We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, February 5, 2016

Why the ‘Sultan of Chaos’ is freaking out

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from RT.

This witty and rather cynical, but perceptive Brazilian independent journalist takes aim at Turkey's megalomaniac Erdogan, his obsession with the Kurds and Russian interference, and his blackmailing of NATO by flooding Europe with the nearby regions' legions of war-fleeing refugees.
Moscow is going after the Turkmen with a vengeance and at the same time providing air support to the PYD [Kurd progressives] west of the Euphrates. That hits the ‘Sultan’ in his heart of hearts; after all Erdogan has threatened multiple times that a PYD/YPG advance west of the Euphrates is the ultimate red line.

An already scared NATO won’t support the folly of an Erdogan war against Russia – as much as US and UK neocons may crave it; as NATO decisions must be unanimous, the last thing EU powers Germany and France want is yet another Southwest Asia war. NATO may deploy the odd Patriot missiles in southern Anatolia and the odd AWACs to support the Turkish Air Force. But that’s it.
at
Labels: , , ,