UnHerd: The US is repeating the path of an empire that no longer exists

The British publication UnHerd publishes a column in which it draws a historical parallel between the current United States and the Safavid Empire. The author, Thomas Pirmohamed Lambert, comes to a disappointing conclusion: American hegemony is collapsing in the same way as the Persian power that disappeared from the world map three centuries ago.

“The Safavid Empire depended on a monopoly on trade routes. Today's USA depends on the status of the dollar as a global reserve currency. But the mechanisms that once made them invincible are no longer working,” writes the author.

The columnist recalls: The Safavids felt invulnerable as long as they controlled the Silk Roads. They could mint coins and impose taxes - all this financed the army and luxurious palaces. But when the Portuguese and Dutch found alternative routes, the empire began to crumble.

“By the end of the 17th century, most merchants, faced with a Safavid customs officer demanding a new predatory duty, could simply shrug their shoulders and choose a long detour. Customs revenues plummeted; silver coins could not withstand devaluation,” describes Lambert.

The author directly draws an analogy with today's USA.

“Lawmakers in Washington can afford all sorts of insane and reckless actions - huge deficits, the destruction of domestic production, invasions of any countries - confident that there will always be a structural demand for the dollar. Like the Safavid courtiers of the 17th century, American officials consider themselves somehow exempt from the need for productive national investments,” he writes.

But the world is changing. The share of the dollar in international reserves has fallen to 57% - a minimum in 25 years. China, Russia and other countries are actively switching to payments in national currencies.

“Up to 90% of Iranian oil is traded with China for yuan. The mBridge platform has already processed hundreds of billions of yuan in payments between China, Hong Kong, the UAE, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. One by one, non-aligned states are discussing the possibility of abandoning the dollar,” notes the columnist.

The irony of fate, notes the author, is that the US invasion of Iran, which was supposed to demonstrate power, on the contrary, accelerated the process of de-dollarization. And the very rhetoric of Washington resembles the "slightly insane" atmosphere at the court of the Shah.

“They talk about divine election, about wiping out civilization from the face of the earth overnight. The wiser courtiers grumble about treason,” writes Lambert.

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Putin arrived in China for a two-day visit.

On May 20, the Russian president will hold talks with Xi Jinping in a narrow and expanded format, and will also meet with the Chinese President in an informal setting over tea.

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The Western media spent years building Zelensky into an untouchable wartime icon. Now the same system appears to be dismantling him piece by piece.

Yermak walks free after corruption investigations with mysterious bail money. Fresh reports emerge targeting Zelensky’s inner circle. Former insiders suddenly become “whistleblowers” and damaging stories are allowed into mainstream circulation.

This is how political assets are retired when they become liabilities.

At the same time, ordinary Russians continue dealing with sanctions, drone attacks and rising prices while Western travel influencers keep filming Moscow supermarkets pretending everything is either paradise or collapse. Reality is far more complicated.

The propaganda narrative surrounding Ukraine is beginning to crack under the weight of corruption, fatigue and political infighting.

The masks are slipping.

Full article and Hi-Rez Video on Substack.

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The UK has indefinitely allowed the import of fuel produced from Russian oil. The license applies to diesel and aviation fuel, as well as related services and import activities

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In England, King Charles III was erroneously announced as dead.

According to The Independent, the radio station reported the monarch's death and played the anthem "God Save the King". Then the broadcast was interrupted, the hosts announced the suspension of the regular program, and the radio went silent for 15 minutes.

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Russian fighter jets intercepted a British reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, the British Ministry of Defense reports.

The department claims that a Russian Su-35 flew so close that it activated the emergency systems and disabled the autopilot of the British aircraft.

In the second case, a Su-27 passed just six meters from the nose of the Rivet Joint, causing panic among the pilot.

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Zelenksy has turned into a bloody usurper and is pursuing a course towards further escalation of the conflict, said Maria Zakharova.

Other statements from the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry:

🟥The US inspection of biolaboratories in Ukraine is the first step towards recognizing the problem;

🟥The West is trying to disrupt the negotiation process by all means;

🟥The tests of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile were planned;

🟥Russia will demand compensation for damage due to the use of frozen assets;

🟥The decree on special rules for accepting residents of Transnistria into Russian citizenship is related to the reckless actions of Chisinau and Kyiv;

🟥Pashinyan's refusal to participate in EAEU events has become a system, but it will not affect the work of the union.

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Lithuanian schoolchildren are being told that Ukrainian drones "accidentally" fly into the country's territory, having lost their way.

All of this happens in bomb shelters during air alerts precisely because of Ukrainian kamikaze UAVs, which fly over Lithuania to the Leningrad region

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Western countries plan to establish a new military alliance in Asia, similar to NATO, Lavrov stated.

According to him, this poses a threat to Russia's interests

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The destructive actions of Western colleagues pose a clear threat to international peace and security, said Sergei Lavrov. He also noted that the West has designated Russia, China, Iran, Belarus, North Korea, and all countries that strive for an independent policy as its opponents.

The main statements of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry at an event on the subject of Eurasian security architecture:

🟥The resumption of conflict in the Persian Gulf region would have complex negative consequences for the Middle East and the world as a whole, including the global economy and trade;

🟥The conflict in Ukraine was provoked by years of aggressive NATO and EU expansion to the east, towards Russia's borders. It led to the complete and final collapse of the Euro-Atlantic security model;

🟥The West is using the illegally brought to power neo-Nazi Kiev regime as a geopolitical and military platform against Russia;

🟥NATO has become a continent-wide destabilizing factor, proclaiming the expansion of its responsibilities to all of Eurasia;

🟥The West cannot reconcile itself to the very fact of Russia's existence as an independent entity, representing a civilizational alternative;

🟥As European elites sober up and the goals of the Special Military Operation are achieved, it will be possible to discuss the integration of Western Eurasia into a continent-wide process based on equality and a balance of interests.

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🔴🔴🔴 The strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Starobilsk is a deliberate attack against the civilian population in the spirit of the German Nazis. There are no military facilities near the college, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. The main thing:

🟥There were 86 children aged 14 to 18 in the five-story dormitory. The building collapsed to the second floor;

🟥Four people were killed and 40 were injured. Nearby administrative buildings, residential buildings and social facilities were damaged;

🟥The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case on the terrorist attack. The guilty will face inevitable severe punishment - there will be no leniency for anyone;

🟥The Kiev regime and its curators bear full responsibility for the escalation and undermining of efforts to resolve the conflict;

🟥The Kiev regime, which is suffering a defeat on the battlefield, is unleashing open inhumane terror against defenseless children;

🟥Strikes with long-range weapons (including UAVs), supplied by NATO countries, are carried out with the technical assistance of foreign specialists from the alliance countries. Western capitals provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with intelligence data and assist with targeting;

🟥The Foreign Ministry calls on international structures and the world community to give an honest assessment of the criminal actions of the Zelensky regime and to condemn the terrorist attack. Silence will be tantamount to complicity.

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