Good morning. Here’s your Situational Awareness for Thursday, 29 September 2022.
ISRAEL OFFERS TO SHARE NUCLEAR SECRETS: In a speech to the IAEA, Israel Atomic Energy Commission Chief Moshe Edri announced Israel would consider sharing nuclear technology with Abraham Accords countries in response to the IAEA’s inclusion of “Israeli Nuclear Capabilities” on its annual agenda. Israel views this inclusion as a politically-driven contradiction of the IAEA mandate, advanced by the ‘Arab Group’ of countries. Edri said he hoped increasing nuclear cooperation through the Abraham would advance “direct dialogue” in the region threatened by Iran’s “clandestine nuclear activities.” – R.P.
BANK OF ENGLAND NARROWLY AVERTS COLLAPSE: The Bank of England, the world’s second oldest, announced 45 million pounds of emergency government bond purchases after a bond market crisis erupted yesterday. Plummeting bond prices threatened the forced liquidation of British government bonds purchased on borrowed money by a multitude of financial institutions. The barely-avoided margin call could have triggered forced liquidations of positions across markets on a scale equivalent to the 2008 world financial crisis. – M.M.
RUSSIA: WEST’S REJECTION OF REFERENDUM A REFUSAL OF DEMOCRACY: Russian officials denounced the U.S.-led West’s rejection of Ukrainian Referendums as an insult to the democratic right of “self-determination.” In comments to state-controlled TASS media yesterday, Russian Central Election Commission representative Igor Borisov said the referendum complied with “civilized standards” and was ”valid de facto and de jure.” The official accused “powerful transatlantic political players” of ignoring the people’s “right to express their will” and “determine their destiny” for political purposes. Borisov called on the world’s countries to recognize the referendums as a historic triumph over “manipulative approaches and double standards” used to dominate global political discourse. – M.M.
NORWAY DEPLOYS MILITARY TO PROTECT ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE: Citing increased security requirements, Norwegian officials announced the internal deployment of national police and military units to protect oil and gas infrastructure following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. The move follows Monday’s warning from Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority calling for extra vigilance against “accident” or “direct attack” after a series of unidentified drones had been sighted near the country’s offshore oil and gas platforms. Norway is now the largest gas supplier to Europe and possesses extensive energy oil infrastructure with 90 offshore oil and gas fields connected to more than 9,000km of gas pipelines. – R.P.
In today’s Early Warning, Mike provides his Weekly Economic Outlook and notes a souring economic outlook among investment banks. He also provides updates on three indicators of an emerging financial crisis. Plus the team provides a wider view and analysis of geostrategic events and the risk of global conflict. Get access to the team’s full report by becoming an Early Warning subscriber: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe