September 14, 2026

The BRICS Coalition Meets In India

September 14, 2026/ Francis Menton

The coalition of second-tier and second-rate countries calling themselves the BRICS (an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has just wound up its annual “summit,” this year held in New Delhi, India.
In the twenty years since the BRICS coalition’s founding, its membership has expanded beyond just the countries forming the acronym, with additional attendees at this year’s event including the likes of Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Of those new members, only Indonesia really has a claim for even second-rate status. Saudi Arabia and UAE are wealthy, but owe the wealth almost entirely to the good luck of oil discoveries; and the remaining three of Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran are more like fifth-rate.
Most heads of state actually attended, including Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, although Lula da Silva of Brazil skipped the conference, purportedly to participate in campaigning in Brazil’s upcoming elections.
This BRICS summit understandably generated almost no news that I have seen here in the U.S. However, one thing that did catch my eye was an opening address given on September 12 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.

March 31, 2026

The Iran War Reveals Who Is Living In A Fantasy World

March 31, 2026/ Francis Menton

Whether you like it or hate it, the war in Iran has definitely had the effect of exposing some of the ridiculous fantasies in the world to a serious dose of reality.
Consider the UK. After implementing an expansive welfare state in the latter 20th century (e.g., free health care for all!), the UK since 2000 has gone all-in on the idea of an energy system free of hydrocarbon fuels. The 2008 Climate Change Act — passed with an overwhelming majority including support from all major political parties — committed the UK to 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
That mandate was then amended in 2019 to make the legally-binding target for 2050 what is known as “net zero” carbon emissions. That change got passed essentially unanimously in Parliament, without even a recorded vote.

March 29, 2026

March 29, 2026/ Francis Menton

When Vladimir Putin has been asked to justify his war for control over Ukraine, his answer is typically that Ukraine and Russia have always been one country.
And there is some truth to that. The Russian state traces its roots back to something called the Kievan Rus in the 9th century, with its capital at Kyiv. In the period prior to the 20th century, there were times when parts of today’s Ukraine were controlled by other states (like Poland or Lithuania), but never a time when Ukraine was a fully independent country separate from Russia.
And yet somehow a tremendous desire for independence from Russia seems to have arisen among the Ukrainians.

March 18, 2026

March 18, 2026/ Francis Menton

Word is that things are a little rough down in Cuba right now. In my post of February 23, I reported that Cuba had become the first nation in the world to achieve the climate activists’ Holy Grail of “Net Zero” carbon emissions.
I had looked around for news of the big celebration of Cuba’s achievement, but I couldn’t find any mention of it. If I had understood things correctly — and I think I had — Net Zero was supposed to deliver abundant and much cheaper electricity from the free wind and sun, lowering everybody’s energy costs and saving the planet in the process.
And yet, in a February 20 piece, the New York Times had revealed that the process of achieving Net Zero had somehow brought Cuba “to its knees.” Are we missing something here?
And then two days ago, March 16, the BBC (and many other sources) reported that the entire island of Cuba had been plunged into a blackout.

March 03, 2026

March 03, 2026/ Francis Menton

In today’s world, there are 193 countries in the UN. The large majority of those countries will vote consistently against the United States on measures that come before the General Assembly.
Then again, the international system that counts is not the UN, but rather the U.S.-led commercial and legal order of alliances and trade. Almost all of the 193 UN member countries participate willingly in that system, to their great benefit. They may oppose the U.S. on many issues, and they may have disputes with their immediate neighbors, but they don’t make themselves constant troublemakers threatening to disrupt world peace and international trade.
And then there is that small number of countries that are engaged in some kind of continuous arms-supported opposition to the dominant U.S.-led order. Out of the 193 countries in the UN, recently that group has consisted of a cohort of six: China and Russia as the big two, plus the likes of Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. Each of these countries has taken its own approach to trying to resist and disrupt the U.S.-led international order.
But even among this group of rogue states, Iran has long stood out as the one state actor that engages in frequent and lethal armed attacks against other countries that are not at war with it and have not attacked it.

February 23, 2026

February 23, 2026/ Francis Menton

There it was on the front page of Saturday’s New York Times: with a small assist from the United States, the island nation of Cuba has almost entirely ended the use of fossil fuels. Finally, we have the first country in the world to achieve the climate movement’s Holy Grail and nirvana — Net Zero! Or at least a very close approximation.
This should be cause for a huge celebration.
You would think that the Times, which has been demanding the elimination of fossil fuels for at least a couple of decades, would be leading the celebrations. But weirdly, now that Cuba has finally shown the way, the Times chooses to put a completely different spin on the achievement. The headline and subheadline are (print edition): “U.S. Choking Oil Deliveries To Cuba Ports; Military Action Brings a Nation to Its Knees.”
The piece reports that the Trump administration is helping Cuba to achieve Net Zero by preventing oil tankers from landing there. Somehow in this piece, that is spun as a bad thing. It has brought Cuba “to its knees.”