Des Grecs et des Romains imitons le courage ;

Attaquons, dans ses eaux, la perfide Albion.

Que nos fastes, s'ouvrant par sa destruction

Marquent les jours de la victoire !

Of the Greeks and the Romans let’s imitate the courage!

Let’s attack in her waters the perfidious Albion!

May our annals opening with her destruction

Mark the days of victory!

Marquis de Ximenès (1726-1817), L’ère républicaine (The republican era)

The perfidy of the British is well-known, with the term Perfidious Albion dating back to the decision on the part of England in 1793 to join in with the alliance aligned against the forces of the French revolution. The spirit of that betrayal lives on today, made ironic by the fact that the modern manifestation of Perfidious Albion is now a joint enterprise involving the French, who have aligned themselves with the British to oppose the efforts of President Donald Trump to pursue peace with Russia by ending the war in Ukraine.

When it comes to the so-called “Ukraine Project”—the unofficial term used to describe the decades-old undertaking on the part of the United States and its erstwhile European allies, led by the UK and France, to use Ukraine as a vehicle to undermine, contain, and—ultimately—destroy Russia, uninformed observers are often distracted by the intellectual misdirection that the perpetrators of this project undertake which turns logic upside down by portraying Russia as a fake nation led by a brutal autocrat out to conquer Europe, and Ukraine as an enlightened collection of quasi-Europeans who not only share the same values as their western brethren, but are willing to serve as the shield that protects Europe from the scourge of the Muscovite hordes.

The “Ukraine Project” is comprised, at its core, of a fundamental lie—the existence of a viable nation state called Ukraine.

But the reality is that Ukraine is little more than the artificial construct of a succession of outside agencies—the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bolshevik Russia/the Soviet Union, and the so-called “collective West” comprising the US and Europe—each of whom has sought to weaken and subordinate what they call Great Russian chauvinism, and what the Russian people call the Russian nation.

It is the latest manifestation of this project that is at issue today, derived from the deranged mind of George Soros, who in 1993 opined publicly about what he had been working to achieve behind the scenes—a new world order managed by the Trans-Atlantic military partnership known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Soros envisioned a world in the post-Soviet era where NATO, as the only functioning management system capable of fulfilling the destiny of the collective West to achieve global domination, sought to subvert a weakened Russia by stripping it of its former allies and partners, and then turning these one-time friends against them in a violent confrontation designed to wear Russia down and, ultimately, break it apart.

Soros worried about the United States, especially when it came to balancing the legitimate national interests of the United States, which never included having its young men die on foreign shores, and those of their erstwhile European allies, who twice in the 20^th century undertook conflicts which resulted in American boys perishing on foreign soil. In his 1993 article, “Toward a New World Order: The Future of NATO,” Soros spelled out how this American hesitation could be avoided:

The United States would not be called upon to act as the policeman of the world. When it acts, it would act in conjunction with others. Incidentally, the combination of manpower from Eastern Europe with the technical capabilities of NATO would greatly enhance the military potential of the Partnership because it would reduce the risk of body bags for NATO countries, which is the main constraint on their willingness to act. This is a viable alternative to the looming world disorder.

All that was needed was a compliant source of Eastern European manpower.

Enter Ukraine.

Thirty years later and Soros’ evil scheme is playing itself out on the killing fields of Ukraine and Russia. The collective West found their source of compliant Eastern European manpower and engaged them in a textbook proxy conflict with Russia which has seen more than a million Ukrainian soldiers sacrificed along with hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of NATO “technical capabilities” in a losing cause.

Not only has Russia refused to be defeated, but instead had turned the tables on George Soros’ “Ukraine Project,” handing the collective West a humiliating lesson in the difference between a legitimate nation comprised of people united in their culture and heritage (Russia) and one which was manufactured from the minds of those who sought to harm Russia by inventing a national identity born not from common values, but generated from the terror of those who were creating this false nation. George Soros and his NATO minions had created a Frankenstein’s monster, a grotesque collection of people united only by the hate they were taught from a young age to feel toward Russia.

And now it is time for Frankenstein’s monster to die.

The experiment has failed.

But rather than accept this failure and move on to the next phase of Trans-Atlantic geopolitical evolution, Soros and his minions, led by France and the UK, have turned on the United States, seeking to implement a part of the contract regarding the creation of Frankenstein’s monster that never existed—to draw America into this proxy conflict, to create the conditions for having American blood once again shed on European soil.

This is the perfidy of France and the UK.

They knew going in what the rules of the “Ukraine Project” were—a proxy conflict, born of George Soros’ warped mind, which used Eastern European manpower and NATO military technology to kill Russians in numbers sufficient to bring down the Russian Federation.

Now, faced with the consequences of their failure, these modern-day incarnations of Dr. Frankenstein cannot do the honorable thing by acknowledging their failure and putting their fake nation state down. Instead, they wish to extend the monster’s suffering by infusing it with the blood of American youth.

Fortunately, the United States has new leadership.

President Donald Trump has rejected the “Ukraine Project” in its totality, opting instead to seek peace with Russia on terms that promote economic co-prosperity over military confrontation.

One would expect our long-term “friends and allies” in NATO, led by the French and the British, to understand this—after all, the rules of the game were always designed to keep America from becoming a direct participant in the proxy war that served as the culmination of the “Ukraine Project.”

Instead, they sent their respective leaders—Emmanuel Macron for France, and Keir Starmer for the UK—to the White House to try and convince President Trump that Frankenstein’s monster was worth saving.

Then they dispatched the monster himself—Volodymyr Zelensky, the living manifestation of the sick, perverted, artificial construct of what is called Ukraine.

But President Trump saw through the perfidy and sent all three packing.

And now it is up to the United States to do what these would-be Dr. Frankenstein’s cannot—put the monster out of its misery.

Like the Frankenstein of lore, Ukraine will not die easily. It will try to kill its creators, something both Europe and the United States must be on guard for.

But Ukraine will die.

The “Ukraine Project” has failed.

What emerges in its stead remains unknown—a new monster? Or something real, legitimate, born of culture and values derived from historical norms, and not manufactured from the terror of men trying to create a monster for their sick geopolitical games.

This is the final stage of the modern manifestation of Perfidious Albion, where the British and French demonstrate to the world that they stand for nothing but betrayal, and can never be counted as true friends of the American people.

George Soros envisioned a world order where the NATO military alliance, led by France and the UK, took advantage of a compliant United States to lure us into a proxy war with Russia.

This is not the action of either a friend or ally, but rather an enemy, someone hostile to legitimate interests of the United States which should never again manifest themselves in conflicts that have Americans dying in Europe’s wars.

The consequences of this modern enactment of Perfidious Albion should be the abandonment of NATO and all that it stands for, and the ushering in of a new era of American greatness where we make common cause with those who seek peace and economic prosperity, and not those who aspire to construct monsters designed to kill.

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Welcome! Let’s get caught up on what happened this week.

(Please click on the titles below to access linked videos and articles for further details)

The Oval Office Show: Are There Coincidences in Politics?

The aftermath of last Friday's shocking episode at the White House was very much on full display this week. Over the weekend, Donald Trump announced he would halt arms shipments to Ukraine, a promise he later delivered. Zelensky changed course several times, finishing up the week by indicating that Ukraine is not ready for a ceasefire. But what actually happened at the Oval Office, and what other, much more consequential events did we miss?

The EU Leaders Promise “Boots on the Ground and Planes in the Air” to Zelensky During the Summit in London: What’s Next?

The European Union and the UK announced their intention to militarize their declining economies, continue funding the proxy conflict in Ukraine against Russia, and create funds worth approximately €800 billion for defense and infrastructure programs. As I explained in this video, transitioning to a “warfare” state will be less than elegant since the “coalition of the willing” will have to redirect funds from social programs towards military purposes, possibly increase taxes, take on more debt, etc. 

NordStream 2 Relaunch Plans: the US and Russia Are in Talks to Restart Gas Transit

Although official investigations into who blew up the pipeline yielded no meaningful results, the United States is said to be involved in talks with former NordStream officials to restart transit.

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US Oligarchs Celebrate BlackRock's $23 Billion Panama Canal Takeover with the Direct Backing of US

BlackRock, the world’s top asset manager, announced its acquisition of two key Panama Canal ports, Cristobal and Balboa, in a $19 billion deal with Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. The deal reportedly includes over 40 additional ports. BlackRock will now control more than 40 percent of all shipping container traffic through the Panama Canal.

Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, worked directly with the Trump administration to acquire the Panama Canal. Despite Trump claiming that the US is now “reclaiming” it, the statement is far from reality as the Panama Canal becomes yet another asset on BlockRock’s books, and its shareholders are the ultimate winners.

Donald Trump’s Trade War on China, Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump’s all-inclusive tariffs officially took effect on March 4, 2025. The same day, the target states indicated they were ready to retaliate. Surprisingly, China was the most outspoken this week in its attempt to de-escalate the economic madness.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China responded in the most straightforward manner imaginable, underscoring the hypocrisy of putting full blame on China for the fentanyl pandemic instead of the US taking responsibility for its own failed policies and working with China to address the crisis:

"If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end. Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating. If the U.S. truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China by treating each other as equals." (read full statement here)

Two days later, the US president announced he was pausing tariffs on auto imports until April 2, 2025. The Trump administration is starting to roll out new trade policies, so flip-flopping and confusion may be part of the game.

Share World Affairs in Context

In the News

Besides the events covered in my videos this week, let’s run through other events worth being aware of:

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

• Trump says he’s now considering new sanctions on Russia because it is “pounding Ukraine on the battlefield.”

  Why not stop arms shipments to Ukraine and halt intel sharing via third parties to force Zelensky to negotiate?

• On March 7, Fed Chair Jerome Powell admitted that the US economy is facing an increased level of uncertainty:

  “Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the US economy continues to be in a good place. The path to sustainably returning inflation to our target has been bumpy, and we expect that to continue.”

  During the next meeting on March 18-19, the Fed is expected to leave the interest rate unchanged.

What I’m Reading This Week

Donald Trump and the Military-Industrial-Tech Complex

Written by Norman Solomon for TomDispatch

The article explores U.S. militarism and foreign policy continuity. Regardless of one’s political perspective, serving the industries of war has become an integral part of Washington’s modus operandi, and it is unlikely to change under the Trump administration. The tech giants in the U.S. are closely tied to the military-industrial complex, and the warfare state is alive and well under the new administration.

What I’m Listening To…

How the West Fell for Its Own Propaganda

Pascal Lottaz of Neutrality Studies had an excellent conversation with Ambassador Chas Freeman about the role of propaganda in deceiving the public to further political agendas. It's definitely worth a listen!

Thank you for reading! Please consider subscribing to support my work

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For three years I helped lead the charge for improving relations between the US and Russia. Now, with peace at hand, I reflect on the reality that the role of rogue peacemaker may no longer be in vogue.

Last night myself and my friend and fellow independent journalist, Garland Nixon, made our way to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, the invited guests of the chargé d'affaires, Alexander Kim, and the Defense Attaché, Colonel (promoted to Major General) Pavel Terkin, to celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day.

This would be my third consecutive visit to the Russian Embassy to celebrate this auspicious occasion, a day dedicated to those who serve Russia in the armed forces of the Russian Federation. The holiday marks the occasion of the first mass mobilization of citizens into the Red Army held in Moscow and Petrograd in 1918. Celebrated originally as Red Army Day, and later as Soviet Army and Navy Day, the holiday took on its current name in 2002 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who decreed it to be a State Holiday.

For two decades the Russian people would mark this day with toasts, honoring the memory of those who had served the Fatherland in the past, and those who served it in present times. Whereas May 9 (Victory Day) had captured the imagination of the Russian people, Defender of the Fatherland Day was celebrated in a more muted fashion.

Until the Special Military Operation.

Russia’s initiation of military operations against Ukraine transpired on February 24, 2022–one day after Defender of the Fatherland Day. The Russian nation celebrated their service men and women one day, a nation at peace. And woke up the next day, a nation at war.

By the time Defender of the Fatherland Day, 2023 rolled around, Russia was a nation isolated from the western world, treated as a pariah state by the United States. Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, one of the Russian Federation’s best experts on the United States, was deliberately cut off from the normal channels of diplomatic interaction, a veritable prisoner in an Embassy that had been conceived in the spirit of détente and consummated in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, when US-Russian relations were generally described as “friendly.”

The Russian Defense Attaché, Major General Evgeny Bobkin, had likewise been blackballed by the Defense Attachés’ Association, an association of top international military officers in the US capital whose dean is selected by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, who voted to expel him in March 2022, shortly after the SMO began.

The Defender of the Fatherland celebration is held in the “Golden Hall” of the Ceremonial Building of the Russian Embassy. This grand venue is marked by the elaborate enamel paintings that decorate the side walls of the ballroom. The left wall, as you enter, is comprised of images of the ancient cities that comprise the “Golden Ring” that surrounds Moscow. The right wall contains images depicting the 15 capital cities of the former republics of the Soviet Union.

As told to me by Ambassador Antonov, Russia’s first President, Boris Yeltsin, ordered the paintings covered up, since they depicted a Soviet past he had repudiated. However, on his first visit to the embassy after becoming the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin ordered the room to be restored to its former glory, and the paintings are on full display today for visitors to admire.

The Defender of the Fatherland celebration of 2023 was one defined by a war in Ukraine that had grown into a proxy conflict between the collective West and Russia. The setting could only be described as simultaneously patriotic and defiant, with my Russian hosts going out of their way to make a linkage between the Ukrainian conflict and the war against Nazi Germany.

Anatoly Antonov’s speech was diplomatically defiant, chastising the US and its European allies for forgoing the bonds of the alliance that had defeated Nazi Germany in favor of supporting the modern-day successors of Nazi Germany—Banderist Ukraine—against their former Russian ally and friend.

The Defender of the Fatherland Day celebration was supposed to be a grand affair, attended by the diplomatic elite of Washington, DC society. But on this occasion the “Golden Hall” was only half-full. While the friends of Russia from the so-called “Global South” were in attendance, there were no official representatives from either the US or Europe present.

I joined a handful of stalwart Russian-American citizens who braved the scrutiny of the FBI to make entrance into a compound that had, for all sense and purpose, become enemy territory from the perspective of the United States.

I was very much a fish out of water, a stranger to the surroundings, proceedings, and personalities. Sensing my isolation, I was taken under the wings of a cadre of Russian officers led by Colonel Semen Volkov, a paratrooper who introduced me to his fellow officers of the Russian Defense Attaché office. My Russian being what it was, and Colonel Volkov’s English being only marginally better, the evening devolved into an exchange of short military-themed anecdotes punctuated regularly by toasts to the glory of the Russian soldier/sailor/airman/Marine.

The culminating moment came with the final toast of the night, which I had recorded as a video. When the celebration ended, and I bid farewell to my hosts and new friends, I posted this video on my social media. The firestorm it generated in terms of those who liked it and those who condemned it served as the perfect illustration of the controversy that is attached to anyone promoting peace in a time of war.

By the time Defender of the Fatherland 2024 rolled around, my profile as an erstwhile peacemaker had grown exponentially. My profile had exploded at home and abroad, and I had two high-profile trips to Russia under my belt, including one which saw me address 25,000 Chechen soldiers and visit the territories of Crimea and New Russia.

I came prepared, bringing a bottle of bourbon for Colonel Volkov and his comrades. Armed with recent experiences and insights, my ability to interface in a more comprehensive way with my hosts made this evening one to remember. The sense of patriotism and defiance still existed, but my Russian hosts were buoyed by the success of their nation in withstanding the military, economic, and diplomatic onslaught at the hands of the collective west. I was still an American operating in near total isolation from my fellow countrymen, who were still absent from the ceremony. But the cause of peace resonated even stronger this year, and the overall mood in the “Golden Hall” was one of prideful optimism.

Before departing, I gathered Colonel Volkov and his comrades together to record our final toast.

Once again the responses on social media were either intensely supportive or damning.

During the celebration I was approached by General Bobkin, who extended an invitation for me to attend the Moscow International Security Conference in August. I was already scheduled to attend the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, and the BRICS summit in Kazan in October. The Moscow International Security Conference gave me entree to the three most prestigious forums regarding Russia and the world. I was excited for the approach of summer and the unique opportunities that would unfold.

Unfortunately, none of this was meant to be. The US Department of State seized my passport as I was preparing to board my flight to Saint Petersburg, and in August the FBI raided my home, alleging that I was working as an unregistered agent of Russia.

There was a price to be paid for advocating peace in a time of war. The Russian government seemed at a loss when it came to me. They more than anyone knew I was not their “agent,” and yet to say anything would, from their perspective, only make things worse for me. I was invited to receptions—Russia Day in June, and a piano concert in September—but the atmosphere was markedly different. There was hesitation on the part of the diplomats where once there was a sense of common purpose.

The exception to this hesitancy was the officers of the Defense Attaché’s office. Major General Bobkin, until his departure in the summer of 2024, and his replacement, Colonel Terkin, were as friendly and receptive as ever, and Colonel Volkov and his comrades were my constant companions. We talked about military service, the war in Ukraine, and the prospects for peace. But we talked as friends, a completely different plane to that of professional colleagues.

The election of Donald Trump, and the dramatic progress being made in terms restoring a sense of normalcy to relations between the US and Russia, created a whole new tone and atmosphere surrounding the Defender of the Fatherland 2025.

In 2023 and 2024, when I entered the grounds of the Russian Embassy, there were a few diplomatic vehicles dropping off guests, and a short line of people waiting at the security checkpoint. 2025 saw Garland and I wait in a line for nearly 30 minutes to be cleared into the embassy grounds, and the ceremonial hall was packed with attendees. There were still no representatives from either the US or Europe, but as Bob Dylan famously noted, the times were indeed a’changing.

There was a positive vibe which infused the evening, even though Russia had not sent an ambassador to replace Anatoly Antonov when he returned home last fall.

The recently concluded talks between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh, backed by a positive 90-minute phone call between President Trump and President Putin, brought with it a sense of cautious optimism. The Russian Embassy staff had, since 2016, been whittled down by more than 400 persons. Life for Russian embassy employees and their families had become extremely difficult—restrictions on travel were suffocating and demoralizing, and the inability to function as their posting intended had brought with it a loss of purpose.

The prospect of seeing the embassy brought back to full strength and cleared to engage with the US government in the full range of diplomatic duties and responsibilities was a discernible morale booster.

There was work to be done, and there was much that remained uncertain.

But peace, not war, infused the festivities.

I watched the evening’s events with a sense of joyful sadness.

We had come so far from that first fretful evening two years ago.

It had not been an easy path for anyone.

The Colonels and I had served as rogue peacemakers, working outside normal channels to build a common purpose founded on our mutual sense of duty to our respective nations.

I watched as the representatives of nations that had previously been subdued now openly celebrated with their Russian hosts.

Diplomatic norms were returning.

The age of the rogue peacemakers was past.

If things progressed along the trajectory they were currently on, next year the “Golden Hall” would be filled with American diplomats and officers, engaged in the critically important task of restoring and sustaining relations with the Russian Federation.

And I and the others who had braved adversity to help create the conditions for this very opportunity would be relegated to footnote status.

Which was ok.

But sad in a way.

I had brought with me a bottle of bourbon—Colonel E. H. Taylor “Small Batch”—for Colonel Volkov and the other officers of the Russian Defense Attaché office (I had bequeathed a bottle of Weller’s Special Edition to Colonel Terkin.)

My Russian hosts had prepared a special gift for me as well—a bottle of “Kuz’kina Mat” (“Kuzma’s Mother”) contained in a metal vessel that was a scale model of the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested.

“Kuzma’s Mother” was a nickname given to the Tsar Bomba by Russians in the know. The reference to “Kuzma’s Mother” relates to an angry outburst by Nikita Khrushchev on June 24, 1959, when he told Vice President Richard Nixon, during a visit to Moscow, “I’ll show you Kuzma’s Mother!”

Interpreters were at a loss as to how to interpret this phrase to Nixon, who was left wondering who this Kuzma was, and what his mother looked like.

But the reality is that “to show Kuzma’s Mother” was a Russian idiom for “I’m going to show you,” a threat.

And what Khrushchev was threatening to show Nixon and the world was the Tsar Bomba.

What Colonel Terkin presented me with was an extremely rare bottle of “Thermonuclear Vodka.”

“This vodka is not to be drunk lightly,” Colonel Terkin told me, the seriousness in his voice evident. “This is a special gift to someone who knows both war and peace. Save this bottle for the most special of occasions, something that is of such magnitude that you feel compelled, as Khrushchev did, to pound the table and tell them you’re going to show them ‘Kuzma’s Mother’!”

Duly chastened, I took the time to admire this gift and reflect on the magnitude of the moment.

Colonel Terkin and I had just finished a lengthy conversation about what life would be like for he and his men once things got back to normal. They had a job to do, a job that required them to coordinate with their American military counterparts on issues deemed important by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The days of spending extensive time with a rogue American peacemaker were over.

But this did not mean that there was no longer a role for this rogue.

What Colonel Terkin was telling me is that I would need to go find a task worthy of standing before the world and telling them, “I’ll show you Kuzma’s Mother!”

“This bottle is shaped like a nuclear bomb,” Colonel Terkin said. “Maybe its contents can be drunk when there are no more nuclear bombs in the world.”

The Defender of the Fatherland Day celebration was scheduled to run from 6 pm until 8 pm. By the time Colonel Terkin and Colonel Volkov had presented me with the bottle of “Kuzma’s Mother,” it was already well past 8 pm. Colonel Volkov ushered me over to a table where Russian and Kazakh officers had gathered. The bond between the two nations was unmistaken as toasts were made and shot glasses of vodka discharged.

I gathered Colonel Volkov and his comrades together for one last toast, which per tradition I filmed and posted on social media.

It was time to go.

Colonel Volkov mustered everyone who remained—the officers, their wives, and their guests—for one last toast, which ended in the traditional recitations of “Urrah, Urrah, Urrah!”

I found Garland, and we bid our hosts farewell.

As we left the Ceremonial Building of the Russian Embassy, the sounds of the last “Urrah” still echoed in my ears.

These were good people, I thought.

The best.

I had become somewhat melancholy during the evening, confronting the evidence of my soon-to-be obsolescence.

But I felt the heft of the box containing “Kuzma’s Mother” in my hand.

I wasn’t obsolete.

Peace could never be obsolete.

I’m going to show you all “Kuzma’s Mother!”

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