To begin, I recommend you watch this episode of Dialogue Works on YouTube or elsewhere. It feeds from this appraisal by Pepe Escobar on Strategic Culture Foundation, which I suggest you read first…
‘Waiting for the Oreshniks, while the Istanbul kabuki proceeds “not negatively”’ – Pepe Escobar – Strategic Culture Foundation, Jun 3, 2025
I support everything Pepe said, even the F-word he deliberately dropped. And I notice Nima is also growing over time, in his interviewing technique – loosening up and displaying more emotional involvement, which is good to see. Or perhaps he reserves that for Pepe, whose enthusiasm is contagious.
While I agree there is a high risk of the situation developing into nuclear status, I will continue to downplay that factor, since a) I believe such a step will never be taken by Russia as a first option (since they can effectively choose Oreshnik with other warheads) and b) because it is my opinion that the US is actually afraid to choose that course as a first and only step, even as part of a World War, which I consider is a little less than inevitable and less likely than many suppose, due to the world being less gullible in this century and also less enamoured or persuaded by Western influence. If Trump chose to go that way, he would likely end up with only the NATO partners he currently has, which is not a recipe for success. Perhaps losing the support of Japan and South Korea, and not to gain even the Philippines. It would be a foolish and regrettable venture. I find it difficult to understand why so many people keep talking about WWIII as though it were of any great significance. My opinion, bottom line, is that there will be no such event. And if such a thing by some mischance does get started, it will be over before it begins. What will be left, is open to interpretation.
This all depends on the West’s response to whatever Russia’s eventual response to the MI6 designed, supposedly covert operations inside Russia on June 1, may be. And, as usual, I agree with how Medvedev so succinctly puts it – ‘what needs to be blown up, will be blown up’. Punishments can be applied later.
Secondly, it is essential to understand the precarious position of the Western Alliance, of which there is no more important component than the economic situation of the U.S.A. The hopeless state of Europe should already be clear in the minds of anyone interested in global affairs. The US is undoubtedly in the same boat, or an even leakier one. When the US goes down, there may still be hope for a rescue of Europe – post whatever form of revolution ensues – by proximity of, and a turning to, the Russian Federation, in the form of Union with, perhaps the EAEU.
On the question of the fate of the US, Alastair Crooke – another respected commentator – has this to say (again on SCF)…
‘One quiet early morning in Beijing, the dollar’s crown slipped’ – Alastair Crooke – SCF – June 2, 2025
…from which I offer this erudite quote by yet another expert in the field – French historian and philosopher Emmanuel Todd, whom I admit to not crossing earlier (but he does seem to have some interesting opinions, and the article linked in the quote is also worthy of a read)…
“I must admit that when the Soviet system actually collapsed, I was unable to foresee the extent of the dislocation and the level of suffering this dislocation would cause for Russia. My experience taught me one important thing: The collapse of a system is as much mental as economic … I didn’t understand that communism was not only an economic organization but also a belief system, a quasi-religion, that structured Soviet and Russian social life. The dislocation of belief would lead to psychological disorganization far beyond economic disorganization. We are reaching a situation of this type in the West today”. – Emmanuel Todd in his April Moscow lecture, From Russia With Love.
Finally, Simplicius, as usual, has access to some very revealing video of the operation against Russian airfields. Interestingly, most of it shot by Russian civilians on site and attempting to destroy the trucks used in the raid and video of the drones leaving the roof of the containers.
Zelenskiy claims, in the article below, that all his agents got back to Ukraine (how, all the way from Siberia, is unclear), and there were Russian police on site also. I read somewhere that civilians strangled one of the truck drivers but can’t find it now, and there are reports of some suspects in custody. All will become clear eventually.
Ukraine’s ‘Unprecedented’ Operation Spiderweb: Russia’s ‘Pearl Harbor’? Or Just More Soggy Silk? – Simplicius – June 3, 2025
I am not sure, but I think his reference to ‘Just More Soggy Silk’, relates to the subject of this image used in another of his recent articles. This is the discarded fibre-optic ‘left-overs’ or ‘leave behind’ of FPV drone activity, used by drone pilots to guide their packages to their destinations. Less practical (in some ways) though less subject to interference, but rather more costly than wi-fi. A fruitful, though dangerous recovery exercise in gathering for reuse or resale, I would imagine.
Not Something Else 
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