You wanna be Uncle Sam's bitch? Pay the price!

http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/08/you-wanna-be-uncle-sams-bitch-pay-price.html
Russia is introducing a full 12 months embargo on the import of beef, pork, fruits and vegetables, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and the Kingdom of Norway. 


Russia is also introducing an airspace ban against European and US airlines that fly over our airspace to Eastern Asia, namely, the Asia-Pacific Region and is considering changing the so-called

Russian airspace entry and exit points for European scheduled and charter flights. One correction (from the linked Medvedev statement): The airspace ban for EU and US flights to Asia is only "on

the table".


Furthermore, Russia is ready to revise the rules of using the trans-Siberian routes, and will also discontinue talks with the US air authorities on the use of the trans-Siberian routes. 

Finally, starting this winter, we may revoke the additional rights issued by the Russian air authorities beyond the previous agreements. 

First

this wide and far-reaching embargo which, will have a major impact on the West, but even much more so on Russia (more about that in an instant).  tactic is designed to maximize deterrence of

hostile acts: since the Russians do not clearly spell out what they could do in retaliation, , to maximize insecurity, the Russians only said that these were the measures agreed upon, but not when

they would be introduced, partially or fully, and against whom.  They also strongly implied that other measure were under consideration in the pipeline.

Second,

the sanctions are wonderfully targeted.    Russia's message to the EU is simple: you wanna be Uncle Sam's bitch?  Pay the price!  This embargo will especially hurt southern Europe (Spain, France,

Italy, Greece) whose agricultural production will greatly suffer from it   These countries also happen to be the weakest in the EU.  By hitting them, Russia is maximizing the inevitable friction

inside the EU over sanctions against Russia.

Third,

not only will EU carriers suffer from much higher costs and flight times on the very important Europe to Asia route, but the Asian carriers will not, giving the latter a double competitive

advantage.  How is that for a way to reward one side while hurting the other? 

Fourth,

Russia used these sanctions to do something vital for the Russian economy. 

after the collapse of the USSR the Russian agriculture was in disarray.  Russian farmers simply could not compete against advanced western agro-industrial concerns which benefited from
huge economies of scale,

from expensive and high-tech chemical and biological research,
which had a full chain of production (often through large holdings),
and a top quality marketing capability. 

Russia is using this total embargo to provide a crucially needed time for the Russian agriculture to invest and take up a much bigger share on the Russian market.  This embargo now gives them a

powerful boost to invest, develop and conquer market shares.

Fifth,

there are 100 countries which did not vote with the US on Crimea.  The Russians have already announced that these are the countries with which Russia will trade to get whatever products it cannot

produce indigenously.  A nice reward for standing up to Uncle Sam.

Sixth,

small but sweet: did you notice that EU sanctions were introduced for 3 months only, "to be reviewed" later?  By introducing a 12 months embargo Russia also sends a clear message: who do you think

will benefit from this mess?

Seventh,

Because the non-sale of EU product with create a surplus which will then adversely affect the demand or, if the production is decreased, this will affect production costs (economies of scale). 

Conversely, for a hypothetical non-EU country Z a contract with Russia might mean enough cash to invest, modernize and become more competitive, not only in Russia, but on the world market,

including the EU.

Eighth,

the Baltic countries have played a particularly nasty role in the entire Ukrainian business and now some of their most profitable industries (such as fisheries), which were 90% dependent on Russia,

will have to shut down.  These countries are already a mess, but now they will hurt even more.  Again, the message to them is simple: you wanna be Uncle Sam's bitch?  Pay the price!

Ninth,

what is happening is a gradual decoupling of Russia from the western economies.  The West severed some of the financial, military and aerospace ties, Russia severed the monetary, agricultural and

industrial ones.  Keep in mind that the US/EU market is a sinking one, affected by deep systemic problems and huge social issues.  In a way, the perfect comparison is the Titanic whose orchestra

continued to play music while the sink was sinking.  Well, Russia is like a passenger who is told that the Titanic's authorities have decided to disembark him at the next port.  Well, gee, too bad,

right?


Last,

this trade-war, with the West's hysterical russophobia, is a PR campaign.  tell the Russian population is the truth:

"we did everything right,
we played it exactly by the book,
we did everything we could to deescalate this crisis and
all we asked for was to please not allow the genocide of our people in Novorussia -

the West's response to that?
An insane hate campaign,
sanctions against us and
unconditional support for thegenocidal Nazis in Kiev". 

feels a lot like, a struggle to the end between two regimes, two civilizations, which cannot coexist on the same planet and who are locked in struggle to death.  In these circumstances, expect the

Russian people to support Putin even more.

Russia will benefit from this economically and politically.  Far from being threatened by some kind of "nationalistic Maidan" this winter, Putin's regime is being strengthened by his handling of

the crisis (his ratings are higher than ever before).

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Comments

But the bans on imports? Perfect. It accomplshes two great things at once: hurt them where it matters, and protect/foster your own industries.

They can also close the passage through Russia of the Northern Distribution Network and wreck havoc with the withdrawal from Afghanistan. If they do that, NATO/US would probably have to leave most

of their equipment behind.

Maybe the Europeans arent so spineless after all. Maybe they have deciced to make Russia stronger, so that it would balance the US in the world :)

If I were not living in Europe, I would hope that they cut the oil and gas. This would finaly deliver Russia from the "dutch desease" + Russia itself would have much more ressources for many years

to come.

Dutch disease is the negative impact on an economy of anything that gives rise to a sharp inflow of foreign currency, such as the discovery of large oil reserves. The currency inflows lead to

currency appreciation, making the country’s other products less price competitive on the export market. It also leads to higher levels of cheap imports and can lead to deindustrialisation as

industries apart from resource exploitation are moved to cheaper locations.

In the comments section below the Guardian's article on the Russian import ban

This is bad news for suppliers in the EU and great news suppliers in Argentina, Brazil and South Africa. Russia will be playing the Great Equalizer by selling oil and gas to the EU, China and India

and redistributing the proceeds to developing countries that are able to produce food. The miles and miles of plastic covered green houses and the income they produce in Holland and Spain will

simply relocate to the developing world where they can be operated cheaper. Once cargo is loaded on board a ship the transport cost to anywhere in the world is incidental.

As US NATO sanctions take hold, redirection of markets for manufactured goods will follow. Russia will be seeking sources for manufactured goods like airliners and automobiles from Brazil and China

to the detriment of suppliers in the US and EU.

Once the flow of commerce is established between Russia and the other BRICs nations it will be next to impossible for the EU to regain their lost markets.

As the world economy shifts to the newer emerging markets world trade will likewise shift from transactions in dollars to other world economies. As the World watches what could happen to them if

they do not follow US dictates the US lead sanctions against Russia will encourage trade away from the dollar. The US will find itself out of the loop and the dollar will lose its status as the

world reserve currency and the US will loose is hegemony.

At the expense of the EU and US domestic markets the Military Industrial Complex is the only short time winner in the West. With the restart of the Cold War and continuation of endless military

confrontations around the world the US based military suppliers will profit. This could be profitable in the short term but in the long-term lead to the economic ruin of the countries involved.

It is hard to see why US and EU countries are so gullible as to put up with this scenario. It is a big win win for Russia and BRICs and other emerging markets and a big loss for the EU and US. The

only thing the EU and US have to gain is a bankrupt and devastated Ukraine.

It is beginning to appear that Obama and the West are being manipulated and out foxed by that shrewd old Chess Master Putin.


Attila, Napoleon and Alexander the Great met this is what they talked about:

Attila: if I had automatic wepons I would have conquered Europe.

Alexander the Great: If I had tanks I would have conquered India.

Napoleon: If I had CNN* nobody would know I lost in Russia


Now think of all the most recent changes and events in this year's activities with China, with Russia's electronics industry, with Crimea, with self-sufficiency in Space, Military, Transportation,

IT, IT security, Finance, Banking, Credit, Education, Birth Rate, Rule of Law, foreign partnership shifts, and the panoply of external affairs and internal developments, and now Agriculture.

Even the Militia is asking for SCO to replace OSCE at the crash site.

These are tectonic shifts in the future processes and systems of Russia and international affairs.

Every negative hitting Russia and Putin is producing multiple positives for the future opportunities of Russia and Russian development of a dynamic, innovative and creative nation. In terms of

entrepreneurial, small and medium business development, this is the engine we saw in China. It raised 400 million from feudal poverty to a vibrant middle class. Russia will be a dynamo in many

arenas in ten years or less, especially if many of its best return from the West and give back to Mother Russia.

Crisis is opportunity. I think investment flow (FDI) will soon reverse again and billions will be coming into Russia. The opportunities are enormous now that the delusion of EuroDream is over.

The Junta was installed by the US deep state for four main purposes:

(1) Extract oil and gas resources:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/08/ukrainian-energy-firm-hires-biden-son-as-lawyer/

Such resources are estimated at about 1.4 trillion US dollars:
http://theother14.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/the-gas-evaluation-report-that-started-the-war-in-the-former-ukraine/

(2)Following the collapse of the Ukraine war economy from stagflation the oligarchs can buy up large sectors of the Ukraine economy for pennies on the dollar.

(3)The subsequent contraction of the EU economy is hoped by the US and Canada to lead to conditions favorable to a corporate takeover of Europe once the Transatlantic trade and investment

partnership (TTIP) is approved. Russia is holding off sending military into Novorussia as this would trigger further support for TTIP by the professional politicians of Europe.

(4) Large scale migrations of ethnic Russians from Ukraine to Russia, along with sanctions are calculated to lead to unrest in Russia in hopes of a Russian color revolution with help from Soros and

the rest of the 5th column.