The world, in 2017, will continue to move away from subservience to independence and to free association of independent states. This is evident in South East Asia where countries are moving away from Western orientation towards rapprochement with China and Russia. Even Japan is moving closer to Eurasia.

A similar process is going in Africa. African states yearn to breath free and not be subservient to the West and exploited by the West for their natural wealth of which it has in abundance. They want to remove the final vestiges of Colonialism. Africa will continue its orientation East, despite Western propaganda. The Western press uniformly condemns Africa for corruption. They are no more corrupt than the West. Corruption is the Modus Operandi of the West to control the rest. It has been going on for centuries.

Latin America, which extends from the Rio Grande in the North to Tierra Del Fuego in the South, has been independent since the early 1800’s, but has been dominated by the US. Remnants of colonialism still exist in Latin America such as in las Islas Malvinas (the Falkland Islands). Neo-Liberal governments are in power in major Latin American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. Venezuela is suffering from hyper- inflation and US sanctions. Cuba is without Castro. The people of Latin America are socio-economically very conscious. Argentina, for instance, has a very powerful labor movement, as does Brazil and others. Latin America will drift from subservience to independence in 2017, regardless of who is in power because the people demand it. Most Latin American economies are in super-depression. In 2017, it will be much worse. Violence and revolutions are possible. Mainstream media reports only on how bad things are in Venezuela.

There are three pivotal areas of the world that might change the flow of world history: the South China Sea, the Ukraine and Europe, and the Middle East. The South China Sea will be an irritant. It will not lead to any major confrontation or war, but China will stay firm. India-Pakistan will be very tense. Border clashes will occur along the lines of demarcation but no war.

In 2017, Europe and the Ukraine will undergo profound change. French elections in April will usher in new policy in France. If Marine Le Pen is elected president, a strong possibility, she will pull France out of NATO and the EU. Latin Europe ie., Italy, Spain, Portugal, will follow. German elections will be in the fall. Merkel is a candidate but she has been wounded by the recent Berlin tragedy. The elders of the Christian Democratic Party might dump her and appoint a new leader. The Social Democrats or Alternativa fur Deutschland might have a chance in the election. But whatever government is formed, it will tiptoe to rapprochement with Russia. The present policy of Merkel with respect to the Middle East, migrants, and Russia is very unpopular in Germany. The only faithful allies of NATO are the UK, Poland, the Baltic states, Romania, Norway, Denmark, and the Low Countries. The Baltic states are in an economic depression. They might buckle and ask Russia for favors, and a Finnish type of arrangement may follow. The EU economy is in recession and worse can be expected in the coming year.

The Ukraine is a different problem. It was a coup d’état organized by the US that went terribly wrong. The US coveted the Crimea and domination of the Black Sea and lost. The present Kiev government has no longevity and the Ukrainian economy has entered a black hole. Ukrainians are working in Russia and by sending money home, are helping the Ukrainian economy to stay afloat. In 2017, the Ukraine regime will have to resort to war or there will be internal revolt. The present leadership will be arrested and brought to trial. Some will try to escape. The nightmare may finally end later in 2018.  The Ukraine by its very nature is Russia, and Russia is the Ukraine.

The biggest threat to world peace is the Middle East. The underlying cause is the Arab-Israeli conflict. The problems of Israel are essentially two: the non recognition of Israel by Arab masses and the shortage of fresh water. The two are inter-connected. Israel is a very powerful state. It is a nuclear state but lacks water. Lebanon and Syria by Middle Eastern standards have an abundance of water. To obtain the waters of Syria, war by proxy has been concocted. ISIS was created to partition Syria and Iraq. It is not working too well. Turkey is switching to the Iran- Russia side. Israel may attack Iran. If it does wider war and possibly nuclear war may result. The US unconditionally supports Israel.

In 2017, the US and world economies will be much weaker than they were in 2016. The velocity of money in December of this year is the lowest it has ever been. Work force participation is the lowest since the Great Depression. The Baltic Dry Index is below 1,000, way below the 11,793 reached on May 20, 2008. Conditions will worsen. The stock market or bond market collapse cannot be excluded in 2017. The dollar may also experience severe depreciation.

We only have to wait and see what will happen in 2017.