Good morning. Here’s your Situational Awareness for Wednesday, 07 September 2022.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: RUSSIA NOT A STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR: During a press conference, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre announced President Biden has decided against designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The final decision was reached out of concern the designation would rupture U.S.-Russia relations, delay food exports, and jeopardize shipping on the Black Sea.
PUTIN: BATTLE FOR CULTURAL SUPREMACY IS GROWING: In a speech yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the “battle for cultural supremacy is growing on the world stage,” adding that Russia’s “rich cultural heritage and spiritual potential” put the country “in a unique position to successfully spread traditional Russian moral and religious values.” Putin outlined a foreign policy position that Russia is the world’s defender of traditional moral values against “the aggressive imposition of neoliberal views by a number of states,” such as the United States and European democracies.
MEXICO SEEKS TO GRANT ARMY CONTROL OF NATIONAL GUARD: Mexican politicians have passed a controversial bill through the lower house of the Congress that would give the Mexican Army control over the country’s National Guard. Critics of the bill claim the bill violates the Mexican constitution, effectively giving the military control over law and order, presenting an environment ripe for Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador to pursue a course of action similar to that of former Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez. The bill is expected to be challenged by the Mexican Supreme Court should it pass the Senate. – R.P.
CHINA ACCUSES NSA OF CYBERATTACK: Chinese officials accused the National Security Agency (NSA) of conducting “tens of thousands malicious [cyber] attacks” against the country and stealing over 140 gigabytes of sensitive information over the past several years.
CHINA TO BUY RUSSIAN GAS IN LOCAL CURRENCIES: Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom announced it had reached a deal with the CCP’s China National Petroleum Corporation enabling the sale of oil and gas to china in payments of Roubles and Yuan. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller called the agreement “mutually beneficial” and expressed his hope that it would “become an excellent example for other companies” while proving beneficial to Chinese and Russian economic development.
ESTONIA: BALTIC ‘NATO SEA’ TO DETER RUSSIA: The inclusion of Sweden and Finland into NATO will effectively transform the Baltic Sea into an “inner sea of NATO,” according to statements made by Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. The effective surrounding of the Baltic Sea by NATO territories will amplify deterrence of Russian aggression in the region, according to Pevkur, creating “one unified operational space” allowing for strategic multi-domain force applications that would enable a wide range of deterrence efforts, including the effective closure of the sea to Russian air and naval traffic.
In today’s Early Warning, the team provides their analysis of today’s geostrategic briefings and developments in gun control from the left. Get the latest from the Forward Observer intel team by becoming a subscriber at https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe.