I openly confess that I wish that plan were a little less abstruse to some of us who believe we've been paying attention. As far as I can make out, the West has more to lose by continuing to pour resources and prestige into what now appears certain defeat in Ukraine than it does by backing out, suppressing all news (pushing the Overton Window quickly away), and inventing some other crisis it can feign to control, Mackinder's Pivot notwithstanding. All nations' governments (and more to the point, the banks that dictate policy to them) are utterly mercenary and ruthless, and they'll show not the least self-awareness in their hypocrisy of espousing the "rules-based order" then mercilessly ganging-up and double-crossing a defiant or fading (smaller) nation.
As for the markets discounting the outcome, especially with respect to Citibank, perhaps my understanding is too naive or simplistic, and almost certainly insufficient, but stock price is driven most by the biggest monied investors. They determine the narratives, decide the rules of engagement and push the pieces on the board, then move their money accordingly, wherever they see clearest profits. If they have money in Citibank, and Citibank looks like it'll tank, so be it, they'll move it elsewhere. Citibank served its purpose and can now be discarded like a used condom.
Unless it really is the case that "the plan" calls for the collapse of the West after cruelly squeezing and starving the people, and Russia is playing its part like a virtuoso in providing the motive while grinding them down towards that end? Then the next great cycle with Eurasia at the pinnacle of civilisation, and atop all those resources, can finally begin.
All going to plan.
So it appears.
I openly confess that I wish that plan were a little less abstruse to some of us who believe we've been paying attention. As far as I can make out, the West has more to lose by continuing to pour resources and prestige into what now appears certain defeat in Ukraine than it does by backing out, suppressing all news (pushing the Overton Window quickly away), and inventing some other crisis it can feign to control, Mackinder's Pivot notwithstanding. All nations' governments (and more to the point, the banks that dictate policy to them) are utterly mercenary and ruthless, and they'll show not the least self-awareness in their hypocrisy of espousing the "rules-based order" then mercilessly ganging-up and double-crossing a defiant or fading (smaller) nation.
As for the markets discounting the outcome, especially with respect to Citibank, perhaps my understanding is too naive or simplistic, and almost certainly insufficient, but stock price is driven most by the biggest monied investors. They determine the narratives, decide the rules of engagement and push the pieces on the board, then move their money accordingly, wherever they see clearest profits. If they have money in Citibank, and Citibank looks like it'll tank, so be it, they'll move it elsewhere. Citibank served its purpose and can now be discarded like a used condom.
Unless it really is the case that "the plan" calls for the collapse of the West after cruelly squeezing and starving the people, and Russia is playing its part like a virtuoso in providing the motive while grinding them down towards that end? Then the next great cycle with Eurasia at the pinnacle of civilisation, and atop all those resources, can finally begin.