America’s “Unipolar” Moment Is Over

The World Has Changed Were you forwarded this email? [Sign-up to The Daily Reckoning here.]( [Unsubscribe]( [Daily Reckoning] If there’s anything you’ve missed as part of your membership to The Daily Reckoning, make sure you check out our website where you can find archives, updates, and everything else that's included in your subscription. You can access it by [clicking here now](. America’s “Unipolar” Moment Is Over - “Last week — Feb. 24, 2022 — marked the end of America’s post-Cold War, so-called ‘unipolar’ era”… - Is Russia really losing?… - Why sanctions could backfire… Recommended Link [Attention! Before You Read Any Further…]( Before you read any further in today’s issue, an urgent situation needs your immediate attention. If you don’t plan on claiming this new upgrade to your Strategic Intelligence subscription, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Right now is your chance to grab one of the biggest (and most valuable) upgrades our company has ever made to a newsletter. I’m taking Strategic Intelligence to an entirely new level and I’d hate to see you left behind. [Upgrade Your Subscription Here]( Western Pennsylvania March 1, 2022 Editor’s note: The world changed forever on Feb. 24, 2022. America’s post-Cold War “unipolar” moment has ended. That’s the argument of former naval officer Byron King, who served as an aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Navy. Today, Byron breaks it all down for you. [Byron King]Dear Reader, First, a necessary formality: As a retired U.S. Navy officer, I’m obliged to tell you that what follows are personal opinions. I do not speak for the Navy, Department of Defense or U.S. government. Having said that, let’s roll… Last week — Feb. 24, 2022 — marked the end of America’s post-Cold War, so-called “unipolar” era. That is, American military hegemony is now over. Russia has reasserted its role as a global great power. Russia saw a critical threat embodied in the idea of Ukraine in NATO, and the country acted. Diplomacy failed, and Russia’s President Putin and his generals rolled the tanks. Wise or unwise? Time will tell. It depends on who writes the history books. For now, though, the world has changed. And we have a new war, and not a little one either. This Ukraine expedition is a major, continental-style European war, underway adjacent to several NATO-aligned nations, all happening in a Texas-sized country with a population of about 44 million. You Can’t Trust “the News” Russia is employing a full range of modern combat power. This involves hundreds of thousands of troops; tens of thousands of pieces of mechanized equipment; many thousands of aircraft; incalculable levels of ammunition and all manner of systems in the arenas of electronics, cyber and space. If you have trouble processing what’s happening, it’s understandable. Whether you’re plain-old Joe or Jane Citizen, or President Biden and his senior staff, this new version of Russia and its application of combat power is unfamiliar, if not unnerving. Meanwhile, and with this in mind, it’s critical to understand that essentially all “war news” and imagery you see comes at you in a highly filtered manner. Most stories in Western news originate from the Ukraine side and are processed through various U.S./NATO/European government and corporate-level outlets. That is, you are NOT seeing Russian accounts of either the lead-up to or conduct of military operations. Most initial reports in war are wrong. They tend to be random and based merely on where someone happened to be at a certain time. Basically, the “front-line news” is a collection of sequential anecdotes that cumulatively fail to tell the broad story. Recommended Link [Free Crypto “Internet Hack” Demonstrated Live on Camera]( [Read more here...]( This viral video is spreading across the internet. Crypto millionaire James Altucher demonstrates a “free crypto hack” live on camera. And you can generate up to $167 of FREE crypto without risking a single dime of your own money. I’ve checked it out and it’s completely legitimate. [See How To Claim Your Free Crypto]( The Broad Story OK, so what is this “broad story” of which I speak? Well, let’s look at a map from one leading outlet that typically sets the narrative in the U.S. and West in general, The New York Times. “Russian Gains in Ukraine,” per The New York Times: [IMG 1] Here, the Times shows Russian incursions (in red) into Ukraine. To casual observers, unschooled in concepts of military operations, it appears that Russian troops have not moved far, just sporadic advances along borderlands. Meanwhile, other Western news accounts (New York Times and many others) describe how Russian columns are being held up by stiff resistance, or for lack of fuel or supplies, or by effective Ukrainian counterattacks. Well, no doubt the Russians have taken losses, even serious losses in more than a few locales and engagements. There’s online video of entire supply columns torn to shreds, and wrecked tanks, crashed helicopters and jets and much more. Plus, accounts of Russian units stalled for lack of fuel, which indicates problems with logistics if not Ukrainian sabotage in rear areas. But anecdotes don’t explain the operational story. Here’s a different map from a Ukrainian source that does a better job to display broad, operational information. [IMG 2]( Are the Russians Really Losing? The guy who prepared this map is not a military expert, but his rough drawings are good enough to explain quite a bit. The map reveals Russia’s concept of operation far differently, as compared with The New York Times’ map. In essence, instead of a hit-or-miss scatter of Russian incursions along the borders, this map clarifies the operational plan: broad movements into Ukraine along wide fronts north, east and south. From the north, Russian combat power moved south toward Kyiv, displayed on the left part of the map. Evidently the Russian army is setting up for an encirclement and eventual surrender or capture. On that, we’ll have to wait and see. Note that Russian forces have bypassed most large cities (blue circles). Russian forces just surround them and will either accept surrender or capture them later on – shades of Grozny, if you followed that operation in the late 1990s. Over east, the operational plan is clear. Russian forces have moved south to positions behind Ukrainian forces that have long been arrayed to confront Luhansk and Donetsk. And from the south Russians have moved north from Crimea and via coastal landings on the north side of the Sea of Azov. (Note that the coastal city of Mariupol is surrounded as well.) Here’s the point: Russian forces have effectively encircled the bulk of Ukraine’s army, which is positioned in those eastern regions. Recommended Link [Breaking: Ex-Pentagon Insider’s Disturbing Message for America]( [Read more here...]( He warned about the 2008 financial crisis a full two years in advance. He’s predicted everything from the coronavirus crash, the election of Donald Trump, Brexit, and more. And he just went live with a disturbing new warning for America. One that could have devastating consequences for anyone that’s still holding stocks, cryptocurrencies, or cash on [3/10/2022.]( If you have money in the markets, or you are worried about America’s financial future… You need to [heed his message]( now… because once this crisis hits it will already be too late. [Click Here Now]( The Russian “Kill Box” Now, the question is whether or not Ukrainian forces (blue dashes) can exit from this fast-closing Russian pincer movement. And to be militarily frank it may already be too late. There’s a massive Russian encirclement in progress. Even if Russian forces don’t totally close the gap, that north-south stretch west of Ukrainian forces is what we call a “kill box.” Russian artillery and missiles can easily blanket the entire space with firepower. Looking ahead just a few days, Ukraine’s military power in the east will be totally surrounded and trapped, like in a giant version of Stalingrad. Ukrainian commanders and troops will have the bitter choice to fight and be crushed, or to offer an orderly surrender. Now, let’s reconsider those feel-good videos of Ukraine citizens mixing Molotov cocktails and practicing with AK-47s back in Kyiv. It doesn’t matter. For them, it’s over because Russia’s plan is to win the war in the east by wrecking Ukraine military power in the field. We can speculate over whether Russia will occupy the entire eastern region of Ukraine, for example all lands east of the Dnieper River. That remains to be seen. Does Russia need the farmland? Or would it make a good buffer zone for Russia proper? Time will tell. For now though, let’s return to larger, geostrategic issues. It Takes Two to Tango Again, it’s critical to understand that America’s unipolar moment has just ended. Russia is now able and willing to throw its military weight around, and its conventional forces are immensely powerful despite what you might hear from mainstream media. (They’re all drunk, their equipment stinks, blah, blah. NO!) From the outset, Russia wanted U.S./European guarantees that Ukraine would never become part of NATO, and assurances not to place powerful weapons near Russian borders. It was a mirror image of the U.S. and Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963. But in a feat of truly idiotic diplomacy, the U.S. and NATO turned Russia down and now we have a war. In response to the war, the U.S./West have imposed sanctions on Russia, including restrictions on access to SWIFT banking channels. Well, we’ll see how it unfolds because Russia and China have long anticipated this and they have a backdoor system to clear accounts, a Plan B so to speak. Of course, it’s possible that sanctions will backfire against the West. Russia can curtail airline overflight rights, and thus disrupt travel and commerce with Asia and elsewhere. And Russia can curtail oil and gas exports to the West, driving up energy prices. Or curtail exports of critical materials like aerospace-grade titanium, or even the elemental gas neon which is critical for manufacturing silicon chips. And what happens if (when?) Russia – and perhaps China – team up to create a new, gold-backed global currency that undercuts dollar hegemony? Jim Rickards has discussed this for well over a decade, and it’s definitely in the cards. So, like the fate of Kyiv and much else, we’ll just have to wait and see. Russia has planned this war for a long time, and the maps reveal deep operational thinking at work. All this while America’s 30-year era of unipolarity is over. There’s a different world unfolding. Regards, Byron King for The Daily Reckoning Editor’s note: The stock market is finally coming to grips with the severity of the crisis. It’s taken a beating these past two days, while gold has blasted off. The yellow metal was up almost $50 today as investors head for safety. Governments around the world and large institutional investors are stocking up on gold. That’s why I recommend that you get your hands on some gold if you haven’t already. But I also recommend that you NOT invest in anything until you see my urgent message. Gold included. That’s right. Don’t even buy a single ounce of gold [until you see this message.]( That’s because we’re witnessing a rare occurrence in the gold market that we haven’t seen for years, and it has serious implications… [This could be the most important message you see all year if you are serious about securing your financial future.]( What am I talking about? And why is it potentially so important to you? [Click here to see my urgent briefing.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading The Daily Reckoning! We greatly value your questions and comments. Please send all feedback to [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:dr@dailyreckoning.com) [Byron King][Byron King]( is Senior Geologist at Rickards' Gold Speculator. He is a Harvard-trained geologist who has traveled to every U.S. state and territory and six of the seven continents. 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