Coming events:  departure for St Petersburg 22 September

This is to inform the community that I will be spending 2 – 3 weeks in Russia as from Tuesday, 22 September.  I will be following up the Duma elections and watching closely what changes may come in Russian conduct of the war. With victory at the polls behind it, as now seems likely, will the Russian leadership take to their logical conclusion the present strategies of strangling Ukraine, cutting off both imports and exports, on the one hand, and utterly destroying infrastructure in Kiev and other major cities on the other hand?  If so, that may well lead to Ukrainian capitulation within the coming couple of months. Or will there be a return to the war of attrition policies that will drag out this conflict for years to come? With VPN now installed on my computer, I expect to remain in regular contact with the w

News X World panel discussion of Saturday, 12 September – MEA’s BIG BRICS Message: Bloc Can Build Consensus On Major Global Issues

I am especially appreciative to the management of News X World for meeting my request to receive the podcast link to Saturday’s panel discussion, precisely because the given panel provides full-throated debate over the strength or weakness of the Delhi Declaration agreed to by all BRICS member states on the first day of the summit.  Day two, Sunday, was held in the format of the full BRICS community, meaning the presence of ‘partner’ countries.

I direct special attention to the remarks of the major general in this podcast. I often share the microphone with him on NewsX World hourly bulletins.  He is normally very restrained and diplomatic, but this time got fired up by the exaggerated diplomatic language of other panelists who only see a  bright side in the Declaration’s denouncing the bullying of some states (read – USA) while it puts forward no action program to protect the Member countries.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026

CNN 18 (India) and Sputnik Live: Morning panel discussion this morning ahead of Xi -Modi bilateral