Image from this article.
Assad has returned with full force to the regional diplomatic scene. The earthquake, followed by the Iran-Saudi peace deal, has shook the Middle East.
Ever since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Saudi Arabia has closed its embassy in Damascus, but now the two countries are discussing the restoration of diplomatic ties. Various Gulf States have been in talks with Syrian officials and have visited the country, such as Jordan's foreign minister. Assad has been to Oman to meet with their leader. And Assad has recently gone to Moscow to meet Putin, agreeing that Russia is fighting "old Nazis" and "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine (Syria is one of the few countries, alongside Belarus and the DPRK for example, that are unabashedly pro-Russian and always votes alongside them in the UN).
All of this poses a profound problem for America in the region, as they're slowly being squeezed out. Two roads lay before them - escalation, or retreat. While a dignified retreat might be the pertinent thing to do, the Biden administration seems desperate to cause and escalate conflicts everywhere they can. Their base in Syria was attacked on March 23rd, prompting retaliation strikes against Syria. And Russia looks like it's ready for America's next moves, as Russian aircraft frequently fly over the US military base at At Tanf.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Here is the archive of important pieces of analysis from throughout the war that we've collected.
March 27th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
March 28th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
March 29th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
March 31st's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
April 1st's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
Links and Stuff
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can, thank you.
Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. I recommend their map more than the channel at this point, as an increasing subscriber count has greatly diminished their quality.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have decent analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources. Beware of chuddery.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the warzone.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist (but still quite reactionary in terms of gender and sexuality and race, so beware). If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Another big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia's army.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Last week's discussion post.
What did Keith do?
:long-corbyn:
ok, he's blocking Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate in the next election. What a shitty person.
The so-called Labour party indeed.
He's also affirmed his dedication to tackling the most important issues facing Britain in 2023 (people doing whippets and the public smelling weed sometimes)
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It can always go lower. I'm not satisfied before Dover is a Chinese treaty port.
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China needs a 99 year lease on Bristol, Spain gets control of the land just around the Chunnel for some reason, and Las Islas Geurnsey Siempre Son Argentines that’s when we’re talking.
The NEY (Northern European Yuan) will be issued and controlled by the Peoples' Bank of China.
:inshallah:
China makes them sell whippets
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Corbyn brought boxing gloves to a gun fight. Hopefully, future leftists won't make the same mistake.
The western left is full of boyscout nerds who do the right thing and take the moral high ground. And where did that bring us?
If the left is to gain popularity we need leaders who are not afraid to fight dirty. We need pigs who will happily roll around in the mud, assholes who will mock the liberals instead of appealing to their better conscience. Someone who will gloat as they publicly humiliate their opponents. Someone who will not only point out all the good they want to do but also point out who your enemies are and make you believe that they can be crushed.
I mean, I'd argue that a lot of what made folks like Sanders and Corbyn appealing is their boyscout-like rightousness. You can't discount the public appeal of a Saintly figure. So I don't think it is fair to say that we need less people like that on the Left. But once they're in a position of power, they need to recognize that they need a more militant Left to maintain control.
Give the militants more slack and be ready to shield them from the inevitable backlash.
I mean, we need more people who will burn down a Target for sponsoring a fucking cop parade after a brutal civilian slaying.
I don't know about all the gloating and mudslinging. But I do think there's a point at which we need some serious head-thumpers in the movement. Folks who can go toe-to-toe on the street without getting wiped out or picked off by state security services.
I think Sanders and Corbyn are victims of a kind of Leftist survivorship bias. But Kier Starmer isn't exactly marching around in Jackboots, either. A guy like that is fairly easy to bully. Corbyn just needs a few attack dogs who will actually do it.
The one good western succdem.
Kier Starmer's response: I also joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old because, like millions of others, I believed in a redistribution of wealth and power (upwards). Our message is clear: we will sell out anyone in our way. Do we have determination to stand up for a better world? No.