https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-kazakhstan-crisis-much-bigger-deal-western-media-letting

Why The Kazakhstan Crisis Is A Much Bigger Deal Than Western Media Is Letting On

Geopolitical commentator Clint Ehrlich has reported while on the ground in Moscow that "the situation in Kazakhstan is a much bigger deal than Western media is letting on." He further argues that the mayhem unleashed this past week and ongoing violent destabilization significantly increases the risk of NATO-Russia conflict.

He asks the key question: what really is happening in Kazakhstan? After all, he writes "In America, the situation in Kazakhstan is a small news item" but it remains that "in Moscow, it is currently receiving 24/7 news coverage, like it's an apocalyptic threat to Russia's security. I've had the TV on here while writing this thread, and Kazakhstan has been on the entire time."

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Mass protests and anti-government violence have left dozens dead. Russia is deploying 3,000 paratroopers after Kazakh security forces were overrun. The largest city, Almaty, looks like a warzone. To appreciate why Russia is willing to deploy troops to Kazakhstan, it's critical to understand the depth of Russia's vital national interests inside the country. This isn't just any former Soviet republic. It's almost as important to Russia as Belarus or Ukraine.

First, Russia and Kazakhstan have the largest continuous land border on planet earth. If Kazakhstan destabilizes, a significant fraction of the country's 19 million residents could become refugees streaming across the border. Russia is not willing to let that happen.

Second, roughly one-quarter of the population of Kazakhstan is ethnic Russians. Kazakh nationalists are overwhelmingly Muslims, who resent the Orthodox-Christian Russian minority. Russia believes that civil war would entail a non-trivial risk of anti-Russian ethnic cleansing.

Third, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was the heart of the Soviet space program. Russia still uses it as its primary space-launch facility. The Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East will lessen that dependence, but it still isn't complete.

Fourth, Russia conducts its Anti-Ballistic Missile testing at the Sary-Shagan test site within Kazakhstan. This is where ongoing development of the S-550 ABM system is occurring, one of the foundations of Russia's national security.

Fifth, Russia's nuclear fuel cycle is intimately linked to Kazakhstan. Russian-backed Uranium mining operations are active in the country. Uranium from Kazakhstan is enriched in Novouralsk, Russia and then returned to Kazakhstan for use in Chinese nuclear-fuel assemblies.

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Related:

https://twitter.com/ClintEhrlich/status/1479517789450911747

https://www.ntd.com/chinese-state-media-uses-times-square-screen-to-play-xinjiang-propaganda_724848.html

Chinese State Media Uses Times Square Screen to Play Xinjiang Propaganda

NEW YORK—Chinese state media Xinhua is running digital billboards in one of the world’s most coveted ad spaces to promote goods from Xinjiang amid rising global outcry over the regime’s campaign of repression in the region.

In New York City’s Times Square just before Christmas, a giant screen measuring about 64 feet high and 40 feet wide repeatedly played a video by Xinhua, depicting Shihezi, one of the largest cities in Xinjiang, as a thriving “green” city.

The 30-second video touted Shihezi as an “epitome” of China’s green development efforts, with “sweet fruits, intoxicating wines, a green city image, and a happy life of people,” according to a description from a Jan. 4 press release from Xinhua Screen Media Co.

“China’s Shihezi city delights Times Square with fruits of green development,” Xinhua stated in the press release.

Such portrayal stands in stark contrast with the regime’s human rights abuses in the region, which includes the detainment of an estimated 1 million Uyghurs in camps, where they are subjected to torture, forced labor, and political indoctrination.

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https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/08/in-bidens-america-citizens-live-in-fear/

In Biden’s America, Citizens Live in Fear

Joe Biden is adamant: we have so much more to fear than “fear itself.”

During Joe Biden’s first year in office, America’s demeanor has changed dramatically from the optimism characteristic of the prior administration to near-total fear. Biden’s policies have led to alarm for taxpaying citizens especially.

Americans want to feel safe and secure. The prior administration always confronted adversaries with a “peace through strength” philosophy. ISIS was eliminated, leaders of other terrorist movements were brought to justice, Russia knew not to confront the United States, China and North Korea were held in check. And in the Middle East, historic peace treaties were signed whileIran was starved by U.S. sanctions. As a result they, too, had to curtail their terrorist activities. Even progress on their nuclear ambitions slowed.

The prior administration had all but sealed the southern border to stop the flow of illegal immigration, and was in the process of building a wall to permanently solve the problem.Until the COVID pandemic, Americans felt very secure and had little to fear.

In Biden’s first year, he has reversed nearly all of the prior administration’s foreign policies. He has emboldened both Russia and China to act aggressively. China is now threatening Taiwan and Russia is threatening the Ukraine. Neither China nor Russia seem to be concerned about any U.S. action.

He has projected weakness to our friends and foes alike with his chaotic and disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. He has relieved some sanctions on Iran, and has encouraged them to act aggressively and increase their support of terrorist groups in the region. Biden wants to renegotiate with Iran to curtail their nuclear program, but Iran feels they are now dealing from a much stronger position and they have consequently increased their demands.

He has reversed every policy on the southern border that the courts would allow. The number of illegal immigrants coming into the country has increased from just over 200,000 in 2020 to over 2 million in 2021.

Yet American anxiety over the state of the economy is paramount. Prior to the pandemic the American economy was growing while producing almost no inflation and reaching an historic low of 3.5 percent unemployment. But those good times, it seems, are over.

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Good read.

>>15335877

I saw the article and thought it was interesting. I brought it here without comment…I don't understand the situation in Kazakhstan fully.