How Putin's Greek policy could change the map of Europe

By Donald Hank

As you know, I do not make predictions about politics and geopolitics. That's because the givens of the equation keep changing, so really, who knows, ever?

But here is what I suspect might happen to mess up the Neocon plans to defend the title of Master of the Universe.

Now as you know, Putin and Greek President Alexis Tsipras have already pretty much agreed to the construction of one segment of the Turkish Stream pipeline through Greece.

There has been speculation about Russia giving Greece an advance payment on this to help it recover from its acute and chronic crises. (Russia, the sanctioned one, has friends in high places, Beijing for example).

But Tsipras and Putin have been meeting and phoning each other here of late and they weren't just talking about the weather.

Putin has already told Tsipras he is thinking about lending Greece a lot of money.

I am about 99.99% sure (still not wagering or prophesying) that Putin is gently pressuring Tsipras to leave the EU. Certainly, a sizable enough loan would probably buy him away from Brussels. It would be a fitting countermeasure (not to say vendetta) to the sanctions that the EU has imposed on Russia in the former's role as lapdog of the US hegemons – is it too soon to say ex-hegemons?

At any rate, once Greece culminated their Grexit, it would be to Putin's – and China's (as a backstop to the loan) – advantage to have the EU collapse, at least in a slow motion, since that body is a major player in the unipolar world that aims to make Russia a captive state.

How to assist with that collapse?

By helping Greece become the economic power it once was. Greece was once a manufacturing powerhouse and, in conjunction with its agriculture, that made it reaonably well off.

Joining the EU and Eurozone – experiments in supranational deceptocracy – made it poor, to put it succinctly.

If the BRICS axis can succeed in making Greece prosperous again, then countries like Spain, Portugal and even Italy might eye their experimental results hungrily and decide to get in on the action.

I suspect Russia and China would jump at the chance to buy these countries away as well.

What would that do to Germany, the ringleader of all the policies that thrust Europe into crisis – which benefited Germany as the no. 1 exporter in the region and also as one of the stalwarts that "stood by" Washington in imposing sanctions on Russia?

Well, Germany, would have to adjust to being just another country again instead of the captain of the EU ship. Like the "exceptional" US, it would no longer be the Übermensch of countries (or might we say Überland?).

And Putin would have that multipolar world he has dreamed about.

Mind you, I am not predicting anything.

But if I were Putin, that is the path I would take – and most likely the one he has in mind.

This is how sanctions can blow up in one's face if one is careless.

Reference:

http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/author/pepe-escobar/

© Donald Hank