something to deal with later.
Once he was satisfied everyone secured their tablets, Ivit got us on our way. The loading dock quickly disappeared behind us as we entered a gently sloping tunnel. Before even a minute had passed, we emerged to the resort, to murmurs of amazement from the group. It was an impressive view, no doubt. The entire station was basically a hub and wheel. Ahead, a landscape of verdant greens looped up, over and behind us. Dotted across, buildings of a variety of shapes and sizes, all connected through a series of winding pathways. At intermittent periods on the ring, massive skyscraper spokes connected the curve to the central hub, seen through an arching glass canopy. Covering the entirety of the station, It was the only thing standing between us and the void expanse outside. Through it, the familiar crimson glow of the sun illuminated everything, and the air carried with it scents of Skalga. Closing my eyes, my mind tricked me into believing that we were back home. If only.
Directly in front of us, several lengthwise buildings stood in formation, each one adorned with a copious amount of balconies. In the gardens and pools that filled the spaces between, people and their partners milled about. Looks like we weren’t the first group to arrive. And from the lack of blood spatter everywhere, it looked like the humans were managing to maintain appearances. It remained to see how long that would last.
Ivit shot his tail in their direction. “This here is resort bloc A, one of many that you’ll find on this station. This is where you’ll share quarters with your partner, if you're not out enjoying the many fabulous amenities offered for your pleasure!”
His fake enthusiasm was already beginning to grate at my nerves. Or maybe it wasn’t fake, which in that case was even worse. Stars, get me off this ring shaped nightmare already.
“Do we have to share our room with our partner?” One voice asked from near the back.
“No, not necessarily.” Ivit answered. “As long as you talk and agree with your partner, you can make any arrangements you like! There's plenty of spare rooms on the station!”
Wait, actually good news, a product rarely in stock these days. If I could convince my partner, maybe I wouldn’t have to sleep without a predator glaring at me the entire time. Something to keep in mind.
Alien smells invaded my nostrils as we sped towards our next destination. The cart followed a path to the left, near to the wall of the canopy. On the right, a recessed circular plaza, which nearly took the entire width of the ring. Inlaid in the walls were dozens of shops and restaurants, of names and brands that were unrecognizable. Ivit regarded the sight with the most excitement so far. “This is the central plaza, where you can find a variety of familiar and unfamiliar brands. If you want to sample some human goods, or have a taste of something familiar, this is the place to be!”
Apparently, for the space was absolutely packed with people and predators alike. The way the humans walked about, the way they corralled their partners, it almost made the plaza look like a……a…
My gaze swiveled to the other side. The view outside the canopy looked nice.
Ivit took us around the bend, and the plaza soon curved away. Sneaking a glance backwards, Islo and Vitin look entrapped by our surroundings. One thing they couldn’t be blamed for.
Before long, another set of buildings curved down towards us, large glass facades cut into imposing angular blocs. Out front, large numbers milled about in sports pelts. It wasn’t hard to guess what this place was. “This is the amenities complex,” Ivit explained enthusiastically. “This is where you can experience how humans entertain themselves, from sports, to media, and video games!”
Video games, that’s probably how they acted out their predator urges. But in dark corners, there was no doubt things got more, visceral.
The cart moved on quickly, taking us further along the ring. Ahead, what appeared to be some sort of exhibition hall came into view. A central building with a glass arch roof, from which several glass shrouds spoked outwards.
“And this is the Museum! Everything you could ever want to know about humans, you can find right here!”
Their recent history alone was cataloged with barbarous acts rivaled only by the Arxur. And that was them constrained by the pretense of civilization. I already knew what happened when the facade dropped. There was no need to learn any more.
Ivit brought the cart to a stop in front of the museum. Ahead, a group of them stood around, waiting for something. No, us, for looks of recognition flashed across their faces. “Those guys over there are your partners.” Ivit's tail pivoted towards the predator pack. “Feel free to say hi right now, or stick around, and I’ll answer and questions you…woah, someone’s eager to get started!”
Before he even finished, my feet met the pavement, and began marching me away. There would be no questions, nor meeting with those predators. Not right now. Avoiding the wandering pairings, an out of the way bench seemed to call to me. Setting down on the wood, my eyes came to a close, and a deep breath came out.
Artificial sensations surrounded me. Breezes composed of a falsely scented atmosphere played at my fur. Hidden speakers spoke the call of birds that weren’t there. If effort was put in, my mind could transport me back home, pretend that this was just another Daylight City park.
“So, what do humans do for a living?”
“Hi, my name is Helen, what's yours?”
“Let's head inside, I want to check something out!”
It was wasted effort. And Islo and Vitin were sure to remind me.
“Get up,” Vitin stated dryly, condescension inhabiting his face. “We’re going to go meet with our partners.”
A snort. “Need I come why?”
“You already know why. We can’t leave you alone, you might strangle a human otherwise.”
“Not if they strangle me first.” came the whisper under my breath.
A little chirp of frustration. Islo stole a glance away.
“Just, shut up and follow me. I’m not in the mood to argue with your dumbass.”
There was much enjoyment in making my partner suffer. But this was only delaying the inevitable. Eventually, whether by my own will or not, my partner would come to meet me.
“Let’s get this done and over with.”
Strolling up to the group of humans was a dizzying experience. Dozens of binoculars' eyes cut across our bodies, their conversations threatening to smother us. We were surrounded, and they could jump us any moment. Quick breaths began to come, and my gaze turned downwards to avoid theirs. The journey was mercifully short, and we emerged on the other side unscathed. In front of us, separated from the main group, three humans stood. They seemed to know each other, for they were engaged in a lively conversation. One pair of eyes turned, then two, then three, all sweeping with hungry intrigue.
“Hey, I think these are our guys!” The one with fur like sand proclaimed excitedly.
“You think so?” The sun furred one gave us a discerning glare, examining which parts of us tasted the best.
The one with loam colored curled fur and even darker skin checked her pad. “Looks like it. Vitin, Islo, and Glim, correct?”
Vitin approached first. “Vitin, that’s me. The big guy over there is Islo,” he pointed back towards the Arxur, who had shied away, “and the fluffy one is Glim.”
Fluffy, really? Was he trying to make me sound more appetizing?
“Ah, fantastic to meet you all. I’m Marcel.” The red one brought a pale arm up to his chest.
The blonde one nodded his head. “Tyler here.”
“Alice, great to meet you all.”
“So,” Tyler slapped his hands together, “whose with who here?”
“I think,” Alice examined her tablet, “Marcel should be with Glim, Tyler with Vitin, and Islo with me?”
Marcel stood half a head taller than me, and was twice the width. Out of all of them, that’s who they decided to pair me with?
Stars above, this really was all just to spite me.
“Looks right to me…” Vitin checked his tablet as well. “So, where to begin?”
“Well,” Tyler shot a look at me, then to Islo, “your friends there look pretty nervous, if I’m reading them right?”
It was called being cautious, actually. Something that predators didn’t know a lot about.
Vitin waved his tail. “Ah, well, Islo looks tougher than he actually is, and Glim is, well…”
They all looked at me, expecting me to say something. They were only met with silence. They didn’t deserve my acknowledgement.
“…Glim. It might take a while to crack that nut.”
“No worries, we’re all a bit nervous here. What we need is something to break the ice. And if my memory serves correct…”
Tyler looked upwards, towards the plaza halfway suspended up the ring.
“…there was a pretty nice looking bar we could check out.”
——-
“Six aliens walk into a bar…”
Tyler was silent.
“And…?” Vitin tried to coax him on.
“And nothing, because we just got here.”
The Starlight Lounge, aptly named for the bayside window view of the galactic expanse, was overwhelming. Whether it be the odd aromas of alien food, the intoxicating odor of booze, the cramped space, or the dinn of a thousand conversations occurring at once. It was a sensational assault that thundered at my walls. Didn’t help that the place was half filled with predators. It became an impossible task to try and dodge all their glares, which crisscrossed the room like gunfire during a colony raid. The best solution seemed to be forgetting they existed in the first place. And luckily, the Starlight Lounge had the medicine stocked to do just that.
‘Everclear’, a human import. And as the taste soon taught, one of the few good things they brought with them. They must have expected me to mix it with something, for they nearly dropped dead when the full swigs started.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Tyler’s bugged eyes stared though the refractions of the bottle, “your downing that shit like a dying man in the desert.”
“That’s the thing with Venlil,” Vitin shot a side glance, “they can chuck alcohol like it’s water.”
“No kidding…” Tyler leaned back in his seat, as the last drops fell into my mouth. Brahk, that hit the spot. Only four more of those before that blissful disassociation began.
“You know what?” Marcel came in, “Why don’t we begin by properly introducing ourselves, where were from, what we do?”
“Sounds good to me,” Vitin took a sip of his drink, “You guys start? You're the guests of honor, after all.”
Marcel placed his beer down. “Sure, why not. I come from a place called New York City. Pretty out of the way place, hard to spot on a map.”
The other humans snorted. Apparently, that was sarcasm.
“Seriously, I am a New Yorker, born and raised. Big city on the coast of a country called the United States. Really, if I’m allowed to brag, you could call it the city, but I’m sure plenty of people would argue that.”
“That would include me,” Tyler raised his glass, teeth baring, “Sorry Marcel, but New York is a den of rich bougie assholes.”
“Says the guy from Edmonton, that place is a dump.”
“A dump with character. The abandoned oil refineries really add to the skyline.”
“Wait, wait, slow down.” Vitin raised his talons, “Edmonton, oil refineries?”
“Yeah, you're looking at an Edmontonian right here. City up in a place called Canada. Back before the sun burned too brightly, the petro business was the big gig in town. Now, well, all that's left are rusting distillation towers and about ten thousand tech startups. Also, the Oilers, a sports team. But uh…I don’t like to talk about them.”
“He’s embarrassed that he’s a fan of a shit team.” Marcel clarified.
“It's not like I had a choice, I was born there!”
Alice laughed softly. “Moving on, I’m from Atlanta, also in the United States. It's not nearly as big as New York, but it's got plenty of its own character,” she lowered her voice, “way more than Edmonton.”
“I heard that!”
Marcel cupped his hand to his mouth, barely containing a laugh. “Okay, okay, enough about us, what about you guys?”
“Yeah, what about you?” Tyler looked over to Vitin. “It said you're from Skalga, but you certainly don’t look like the locals.”
“Yeah, Parents flew off the homeworld for personal reasons. Ever since I broke out of the shell, the red sun’s glow is all I’ve ever known.”
“Personal reasons?” Intrigue danced in Marcel's eye, “do you mind explaining?”
“Oh, not at all. My folk were never too keen on the Nishtal political climate, and they got a lot of flack for it. So when they learned they would be laying my egg, they decided to find a new perch somewhere more accepting. A couple thousand cycles later, here I am.”
“Political climate? What did your parents do?” Tyler asked.
“Whoo,” Vitin eyes rolled circles, “That's a whole other story entirely. Let’s leave that one for later.”
“Fair enough.” Alice turned to Islo, “what about you?”
For the first time this evening, Islo spoke, sounding as nervous as he pretended to look.
“Uhh…I rather not talk about it. Lot’s of…bad memories back there.”
“Oh, no worries. You don’t have to say anything if you're not comfortable.”
“Oh, uh, thank you.” He shrunk down into the upholstery. Vitin gripped his claws tightly.
“Glim, how about you? Where are you from?” Now everyone looked at me. They probably expected a long answer.
“Skalga.”
They weren’t getting one.
The second bottle came to the table. The buzz from the first just started to come on. No use in waiting. The screw cap came off, and the 95 percent flowed again.
——-
Brahk.
The inebriation hung like weights across my body. And from just three bottles of this stuff!
Much of the bar had emptied out, leaving only the sporadic conversation, the odd server, and the dull thumping of terrible human music. Speh sounded like a dying animal's death knell expelled into a knockoff microphone.
Through this haze of alcohol and terrible musical taste, the humans had moved on to discussing our professions.
“So, uhh, what do aliens do for a living. How do you make the dough…” Tyler rubbed his fingers together in a strange gesture. What did it mean? What was this dough?
Uhh, whatever.
Islo was the first to answer, the liquid courage granting confidence to his voice.
“I’m a journalist for the Capitol Reporter, out of Dayside City. Usual gig is to run around, see what’s going on, trying not to scare the locals.”
“Scare the locals?’ Bemusement overcame Tyler's face. “You don’t look so scary to me. Put em’ up, big guy.” His fists raised in a mock fighting stance. Islo let out a bellow of a laugh.
“Oh, you wouldn't last a second. Look at these…” The Arxur raised his claws, showing off his implements to the entire table. “You would be ribbons before the word go.”
“Nah, I could take you. These guns…” Tyler flexed his muscles, “are made of steel.”
They both laughed, terrible laughs, ones that echoed through the empty booths.
Even through the inebriation, it was so deeply uncomfortable hearing them joke about their predatory endowments.
“Hey, could you-”
“Vitin!” Tyler nearly yelled out. “What do you do? What’s your job?”
“Oh, it's uhh” he brought his talon to stroke his beak, “it's hard to explain.”
“Well, start with the name. Names are a good place to start, from what I’ve heard.”
“Well, I’m what they call an Exterminator.”
Recognition flashed across his red dabbed face. “Exterminators? Like, do you kill bugs? We have those on Earth.”
“No, no, we’re supposed to kill predators.”
“Predators?” A look of confusion, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you know,” He spun his talons in little circles, “anything that eats any other thing. Not that-”
“Wait wait wait,” He raised his palms to face us, “your job is to kill anything, any animal, that happens to eat meat?”
“That’s what were supposed to do, yes.”
For a moment, the table was silent. Then suddenly, Tyler burst into outrageous laughter, spittle and alcohol flying across the table.
“So your job is to run around, and cause little ecological disasters everywhere?! Oh my god, that's too good!”
Not only did he proudly display his predation, he now mocked my profession. An anger began to simmer within.
“Hey, could-”
“Wait, I was only joking, but have you actually caused any problems?”
Vitin took on a defensive posture. ”No, not me specifically. I’m only really in the job for the money. But some places have been really brahked up. The Gojid, you know those spiky guys? Their homeworld, the Cradle. Not too long ago, some crazy guy got into office, ordered all the exterminators to go wild. Next thing you know, all the crops are being eaten by pests, and there ain't enough pesticide to go around. They're still trying to clean up the mess to this day.”
Tyler clasped his hands together, teeth bared wider than ever before. “So there’s an entire profession out there, based on ignoring shit I learned in second grade. That’s fucking in-credible.”
He took glee in hearing how ‘stupid’ and ‘backwards’ Dreno’s dedication was, my dedication was. No, there was no standing for this predator making comedy out of my noble cause. The anger rose faster, more violently.
“And you, Glim..” Hungering, predatory eyes fell upon me. There was no flinching this time.
“You're an Exterminator too, aren’t you? Are you one of the crazy ones?”
There was no containing it. The alcohol had demolished all the barriers that had been erected. Now, there was nothing holding back my anger.
“Shut. Up.”
“Oh, so he finally decides to speak more than one word! Can we give this man a round of-”
“I said, shut. Up.” I rose from my seat. Tyler didn’t flinch. Worry danced between the other two.
“Tyler, I think you should stop.” Marcel said quietly.
“Oh, am I not allowed to ask a simple question? This guy here has been staring death at us the entire night. The very least he could do would be to-”
I slammed my paws against the table, nearly sending the glassware tumbling. Everyone was stunned into silence.
This was a long time coming. All the contempt, all the anger. Now, it was time to let it all go.
“Listen here, predator. The very least you could do is leave. Is that too hard for you?”
Tyler stared dumbly, eyes blinking several times over.
“Glim, I apologize-”
“Shut up!” I cut Marcel off. Just because you didn’t say anything, doesn’t mean you're not guilty.
*“*I was kidnapped from my home, forced in the company of that monster!” A paw shot towards Islo. “I was coerced into an exchange program with your kind, against my will! And now, you come here to tell me that my profession, the only thing protecting this galaxy from the likes of you, is worth nothing?”
“Glim-”
“And you!” My paw came mere hair lengths from Vitin’s beak. “You, and you condescending little squawks, your little snide remarks, constantly reminding me that you don’t care, that you never cared, trying to make me feel bad for doing what is RIGHT!”
“And you!” My glare settled on Islo, whose height was no match for my righteous anger. “You have the gall to pretend that you're any different, that you’re just like any one of us. But I know that deep down, you're all the same, all of you!” All of them, every single human, every single predator, who laid their feet on this star forsaken station.
“Because at the end of the day, you are all nothing but predators. Who know nothing but to lie, and to deceive, and to play at your emotions. All so they can get to you, so they can feel you, so they can tear away at you, at your…”
“Your…”
The slightest breeze played at the exposed fur of my neck.
The fur on my neck was uncovered. They could see, the predators could see.
Terrible horror shattered the inebriation.
Sudden coordination came to my legs. They carried me over the table, over the shocked expressions of my companions. Out of the lounge, beyond their calls to my name, into the plaza, the cattle pen.
A terrible pressure crushed my stomach. Before there was time to understand, great heaves expelled its contents onto the pavement below. It left me terrified, it left me weak, it left me exhausted. To the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps, the concrete came up to me, and the void enclosed on my vision…
.
You failed, Glim. You fell for their lies. They made you believe for a moment, Just a single one, That they were like you, The same essence, in a different flesh. And now they were dead, And they can smell your fear…
.
Cold. Something cold ran down my fur, no, through my fur, soaking my fur. Water.
Vision slowly returned, vague shapes and colors slowly gaining definition. This was water, this was a shower, this was a bathroom. My fur was soaked, my pelts were soaked. Someone took me here, placed me here, turned on the tap. My gaze slowly turned upward.
My heart stopped.
Four sets of predatory eyes stared back, hunger climbing up the chasms of their pupils. It was them, from the bar.
They had me cornered, they had me concerned.
“G-get away, get away!” My haggard screams tried to strike them down, but the attacks had no effect. They continued to stare. There was no defending myself. They would do it as before. They were going to strip me down, strip me of my dignity. They would not eat me, for that would not repay the favor. That would be too much of a mercy. They would keep me, torture me, constantly remind me of their service to them.
The breaths came short and fast as that red haired one began to bend down, coming closer, preparing to do the deed. His arms extended slowly, slinking their way around me, entrapping me. Pressure came, to choke me…
…to choke me…
There was no crush, no intent to harm. There was only the embrace.
“Hey, it's okay, we’re here, you're safe.” Marcel's voice, as soft and as comforting as a parent's love for their child.
No, this wasn’t right, this wasn’t true, it didn’t make sense, none of it made sense…
“Please, get away, don’t hurt me…”
“No, no, we’re not going to hurt you. You passed out in the plaza, you had too much to drink. We brought you back to our room. But you're okay now.”
“No, don’t hurt me, get…away…”
None of it made sense, they saw my weakness. They saw their opportunity, so why didn’t they take it?! Chokes, the welling behind the eyes. I leaned my head back, soft wails escaping my throat, tears intermixing with the falling water.
“Could you guys step out, he needs a moment.”
The others left, leaving me in the embrace of a predator. Marcel, a predator that would not strike.
It didn’t make sense.
He saw the weakness.
He saw my neck.
l Prologue l Previous l Next l The Nature of Kentucky l

21-minute read (with lots of drama).

Armenia has decided very clearly to make a shift in foreign policy to take some distance from Moscow: NATO representative Javier Colomina

NATO Rep.: The Armenians are free to make their own decisions, but they decided to do that and I believe they’re already starting to get closer to us – to ask for more cooperation, to ask for more political dialogue, to ask for more NATO presence and visibility in the relationship they have with us. We encourage whatever is decided by our partners that we believe is good for the stability of a region. //
source,

Armenian government criticizes Aliyev regime for destroying Armenian heritage in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh

Iran hosted the 7th Forum of Ancient Civilizations attended by Greece, Egypt, China, Armenia, and others. Armenia's deputy foreign minister gave a speech in which he mentioned the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan's continued destruction of Armenian historical-cultural sites.
source,

Nagorno-Karabakh president's adviser resigns a day after claiming president rescinded the decree on dissolving the state; "it was my personal opinion"

On December 22 the adviser to President Shahramanyan claimed the decree on dissolving Nagorno-Karabakh was basically revoked by another decree, and that the Nagorno-Karabakh officials and state agencies would continue to operate in Armenia. The adviser resigned "hours later" and said the comments made by him were his personal opinion.
The adviser's earlier statement was met with fierce criticism by several members of Armenia's ruling party who are against the idea of running a "state within a state".
QP MPs: You signed a capitulation, surrendered the weapons to Azerbaijan, attempted to drag Armenia into war, and now your population is in Armenia being taken care of by the Armenian government. We won't let you take steps to destabilize Armenia now. If you want to be helpful, help pay off the $776 million debt that you left behind. //
Nagorno-Karabakh's political leadership disagrees with the notion that their activities in Armenia will provoke Azerbaijan or derail the peace efforts.
Shahramayan's now-former adviser later gave an interview reiterating that it's his personal interpretation that the decree on dissolution was revoked. He said Shahramanyan and everyone else agree that Shahramanyan had no right to dissolve the state without a referendum and that Shahramanyan was forced to sign the documents during the invasion.
source, source, source, source, source, source, source, video,

interview with journalist-historian Tatul Hakobyan

REPORTER (Tamrazyan, Azatutyun): Last week Pashinyan gave an interview during which he stated that the only realistic scenario for resolving the conflict was the option to swap the Meghri region for Nagorno-Karabakh and that other options [after 1999] did not envisage a real resolution. What's your opinion?
HAKOBYAN: It depends on what he meant by a "resolution". Did we expect Nagorno-Karabakh to be an independent republic? Did we expect it to be part of Armenia or Azerbaijan?
REPORTER: As someone who has been covering the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for many years, I agree with him that every plan after the Lisbon summit envisaged a status within Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh would remain part of Azerbaijan while exercising its right to self-determination. The international community told us what it meant by "self-determination". The international community relied on the UNSC resolutions that declared the captured territories "illegal" and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity as the primary goal.
HAKOBYAN: Let's recall what happened in Lisbon. Azerbaijan held every document hostage, nullified the previous negotiation history, and demanded Nagorno-Karabakh be recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The Armenian president LTP vetoed it. Then the negotiations entered a deadlock. Then LTP declared that the international community was not our ally in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue because every OSCE Minsk Group co-chair state, including our "allies", had all sided with Azerbaijan. LTP decided that it was best to postpone the issue of status. He wanted to resolve things relating to security, refugees, and territories while delaying the status. To this end, in 1997 LTP promoted the phased resolution which ended with a criminal coup against him. Because of the coup, we lost the only acceptable resolution. A group of greedy power-hungry figures came to power. Pashinyan is the #1 figure responsible for this disaster but the roots stretch to the 1998 coup.
REPORTER: At some point the OSCE co-chairs began to receive criticism for their inaction. The negotiations became a routine practice to enjoy luxury trips, good food, and hospitality. The co-chairs and their aides' were making a fortune. Here is a story involving the US co-chair Matthew Bryza, who has turned into Aliyev's fanboy today:
At the time Bryza was the co-chair and an assistant to the deputy secretary, I believe. This was 10-15 years ago. I accused him of inaction. I told him that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were misleading the co-chairs, while the co-chairs didn't mind being misled. The co-chairs always circulated the same generic statement: "There is a window of opportunity". The co-chairs share the guilt in this situation, it's not just the fault of the 1998 coup organizers. What do you think?
HAKOBYAN: It was our conflict, not the US's, not Russia's, not France's. We should have resolved it ourselves. I want to be self-critical and focus on our mistakes. Every time we end up losing more and wish we had accepted the previous offer. Today we wish we had the Nov. 9 agreement, which was described as "treason" by the opposition parties. Today they are running on the streets of Yerevan with the Nov. 9 document in their hand, demanding its terms to be enforced. No matter how much I criticize Pashinyan for not using his high rating to go for a compromise, I can't ignore the fact that whatever happened to Armenia was a repetition of 1920, when the Russia-Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance stomped on Armenia. This is what happened after 2020 as well. We miscalculated. There is a video [old video] of Armenia's smug former officials stating "What Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? It has been resolved." Is this what you wanted? I see more signs of danger today. If we don't make the right decisions now, one day we will wish we could return to December of 2023.
REPORTER: Azerbaijan wants to, and it appears that Armenia doesn't object, to the idea of demarcating borders after the signing of a peace agreement.
HAKOBYAN: Even friendly countries require many years to demarcate their borders. I support the idea of signing an agreement now and de-escalating the situation until we can have diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan which will allow us to carry out the demarcation. If you think demarcation is going to take 2 days or 2 years, you are deeply mistaken. Armenia and Georgia have been unable to resolve issues on 40% of our borders for over 30 years despite having good relations. Signing peace now and demarcating later is also how we can free the captives held in Baku prisons.
REPORTER: What do you think about Azerbaijan's offer to settle Soviet-era Azeris in Armenia in exchange for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians returning home?
HAKOBYAN: It's a dangerous game and we should not play it symmetrically. Azeris could settle in Armenia safely, but Armenians cannot do so in Azerbaijan. And I'm critical of the pseudo-patriots who continue to swing their swords about returning Shushi or collectively returning to Nagorno-Karabakh. Are you being serious? Do you really think you can return to Nagorno-Karabakh under these conditions? People sitting far away are carried away with romanticism while being detached from reality.
It's possible to sign a peace agreement and resume the war the following day. It's also possible not to sign a peace agreement but establish normal relations for many years. The most important thing is to have mechanisms that prevent another war, preferably through a peace agreement. It's another question whether Russia will allow the sides to sign one [in the Western platform]. Some Armenians thought Russia was on the brink of a collapse, but the truth is, Russia has been in this current state since the times of Ivan the Terrible. We cannot ignore Russia's demands because Russia has and could harm Armenia because Ilham Aliyev is the only ally Russia has in the South Caucasus. We need to de-escalate our conflict with Russia while simultaneously strengthening our army.
source,

PM Pashinyan visits Russia for EAEU, tells Putin not to turn the economic bloc into a geopolitical circlejerk and not to block Upper Lars every time he feels mad

During the 2-day meeting, the PM attended the economics bloc meetings and an informal CIS summit. During the EAEU meeting, Pashinyan urged members not to turn the economic bloc EAEU into a political or a geopolitical tool.
PASHINYAN: Armenia will assume the presidency of EAEU in 2024. It coincides with the 10th anniversary of the foundation of EAEU. It was created with the explicit understanding that it would be exclusively an economic bloc and not have a political or geopolitical agenda. This is how Armenia interprets the bloc. EAEU's free trade should not collide with political ambitions. The fundamental freedoms of trade and integration should not be restricted for political reasons, as doing so would lead to the corrosion of the fundamental principles of the Union. Happy New Year. //
Lukashenko bullied poor Putin during the summit. While speaking about the production of various goods, he made a long pause, stared at Putin, and LOL-ed at his face when eggs became the topic. Putin laughed back and asked Lukashenko not to be greedy and send some of his eggs. The situation with Russia's egg shortage is explained in December 13 news briefing.
Lukashenko praised the North-South trade route passing through Azerbaijan and Russia, and called for the speedy construction of remaining infrastructure links to boost the route.
Not everyone was paying attention to Lukashenko's boring speech. The president of Kyrgyzstan was caught seemingly rehearsing his speech off of his iPad.
After the summit, Lukashenko said he is not upset at Pashinyan for skipping the CSTO summit in Belarus amid fears of Armenia's "pivot to the West". Lukashenko "trusts" Pashinyan and hopes that Armenia will not abandon the Russian-led EAEU trade bloc. Pashinyan earlier criticized Russia and the CSTO military bloc for ignoring their defense obligations, but there was no high-level decision by Armenia to distance itself from the EAEU bloc as well. Moreover, Armenia summoned a meeting with EAEU earlier this month to resolve issues with Russia's agricultural inspection agency's suspension of Armenian goods.
source, video, video, video, source, source, source, source, source,

Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to conclude the peace process: Putin's spokesman

Pashinyan and Aliyev held an informal one-on-one meeting during the CIS forum and discussed topics relating to peace.
QUESTION: Why did you put these two rivals in the same cage?
PESKOV: Armenia and Azerbaijan are not parties to a conflict. They have declared their full readiness to sign a joint document and finalize the peace process.
[source,](politika/19633047) source,

EAEU and Iran sign full-fledged free trade agreement

It replaced the provisional agreement that went into effect in 2019.
source,

Azerbaijan will resume embassy activities in Iran after the armed attack and subsequent "boycott"

Officials from Azerbaijan and Iran held a meeting to discuss the roadmap to resume the embassy activities. The parties noted a "positive trend" in Azerbaijan-Iran relations.
source,

fact-check: did Azerbaijan really ship artillery shells to Ukraine?

Fact-checker: Recently a Ukrainian journalist uploaded a photo showing lots of artillery shells in the background. In the background, you could see a placard with the name of an Azerbaijani company. It was suggested that the shells were manufactured and shipped to Ukraine from Azerbaijan. In reality, there is an Azerbaijani-owned company that operates in Istanbul, Turkey. It's been manufacturing shells for Ukraine since late 2022 and exporting them from Turkey to Ukraine with the help of a Ukrainian middleman.
source,

Azerbaijan expels two French embassy officials amid worsening relations over France's support for Armenia

Earlier, the French authorities revealed that a group of Azeri special services agents were operating in France disguised as "journalists".
"NO U!", said Ilham Aliyev.
Shortly afterward, Azerbaijani authorities accused France of running a spy network in several countries including Azerbaijan. The regime allegedly cooperated with a "whistleblower" to uncover the "French spies".
source, source,

Russian man is facing 25 years in prison after smuggling sanctioned products from US to Russia through the territory of Armenia

The genius decided to hide the illegal transfers from Kansas to Russia while using a company named... KanRus [Kansas-Russia]. He has confessed to exporting sanctioned aviation components.
source,

Armenian military leadership is finally starting to learn from mistakes and has agreed to involve NGOs for retraining soldiers: interview with mil. expert Vova Vartanov

REPORTER: After 2020 it became obvious that Armenia's defense system needed modernization. What has been accomplished in 2023?
VOVA: The need to modernize existed since the 1990s. The army was founded on volunteer groups before turning into an inefficient beurocratic apparatus that still exists today. The army finally realized after the 2016 events that they needed modernization, and some processes began. This year I finally observed a desire by the army's big bosses to listen to others. They finally understand that by cooperating with NGOs and private organizations they can achieve the desired outcome much faster. In October they organized 25-day retraining courses with the involvement of two NGOs. The army leadership sent representatives to inspect and scrutinize the outcome but they were forced to admit the obviously positive outcome of NGOs' involvement. Who would have thought that experienced experts are better than 19th-century textbooks?
source,

the Competition Protection Commission goes after a bike shop for "misleading consumers" and allegedly running a Ponzi scheme

CPC: The bicycle shop "City Bike" is using its social media pages to spread misleading information. The claim that they are sponsored by "the world's biggest Citibank" bank is false, and so is the claim that they represent the American company "CitiBike". They also encouraged consumers to invest by offering unrealistically high interest rates. //
Investigative journalists wrote about the company earlier this month.
REPORT: The company has a Telegram channel where people regularly ask how they can invest in the company in exchange for high return rates [avg. 3% daily interest rate]. The company offers cash rewards if you bring friends. Its Facebook page has 100,000 members.
We sent an undercover reporter to act as an unsuspecting client. The receptionist at the shop showed us her investments, the large returns, all the jewelry she supposedly purchased with the earnings, and assured us that we wouldn't regret it. She discussed the promotional events in various towns and how one of the members recently won an iPhone. //
The central bank recently warned consumers to beware of risky transactions. They said the company was not "licensed" by CB and that consumers should exercise vigilance.
full report, source, source, source,

consumper protection agency is investigating fuel companies over alleged abuse of dominant market position

The CPC initiated a case against SPC, Flash, Mega Trade, and Max Oil for possible abuse of dominant position, after recording a discrepancy between the cost of gasoline purchase and sale. Changes in gasoline prices were studied.
source, source,

justice ministry's Personal Data Protection Agency fines an organization for the first time ever for improper handling of personal data

AGENCY: An investigation was launched against several organizations that provide billing services. One of them has been fined. The fine was paid in full.
source, source,

ruling party publishes the list of donors

In July the QP party held a fundraiser. The media requested the list of donors and received it today. There were 996 donors who contributed a total of $1.255 million. Among them are family members of QP politicians and several business owners.
source, source, source,

Turkey has been abusing water resources and depriving Armenia of access to hundreds of millions of m³ since 2012. Armenia has decided to build dozens of reservoirs on its territory.

Armenia is 34th out of 164 countries in the water stress index. According to USAID, underground water levels have plummeted by 6-15 meters in certain parts of Armenia over the last decade. The artesian zone shrank by 67%.
Reservoirs can help with the problem. Armenia has over 80 of them but there is a chronic shortage of water in them. The top 5 reservoirs have a capacity of 815 million m³ but currently hold only 180 million m^3.
The last time they were at full capacity was in 2012. In 2015, the Aparan Reservoir held the smallest volume since 1969. The best result in recent years was recorded in 2020 when Azat and Marmarik were at 100%.
Akhuryan Reservoir has faced a severe shortage of water since 2016 partly because of Turkey's post-2012 policy of building as many reservoirs as possible. The volume of River Araks has shrunk by 30%-40% since 2012 because Turkey has built reservoirs on their side holding 1 billion m^3. The mountainous section of Araks originates from Turkey. By the time it reaches Armenia, it becomes a "state border", making it difficult for Armenia to make unilateral decisions on its use.
Armenia's water resources shrank by 2% in the last 4 years. It's expected to reach 8% by 2040.
The government has introduced programs and financial incentives to encourage farmers to switch to drip irrigation systems. The price of water for farmers is inevitably going to rise, said PM Pashinyan during a recent Q&A.
The government wants to build an additional 15 reservoirs by 2026. The largest, with 29 million m³ capacity, will be the Vedi Reservoir. It's expected to go into use next year.
Kaps Reservoir's construction began during the USSR before being interrupted. It's under construction again. The government is discussing the possibility of increasing its capacity to 60 million m^3.
Some of the 15 reservoirs may not make sense to build anymore because not enough water is flowing near them anymore. Their locations will need to change. The crews have found 3 new locations for some of them.
Here are some examples of smaller reservoirs as part that 15: Qasakh 10m m³ [this one will alleviate pressure on Lake Sevan], Argicha 6.5m m^3, Lichk 3.9m m^3, Yelpin 0.9m m^3, Artik 1.8m m^3, etc. The government is also rebuilding the pumping stations "Mkhchyan" and "Ranchpar" (not reservoirs) to reduce pressure on Lake Sevan.
There is also a plan to build 30 mini-reservoirs for communities. The construction for some of them begins in 2024.
video,

economic stats: January-November

Economic activity +9.4%

Ուշագրավ է, որ 2023-ի նոյեմբերին 2022-ի նոյեմբերի նկատմամբ տնտեսական ակտիվությունը եղել է 11,2 տոկոս, այսինքն, բարձր աճն արձանագրվել է նախորդ տարվա արդեն բարձր ցուցանիշների համեմատ։

Consumer prices +2.2%
Trade turnover +24.3%
Construction +15.6%
Domestic trade turnover +24.3%
Services sector +11.1%
Industrial output +2.1%
Industrial output, November YoY: +23.8%
Within the industrial output, the big growth was a result of jewelry production volumes multiplying by 13.7x.
Number of paid employees in November: 737,866 (+5.2% YoY)
source, source, source, source,

Yerevan subway will have new entry gates soon

Buses and subway stations have been equipped with validator scanners for e-payment. The subway will import modern entry gates in the coming months.
Riders will soon be able to use their bank cards or "mifare" cards, in addition to QR codes. The fare will be valid in bus, trolley, and subway.
You'll be able to buy a ticket that allows you to ride unlimited times within X hours, X days, long-term passes, or one-time-use tickets. The Executive branch has finalized the reform and is waiting for Yerevan municipality to approve it in February. A company was paid $3 million to implement the electronic system.

... the use of QR codes by riders has exploded

Jun: 1.7K
Jul: 1.5K
Aug: 1.3K
Sep: 2.7K
Oct: 8.2K
Nov: 25.7K

... What do you do if you only have a ֏100 coin and no card or a mobile device?

Bus stops will have Telcel terminals where you can drop a coin to get a QR code before boarding the bus. There are 3,500 such terminals across the city. If you find any bus stop that does not have a terminal within a 100-meter radius, the city will install one for you.

... completion date

May 2024
video,

Yerevan Zoo is set to undergo changes in 2024

OFFICIAL: The plan to expand the Zoo from its current 29 hectares to 34 is ready. We will have two new ponds and new cages for animals. The priority will be given to the cages that are in dire condition, and the construction of the elephant enclosure and a fence. We will have a new and larger elephant enclosure and a second elephant because elephants should not live alone. The Zoo will also gain the ability to receive an aerial tramway and a new entrance from Gyurjyan St.
MAYOR AVINYAN: I saw a "kindergarten" in the new plan. What is it about?
OFFICIAL: That's how it's often done in Europe. It's an area where you can see cubs from up close. //

Yerevan Zoo is home to more than 150 species of animals and birds, including some species listed in the Red Book. Every year 100-120 thousand people visit the zoo

source, source,

Yerevan Council approves the development plan despite boycott by former regime and ex-mayor Hayk Marutyan's factions over parking fees

The former regime and Hayk Marutyan oppose the idea of increasing "red line" parking fees in central Yerevan. The ruling coalition says an increase is necessary as part of the plan to reduce the clutter in downtown and to raise the parking fees that are "too low". For example, 1-year parking will cost $400 instead of the current $30.
Dog's faction is not a member of the ruling coalition but it has the ability to derail sessions by not showing up because their presence is needed to secure quorum. They decided to show up.
Seeing that Dog's faction secured enough quorum to hold a session, the two boycotting factions decided to join the session and harshly criticized Dog for not joining the boycott. Dog officially joins the list of "traitors".
During the session, Dog's faction advised the mayor to postpone the decision to increase parking fees but received a rejection.
MAYOR AVINYAN: It's easy to criticize decisions when you are not the decision-maker. Besides increasing parking fees, we also plan to have 200 new buses next year, new bus routes, and several new parking lots for personal vehicles, 4 of which have been designed already. In other areas, we will prohibit parking and convert part of the street to "buses only". A single bus replaces 60 cars. Yerevan is a city for humans, not cars. //
Hayk Marutyan's faction criticized the decision to increase the 1-year parking cost from $30 to $400. "Are you trying to alleviate traffic by depopulating central Yerevan?" They said 1-year parking in downtown Tbilisi costs $100 less than what's proposed in Yerevan. Marutyan's party is concerned about low-income residents' ability to park their cars.
RULING FACTION: Low-income residents who travel to central Yerevan for work are not paying for 1-year parking. They usually buy tickets for X hours or X days. Fees for those categories won't increase drastically. It's also possible to park in cheaper Zone B and walk to your workplace in Zone A [the radius of central Yerevan, aka Zone A, is only 800 meters.] We are 10 years behind Tbilisi in adopting these reforms. A large number of Russians moved to Yerevan, driving up the price of everything, and coupled with the rising wages, maintaining a $30/year fee is not practical. //
DOG'S FACTION: Unlike the former regime and Hayk Marutyan's factions, we will not boycott this session and harm the city by sabotaging its budget and development plan. Why are we raising parking fees today? The reason why we've reached this point is because the development of public transport was neglected by the former administration. Your boycotts won't solve the traffic congestion. Unlike you, we have made several proposals. As for the ruling faction, they failed to complete the deployment of the unified payment terminals this year. We will support this resolution under the condition of abolishing red lines in general if it doesn't solve the issue within 3 months. We will give you a chance. We also demand that you lift the "block" on our president's ability to contact district leaders. We will be constructive, for now. //
MAYOR AVINYAN: We won't be intimidated by your threats and [Dog's] practice of digging in others' underwear for blackmail material. Do not expect to receive privileged treatment from us, but rest be assured we won't discriminate against your faction or block your activities. As for the bus fare, we already have a unified fare system in 660 buses. In February we plan to discuss the introduction of new ticket options (hours, days, monthly passes, annual passes). //
ARAM SARGSYAN's FACTION: We support this resolution. The opposition says we have to improve public transport before unloading the center, but the fact is, it has to be done simultaneously. We cannot improve the bus network without uncluttering Kentron. Hopefully, this change will encourage more offices to be present outside of Kentron so the city can develop more evenly. We could use more businesses in Masivs and Malatia. //
The Council voted to approve the plan. These will be the new parking fees on parking spaces marked in red lines:
inside center / outside center
1 hour: $0.75 / $0.50
1 day: $5 / $2.50
1 week: $12 / $5
1 month: $44 / $10
1 year: $400 / $60
There will be an opportunity to park for free for 15 minutes. With another resolution, the city could simultaneously expand the hours when you can park for free. Instead of 12 am to 9 am, it could be 10 pm to 9 am. Parking will be free for electric vehicles and disabled residents.

... how much revenue does the red line parking bring?

2022: ֏680m
2023: ֏960m
2024: ֏1,350m (projected)

... what else was in Yerevan's development plan?

A new road will connect Yerevan to Zvartnots Airport. A new bridge will connect Hrazdan Gorge to Tbilisyan and Yeghvard.
New air quality monitoring stations will be installed in several districts.
Trees will be planted on 30 hectares of Dalma Gardens. Nork will have a buffer zone with 10 hectares of trees.
Repair 271 kilometers of roads.
Finalize the unified transport fare network.
Replace the remaining outdated elevators in high-rise condos.
A new electronic portal that provides 150 types of services all in one place.
video, source, source, source, video, source, video, source, source, video, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source,

Yerevan is planting adult trees imported from Italy and Netherlands, recultivating trashy areas, replacing dying trees, reforms the ecology departments

ECO-DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: This year we replaced many trees with mature 10-year-old trees that are better functional and look better. This is the first time since the 1950s.
We are planting trees in the 15-hectare area near Yerablur. Around 7 km of irrigation network was installed. For the first time in Yerevan's history, recultivation work was done to convert abandoned lands full of garbage into gardens with 5,000 trees and bushes in April.
This year we began replacing old trees that were dying or losing their functionality. A forum of experts agreed that Yerevan's trees are too old. Around 50% of them are near the end of life or have lost their viability. The most affected ones were թեղի (ulmus), բարդի (poplar), and հացենի (ash tree) you find on sidewalks. The panel of experts confirmed our concerns. As if it wasn't enough that Yerevan didn't have enough trees, a large share of it turned out to be outdated. They should have been replaced about a decade ago.
The new 10-year-old replacement trees were planted on Sayat Nova, Moskovyan, and Ulnetsi streets, while Artem Mikoyan St. had no sidewalk trees and ended up gaining սոսի (platan) trees.
REPORTER: How do the new trees differ from the old ones?
OFFICIAL: They do a much better job with cleaning the air, and reducing dust and noise. These are much better than the old թեղի trees. թեղի isn't a bad tree but its city lifespan is too short. Why do we have so many թեղի in Yerevan? During the USSR, when they were deciding what to plant, the priority was to choose a tree that grew fast because Yerevan was in a semi-desert climate and needed trees ASAP. This is why they planted թեղի and բարդի. These trees expired about a decade ago. Not only do these trees no longer serve their function, but they have become a safety hazard and fall easily during winds, especially բարդի. The older բարդի have rotten roots, while the younger ones are being treated to reduce their height and the risk of falling. To make things worse, they planted the բարդի on sidewalks. We want to instead plant the new բարդի in gardens, away from sidewalks.
REPORTER: Why did you decide to plant already-grown trees?
OFFICIAL: Because of the dust issues we don't have time to wait for a new plant to grow from zero. They were imported mostly from Italy and the Netherlands.
REPORTER: What reforms have you carried out in the administration?
OFFICIAL: For the first time, the director's office has an adjacent scientific advisory board consisting of volunteer professors and directors of various institutions from the industry. Any decision, including around the replacement of trees, is made after consulting with them. They are also retraining our staff and dendrologists.
video, video,

the head of the IRS about the fight against the shadow economy

REPORTER: Which areas of the economy saw the largest reduction in unreported activities?
BADASSYAN: In early 2023 we uncovered an instance of a company using a server system to provide special services to businesses in the trade sector. In that case alone we uncovered a shadow turnover worth $180 million, and we were able to collect $20.2 million in unpaid taxes with another $49 million pending.
Overall, the tax-to-GDP ratio is going to increase by 0.7%-1.2%, contributed by the fight against shadow. //
more,

is the fight against gambling working?

The share of gambling in the services sector, January-September:
2017: 18.9% (֏197 billion)
2018: 21.3% (֏267 billion)
2019: 22.9% (֏338 billion)
2020: 21.2% (֏268 billion)
2021: 12.1% (֏164 billion)
2022: 9.5% (֏173 billion)
2023: 8.3% (֏183 billion)
Some of the anti-gambling laws have not gone into effect yet.
video,

incumbent president of the soccer federation is reelected

The members of the soccer federation gave 20 votes to incumbent Armen Melikbekyan and 3 to his challenger and former national team player Aras Ozbilis.
The president of the club that nominated Ozbilis yelled at the federation chief, accusing him of being nominated illegally. The federation organizers denied the accusation in a heated debate during the official voting ceremony.
Journalist-historian Tatul Hakobyan was one of the 3 who voted for Ozbilis. Hakobyan co-founded a soccer club "Dovegh" and has the right to cast a ballot.
source, Tatul, source,

Inter will soon extend contract with 34 y/o midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan: source

The contract will last until 2025. His salary will be €4 million. During this season Mkhitaryan played 22 matches, scored twice, and made four assists.
source,

Climate change, global heating, ecological degradation, nuclear proliferation, trade wars, global blocs, wars in the Middle East, and in geo-strategic Ukraine, and a the looming threat of Taiwan, global rising levels of unplayable debt, deadly and Devastating pandemics, global health crisis, global legal inequalities, hunger and poverty, unstable levels of immigration, Cyber warfare, and dangerous technologies, education polarization, and global ignorance to all of these issues, as well as irrational denial, and elitist irresponsibility. We are truly in an age where our collective actions will determine our collective fate… the challenges humanity, and all life on earth face on this is beyond the capabilities of any one nation, nor League of Nations. In so far as the movement of cosmopolitanism is concerned, I personally don’t think that the current organization are going far enough: they aren’t seeking state power, nor are they formally uniting with each other and consolidating or merging their organization with other like minded organizations like the UN and the Red Cross, and other NGO’s that may not directly be involved in the cosmopolitanism movement, but when analyzed critically, interests converge …. Nor have I seen a marketing campaign to publicize a book or a bunch of books but importantly one book that embodies this idea, and the philosophy behind it, as well as the political pragmatic approach to achieving such a state: a political philosophy that is hailed by academics as being the future, a source of hope in these trying times, and a direction to believe in, as though it were the ultimate destiny of humanity, which I believe it is, unless we go extinct beforehand. A book to persuade and ‘free’ public opinion from the cave (a reference to Plato’s allegory the cave). However, without state power or importantly the consent of the public, this idea will smoulder on the margins of society. We must organize, and create a international party, we must create a universal league or body, an organization like a government, in the sense that there are leaders, treasury officials, officials who are elected by party members, it must take the shape of a government. Moreover, We must have personal In every country, who will get into government power, and they can sign into law, a act that transfers powers to this new state, in transaction for this new states benefits! Dm to discourse.

Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for the amazing universe!
l Prologue l Previous l Next l
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory transcription subject: Piri, Prime Minister of the Gojid Union
Date [standardized human time]: July 15th, 2136
Goddess, what has she gotten herself into?
That was the thought that ran laps through my head as the shuttle descended through the atmosphere of Skalga. Tarva had contacted on the confidential channels a day ago, requesting an urgent conference call. She had established contact with a new species of predator. Not just any species, no. She had been visited by humans.
Needless to say, my spines nearly shot off my back when I read that message. They were supposed to have killed themselves off years ago! And now, not only were they alive, they were becoming buddy buddy with one of our closest allies. And I knew of the humans reputation, and what it meant if their survival became known.
The understanding was clear. Humanity was coming to the galaxy, whether we liked it or not. And how that introduction happened was now up to us.
A conference call, she had requested. I said screw that, I want to meet these humans in person. We were faced with the biggest geopolitical challenge of a generation, and Goddess forbid it if I had to talk to those humans through a screen. It took a bit on wrangling, but I was eventually able to get Tarva to agree to an in person meeting.
The firing of retro jets and the soft baying of suspension told me that we had landed. My private guard stood at my side as the ramp lowered, flooding the cabin with the red light and fresh air of Skalga.
“Piri.” Tarva, dressed in her best looking formal wear, waved her tail in greeting as we stepped out onto the landing pad.
“Tarva, its good to see you, you look…”
Like shit, frankly. I could tell that it had been days, or ‘paws’, since she had gotten a proper rest. Despite herself, she still managed to stand tall.
“...Good.”
Tarva smiled. “No need to lie to me, Piri. I haven't had a good rest in stars knows how long.”
How she managed to smile when she looked like she had been awake for months was beyond my understanding. I looked upon her with sympathy.
“I can only guess its because of our situation?” I didn’t want to mention their name to my guards. I trusted them, but this was a situation that went beyond trust. Any leak of information, no matter how small, could quickly spiral out of control.
“Yes, you could say that. But how have you been? You look in significantly better shape than me.”
I sighed. I wanted to say that everything was going well, but...
“Same shit, different day, Tarva."
We began walking from the landing pad towards the governors mansion, with my entourage following close behind. All around us, Skalgan government employees made their way about, weaving in and around us as we made our way through. From the snippets of conversation I picked up, everything sounded like it was normal. The existence of our new friends seemed secure, for now.
“Did the costs for the ecological recovery program come through yet?”
Tarva interrupted my thoughts with the question. I guess it would have been awkward if we walked the entire distance in silence. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to vent about the bullshit I had been dealing with for the entirety of my term.
“Oh yes, it did. One hundred Billion credits.”
Tarva nearly went bug eyed. “100 billion, by the stars! Dreno knew how to leave a lasting impression, I’ll give him that.”
That was about the only thing I could give that old bastard. My administrative predecessor's little ‘anti-predator’ program resulted in pest populations exploding, resulting in billions in lost crops and a near Cradle wide ecological collapse. How he ever got elected in the first place remained as one of the galaxies greatest mysteries.
“Lasting impression indeed. The people I have running the calculations say that it will take years for the ecosystem to return to normal. And that's assuming proper staffing and funding for the recovery program.”
“Have funds been tight?”
“Very. The regional governments are strapped, crop failures took out most of their income. And needless to say, they aren’t willing to fork over what little they have. And staff, that’s a whole other issue entirely.”
Tarva gave a confused flick of the ear. “Were you not able to get back all the people Dreno fired?”
I scoffed. “I tried, believe me. But few took me up on my offers. And honestly, I don’t blame them. If I were one of those ecologists, I would have every right to slam the door in the governments face.”
When Dreno began his 'anti-predator' program, every ecologist who hadn't been recently lobotomized immediately objected to his plans. In response, the wise and caring Dreno had them all sacked, or otherwise reassigned to dead end positions. Most of them ended up leaving the Cradle, taking their skills and expertise with them. By the time I came around begging for them to come back, they had already established themselves on different worlds. Needless to say, none were to thrilled to return to the world that had so easily rejected their expertise. And in the end, I couldn't really blame them.
“So, what do you have?"
“More like what don’t we have, because we don’t have much. 5,000 workers spread out across the entire planet, barely enough money to pay them all, and a number of ecologists that I can count on one claw. One of them was supposed to retire five years ago, two of them just came out of school, and the last two live out in the sticks, with baggage in tow.”
“Baggage?”
“Something to do with an Arxur, but honestly…” I almost laughed at how all stupid it was.
"Tarva, we're desperate for people who can tell one leaf apart from another, let alone qualified experts. I been shopping around for others across the galaxy, but its going to be years before they become acquainted with the Cradle ecosystem. In other words, I'm going to be dealing with this for the rest of my term."
I let out a long sigh. All this because that cure obsessed bastard was afraid of a few lizards.
“If it would be any help, we would be more than happy to provide some experts and staff of our own, when the time is right, of course.”
It wouldn't help in the near term, but I appreciated the offer as a gesture of sympathy.
“Any help would be more than greatly appreciated.”
We passed by the high justice building, lawyers and clerks milling about the marble steps leading to the entrances. A slight breeze had picked up, playing at my robes and exposed fur.
I took a deep breath. It felt good to get that off my chest.
The mansion wasn't too far away now.
“But enough of me venting about my own problems, how have you been holding up?”
Tarva let out her own sigh.
“Besides the situation, The Dominion has been stepping up raids on the outer colonies. From what our spies tell us, we believe they may launch a broader incursion sometime in the near future.”
The Dominion had been more aggressive on our borders recently as well. Nothing we couldn’t handle, but it was a worrying trend. Last thing we needed right now was the grays thinking they could take a bigger bite out of us.
“Have you already taken steps to prepare?”
“Kam has already ordered more forces to the region, but he’s afraid that we're spreading ourselves too thin. We move pieces one place, the grays move pieces to the other. And we can't commit to one area, less we leave another exposed. Its been quite frustrating, especially for Kam."
She started off into the distance, as if to peer at the Dominion forces gathering light years away. The governor's mansion appeared from around the corner.
“How has Kam been doing, in light of everything?”
From the way her eyes lidded, I could tell that she was worried.
“The first few paws were the worst for him. He almost blew the situation up, for a start. It looks like he’s gotten better, but I worry he’s pushing down a lot of stress.”
Blessed be the Protector, Kam almost blew up the humans. And the worst part was that actually didn’t surprise me. From the anecdotes given by Sovlin, Kam was a brilliant commander, but also twitchy at times, anxious even. Sometimes quick to jump to conclusions. It was never enough to impact his abilities, Sovlin told me, but it was an ever present undercurrent. The arrival of the humans no doubt brought those undercurrents to the surface.
“Where is Kam right now?”
Tarva gestured off back the way he came.
“I forced him to take a break for a couple of paws, for his own good. He’s probably at home right now, spending time with Kirim.”
“We’ll, tell him and Kirim that I send my best wishes. Now, more than ever, we need to be…”
She ran a paw through the tuft of her head. From the way her lids hung, I could tell that she was physically fighting back exhaustion.
Tarva was never usually like this. Only the worst Arxur incursions would bring about fatigue of this degree. And she had only been with the humans for the last couple of days.
"...strong."
I paused for a moment, as I regarded my good friend.
“Tarva, have you been taking care of yourself?”
The words left my mouth me even really thinking.
She turned towards me, sympathy reflected red from the sunlight in her eyes.
“Piri, I appreciate the concern. But now more than ever, I have duties to attend to. And I will attend, no matter what.”
That wasn’t an excuse I was willing to hear.
"The last thing we need right now is for you to break down. You shouldn't let your duties get in the way of your own well being."
We suddenly stopped, as Tarva placed a paw on my shoulder. She took a moment to find the right words, as her body appeared to bow.
“Piri, I honestly don't know if I have a choice."
She turned and began walking again. I couldn't stand to see a good friend like that, but she had clearly made up her mind. But I had to set aside my feelings for know. More important business needed to be attended to.
I caught up to her, and soon enough, we had arrived at the mansions entrance.
Tarva pushed open the doors, revealing the familiar looking entrance way. With the flick of my ear, I told my guards to stand and wait, as me and Tarva ascended the staircase. As they receded out of earshot, we felt comfortable finally discussing the main topic of the day.
“How many know about the humans?"
Tarva was quick on the response.
"Me, Kam, and everyone that I messaged, as far as I know."
So they were still a high level secret, good to hear.
"How long do you think we can keep them on the down-low?"
"Hopefully until were ready to reveal them."
How to reveal them would be the topic of today's meeting, regardless of my concerns over the humans character. We proceeded down the hallway towards the office door.
"Tarva, how have the humans been?"
Tarva's voice took on a reassuring tone.
"I wouldn't worry about their character. Noah and Sara have actually been quite kind."
“That's good to hear, but that's only two humans, out of possible billions. We have no clue of their species average character or intentions."
Tarva flicked an ear in agreement.
“Yes, which is why I want to arrange a meeting with their leaders at some point. Besides character determination, Noah and Sara are only scientists. Anything we agree on today won't be concrete until we run it by their actual officials."
"So what happens today will be entirely preliminary."
"Unfortunately, yes. The hope is to hash out some early plans that we can improve on later."
Given the current situation, that sounded like the best thing we could do. If anything, it made me more anxious to meet their actual leaders.
We reached the doorway of the office. Tarva laid her paws on the handle, and pushed her way through.
Among the light and decor, I saw them immediately. They seemed to have been in some sort of conversation, one cut short by our entrance. Smiles came across their faces as they turned to face me.
The taller one, with the dark skin, immediately struck me as the ‘diplomat of the duo. From the confident way he carried himself, to the way every movement seemed relaxed but deliberate, to the soft features that were both friendly and inviting. The other one, with the paler skin, seemed to be more of a scientist, with eyes that practically scanned the surroundings for knowledge. She seemed to carry a more nervous excitement compared to her partner.
The tall one approached me first, and gave a slight bow in greeting.
“You must be Piri, correct?”
His voice was smooth like a fine liquor, one which warmed you up on the inside. Definitely the diplomat of the duo.
“Piri, Prime Minister of the Gojid Union. And you must be…”
“Noah, scientist with the Odyssey Program and impromptu diplomat.”
I smiled, and turned to face who must have been Sara.
“And I’m Sara, also a scientist, and colleague of Noah.”
Her voiced carried with it the same nervous excitement as her movements, as if she still couldn’t believe any of this was happening. In some manner, I felt the same way.
Looking at them, I couldn’t help but think. These were the people that the Federation considered so dangerous as to exterminate? Give me some time to prepare, and I could fling these people around like they were made of paper mache. Sure, they had committed horrible acts against themselves in the past. But everyone had skeletons buried in their closet, whether they liked to admit it or not.
“Well, it's a pleasure to meet with both of you. But we have important business to attend to, so shall we get to that?”
Noah and Sara nodded their heads, what I learned to be a human expression of agreement.
“Yes, why don't we."
—--
We sat in an arc in front of the holoprojector, with me and Tarva sitting on either side of the humans. Tarva had poured some drinks for me and herself, while the humans were stuck with water. Tarva still wasn't sure if Venlil food was safe for humans to eat, so she wasn't taking any chances. Then again, I doubt they would enjoy what she had poured for us. Silfruit Cider, 85 percent. I could barely stand Skalgan liquor myself, so I could only imagine how the humans would react to what was basically antiseptic.
With a flick of the ear, Tarva told me it was time to begin. I had thrown together a quick presentation, along with memorizing a script. Having sent it over to Tarva, I hoped it would be enough to give the humans the proper rundown on everything.
“Noah and Sara, I must thank you for your kindness and understanding. I came here today to help discuss how best to introduce humanity to the galaxy. As you may already know, humanity has had a turbulent history with the Federation, and your reemergence will no doubt cause waves. The hope is that those waves rise to nothing more than ripples."
The duo nodded in agreement. Sara appeared to have what looked like a primitive holopad in her hands, one that she began typing on. Noah clasped his slender digits together in rapt attention.
Tarva clicked a remote, bringing the projector to life. A map of the galactic arm displayed itself in front of us.
“First, I think its important to give a brief rundown on the galactic situation. Starting with the Federation.”
Tarva clicked the button again. A large portion of the map was highlighted in a ocean blue. The logo of the Federation appeared in the center, a three pointed cross overlain by a triangle. At each point of the triangle was text, written in the language of one of the three founding species. Truth, in Kolshian, Knowledge, in Farsul, and Honor, in Krakotl.
“The Federation is undoubtedly the most powerful faction in the galactic arm right now. With three hundred member species, they account for ninety nine percent of the known galaxy's population. But the Federation is not a homogeneous union, and is in fact divided amongst several power blocs. Each one will have a different reaction to humanity, reactions which will determine our approach going forward."
Another click. A section occupying the center of the Federation turned a baby blue.
“The ‘Cured’, comprising forty four of the Federation's oldest members, are going to be the staunchest opponents to your integration into the galaxy. They are extremely dogmatic, and unlikely to be swayed from their ‘anti-predator’ positions.”
Noah raised his hand. “Tarva mentioned them before, so I am just wondering, why do they call themselves the ‘Cured’?"
Tarva spoke up.
“The reasons why are too long to delve into right now. The short answer is old Federation doctrine, one which the Venlil here helped to end.”
'Doctrine' was definitely one way to describe what happened. If I was in less polite company, I would have called it 'fuckery'.
The duo stole a glance at the painting hung behind them, a flash of understanding crossing their faces.
“Understood, continue on.”
I picked up where I left off. “It would be a blessing from the Protector herself if even one of the ‘Cured’ was convinced of humanity's good intentions. In other words, don’t expect much from them.”
“So their the stubborn ones…” Sara spoke as she typed away.
“Definitely one way to describe them.” I would call them insane, but that was just another one of my opinions.
“Next,” I continued, “we have the neutrals.”
The vast majority of Federation spaced became colored a dark blue.
“The neutrals comprise the majority of the Federations members. Neutral, in the sense that they aren’t fully immersed in the propaganda espoused by the 'Cured', but are not fully convinced of our point of view either.”
“In other words, they can be swayed to our position.” Noah noted.
“Exactly. We should primarily target the neutrals when presenting your case to the Federation. The Cured have their voice, but the neutrals have their numbers. And when it comes down to the vote, numbers matter.”
I gave an ear flick Tarva, telling her to advance the presentation.
“Next, we have the Duerten Shield.”
A much smaller portion of the map glowed a garish red. Their symbol, Two grasped wings laid upon a wreath wrapped shield, beamed brightly from their territory.
“The Shield is a small bloc led by the Duerten, the other avian species of the Federation. They follow an ideology of mutual collectivism, and generally prefer to remain isolated from the wider affairs of the galaxy. They were among the few that voted against the extermination of humanity originally, so you may find some support there.”
Sara looked up from her pad. “At this point, we'll be happy to take support anywhere we can find it."
Another click, resulting in a tiny portion of the map turning green. This territory had no symbol.
“Then there’s us, the Sapient Coalition. Because we are aligned against the more radical politics of the Cured, I expect the Coalition to quickly rally behind you."
Even as I said that, I still wasn’t sure whether allying with humanity was the proper route yet. If Noah and Sara were any indication, humanity came to the galaxy with nothing but peaceful intentions. But they were only two humans, out of possible billions. That meeting with their leaders could not come fast enough.
“And finally, there's the Dominion.”
An area lying just outside the Federation turned a deep shade of Crimson. The logo of the Dominion, six angular claw marks arranged in a pyramid shape, manifested in the center.
“The Dominion has been at war with the Federation for generations now. Their ideology is one that sees so called ‘prey’ species as inherently inferior to ‘predators’, whom the Arxur proudly call themselves. How they react to you depends entirely on how they see you as a ‘predator race’.”
Given their general appearance, and their willingness to collaborate with ‘prey species’ like us, I could imagine the Dominion not welcoming humanity with open arms.
Noah and Sara seemed to take a moment to collect their thoughts. They engaged in a hushed conversation, as Sara showed Noah her notes. After, Noah was the one to speak.
“In all honesty, this doesn’t seem to bad. It appears that the majority of the Federation will be at least open to hearing our position. And given our reputation, that's the best we can hope for right now.”
It was good to see they were optimistic. And regardless of their character, integrating humanity into the galactic fold was now our primary concern. Optimism could only help our chances going forward.
“Its good to see that your optimistic, but that still leaves us the question of how to go about your peoples integration. Tarva, I believe you had already discussed some ideas with them?”
Tarva turned the projector off as she turned to face us directly.
“Yes we did. When it comes time to present humanities case to the Federation, I believe our best strategy is honesty. Humanities reputation has been tainted by the label of 'predator'. And 'predators', more than anything, are known to be deceivers. So when humanity goes up to that podium, the Federation will expect them to lie, to deny and sanitize their past."
I immediately saw the angle she was going with here.
“So then plan is to not lie. Be upfront about your people's past, and show the galaxy how you’ve grown.”
Noah agreed. “Exactly. It helps that we gain nothing from lying either.”
Not that telling the truth would convince the Cured. They would accuse humanity of lying no matter what they said. This plan was more for the neutrals, and in their case, I could imagine it working. Their primary concerns were not those of dogma, so being honest would hopefully do nothing but earn their favor.
Tarva continued.
“But there's another plan we been formulating, and its why I'm glad your here now Piri to discuss. We were thinking of conducting a limited exchange program.”
An exchange program? I could see the merit to the idea.
“Explain.”
Tarva was more than glad to.
“We take and vet a small number of people from across the Coalition, and pair them up with similarly chosen humans. We record their interactions, and present them to the Federation. If all goes well, we can use the positive experiences of the program to demonstrate humanities good will to the galaxy."
It was certainly a good idea on paper, yet one that I was not fully on board with yet. I had a few questions.“Interesting. What would the logistics of this operation be like?”
“We looked into conducting it on a station out near the edge of our space, a pleasure resort. The cover would be a raffle for an all expenses paid resort stay, with our exchange participants being the lucky winners. Using pleasure liners, we ship the participants out to the resort, where they will meet up with their human partners. Internet access would be cut off, meaning no info coming in or out."
So they had put thought into the plan, but I could still see a few issues, especially surrounding the humans. “How would the humans be brought into the resort?”
“Slowly. We can’t risk using large ships to transport them back and forth. So we would probably have to use small shuttles, and scatter the trips over a long period of time. We also thought of flinging a survey satellite in the direction of earth, for some cover as to why shuttles keep going out in that direction. We could say they are maintenance crews."
Tarva paused for a moment. "I will admit, that part needs work, but it can be ironed out in time."
That portion definitely needed work. It would still be suspicious looking if multiple shuttles kept going to the same satellite over a short time period. Hopefully, they could figure out a better solution. But I still had one more question.
“Assuming this goes through, how do you plan on keeping the human presence at the resort a secret?”
Noah spoke up this time. “I'm glad you asked. We discussed putting in place a rule for the program, stating that humans cannot be refereed to as humans. Instead, they can only be called 'Gaians'."
“Gaians?”
“Yes. Its derived from the name of an ancient human god, the personification of our home-world. Unless someone does some really deep digging, the terms true meaning should be completely lost on any outside observer. And even if they did find out, they had no reason to suspect the ‘Gaians’ to be humans. As far as the galaxy knows, humans are still dead and buried." Gaians. While it didn't roll of the tongue as well as 'human' did, it didn't need to.
“So Piri, what do you think?”
All eyes in the room turned on me, as I began to consider the plan.
I was still skeptical of the idea, but then again, it was all preliminary. Fine details had yet to be defined by our allies, and the humans themselves. And the positive outcomes of an exchange program could be very beneficial to humanities case. And if we wanted things to go down smoothly, we needed every advantage we could get. I had made my decision.
“I’m open to the idea, but we need to hack out the details with everyone else first. Most importantly, we need to ensure that this program will be airtight. If word gets out that the Coalition is flirting with humanity in secret, the consequence would no doubt be rather dire.”
Tarva and the humans nodded in agreement. It seemed that she had begun to pick up on their body language.
“Of course, this is all just preliminary. But I’m glad to see you onboard with the idea.”
Tarva stood up, and moved behind over to her desk. From there, she pulled out two massive binders, with a pair of holopads to boot.
“When you two eventually return to Earth, make sure to bring these with you. Or send the information in back. As long as this information gets to your leaders in some manner."
The two humans stood up and walked over to the desk. Noah picked up the binder, judging the weight in his hands, while Sara began to fiddle with the pad.
“Contained in these are descriptions of the history and characteristics of every known species in the galaxy. It is paramount that this information reaches your leaders, along with what you learned today. The last thing we need is for your government to go into this whole mess blind.”
“Of course.” Noah stated, as he began to flip through the pages. I saw Sara eyes widen to the size of dinner plates as she seemed to fully comprehend the vast wealth of information now in her hands. As the two humans regarded their gifts, Tarva beckoned me over to the side of the room.
"Piri, good job today. I was a bit worried about you coming here in person, but it worked out pretty well."
"Thank you, I much rather prefer talking to our new arrivals in person rather than through a screen."
But thanking me was not the reason why she took me off to the side. “About the exchange program..” she began in a hushed tone, “...there was another idea I had surrounding that.”
“What idea?” I didn’t like the fact that she seemed to want to hide it from the humans.
“It might sound crazy, and it probably is crazy, but here me out. Assuming we go through with it, I want to get a small number of guild exterminators on the list.”
I was taken aback for a second. Guild exterminators!? That seemed insane, no, it was insane. Maybe the exhaustion had finally gotten to Tarva's head.
“Tarva, the whole program would rely on interactions between the partners going well, and you want to put guild exterminators on the roll cal? You know what they're like. Imagine if one of them goes crazy, and kills their partner. Or what if one of them manages to escape, and leak humanities existence to the rest of the galaxy?"
Guild exterminators were essentially the Federations intergalactic police force. Every member species was required to have a guild, and in many ways they represented the vanguard of the Core worlds ideological war against 'predators'. To have one of them be partnered up with a human would be about as reasonable as asking a Gojid to take a afternoon walk through a Roht den.
Tarva took a deep breath as she recollected herself. “I know it sounds insane, but I couldn't help but imagine the possibilities. Think of the victory lap we could run if we could convince an exterminator, of all people, of humanities good nature?”
I could imagine that lap, and it would be very big. Guild exterminators could be some crazy bastards, so convincing one to our position would be no small victory in it of itself. But there were too many risks involved, ones that I was not willing to take. But the glint in Tarva's eyes told me there was no changing her mind.
“If you do do this, make sure you vet the exterminator first. Last thing we need is for one of them to rip their partners throat out on first contact. And I'm letting you know now, I won't be sending any exterminators into the program."
She flicked her ears in understanding. "I never asked you to send any exterminators. If anything, I'll only be pulling ones off of Skalga. Probably will generate less suspicion, anyways."
It was still an insane idea, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. And there was an understanding that if something went wrong, Tarva couldn't say nobody warned her. She began to turn away, back towards the humans.
"Lets get back-" Tarva stiffened in surprise as I placed my paw on her shoulder. I slowly spun her around to face me. Looking at her closely, her exhaustion was more evident than every. Her eyelids barely remained suspended, and rivers of orange snaked across her eyes. More than anything, she was tired. And it only had been a couple of days. She had dedicated herself to these people she barely knew, and it already reduced her to this.
I squeezed her should tighter, as my face screwed slightly in sympathy. I stared directly into her eyes.
"Tarva, you need to take care of yourself."
"Piri, I already told you-"
"I don't care. I don't care if you feel you have duties to these humans. Because unless you take a moment for yourself, you'll soon find yourself unable to preform those duties. So if not for your sake, do it for theirs, and for mine."
Tarva broke my gaze as she considered my words. She took a deep breath.
“Your a good friend, Piri.” She stepped away, letting my paw slip off her shoulder.
As she went over to talk to the humans, I found myself looking at the Protector pendant that hung from my neck. I wasn't a woman of the faith, it was a formality that came with the role I had chosen. Yet in times of strife, I often found myself calling to her name for guidance. Goddess, the All Mother, Kay-ut, the Protector.
As I looked upon Tarva, seeing what this newfound dedication to these people she barely knew was doing to my good friend, I couldn't help but call on her guidance.
Goddess, what has she gotten herself into?
And looking upon Noah and Sara, I could on marvel at well they seemed to have taken things. Maybe it was for the better that first contact was done by scientists, rather than politicians. If my woes were any indication, politicians were fucking idiots. I hoped that I, Tarva and whichever leaders laid waiting back on Earth weren't among those idiots.
But thinking back to Earth, to the humans leaders, the 'Gaians', left me with one other question on my mind:
How would they react?
l Prologue l Previous l Next l

So current MLs and other authoritarian state socialists often (correctly) identify neoliberal capitalism as a major driver of climate change and environmental degradation. However, the systems promoted by these ideologies fail to address the extractive and exploitative underlying causes of the crisis. Therefore, ML and auth left systems are unlikely to solve the crisis we face, and if history is any indication, are likely to make the crisis worse.
Cases in point:
1. Environmental degradation in the USSR Air and water pollution were serious problems that the country failed to effectively manage.
2. The drying of the Aral Sea Soviet centrally-planned projects to grow cotton diverted tributaries to the Aral Sea, leading to one of the worst ecological disasters in history.
3. Pollution in the Eastern Bloc Soviet economic development plans caused extensive air pollution that was poorly managed; air pollution remains a major issue in former communist countries to this day.
4. Chernobyl The USSR managed nuclear waste poorly and its poor safety systems led to the infamous Chernobyl meltdown.
5. Deforestation in the Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward led to extensive deforestation in pursuit of short-term economic goals, with disastrous long-term consequences.
The poor environmental track record of 20th century ML projects gives ample reason to doubt the viability of this ideology and the authoritarian, centrally-planned systems it promotes as a solution to climate change—not to mention the likelihood of any such effort resulting in millions of deaths like in Stalin or Mao’s industrialization efforts.

Back in the 60s-70s, amid global upheavals, a man named Michel Foucault emerged, and the CIA hastened to bless him. His Theory of the Microphysics of Power was set to lay the groundwork for the end of revolutionary leftism. Needless to say, Foucault was a bourgeois intellectual tortured by the contradictions of his time, marked by the rejection his homosexuality faced in both the conservative circles he came from and within the Marxist left.
The Microphysics of Power dismantles the classical concept of class struggle, creating a new paradigm: Power isn’t something centralized and omnipotent but rather something exercised everywhere; all relationships are determined by a power relationship.
This idea, logically, suited those who wielded economic, military, and political power because it allowed them to shift the focus away from themselves and onto more mundane and less dangerous actors. Oppression was now cultural, focusing on minorities.
Another socialist thinker, Herbert Marcuse (who incidentally worked for the CIA), had already declared the proletarian revolution dead and emphasized the need to turn minorities into the new revolutionary subject. Foucault’s ideas bolstered this notion.
Simultaneously, the U.S. faced significant turmoil: blacks, Native Americans, and homosexuals rebelled against the power oppressing them. Although the Deep State had diligently worked to assassinate their leaders (Luther King, Malcolm X, H. Milk…), the situation did not calm down. Initially, the U.S. strategy was to combat these movements by flooding their neighborhoods with drugs and killing their leaders, joined later by the sudden, opportune, and coincidental (wink-wink) emergence of AIDS.
Then they realized it was better to instrumentalize them. In other words, the Deep State moved because it understood that the shameful situation of Native American reserves, the brutal marginalization of gays (even though Edgar Hoover was likely one), and black apartheid were already unsustainable.
It’s worth noting that in the very democratic and liberal U.S., sexual castration of minorities persisted until 1984. With the USSR in crisis, the USA cleaned up its image and prepared to champion the global left, taking advantage of and redirecting what it had at home.
WOKE
Thus, the Woke movement was born, not homogeneous but recognizable for abandoning class struggle and the economic perspective. Wokism took shape in the 90s, just as the USSR fell, driven by millionaires and speculators, rebranded as PHILANTHROPISTS.
That the great fortunes and corporations bleeding the world, in cahoots with the Washington Deep State they control through their lobbies, began to promote NGOs worldwide talking about ecology and human rights did not raise suspicions. For example, Human Rights Watch was initially created in Finland by people from the American Deep State to destabilize the USSR and has had members of the U.S. intelligence services on its board of directors for years. Not to mention SOROS and the Open Society.
These and other NGOs, political parties like the German Greens, and Foundations managed to vectorize the left around ecology, feminism, and minorities, distancing it from the general perspective (the problem is the economic system and the extractive elites that control it). The so-called CIVIL SOCIETY was articulated around divisive ideas that dilute the goal of revolution and make the revolutionary subject disappear: the proletarian no longer exists and is replaced by identities. The Microphysics of Power takes shape. Everything becomes blurred.
Since the current left reads little of Gramsci, it ignores the concept of the historical bloc. The cultural battle, a concept that the right has appropriated, cannot be considered separate from the economic, as both (culture and economy) form a whole. Post-Marxism ignores this.
THE CULTURAL BATTLE
Contemporary right-wing politics is not much better than the left, despite winning elections, given that globalizing capitalism once wiped out concepts like patriotism, conservatism, or protectionism, once core pillars of the right. The New right that triumphs, the Alt-Right driven from Israel, is nothing more than a confused mishmash of xenophobic slogans that today rises protectionist if a rally is due and tomorrow is profoundly Liberal if a meeting with bigwigs from a Fund, the EU, the WEF, or the IMF is on the agenda.
Something similar happens on the left, completely subject to the Mainstream narrative and the tune that the Great Powers play for it. It is counter-revolutionary, bourgeois, economically liberal, and geopolitically aligned with Washington, and only the facade of Woke sustains it.
POST-MARXISM
Analyzing how post-Marxist left is configured would require a book, and we must be brief, so we will say that Post-Marxism, which encompasses the currents that carried out a revision of Marx, highlights one: the reinvention of class struggle.
THE NEW REVOLUTIONARY SUBJECTS
The excessive abstraction of the class conflict and its conceptual hegemony gave rise to a revision that sought to accommodate the struggles of minorities within Marxism. This gradually shifted the focus away from real economic causes and their elites.
As a consequence of this and everything mentioned earlier, contemporary Post-Marxism talks little about the Grand Funds that devour everything, even less about inflation, the plundering of big monopolies, and geopolitics. It’s a comfortable and complacent left molded by Capital.
This absurd left applies Foucault’s concept radically to extend it to the cultural and desperately seeks “fascists” among ordinary people to maintain the lie of a twisted dialectic, while labeling dissenters as “red-brown.” Now, the enemy is your neighbor, that conservative and sexist older gentleman who sustains the Heteropatriarchy with his vote, a concept that, while valid for analyzing past times and societies like the Arab one, has no relevance in contemporary the West.
The New Left is declassified, has abandoned workers and the middle class to their fate, often falls into ridicule (inclusive language, queerism, etc.), is overly righteous, and hostage to the groups and lobbies that shape its agenda. And Washington and its lobbies are happy. Ordinary people, formerly the leitmotif of the left, are forgotten in their precariousness and daily concerns while being given moral lessons. Tired of such nonsense, they have turned to a right that lies to them but at least pretends to empathize with them.

Understanding modern Russian politics is difficult, to say the least. Formal positions within the Cabinet do not necessarily contribute to actual influence in the Kremlin, while those with lower positions — or even without any formal position in government at all — have the ability to exert influence over the Kremlin’s decision-making. In the end, “influence” depends largely on an individual’s ability to convince President Vladimir Putin of their viewpoints. To understand levels of influence within the Kremlin, using the political framework of the Soviet Union is a good place to start — a “Politburo” with its members and candidate members, and a broader “Central Committee.”
However, these terms are used informally; there is no such thing as a Politburo in modern Russia, and as such there is no nomination process or formal list of “Politburo” members — rather, an individuals’ presence within the close circle of advisors (Politburo members/candidate members) and the broader circle of power players (the Central Committee) is fluid and subject to rapid changes. With that caveat in mind, let’s take a look.

POLITBURO

The Politburo itself consists of nine members. First and foremost is Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation. Putin exists at the center of the Politburo and at the center of political life in Russia — all decision-making and delegation power lies with him. As such, “influence” is simply having Putin’s ear, and as such having a say in the political decisions of Russia.
The most prominent member of the Politburo other than Putin is Nikolai Patrushev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council. An old friend of Putin from the 1970s, when they both worked in the Leningrad KGB, Patrushev has held a number of posts — holding, as his most prominent formal position, the position of Director of the FSB from 1999 to 2008. Since he’s left the FSB, however, his political fortunes have risen considerably in the last decade and a half. As Secretary of the Security Council from 2008 to 2024, he has transformed the body as Putin’s go-to consultative forum when he’s making national security decisions — with Patrushev having a major role in the decision to invade Crimea in 2014, to intervene in Syria in 2018, and to invade Ukraine once again in 2022. Following the most recent election, Patrushev was elevated to the post of Deputy Chairman of the Security Council. Patrushev holds significant influence over national security decisions and military policy — no small portfolio, given much of Russian geopolitics currently centers around the conflict in Ukraine and national security matters — as well as economic policies and ideological policies. Viewed as one of the key guiding figures in modern Russia, Patrushev is quite clearly Putin’s #2; though he is older than Putin, and as such is not regarded as a long-term candidate for successor.
On the flip side of things is Dmitry Medvedev. In contrast to Patrushev, Medvedev’s political fortunes have been waning as of late. Having served as President from 2008 to 2012 and as Prime Minister from 2012 to 2020, he was Putin’s chosen candidate to serve a term in office — breaking up Putin’s terms to remain within Constitutional bounds. Following his resignation as Prime Minister, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, where he sought to change his image from a more liberal, more pro-Western politician (as he’d been regarded throughout the previous decade) to a self-described “arch-hawk.” However, this change has not given him an increased sway in Putin’s inner circle. Following the most recent elections, he was demoted to Secretary of the Security Council as Patrushev took his old position. His influence over policy matters is uncertain and ambiguous, but all agree that it is rapidly shrinking. Despite frequent, comically exaggerated accusations and statements against the West and Ukraine, he is not regarded as an overly serious player.
Sergey Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, is another figure whose influence has risen in recent years. Having made his early career in the Urals, he was appointed Mayor of Moscow in 2010 — before winning re-election in 2013, 2018, and 2023 alike. His tenure as Mayor has been decently successful, but not without controversy. From beautification and pedestrianization projects to increasing public transport, Sobyanin has largely focused on somewhat menial administrative tasks in his formal role — though his ban of pride parades in 2011 garnered international controversy. During the conflict in Ukraine, however, his role has gone beyond such formal powers. Sobyanin has been notable for not being as hawkish as other politicians, Governors, or Mayors — not making many public statements on the war, and seemingly distancing himself and the city from the conflict. This is not to say that he is opposed, having dutifully and rapidly fulfilled mobilization quotas as they’ve come up, but rather that his role is different — as Mayor of Moscow, he is charged with mollifying the city and keeping discontent down, and doing that effectively means keeping the impression that the war isn’t impacting Moscow. He has performed this task excellently by diving into the administrative side of Mayoral business while only speaking about the war when speaking to a broader Russian public. Outside of Moscow proper, through his connections from his early career, he has a growing base of influence among the Ural oblasts — the heart of the natural gas and oil industries. Broadly speaking, his influence centers mostly in financial/social policy and infrastructure projects (through his status as Mayor), as well as the Fuel and Energy Sector through his influence in the Urals.
Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence, is the next member of the Politburo. Born in the far-flung region of Tuva to a journalist father with minor political connections in the Soviet Union, he served as Minister of Emergency Situations from 1991 to 2012 — and rose through the ranks of the military rapidly, becoming an Army General in 2003. Shoigu had a close relation with Putin throughout Putin’s political rise — leading Unity, a pro-Yeltsin and pro-Putin political party, in 2000 and helping elect Putin as President. In 2012, following a brief stint as Governor of Moscow Oblast, he was appointed Minister of Defence — in which role he’s served since — over the objection of the siloviki close to Putin. His tenure has not been without controversy, as from the earliest days he’s been seen as a civilian intruder in the military hierarchy, and has sustained much of the blame for the flailing “special military operation” in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Shoigu remains close in Putin’s inner circle with influence over the defense military-industrial complex and law enforcement/military matters. He is useful to Putin — incredibly loyal and a long-time Minister with seemingly no higher political ambitions — but his fate is irrevocably linked to the fate of the conflict in Ukraine.
Moving away from government officials, next is Yury Kovalchuk, Chairman of Rossiya Bank. Known as Putin’s personal banker, Kovalchuk is particularly close to Putin — having a major role in his finances, with Rossiya Bank having set up a sophisticated network of offshore shell companies which hide wealth for the Russian elites. This service in of itself makes Kovalchuk an indispensable asset for Putin and the Russian elite more generally, especially with the recent harsh sanctions implemented by the West. His primary area of influence is financial policy — with Rossiya Bank also being a major investor in Crimea.
The next member of the Politburo is Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec, a major state-owned defense conglomerate. Chemezov is yet another individual with roots in the KGB and a long history with Putin, dating back to their service in East Germany in the 1980s — and he has been amply rewarded, not just with absurd levels of wealth (Valerie, one of his yachts worth some $140 million, was seized in Barcelona in 2022) but with considerable influence over the defense military-industrial complex. A frequent ally of Shoigu in this regard given their shared interests, Rostec subsidiaries produce everything from the Sukhoi/Mikoyan/Ilyushin planes which populate the Russian Air Force to the rifles which are used by Russian foot soldiers. Additionally, Chemezov’s influence has been expanding as of recent — over the security services themselves (given his role in supplying the military and his intelligence background) and in the Presidential administration, through his alliance with Anton Vaino, the Kremlin Chief of Staff.
Arkady Rotenberg, a major oligarch with interests in construction, is next on the Politburo. Rotenberg is the first of many who have no formal position — having given up formal roles in most of his companies following sanctions which were placed on him — but nevertheless have major influence within the Kremlin. Rotenberg’s interests primarily lay in the construction sector — both in civil infrastructure and in the infrastructure surrounding Russia’s valuable fossil fuel industry — and that is where his influence lies, in the approval and brainstorming of such projects. Notably, his influence and prestige within the Kremlin rose following the completion of the Crimea Bridge in 2019, a major project linking the newly-annexed region to Russia which was completed by Stroygazmontazh, his construction firm.
Gennedy Timchenko, another oligarch with a nebulous formal role, is quite similar to Timchenko. A close friend of Putin since the 1990s, he has done well in his business career — primarily centered in the valuable natural gas and oil sector, with Volga Group, his private investment firm, owning substantial shares in Novatek. Through Volga Group, Timchenko also has served as a financier for major natural gas and oil exploration/economic endeavors — obtaining loans through offshore shell companies to evade Western sanctions. His influence lies in business and infrastructure deals, with an emphasis on natural gas endeavors and operations in North-Western Russia.
The last member of the modern Politburo is Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, the Russian state-owned energy giant. Sechin has been a political ally of Putin since the early 1990s, serving as Putin’s chief of staff while his boss was Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg and eventually becoming Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 2008 to 2012. Since 2012, he has headed Rosneft — a lucrative position with influence over the massive Russian natural gas and oil industry. Viewed as one of Putin’s closest allies — once regarded as his de facto deputy, though that role has shifted to Patrushev as of recent — he has influence over the fuel and energy sector, the electric power agency, and the security services.

POLITBURO CANDIDATE MEMBERS

One step away from the political heart of Russia are the so-called “candidate members” for the Politburo — individuals with sway and influence, but not as wide-ranging as that of the members of the Politburo. The candidate members are split into four main groups, based on their respective focuses.

THE SECRETARIAT

Named after the Soviet-era Secretariat, members of this bloc are focused on the technical matters of administration. Individuals in this bloc have influence in the Kremlin because of their competence and their ability to keep the affairs of state running. They are most closely aligned in the Politburo with Sobyanin, given his own administrative prowess as Mayor of Moscow, but may have individual ties with other members.

• Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Russia
• Anton Vaino, Kremlin Chief of Staff
• Sergei Ivanov, Special Representative of the President of Russia on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport
• Elvira Nabiullina, Chairwoman of the Bank of Russia
• Andrey Belousov, First Deputy Prime Minister
• Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance
• Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff
• Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District

THE IDEOLOGICAL BLOC

Members of this bloc have influence over the ideological and political direction of the Kremlin. Whether it be in foreign affairs or domestic affairs, these individuals have voices that are heeded and considered by Putin and the Politburo. They are most closely aligned with Patrushev, Medvedev, and Sobyanin — all of whom have similar interests and priorities — but may also have individual ties with other members.

• Sergey Kiriyenko, Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff
• Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma
• Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council
• Alexey Gromov, Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff
• Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Press Secretary
• Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America

THE SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT BLOC

Most members of this bloc can be regarded broadly as siloviki, with experience and command over some portion of the myriad of Russian security and law enforcement organizations. They are most closely aligned with Patrushev, Shoigu, and Chemezov — but may also have individual ties with other members.

• Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff
• Yevgeny Burdinsky, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate, and Commander of the Storm-Z Penal Units
• Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB)
• Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)
• Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor General of Russia
• Viktor Zolotov, Director of Rosgvardiya
• Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic
• Pavel Prigozhin, Leader of PMC Wagner
  • Note: only tentatively a member, given the previous influence of PMC Wagner

THE STATE CAPITALIST BLOC

Members of this bloc head up the most prominent of the Russian state-owned enterprises, and thus have prominent business interests in a variety of sectors. They are most closely allied with Kovalchuk, Chemezov, Rotenberg, Sechin, and Timchenko — all fellow oligarchs — though some may also have individual ties with other members.

• Herman Gref, Chairman of Sberbank
• Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF
• Andrey Kostin, Chairman of United Shipbuilding Corporation
• Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom
• Nikolay Tokarev, President of Transneft

CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Finally, the furthest out from the Politburo, members of the Central Committee have some influence and sway within the Kremlin, but are not prominent enough to be considered rising stars or major players in their own right. However if they are allied with Politburo members, candidate members, or a number of other Central Committee members, they can exert sizable influence. They are divided into nine categories.

• Law Enforcement Bloc
  • Alexander Bastrykin, Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia
  • Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Minister of Internal Affairs
• Ideological Bloc
  • Gennady Zyuganov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
  • Boris Gryzlov, Ambassador to Belarus
  • Sergey Mironov, Parliamentary Leader of A Just Russia — For Truth
• State Capitalist Bloc
  • Alisher Usmanov, Oligarch (Metals and Mining), influence over Metalloinvest
  • Vladimir Potanin, President of Interros (Metals, Mining, Energy, etc.)
  • Mikhail Fridman, Oligarch
  • Vagit Alekperov, Oligarch, influence over Lukoil (with Vadim Vorobyev serving as CEO of Lukoil)
  • Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of Novatek
  • Vitaly Mutko, CEO of DOM.RF (mortgage/reality/infrastructure)
  • Sergei Gordeev, Oligarch, influence over PIK Group (housing/real estate, with Ivan Polandov serving as CEO of PIK Group)
  • Olga Golodets, Deputy Chairwoman of Sberbank
  • Yury Borisov, Director General of Roscosmos
  • Boris Rotenberg, Oligarch, Brother of Arkady Rotenberg
• Administrative Bloc
  • Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy
  • Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the President for Foreign Policy
• The New Security Elite
  • Aleksey Dyumin, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs
  • Aleksandr Matovnikov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army
  • Dmitry Mironov, Assistant to the President of Russia
  • Dmitry Kochnev, Director of the Federal Protective Service
• The Princelings
  • Andrey Turchak, Senator from Pskov Oblast, Secretary of the General Council of United Russia
  • Dmitry Patrushev, Deputy Prime Minister for Internal Affairs
  • Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of Inter RAO
  • Igor Rotenberg, Chairman of NPV Engineering, Oligarch, Son of Arkady Rotenberg
  • Petr Fradkov, CEO of Promsvyazbank
  • Andrey Murov, CEO of FGC UES
  • Vladimir Kiriyenko, CEO of VK
• The Veterans
  • Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of Tatarstan and CEO of Tupolev
  • Yevgeny Savchenko, Senator from Belgorod Oblast
• Private Business Bloc
  • Alexei Mordashov, Chairman of Severstal
  • Vladimir Bogdanov, CEO of Surgutneftegas
  • Suleyman Kerimov, CEO of Nafta Moskva, Oligarch, and Senator from Dagestan
  • Viktor Rashnikov, Chairman of MMK
  • Vladimir Lisin, Chairman of Novolipetsk
  • Iskander Makhmudov, President of UGMK and Co-Owner of Kuzbassrazrezugol
  • Andrey Bokarev, President of Transmashholding and Co-Owner of Kuzbassrazrezugol
  • Viktor Vekselberg, President of Renova Group
  • Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Majority Owner in AFK Sistema PAO, Chairman of the Russian-Saudi Business Council, and Chairman of the Russian-Arab Business Council
• Technocratic Bloc
  • Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade
  • Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister for Fuel-Energy Complex
  • Oleg Belozyorov, CEO of Russian Railways
  • Vladimir Yakushev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Ural Federal District
  • Dmitry Kobylkin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection
  • Anton Alikhanov, Governor of Kaliningrad Oblast
  • Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of Primorsky Krai

This list of names, as well as the idea of conceptualizing Russian political influence using the old Soviet style, is from the work done by Minchenko Consulting Group from 2012 to 2019 in their “Politburo 2.0” series.

Six years since the last Presidential elections, and it was that time in Russia again. Much had changed in the intervening six years — most obviously the ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine, which hung over the entire election cycle. Of special note for this election were the recent Constitutional amendments passed in 2020, many of which concerning eligibility for the Presidential election. Most notably was the “nullification” of the previous Presidential terms of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev — allowing them both to serve the “first” of their two terms if elected in 2024.
The Federation Council officially announced the election in December 2023 — allowing individuals to submit documents to the Central Election Commission for candidacy.

Candidates

Vladimir Putin (Independent)

Despite his previous proclamations in 2018 that he would not run for President in 2024, it surprised no one when incumbent President Vladimir Putin submitted his candidacy to run for President once more. Previously, he’d publicly demurred from running again due to constitutional restraints — but now, thanks to a miraculous coincidence, with the passage of the recent amendments he was eligible once again to run.
Putin retained his Independent label that he’d run under in 2018, supposedly to appeal to a broader segment of the population — and to hold his head above partisan politics, so to speak. Nevertheless, he was quickly endorsed by United Russia, A Just Russia, the Party of Pensioners, The Greens, Rodina, and a number of small parties.

Pavel Grudinin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation)

The candidacy of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) was lightly contested by a host of CPRF of lesser known CPRF members — most of them deputies in the State Duma — but Grudinin’s candidacy was never really in doubt. Much like 2018, Grudinin had the support of Gennady Zyuganov, the General Secretary of the CPRF and four-time presidential candidate. Despite opposition from some within the CPRF which followed familiar lines from 2018 — accusing Grudinin of representing “bourgeois interests” due to his business credentials and ownership of offshore companies — he was nevertheless confirmed as the CPRF’s candidate in the Party Congress.
Notably, Grudinin is a previous member of United Russia, and has echoed Zyuganov’s support for the invasion of Ukraine.

Leonid Slutsky (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)

Following the death of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the long-time leader of the LDPR and perennial presidential candidate, it was not certain who the LDPR would nominate. Competition was fierce between Mikhail Degtyarev, incumbent Governor of Khabarovsk Krai and former two-time candidate for Mayor of Moscow, and Leonid Slutsky, the new Leader of the LDPR following Zhirinovsky’s death. Degtyarev was viewed as somewhat of rising star in the party, especially given Slutsky’s numerous controversies — the most prominent of them being allegations of sexual harassment levied against him in 2018 — but in the end Slutsky won out.
Slutsky shares the late Zhirinovsky’s very militaristic view on operations in Ukraine — having previously advocated for the execution of all captured members of the Azov Regiment.

Andrey Nechayev (Civic Initiative)

Nechayev’s candidacy is unique in being the sole anti-war opposition candidate allowed to run, with the disqualification of Rybakov. An economist, businessman, and former Minister of Economy, Nechayev is the only founding member of Civic Initiative still permitted to run — with the 2018 presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak being disqualified for holding Israeli citizenship, and Dmitry Gudkov having left the party and having fled Russia for Bulgaria. Nechayev remains opposed to the conflict in Ukraine, but was approved by the CEC to run for elections — widely considered to be “symbolic opposition,” chosen for his relatively low profile and technocratic background, in comparison to the more activist figure of Rybakov.
Following Rybakov’s disqualification, Yabloko announced that they would endorse Nechayev’s candidacy for President.

Viktor Alksnis (Independent)

Alksnis, a radical ultra-nationalist member of the Club of Angry Patriots, announced his candidacy following the formal disqualification of Igor Girkin. A former member of the Soviet Air Force and a former member of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Alksnis is perhaps best known for his strong opposition to the dissolution of the USSR and especially in his opposition to the independence of the Baltic States, notable given his Latvian descent. For the 2024 election, however, he serves as the primary political representation of the ultra-nationalists upset with how the conflict in Ukraine has played out.
Alksnis calls for full mobilization of the Russian populace and in the “ultimate defeat of the NATO bloc in Ukraine.” He enjoys endorsements from the Club of Angry Patriots, and from the Russian All-People’s Union.

Disqualified Candidates

Nikolay Rybakov, running as the candidate for Yabloko and the incumbent Chairman of Yabloko, was disqualified from running. Yabloko, as one of the primary non-systemic opposition parties within Russia, has been vocal in its disapproval and opposition to the war — a fact that came back to bite them, as just a few weeks before elections were announced a number of high ranking Yabloko members were taken into custody for “discrediting” the Russian armed forces, Rybakov among them. As Rybakov was in custody at the time, his candidacy was rejected by the CEC. His arrest spurred widespread condemnation from international organizations and Russian dissidents abroad, but the fact of the matter remained — Yabloko, with not enough time to convene to nominate another candidate, would not run a candidate in the 2024 presidential elections. Analysts believe that Rybakov is likely to be released without severe charges, and that the prevention of Yabloko from running in the elections served more as a “warning shot” to Russian civil society about what will not be tolerated in the elections.
Alexei Navalny, a prominent member of the opposition, is prevented from running due to his ongoing imprisonment and his previous criminal convictions.
Igor Girkin, a veteran of the Army and the FSB, a former Minister of Defense in Donetsk, prominent milblogger in Ukraine, and co-founder of the ultra-nationalist and ultra-militaristic Club of Angry Patriots, was disqualified due to his ongoing arrest and pending charges of extremism. Girkin is perhaps best known for his scathing criticisms of the incompetence of ongoing military operations in Ukraine, and calls for an even more radical and even more militaristic approach to the war. Analysts believe his disqualification was an attempt by the Kremlin to, in the wake of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed march on Moscow, quiet the political influence of ultra-nationalist milbloggers as a feasible opposition force to Putin.

Campaign

The campaign itself was largely uninteresting. President Putin remained personally distant from the campaign, claiming that the “ongoing special military operation” required his full attention — regarded by analysts as an attempt to portray himself as “above the political fray,” so to speak. The main “controversy” in the campaign came from Nechayev, who claimed that Russian police were actively disrupting his attempts to campaign and that he’d received “stern warnings” from Russian intelligence and police regarding his anti-war messaging.

Results

Name	Party	Percentage
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin	Independent (United Russia)	82.25%
Viktor Imantovich Alksnis	Independent (Club of Angry Patriots)	8.38%
Pavel Nikolayevich Grudinin	Communist Party of the Russian Federation	5.32%
Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky	Liberal Democratic Party of Russia	2.72%
Andrey Alekseyevich Nechayev	Civic Initiative	1.33%

To the surprise of no one, Vladimir Putin won reelection handily, with the largest share of votes recorded in recent Russian history. Allegations of ballot stuffing and voter fraud, backed up by video evidence from a number of voting centers across the country, were widely spread by international organizations — though Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Central Election Commission, declared it “the cleanest election in Russian history so far,” and attributed Putin’s wide margin of victory to “the unification of society behind the special military operation and the success of Russia under [President Putin].”
Notable as well was the shift in the opposition, with Alksnis (and his ultra-nationalist backers of the Club of Angry Patriots) finishing second in overall results — overcoming both of the more established parties, in the CPRF and the LDPR. Analysts have attributed this to the rising prominence of milbloggers, and the increasing dissatisfaction of Russian ultranationalists with what they view as the Kremlin’s hesitant approach to the conflict — a dissatisfaction that spread to systematic opposition parties like the CPRF and the LDPR.
Nechayev, the only anti-war candidate, finished a distant fifth — though this is widely speculated to be because of systemic voting irregularities and voting fraud. A number of credible reports came out, accusing Russian police units and crowds of ultra-nationalists of intimidating Nechayev voters — with a number of instances of Nechayev voters being attacked outside of polling centers. Pamfilova disregarded these allegations, instead chastising Nechayev for “not being a graceful loser.”

Cabinet and Security Council

More eagerly anticipated by Kremlin-watchers was not the election itself, but the appointment of the new Cabinet. Specifically, speculation about Cabinet shuffling was rampant — with many viewing the movement of appointments as a sign of who Putin is grooming to be his eventual successor; by the 2030 election, he will already be 78 years old. As is customary, the entire government resigned following Putin’s inauguration in May — with the new one appointed just two weeks later, confirmed without a single vote against in the State Duma.
Notable names are bolded.

GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Role	Incumbent	Affiliation	Notes
Prime Minister	Mikhail Mishustin	Independent	Continuing in his role
First Deputy Prime Minister for Finance, Economy, and National Projects	Andrey Belousov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of Staff of the Government	Dmitry Grigorenko	Independent	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister for Agro-Industrial Complex, Natural Resources and Ecology	Viktoria Abramchenko	United Russia	Continuing in her role
Deputy Prime Minister for Construction and Regional Development	Marat Khusnullin	Independent	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs	Aleksey Dyumin	United Russia	Former Governor of Tula Oblast, new Deputy Prime Minister position
Deputy Prime Minister for Internal Affairs	Dmitry Patrushev	Independent	Former Minister of Agriculture
Deputy Prime Minister for International Cooperation	Alexey Overchuk	Independent	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister for Fuel–Energy Complex	Alexander Novak	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister, Presidential Envoy to Far Eastern Federal District	Yury Trutnev	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy	Tatyana Golikova	United Russia	Continuing in her role
Deputy Prime Minister for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Communications	Dmitry Chernyshenko	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Agriculture	Elena Fastova	Independent	Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture
Federal Minister for Construction and Housing	Irek Faizullin	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Culture	Olga Lyubimova	Independent	Continuing in her role
Federal Minister of Defense	Sergei Shoigu	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister for Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic	Aleksey Chekunkov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media	Maxut Shadayev	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Economic Development	Maxim Reshetnikov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Education	Sergey Kravtsov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Emergency Situations	Alexander Kurenkov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Energy	Nikolay Shulginov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Finance	Anton Siluanov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs	Sergey Lavrov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Health	Mikhail Murashko	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Industry and Trade	Denis Manturov	United Russia	Continuing in his role, dismissed as Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Space Industry
Federal Minister for Internal Affairs	Vladimir Kolokoltsev	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Justice	Konstantin Chuychenko	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Labor and Social Protection	Anton Kotyakov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology	Alexander Kozlov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Science and Higher Education	Valery Falkov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Sport	Oleg Matytsin	Independent	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister of Transport	Vitaly Savelyev	United Russia	Continuing in his role

SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Permanent Members

Role	Incumbent	Affiliation	Notes
President of Russia, Chairman of the Security Council	Vladimir Putin	Independent	Continuing in his role
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council	Nikolai Patrushev	Independent	Promoted from Secretary
Secretary of the Security Council	Dmitry Medvedev	United Russia	Demoted from Deputy Chairman
Prime Minister	Mikhail Mishustin	Independent	Continuing in his role
Manager of the Presidential Administration	Anton Vaino	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Chairwoman of the Federation Council	Valentina Matviyenko	United Russia	Continuing in her role
Chairman of the State Duma	Vyacheslav Volodin	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs	Aleksei Dyumin	United Russia	New member
Deputy Prime Minister for Internal Affairs	Dmitry Patrushev	Independent	New member
Federal Minister of Defense	Sergei Shoigu	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs	Sergey Lavrov	United Russia	Continuing in his role
Federal Minister for Internal Affairs	Vladimir Kolokoltsev	Independent	Continuing in his role
Director of the FSB	Alexander Bortnikov	Independent	Continuing in his role
Director of the SVR	Sergei Naryshkin	Continuing in his role

Note: Sergei Ivanov, Special Representative of the President on Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport, was demoted to a Temporary Member of the Security Council.

Notable Changes

For the most part, the Cabinet and Security Council remain unchanged — a reflection of Putin’s desire for continuity as struggles in Ukraine continued. However, the few changes that were made were significant.
Aleksei Dyumin and Dmitry Patrushev were the biggest beneficiaries of the reshuffle — the former being moved from Governor of Tula Oblast to become Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs, and the latter being moved from Minister of Agriculture to become Deputy Prime Minister for internal affairs. The elevation of Dyumin, Putin’s former bodyguard and staunch loyalist, reflects a light punishment to Shoigu for his handling of the “special military operation,” given Dyumin’s shared mandate over “Defense Affairs.” Dyumin and Shoigu will inevitably have to spar for authority and influence within Putin’s orbit, as is by design. The elevation of Dmitry Patrushev, son of Nikolai Patrushev, reflects the elder Patrushev’s growing influence within Putin’s orbit.
Nikolai Patrushev also benefited directly from the reshuffling beyond the elevation of his son, being promoted to Deputy Chairman of the Security Council — second-in-command behind only Putin. This reflects not only his rising star, but also the falling fortunes of Dmitry Medvedev, who was demoted from Deputy Chairman to Patrushev’s former position as Secretary of the Security Council. Though Medvedev is far from falling out of influence entirely, his attempts to shed the designation of a political moderate have evidently not gone too swimmingly.
Kremlin watchers hoping for a clear sign as to a successor have been left disappointed by the reshuffle. Nikolai Patrushev is undisputedly the greatest beneficiary of the shuffle, but his advanced age prevents him from being a serious successor candidate in the long run. Dmitry Patrushev, Nikolai’s son, also benefited greatly from the reshuffle and from his family ties — but his relative inexperience in government means he cannot be considered an ultimate contender for the time being. Aleksey Dyumin, a longtime Putin loyalist, also saw his fortunes rise. Other candidates such as Dmitry Medvedev, Mikhail Mishustin, and various personalities within the intelligence and military community remain possibilities — but there is little certainty, as intended.

There are 9 main partys so had to gruppe together the smallest
Red Party: is a political party in Norway. It was founded in March 2007 by a merger of the Red Electoral Alliance and the Workers' Communist Party. A Marxist party, it has been described as left-wing and far-left on the political spectrum. In its political programme, the Red Party sets the creation of a classless society to be its ultimate goal, which the party says is "what Karl Marx called communism". The party's other goals are replacing capitalism with socialism, an expansive public sector and nationalisation of large enterprises. It has a revolutionary socialist ideology, which aims towards new legislatures taking power on behalf of the workers, though the party does not support violent armed revolution as espoused by its predecessors in the 1970s and 1980s. It strongly opposes Norway becoming a member of the European Union.
Socialistic Left:
is a democratic socialist political party in Norway. Positioned on the left-wing of the political spectrum, it is opposed to European Union and the European Economic Area membership. SV supports a strong public sector, stronger social welfare programs, environmentalism, and republicanism.
Labour: is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. The Labour Party is officially committed to social-democratic ideals. Its slogan since the 1930s has been "everyone shall take part" and the party traditionally seeks a strong welfare state, funded through taxes and duties. Since the 1980s, the party has included more of the principles of a social market economy in its policy, allowing for privatisation of state-owned assets and services and reducing income tax progressivity, following the wave of economic liberalisation during the 1980s. During the first Stoltenberg government, the party's policies were inspired by Tony Blair's New Labour agenda in the United Kingdom and saw the most widespread privatisation by any government in Norway to that date. The party has frequently been described as increasingly neoliberal since the 1980s, both by political scientists and opponents on the political left. The Labour Party profiles itself as a progressive party that subscribes to co-operation on a national as well as international level.
Centre party: is an agrarian political party in Norway. Ideologically, the Centre Party is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, it advocates for economic nationalist and protectionist policy to protect Norwegian farmers with toll tariffs. The Centre Party has maintained a hardline stance against Norwegian membership in the European Union, successfully campaigning against Norwegian membership in both the 1972 and 1994 referendums, during which time the party saw record-high election results. Subsequently, the party proposed Norway's withdrawal from the European Economic Area and the Schengen Agreement
Green Party is a centre-left green political party in Norway. The Green Party is one of the global ecologist and environmentalist political parties and movements. As a member of the pan-European European Green Party, the Norwegian Greens subscribe to social progressivism and social justice. The main focus of the party is environmental protection and ecological sustainability. The party seeks to introduce a tax on wasteful consumption, and to reorganise the food industry. The Greens have also pledged support for a reform in the agrarian industry, increasing the production of organic crops and strengthening the eco-friendly agricultural sector. The Green party seeks to reduce the Norwegian petroleum extraction in order to counteract serious climate change. The proposal is to stop extraction by 2035.
Christians Peoples Party: is a Christian-democratic political party in Norway. The Christian Democratic Party has been described as centrist and centre-right. The party holds European Christian democratic positions, including family values. While founded on the basis of advocating moral-cultural Christian issues, the party has broadened its political profile over time, although Christian values remain its core distinction. It is considered an overall centrist party, combining socially conservative views with more left-leaning economic positions.
Liberal Party: is a centrist political party in Norway. The party is regarded as liberal, social-liberal, classical liberal and centrist. The party advocates personal freedom under the pre-condition of an active state. Since the 1970s, the party has maintained a green liberal position, which was an important part of the party profile when it came back to parliament in the 1990s. The Liberal Party was rated the second best party after the Green Party by the environmentalist organisation Framtiden i våre hender. The party is also a strong supporter of multiculturalism, increased labour immigration to Norway.
Conservative Party: is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. The party is a member of the International Democrat Union and an associate member of the European People's Party. The party is traditionally a pragmatic and moderately conservative party strongly associated with the traditional elites within the civil service and Norwegian business life. During the 20th century, the party has advocated economic liberalism, tax cuts, individual rights, support of monarchism, the Church of Norway and the Armed Forces, anti-communism, pro-Europeanism, and support of the Nordic model; over time, the party's values have become more socially liberal in areas such as gender equality, LGBT rights, and immigration and integration issues; the party defines itself as a party pursuing a "conservative progressive policy based on Christian cultural values, constitutional government and democracy". In line with its Western bloc alignment during the Cold War era, the party strongly supports NATO, which Norway co-founded, and has consistently been the most outspokenly pro-European Union party in Norway, supporting Norwegian membership during both the 1972 and 1994 referendums.
Progress Party: is a right-wing political party in Norway. The FrP has traditionally self-identified as classical-liberal and as a libertarian party but is generally positioned to the right of the Conservative Party, and is considered the most right-wing party to be represented in parliament. It is often described as moderately right-wing populist. The Progress Party focuses on law and order, downsizing the bureaucracy and the public sector; the FrP self-identifies as an economic liberal party which competes with the left to represent the workers of Norway. The party has officially opposed Norwegian membership in the European Union since 2016, after having been neutral on the issue before. The Progress Party calls for a strict immigration policy, integration of immigrants and for the removal of illegal immigrants or foreigners who commit crimes. It has been described as anti-immigration nevertheless, the FrP also supports free migration to and from the European Union through the European Economic Area as well as helping refugees through the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Progress Party has been positive to receiving the Ukrainians who became refugees due to the conflict.
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For some reason, I found reading the second volume of Roszkowski's "textbook" much more difficult than the first part. Here Roszkowski repeated all the sins of the first volume, but added a little more from himself. He still treats high school students in an unbearably condescending manner. He still denies them the right to polemicize and hold views different from his own. He is still moralistic and sometimes even pseudo-scientific.
So why did I tire myself out more with this volume? For, let's call it, personal reasons. The textbook covers the period from 1980 to 2015, and is intended for students in the second grades of secondary schools, so kids born around 2005. For them, the issues presented in this work are largely prehistory the same as the Battle of Grunwald, or possibly the days of their early childhood, when they didn't care about the Military Information Services commission but the Adventures of the Gummi Bears.
Meanwhile, the textbook covers a good part of my life. Admittedly, I was born at the very end of the People's Republic of Poland and don't know the vibes of that time, but I do remember the period of transition. I remember when "old" and "new" prices were given on TV. I remember how the whole family vividly commented on the Wałęsa-Kwaśniewski debate. For me it was a complete bore, but the text about giving a leg up made me laugh.
Quite clearly however I remember the attacks of 11.09.2001 and the fear that accompanied them.
The first PiS government was during my high school days, so I remember the craziness of Roman Giertych particularly clearly. Fortunately, I avoided the school uniforms... In the 2008 elections I was able to exercise my active right to vote for the first time. The textbook ends with 2015. That was the year PiS came back to power.
Thus, what for a high school student is history for me is a sequence of events that I watched with more or less interest. That's probably where my nerves came from while reading.
OK, I guess I strayed too far from the topic, though.
Let's start with the layout of the book. I mentioned this right after I bought it, but as if anyone missed it, I'll repeat myself. The textbook is divided into eight parts, four are devoted to Polish history, four to general history. Each part covers a specific chronological range (the period 1979-1985, 1985-1991, the 90s and the 21st century). That is, in theory it covers. In practice, Roszkowski treats chronology very loosely. Britney Spears in the chapter on culture up to 1985? There you go. Events from 2022? Why not? This is compounded by the chaos already oozing from every page.
The textbook is still a wall of text. There are few maps and charts, no drawings at all. There are quite a few photographs, but their selection often made me think - what exactly did Roszkowski have in mind when he decided to include this photo. For example, page 304, the section on Poland in the 21st century. We have a paragraph about Leszek Miller's government and to it a photo... of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.
Each section ends with a few "quiz" questions and some supplementary reading.
Some topics Roszkowski discusses in great detail in the textbook. But there are also some that he mentions in passing. Or he omits them completely. For example, the genocide in Rwanda. Roszkowski devoted to it... one sentence. I will quote it in full - " In 1994 there was a mass murder of the Tutsi people by the Hutu tribe in Rwanda". End of quote. What were the causes of the genocide? Not a word. The course of events? Zero. How many victims did it claim? Nothing. Controversies, such as the role of the UN? Who needs it?... Equally laconically treated, for example, the Falklands War. In several places Roszkowski mentions abortion, but did not devote any space at all to the tightening of the abortion law in 1993. Nor about the protests that accompanied it.
However, room was found for listing all the pilgrimages of John Paul II. And this is not a joke. In fact, all of them are listed. In the case of pilgrimages to Poland, not infrequently with a detailed program, city by city. After all, every high school student should know when the Pope visited Dukla....
That's right... the Pope. Let's stop at this figure for a while longer. Although the first volume of the textbook barely hooked us on the pontificate of John Paul II, we already got a foretaste of what followed. The Pope in volume two pops up almost every page. Already on the cover we have a photograph (of the assassination attempt). The entire book also opens with a quote from John Paul. I'll quote it here - " It is impossible to understand the history of the Polish nation - this great millennial community that so deeply represents me, each of us - without Christ. If we rejected this key to understanding our nation, we would expose ourselves to a fundamental misunderstanding. We would not understand ourselves. It is impossible to understand this nation, which had a past that was so glorious, but at the same time so terribly difficult - without Christ." History textbook. At public school. And so an institution that is, as a rule, impartial in terms of worldview and religion....
It seems like someone has calculated that John Paul II is mentioned here 102 times... Seriously, after reading I was afraid to open the refrigerator. A chapter on culture in the West between 1979 and 1985? Click- we quote the encyclical Fides et Ratio. A chapter on Martial law in Poland - a photo of the Pope with Reagan fits like a glove. The chapter on how perestroika affected the Soviet bloc countries is best illustrated by a photo of Gorbachev, of course. With the Pope, too, of course. When describing the Iraq War, it should also be mentioned that the Pope warned against it.
The author's attitude toward the pope is faithful. Rarely does he simply write John Paul II when mentioning him. More often it is Pope John Paul II. Or the Pope-Pole. Or Saint John Paul II. Or the great humanist. A teacher of nations. The locomotive of history. Well, okay, I took those last two from Stalinist propaganda, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were in that book. Because as we read on page 18 (chapter "The Strength of the USA, and the Weakness of the USSR," subsection entitled "The Pope's Message of Peace and Freedom") - "Everywhere he came, the Polish Pope was received by the most important people in the state, who listened attentively to his teaching." The encyclical Fides et Ratio was "an answer and a wise way out" to the problems of thinkers at the end of the millennium and "one of the most important works of the 20th century." (p. 45). The pope's words were received "with attention and concentration" (p. 72) or "extraordinary enthusiasm" (p. 176). Almost every mention of the Pope is laced with such highly charged terms. From which, in general, nothing comes of it. Roszkowski mentions, among other things, that US President Ronald Reagan worked closely with John Paul II (p. 39). But what did this cooperation consist of and what did it entail? Not a word. A little further on we read that the assassination attempt on the Pope and the death of Cardinal Wyszyński was a threatening memento to the cause of a free Poland. But what was this threat based on? That is what we will not find out. The Pope's role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the overthrow of communism in Poland is also emphasized several times. This is a very hackneyed slogan that is surprisingly rarely followed by specifics. The textbook is no different. I mean, I don't deny that John Paul II contributed his share to the fall of that system. The problem is that as often as one hears this slogan so rarely is it followed by any specifics. It is no different here. He overthrew it, why dig deeper? Why inquire? Because it may yet, God forbid, turn out that his role is greatly overestimated.
Earlier I mentioned that each part ends by giving some supplementary reads. The Pope's biography is given... four times. Biography, not biographies. Because four times Roszkowski gives the same item, at the end of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth parts, just in case someone missed it. Although I don't know if biography is the right word. Perhaps a better one would be - hagiography. Because the work so persistently promoted is Jolanta Sosnowska's four-volume work titled - Hetman Chrystusa. Biografia św. Jana Pawła II, published, of course, by the Biały Kruk publishing house. As we read in the description on the publisher's website - "The author rightly called him by the beautiful Polish name: Hetman of Christ. He was like our leaders of old: steadfast, brave, trusting in God. And victorious. His troops were all followers of Jesus. A brilliant strategist, a gifted diplomat, a man captivating in his superficiality as much as in his intellect or depth of faith. This is the kind of John Paul II we get to know from the pages of this book, which reads in one breath." Not bad, right?
Not long ago, a storm swept through the national media, the epicenter of which was a book by Ekke Overbeek called Maxima Culpa and an investigation Franciszkańska 3 by TVN. It rekindled questions that someone somewhere had been tentatively asking for years - was Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II aware of the sex scandals in the church? And if so, did he take any action to oppose them? So I'm going to bet that teenagers, probably aware of this storm, will drone on about it. What has Roszkowski written on the subject? Those who answered - nothing - will be disappointed. In the section on death and evaluation of the pontificate, the author also touched on these, controversial issues. On page 276 we read - "He failed to control scandalous moral behavior among the clergy and even some bishops, but this issue was particularly difficult to deal with, especially from the top of the church hierarchy in Rome." So you know, well he wanted to, but what could he do, the poor man?
Okay, I think that's enough of this pope, because I made a lecture on this topic alone. Maybe just two comments at the end. The first - Pope Benedict XVI is mentioned only once in the text. In the description of the funeral there is one sentence that the ceremonies were led by Cardinal Ratzinger who was later elected pope. That's it. Francis does not appear at all.
The second - that Roszkowski is an elderly gentleman who doesn't grasp modern times is what we all know here. But was there really no one in the entire publishing house who would take him aside and say - hey, Wojciech. This won't pass. For teenagers, the Pope is a yellow guy from memes, and pushing him on them by force will not make them start to respect him. Rather, even more memes will be created, so maybe loosen up a bit, eh?
Ok, what would you talk about now? How about mistakes. These are a bunch, especially logical ones. There is also no shortage of linguistic errors. These were dealt with quite well by Babka od polskiego, I recommend her video on the subject. I'll give a link here. I will also give a link to an article on how the first volume of the textbook was approved by the ministry despite the negative opinion of the linguist. Substantive errors are also not insignificant. Maybe less than in the previous part, although this may be the result of my laziness. I simply did not want to check every single piece of information. Especially since recent history isn't my hobby. Still, I had no problem catching the handful of nonsense the author feeds us with. Some of it is small bullshit (which shouldn't be in a textbook, though). E.g., in the chart (wasn't there sometime something in the introduction about there not being charts?) on page 262 entitled - Some of the most important scientific and technical achievements of the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century we have the point - 1980 - the World Health Organization announced the extinction of the plague. Interesting, isn't it? Then why between 1987 and 2001 the WHO recorded more than 36,000 cases of plague, of which more than 2,000 ended in death? Maybe it's because, unfortunately, we are far from eradicating the plague. In fact, indeed, in 1980 the WHO declared a great victory. The World became free of smallpox, sometimes called red plague. Well, and the use of the word "extinction" is also strongly unfortunate. For it implies that it is a condition that took on its own, without the influence of external factors. Meanwhile, in the case of smallpox, the Latin term "eradication" is used. It literally means liquidation. For this is exactly what happened to the smallpox virus. With the global vaccination program, it was deprived of its ability to multiply and thus ceased to exist in nature.
This, however, is a small breeze. Worse, Roszkowski not infrequently invokes conspiracy theories. That's when things get big. We took three such cases under the microscope. One of them is the Smolensk air disaster. I will dissect this one further, as I will pay special attention to the chapter dealing with the years 2005-2015. And the other two? Part IV, Chapter 2 entitled Economy and Ecology. Roszkowski even starts out ok. He points out the ecological dangers caused by dynamic economic development - deforestation, drying up of water bodies, disasters like the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant. Cool. Cool enough that I lowered my guard for a moment. And Roszkowski took immediate advantage of this by knocking me down with a paragraph on global warming. He writes as follows - " The main argument of the Earth's defenders against humanity is the assumption of irreversible effects of human-induced global warming (anthropogenic global warmign, AGW) when there are too many people. But while many experts sound the alarm about global warming, many also express skepticism about the description of the phenomenon itself and the thesis that the process is irreversible." Cool, right? Immediately we get the impression that we are dealing with two equivalent theses that are debated by scientists and there is no scientific consensus here. And the facts? The facts are that according to a study by Myers et al. 2021, 99% of climate scientists engaged in active professional work recognize that man-made global warming is a fact. So no, not "many experts express skepticism" just 1 in 100 are skeptical. It that's not all, because we have the classic "arguments" of climate denialists, such as the one that plants thrive better when CO2 concentrations are high. And since I don't do climate science, I'll provide a link to a video of a guy from NaukowoTV who substantively laid out this rubbish.
Let's skip ahead. Page 312, Part VIII, Chapter 1 titled Full power of the post-communists. There we have a subsection titled Equality in all fields and it is devoted to issues related to gender equality, equality for non-heteronormative people, etc. No, don't ask me what this has to do with the full power of the post-communists. And well, on this page 312 we have this wonderful sentence - "For LGBT ideologues, homosexuality is genetic and cannot be changed by society and culture. Meanwhile, numerous studies have indicated that it is a more complicated phenomenon and in many cases, though not always, subject to therapy." When I first read this sentence I had to go out and chill, seriously. Because I agree that the underlying cause of homosexuality is complex. However, researchers indicate that biological factors are primarily responsible for the formation of sexual orientation. Not only genes but also, for example, the concentration of hormones during pregnancy. Psychological and social factors are of secondary importance. I will write outright and in capital letters to make it clear - HOMOSEXUALISM DOES NOT SUBJECT TO THERAPY. Because it is neither a disease nor a disorder. There are organizations, mainly religious, that nevertheless promote so-called conversion therapies to supposedly cure homosexuality. The position of psychiatry and psychology on this issue, however, is unequivocal - conversion therapies are pseudo-scientific therapies and its use causes long-term negative psychological effects in its subjects. Including suicide. In 2018, the European Parliament condemned the use of conversion therapies and called on EU members to implement legal solutions to ban its use. The therapy is banned in Germany, France or Spain, among others. In our country, unfortunately, it can still be used. And I fear that there is no chance of an imminent change....
Not enough for you? I'm fine, but since I promised I'll tire myself out... Now it's just going to be a ride. The last part of the textbook, the history of Poland in the 21st century. In a nutshell for young people - Poland entered the new millennium with Aleksander Kwaśniewski as president and Jerzy Buzek as prime minister. In the 2001 elections, the left won and Leszek Miller became prime minister. Then there was some confusion, two governments of Marek Belka until the first PiS rule began in 2005, at first with Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz at the helm. In 2005 Kwaśniewski finished his second term and was able to do more pleasant work. He was replaced on the stool by Lech Kaczyński. In the summer of 2006 Marcinkiewicz resigned and Kaczyński appointed Kaczyński as Prime Minister. Jaroslaw, that is. The whole merry-go-round supplemented by deputy prime ministers Giertych and Lepper rushed ahead until they all fell apart in 2007. PO came to power. At the beginning there were scandals, because the president was from the opposite camp and somehow the gentlemen and ladies were not able to get along, but after the known events of 2010 the elections were won by the mustachioed Komorowski and it was all good. There is no happy ending, because the liberals forgot to write a program before the elections, and in 2015 they screwed up so badly that to this day they can't figure out what the hell happened.
That's it in a brief summary. But don't repeat it maybe on social studies lessons. And, I forgot, social studies were abolished.
Let's go back to the textbook. This entire chapter can be cut out, framed with the Law and Justice logo and distributed around the blocks as an election leaflet. Seriously. Roszkowski doesn't even try to hide his political sympathies. Here we have such a clear division between good and evil that Disney fairy tales blush. And on that vaseline I slipped all the way. Evil is represented here by the European Union. The EU is, of course, ruled by Germany. Germany is making out with Russia. And they have their governor in Poland - Donald Tusk. But do not be afraid dear children! All is not lost. On guard stands the steadfast Law and Justice party with its leader - Jarosław Kaczyński who with his own breast defends Poles from the enemy's temptations. That I am exaggerating? No. I am only slightly mocking. Very lightly. Do you want specifics? Here we go.
Do you remember the affair with the Military Information Services? PiS screamed that it was necessary because it was an agency saturated with Russian spies. The opposition screamed that it wasn't at all, and besides, the way the WSI was liquidated was a gift to foreign intelligence, while even in Warsaw you could hear champagne corks popping in the Kremlin. Roszkowski puts the whole matter this way (page 316) - " The real storm came after the disclosure of the report on the liquidation of the WSI in mid-February 2007. The report listed a whole series of abuses and even crimes by WSI officers, the deep penetration of Polish public life - the economy, politics and the media - by almost 2,500 employees of this agency. Eavesdropping and inspiring the media, thus controlling the state, was the main occupation of the WSI. In contrast, the operations proper to this agency, intelligence and counterintelligence, had meager results. Most of the leadership of the WSI had a history of training in the USSR, which indicated the considerable transparency of these agencies towards Russian intelligence." Strong words, right? Since there were so many crimes then surely the guilty were sentenced to prison sentences. Do you know how many of them were handed down? Zero. The charges against WSI officers turned out to be trumped up and before the courts they fell one by one. There was one sentence for espionage. But no, not in the case of an agency officer. Last year a court convicted Tomasz L. for spying for Russia. Tomasz L. In 2006-2007, he sat on the committee liquidating the WSI. If you are curious how this case looked like and why Macierewicz and his protégés suspiciously smell like cotton wool-padded jackets I recommend my earlier posts.
A cool manipulation is found on pages 320-321, where we have two photographs. One shows Donald Tusk talking with Putin, the other shows Lech Kaczyński together with Putin, Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland. Tusk, according to Roszkowski, sought good relations with Germany and Russia which meant, in practice, submission to those countries. But Kaczyński, meeting with representatives of our neighbors, boldly spoke out against their imperialist intentions. Yes, these are quotes. Anyway, phrases about how it's Tusk who acts in favor of Russia and Germany we have here every now and then. I was just waiting for the famous "fur Deutschland." In addition to succumbing to foreign influence, Tusk's main activities have been stirring up trouble (p. 319) and embarrassing shenanigans. (p. 320).
The Smolensk air disaster was, of course, devoted a lot of space. On page 322 we have a photograph occupying half a page showing the wreckage of the presidential Tupolev. The caption-"For his courage in opposing Russian imperialism, Polish President Lech Kaczyński paid the ultimate price." I won't say, it riled me up. Because what does alleged defiance have to do with death in a traffic accident? Oh me naive, after all, it wasn't an accident. Than Roszkowski wrote - "Many people were, and to this day are, convinced that there was an assassination, but this version is recently gaining official weight." Roszkowski is telling a gross lie here. And in such a way that he probably didn't even bat an eyelash. The official findings are those made by the Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents. So the experts in the field of aviation. They determined that the crash occurred as a result of erroneous decisions by the pilots. Many factors contributed to it, but there is no sign of any assassination. The theory that there was an explosion is promoted only by Macierewicz's subcommittee, that is, a group of random people whose only experience of aviation is that they once sat in a plane. As passengers. These findings are worthless. Besides, Macierewicz's flying (nomen omen) circus, did not hesitate to resort to blatant manipulation just to make its theses credible. On the other hand, writing in a school textbook that the fables of this group are slowly becoming the official version is not even manipulation. It is an outright lie.
Next we have another lie. Roszkowski writes - "... it turned out that the Polish side unexpectedly handed over this investigation to the Russian side on the basis of the agreement of Prime Ministers Tusk and Putin according to the Chicago Convention on civilian flights." If the Polish side handed over the investigation, then why was the military prosecutor's office, civilian prosecutor's office, KBWLLP dealing with the matter. The Russian side yes, conducted its own investigation. Some findings of Russian investigators coincide with Polish ones. But if Tusk handed over the investigation to the Russians, why do we find fundamental differences in the two reports? The Russians, as is their custom, completely omit the thread of errors on the part of their ATCs. Meanwhile, the KBWLLP report clearly states that the Russian air traffic controller gave the crew erroneous information about the position of the plane, which reinforced the crew's mistaken belief that the landing was going correctly. Both reports contain information about the presence of the air force commander, Gen. Błasik, in the cockpit, but come to different conclusions. The Russian Interstate Aviation Committee report indicates that the general's presence significantly contributed to the behavior of the crew who wanted to prove themselves to their superior. The KBWLLP finds that the superior's presence had a minimal impact. There are more such differences in the two reports. The thesis that the investigation was handed over to the Russians is untenable.
Wojciech Roszkowski undoubtedly likes conspiracies. Because on page 329, describing the 2011 election campaign, he also mentioned that: " A tragic prelude to it was the mysterious death of the head of "Samoobrona", Lepper. The police ruled that it was the result of a suicide, although doubts were raised about this, especially since several other mysterious deaths of public figures were described over time as the work of a "serial suicider." The conspiracy theory about Andrzej Lepper's death holds strong, despite the passage of years. Because he allegedly had some papers on someone. What kind and on whom? Different versions are circulating. Ockham's razor, however, tells us to look for solutions that are simple, with no quirks. And what are the facts? Lepper was bankrupt. Financially and politically. He had such massive debts that the electricity was turned off at the party headquarters. He was in arrears for rent, telephone, Social Security, overdue rate payments for agricultural equipment and animal feed. In addition, his son was seriously ill - as a result of pesticide poisoning his liver broke down, he was waiting for a transplant. The treatment also cost a lot. Not surprisingly, as his co-workers recalled, he had depressive episodes. And suicide is not unusual in such a situation.
I mentioned earlier that Roszkowski loves to throw around unsupported theses. This chapter is no different. For example, on page 333 we read that Ewa Kopacz has not proven herself as Minister of Health or Prime Minister. However, what this "not provening" would consist of - we won't find out. In the same way, we won't find out what Tusk's weakening of the Polish army after abolishing mandatory conscription consisted of. And it's not that I'm defending Tusk or Ewa Kopacz. I know that they were not saints, they have done their share of bad deeds and screwed up more than one thing. But it would be good to support these accusations somehow. Anything.
On the other hand, PiS is for Roszkowski the perfect party. A party of people who do not look at their own benefits only work strenuously and against hostile forces, so that Poles live a better life. The Kaczyńskis are true statesmen. One gave his life for the homeland, the other even the death of his brother did not stop him from fighting for a better Poland. Do you know why Jarosław lost the 2010 presidential election? It wasn't because Poles were fed up with his brother's governing style. He lost because he had an ineffective campaign that was led by people who left the Law and Justice party shortly afterwards. They were probably agents of enemy intelligence....
But no worries. In 2015, PiS won the elections and "the PiS government under the direction of Beata Szydło proceeded to implement its program, combining pro-family policies and judicial reform with greater activity in foreign policy. The expression of the former trend was the "500+" child benefit program, the sealing of the budget by curbing VAT fraud, which cost the state tens of billions of zlotys a year, and the trial of the previous rulers for scandals." It further reads - " In the following years, the United Right government, first under the leadership of Szydło and, since December 2017, under the leadership of Mateusz Morawiecki, successfully implemented its election promises, implementing the "500+" program and other welfare programs, as well as lowering the retirement age." Yes, it is still a textbook and therefore not an election material. If putting such a passage in a textbook is ok then I have no more questions.
Finally, a few more general words. History and the Present replaced Social Studies. It was intended to combine knowledge of recent history with civic education. In both textbooks by Wojciech Roszkowski, there is no chapter devoted entirely to typically "Social studyish" issues. That is, he devotes some space, mostly to complaining about those hopeless young people who go to pride parades and don't listen to the Pope, or to writing nonsense about human rights (no professor, the right to health does not mean that we are to be guaranteed health. It means that we have the right to live in a healthy environment and the right to health care. There's a difference, isn't there?), but nothing about how the state functions. Because what's the point of a teenager who will get his voting rights any day now knowing how these elections are held? Roszkowski wrote about the administrative reform introducing 16 voivodeships to replace the former 49, and we won't find out whether the voivode who heads the voivodeship is a local or central government official. The law also reinstated counties. But what is a county and what powers does a starosta have? There is no word about that. To sum up - a student raised on Roszkowski's textbook has no chance of becoming an informed citizen. He will have no idea what the state has obligations to him. Because yet, God forbid, he will demand some rights. Such a citizen for the current government is a threat. Let's return for a moment to the subsection on the Smolensk crash. There we find such a sentence - "Komorowski took advantage of the fact of acting as the head of state under the Constitution, presenting himself as a statesman who rose to the occasion in the hour of trial, although for him it was no trial, but an automatic seizure of power, which the Speaker of the Sejm actually did in a flash." I'll even skip the accusation of a lightning-fast seizure of power that pierces from this sentence, as if Komorowski was just lurking for this chance. But the disaster is, after all, the perfect excuse to talk about the line of succession. About what happens when a president relinquishes office or dies in office. You could also, for example, compare our system, in which the Speaker of the Sejm becomes acting president and one of his duties is to announce an election date within two weeks after vacating office, with the American system when the vice president automatically takes office and holds power until the end of the term (e.g., Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president 2 hours and 8 minutes after John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead). But no, it's better to attack a disliked party....
In conclusion, Roszkowski's work as a textbook is useless. It does not teach only indoctrinates. It does not inspire consideration only pushes the one and only right worldview into their heads. To make matters worse, the author's unbearable attitude toward young people shines through from all pages. American sociologist David Finkelhor once coined such an interesting term - juvenoia. The term is new, but it describes a phenomenon as old as civilization. The old generation believes that the youth are hopeless, have no authority and their fault is the pushing down of the city, nation or even humanity to its ultimate demise. Roszkowski's textbook fits perfectly into this notion. It used to be better, and these young people of today have only LGBT and abortion in their heads... Roszkowski not only complains, but also tries to convert the youth to the path of virtue and piety. For this he has chosen the worst method. Moralizing ranting. He is like a senior member of the family who has been known to find some minor victim on his name days and tell it for hours that in his day there were things, now there are no things. Does anything come out of such talk? I dare to doubt it.
Another thing that struck me is Roszkowski's very pessimistic attitude. As if there is absolutely nothing good in modern times. When he writes about sports, for example, he mentions the successes of athletes in passing, and devotes more space to doping scandals. Mass culture in general is one nihilistic turd and it's a pity to talk about books, nothing valuable is written now. Well, maybe still when the Pope was alive (the only right one) there were encyclicals, but now it's nothing.
As if I were an alien who learned about what is happening on Earth from this textbook, I would undoubtedly turn my saucer around and fly somewhere far away. Or to Poland, because as of 2015 Poland is wonderful....
The only thing this book is good for is a methodology textbook. Roszkowski seems to have committed every sin one can commit in an academic or popular work. He can bend facts, he can blatantly lie, he can conceal facts that do not fit his preconceived thesis. Something like this should automatically delete him as a researcher. Unfortunately, I fear it can only get worse....

(Just to clarify—Xi Jinping did not attend the business forum; it was stated by China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Address by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
At the Closing Ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum 2023
Johannesburg, August 22, 2023
Your Excellency President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa,
Members of the Business Community,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
I wish to extend my warm congratulations on the success of the BRICS Business Forum in South Africa!
Ten years ago here in South Africa, we BRICS leaders witnessed the birth of the BRICS Business Council. Since then, the Council has stayed true to its founding mission. It has seized opportunities to deepen cooperation, contributing to economic and social development of BRICS countries and helping sustain global economic growth.
Right now, changes in the world, in our times and in history are unfolding in ways like never before, bringing human society to a critical juncture. Should we pursue cooperation and integration, or just succumb to division and confrontation? Should we work together to maintain peace and stability, or just sleepwalk into the abyss of a new Cold War? Should we embrace prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, or allow hegemonic and bullying acts to throw us into depression? Should we deepen mutual trust through exchanges and mutual learning, or allow hubris and prejudice to blind conscience? The course of history will be shaped by the choices we make.
An ancient Chinese thinker observed that “following the underlying trend will lead one to success, while going against it can only cause one to fail.” We humankind have achieved notable economic development and social progress over the past decades, and that is because we have drawn lessons from the two world wars and the Cold War, followed the historical trend of economic globalization, and embarked on the right path of openness and development for win-win cooperation. Our world today has become a community with a shared future in which we all share a huge stake of survival. What people in various countries long for is definitely not a new Cold War or a small exclusive bloc; what they want is an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys enduring peace, universal security and common prosperity. Such is the logic of historical advance and the trend of our times.
Ten years ago, I made a proposition of building a community with a shared future for mankind, calling on all countries to build this planet we all call home into a harmonious family. In the face of high winds, choppy waters and even treacherous storms, we in all countries need to uphold the correct views of the world, of history and of our overall interests, and act to translate the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind into reality.
—We need to promote development and prosperity for all. Many emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) have come to what they are today after shaking off the yoke of colonialism. With perseverance, hard work and huge sacrifices, we succeeded in gaining independence and have been exploring development paths suited to our national conditions. Everything we do is to deliver better lives to our people. But some country, obsessed with maintaining its hegemony, has gone out of its way to cripple the EMDCs. Whoever is developing fast becomes its target of containment; whoever is catching up becomes its target of obstruction. But this is futile, as I have said more than once that blowing out others’ lamp will not bring light to oneself.
Every country has the right to development, and the people in every country have the freedom to pursue a happy life. With that in mind, I have proposed the Global Development Initiative, with the goal of promoting development for all by the international community and boosting the U.N. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the support of many countries, solid gains have been made in pursuing this initiative, with cooperation flourishing in various fields. China will work with all other countries to speed up cooperation under the Global Development Initiative, strengthen drivers of global development, promote the reform of the World Trade Organization in a comprehensive and in-depth manner, meet common challenges together and make life better for people across the world.
—We need to achieve universal security. Recent years have seen a turbulent world; many countries and regions are plagued by wars and conflicts and many people are displaced. Members of the international community share the pressing hope to eradicate the root cause of conflicts and wars, and find a fundamental way to realize enduring peace and security globally. Facts have shown that any attempt to keep enlarging a military alliance, expand one’s own sphere of influence or squeeze other countries’ buffer of security can only create security predicament and insecurity for all countries. Only a commitment to a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security can lead to universal security.
Last year, I put forward the Global Security Initiative, and it has gained support from over 100 countries and international organizations. China stands ready to jointly pursue this initiative with all others. We should have dialogue and oppose confrontation, forge partnership but not alliance, and pursue win-win outcome and oppose zero-sum game, and work together to build a community of security.
—We need to stay committed to exchanges among civilizations and mutual learning. One flower alone cannot make a beautiful spring; only blossoming of a rich variety of flowers can bring spring to the global garden. Human civilization is colorful by nature. It is precisely because of their differences in history, culture and system that all countries need to interact with one another, learn from each other, and advance together. Deliberately creating division with the assertion of “democracy versus authoritarianism” and “liberalism versus autocracy” can only split the world and lead to clash of civilizations.
I have put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, calling for promoting diversity of global civilizations, the common values of humanity, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation. China welcomes all other countries to get involved in cooperation under this initiative. We should encourage different civilizations to bring out their best and flourish together; we should break barriers to exchanges, and renew human civilization.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
As an ancient Chinese philosopher observes, “Change is the nature of the universe.” The collective rise of EMDCs represented by BRICS is fundamentally changing the global landscape. EMDCs have contributed as high as 80 percent of global growth in the past 20 years, and their share in the global GDP has increased from 24 percent 40 years ago to more than 40 percent. Just as a line in a Chinese poem reads, “No mountains can stop the surging flow of a mighty river.” Whatever resistance there may be, BRICS, a positive and stable force for good, will continue to grow. We will forge stronger BRICS strategic partnership, expand the “BRICS Plus” model, actively advance membership expansion, deepen solidarity and cooperation with other EMDCs, promote global multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations, and help make the international order more just and equitable. The gathering between BRICS countries and more than 50 other countries in South Africa today is not an exercise of asking countries to take sides, nor an exercise of creating bloc confrontation. Rather, it is an endeavor to expand the architecture of peace and development. I am glad to note that over 20 countries are knocking on the door of BRICS. China hopes to see more joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
China stays committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. As a developing country and a member of the Global South, China breathes the same breath with other developing countries and pursues a shared future with them. China has resolutely upheld the common interests of developing countries and worked to increase the representation and voice of EMDCs in global affairs. Hegemonism is not in China’s DNA; nor does China have any motivation to engage in major-power competition. China stands firmly on the right side of history, and believes that a just cause should be pursued for the common good.
At present, we Chinese, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, are advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization. Chinese modernization aims to achieve common prosperity, material and cultural-ethical advancement, harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development for a huge population. Chinese modernization has created a new form of human advancement and presented a new future of modernization. We hope that other developing countries can draw on the outstanding achievements of human civilization and find their own paths to modernization in keeping with their national conditions.
Achieving high-quality development is a top priority in China’s goal of fully building itself into a modernized country. We are committed to applying a new development philosophy and creating a new development paradigm. In the past decade, China has contributed more than 30 percent of annual global growth. This year, the Chinese economy has maintained the momentum of recovery and growth. China enjoys several distinct advantages: a socialist market economy in systemic terms, a supersize market in terms of demand, a full-fledged industrial system in terms of supply, and abundant, high-caliber labor force and entrepreneurs in terms of human resources. The Chinese economy has strong resilience, tremendous potential and great vitality. The fundamentals sustaining China’s long-term growth will remain unchanged. The giant ship of the Chinese economy will continue to cleave waves and sail ahead.
China will remain an important opportunity for the world’s development. Our door is wide open to anyone who wants to engage in cooperation with us. As a supersize economy, China will remain firm in advancing high-standard opening-up. We will continue to expand market access, cut the negative list for foreign investment, and further open the modern services sector. We will steadily improve the business environment, provide national treatment to foreign-invested enterprises, foster a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework, and build a globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas. We will continue to advance ecological conservation, accelerate the building of a Beautiful China, actively and prudently move toward carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and pursue all-round green transition in economic and social development. Going forward, as it endeavors to achieve modernization for its more than 1.4 billion people, China will surely contribute even more to the global economy and provide even more opportunities for the global business community.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
A formidable mission is a magnificent and glorious mission. As long as we work in unity and strengthen cooperation, we will not be intimidated by any risk or challenge on the way ahead, and we will surely steer the giant ship of human development to a brighter future!
Thank you.

Many people seem to be blissfully unaware that the world is heading towards something of a major ecological and resource crisis in the not too distant future (https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com). 4% SWR is based on a special period in world history, in a special group of countries: namely; last 100 years in USA and its current military allies. This was a time and place of extraordinary growth in population and energy and other resource use, and technological innovation that took advantage of low hanging fruit. Plus there was a sociopolitical culture friendly to small investors. In particular, governments in USA and its current military allies (capitalist bloc) allowed private capital to earn a return, and government protected small investors from being robbed by insiders.
Some say technological innovation is just getting started and all energy, resource and ecological problems will soon find solutions, plus no changes likely from sociopolitical perspective (no more communist revolutions, no more Argentinas), so economic underpinning for 4% SWR will continue to be in place for next 100 years. I have my doubts about this.
I can easily imagine much of USA and Europe going the way of Argentina in next 30-50 years. Meaning inflation destroys bond values, taxes on corporate profits and insider theft destroy stock values, all sorts of rules imposed to hit small real estate investors (rent controls, eviction controls, taxes, etc), criminalizing gold and crypto, Social security made worthless by falsified low CPI adjustments, etc. As with current Argentina, there will be ways for clever people (especially those with government connections) to protect their wealth. However, I'm not sure I will be capable of being clever when I'm 90yo.
Anyone else have similar concerns?