“Recently, the White House issued the annual National Security Strategy. The document is mandated by law and describes in very broad terms the administration’s vision of the world. This latest attempt at defining the foreign policy of the United States is historical in three aspects.

It paints the world without friends or enemies.

It declares the former and current interests outside of the Western Hemisphere of less importance.

It finally puts an end to the status and the ambitions of the country as the superpower.

The document officially declares the end of American world power.

It concludes almost two decades of declining power COUPLED WITH UNWILLINGNESS AND INABILITY TO WISELY EXERCISE IT.” (jpost.com )

“The era of ‘Pax Americana’ is over for Europe, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said, adding that the global economy and political order are undergoing a ‘tectonic shift’ in centers of power worldwide. The term ‘Pax Americana’ (American Peace) describes the transatlantic order that emerged after 1945 and was institutionalized through NATO, with the US as Europe’s primary security guarantor and leading military power.

Speaking at the Christian Social Union (CSU) party convention in Munich on Saturday, Merz urged Europeans to prepare for a ‘fundamental change in the transatlantic relationship.’ ‘The decades of the Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well. It no longer exists in the way we knew it,’ he said.

‘Americans are now very, very firmly pursuing their own interests.’ The chancellor pointed to changes in tariff policy under US President Donald Trump, which led to a trade deal between Brussels and Washington that many criticized as disadvantageous for the EU.” (rt.com)

“This was the year ‘the West’ died. 2026 may be even worse. An emboldened Russia, buoyed by the red carpet rolled out for Putin by Trump at the disastrous Alaska summit, now baits Europe openly. Meanwhile the White House, sensing weakness, has repeatedly humiliated its former European allies while signalling an unmistakable appetite for rapprochement with Moscow.

With American reliability no longer a given, the world generations of Europeans have taken for granted has ended. In that sense, 2025 may come to be remembered as the year ‘the West’ ceased to function as a meaningful political concept.” (telegraph.co.uk)

“The Old World Order has ended. We’re on our own. Next year will hasten America’s retreat from Europe, which will increasingly be left to its own devices, as President Trump focuses his attention and American power on the Western Hemisphere – where he has imperial ambitions. It isn’t just that the European leg of Nato can no longer count on US military when the chips are down – THE FACT IS THAT TRUMP’S AMERICA IS NO LONGER EVEN ON OUR SIDE, a harsh reality that will become apparent as next year unfolds.” (dailymail.co.uk)

“AI might lead to an enhancement of human intelligence that leads us to a more enlightened world or it might lead to millions of individuals being radicalised by bots into committing acts of hatred and terror. It could help protect freedom or it might be the perfect tool of dictators. It could be used to assist diplomacy or it could take decisions about peace and war out of human control.

No wonder one of the great authorities on AI, Professor Erik Brynjolfsson of Stanford University, said last year ‘This could be the best decade in history — or the worst’. Wherever you look, you can see people struggling with this extreme uncertainty.

The 2020s have provided ample evidence already — wars, pandemic disease, political upheaval and new forms of intelligence — that we have turned the page of a new chapter. We need to prepare for the best years, or the worst, at the same time. The beginning of 2026 will be a good time for all of us to ask ourselves whether we are doing that.” (thetimes.com)

“A US Republican representative has put forward a motion for his county to leave NATO, in a move likely to cause even more panic among America’s allies. European leaders were stunned after the White House published its new National Security Strategy that flouted traditional Transatlantic relations assumptions. The 33-page document roundly criticised Europe, accusing its leaders of undermining ‘political liberty and sovereignty’, as well as claiming the continent faces ‘civilisational erasure’.

The paper also emphasised a shift to an ‘America First’ approach, focusing on the Western Hemisphere and economic security over global commitments. Thomas Massie – the Republican representative for Kentucky – argued that NATO was no longer relevant to today’s security needs.

‘NATO is a Cold War relic,’ he said. ‘We should withdraw from NATO and USE THAT MONEY TO DEFEND OUR OWN COUNTRY, NOT SOCIALIST COUNTRIES. NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over thirty years ago.” (express.co.uk)

“The US is teaching its European allies a harsh lesson in who’s really in charge. The EU’s humiliation today may forge better relations with Russia tomorrow. The humiliation Washington is inflicting on Western Europe today will shape an entire generation of politicians who will eventually have to rediscover how to deal with Russia. Recent American documents, public statements, and diplomatic maneuvers point to an obvious fact that Russia should carefully note.

The US is not the EU’s friend. It is not even a reliable ally. Its behavior is grounded in a deep cultural arrogance and an instinctive greed, and these are constants that will not change regardless of who sits in the White House. Against this backdrop, Russia should not rule out the possibility that relations with our European neighbors could eventually be rebuilt.” (rt.com)

“Pope Leo XIV has insisted that Europe must play a central role in any Ukraine peace agreement, whilst launching a sharp rebuke at the Trump administration for what he described as attempts to ‘break apart’ the historic transatlantic alliance (NATO).

‘Seeking a peace agreement without including Europe in the talks is unrealistic, given the war is in Europe,’ he stated. ‘Guarantees are also being sought for security today and in the future. Europe must be part of this, and unfortunately - not everyone understands this. But I think there is a great opportunity for European leaders to unite and seek a solution together.’” (express.co.uk)

“The United States wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s defense capabilities by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week. The shifting of this burden from the US to European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation would dramatically change how the United States, a founding member of the post-war alliance, works with its most important military partners. In the meeting, Pentagon officials indicated that Washington was not yet satisfied with the strides Europe has made to boost its defense capabilities since Russia began its war on Ukraine in 2022.” (dailymail.co.uk)

“With Putin’s murderous intent in Europe clearly exposed in Ukraine and his deadly combination of KGB ideology and imperialist expansion ever more apparent, the wake-up call is finally being heard in Western capitals. Against a background of increasing cooperation between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, the threat to the free world and its values – the rule of law, democracy and human rights – has never been greater in living memory.

Yet a much more subtle and sadly self-induced crisis corrodes our ability to confront our enemies. Debt levels in the West, driven up by consumption and welfare that we cannot afford, means that our ability to raise defence and security spending to meet the level of the threat is seriously, if not yet fatally, compromised.

Last year the UK spent £105 billion on debt interest compared to just £65 billion on defending our country. We are not alone. In 2024 the United States spent around $882 billion on interest payments, overtaking the world’s largest defence budget of $874 billion.” (telegraph.co.uk)

“We consume far more than we produce, and we go into colossal amounts of debt in order to make that possible. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that this makes us an economic superpower. Meanwhile, the Chinese produce far more than they consume, and as a result they have far more money coming in than they do going out.

Despite everything that has happened this year, China has run a trade surplus of more than a trillion dollars for the first time ever in 2025… This is what economic dominance looks like. If you want to have a great economy, you have got to be great at making stuff. And China is better at making stuff than anyone else.

This enables China to lend out vast amounts of cash. In fact, at this point the rest of the world owes China about 5 trillion dollars. It is often said that the borrower is the servant of the lender, and that is certainly true in this case.” (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)

“What is ‘breaking’ is the extremely leveraged futures markets with not enough physical silver to deliver. Fast forward to the end of the month, and new record highs in gold and silver are happening every day. Mr Gold says, ‘They are gobbling up all the supply available because they understand this is the end of the fiat currency experiment that started August 15 of 1971.’

‘The Hunt brothers got into trouble because they were BUYING PAPER CONTRACTS, and COMEX changed the rules. COMEX can change any rules they want… it won’t matter because the rest of the world is buying cash and carry… they will not accept paper contracts. THEY WANT REAL PHYSICAL METAL.’

Here is where it gets both interesting and dangerous. What happens if the short sellers cannot deliver the silver promised? Mr Gold says, ‘People say if they can’t deliver, and I am going to tell you at some point they will not be able to deliver, when that moment happens, IT’S GAME OVER FOR THE ENTIRE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.’

‘These contracts are a zero-sum game. There is a winner and a loser. If the loser loses so big that they go belly up, then the winner becomes a loser because they can’t get paid. That is the problem… When this actually hits and there is a failure to deliver, gold and silver will be wiped off the shelves, and there will be none to be bought.’

‘What you are witnessing is THE END OF TRUST. When you have the end of trust, the confidence breaks and credit is forthcoming only when there is trust.’

‘Once confidence breaks, the credit markets will begin to seize up.’

‘When credit stops, it’s game over.’” (usawatchdog.com)

“Silver and copper setting the stage for panic on Wall Street. 2025 has been a smashing year for those that invested in precious metals. The price of copper is up about 30 percent since the start of the year, and the price of silver has risen 128 percent during that same time period.

The big financial institutions in the western world that have been attempting to suppress prices are fighting a losing battle, because the ‘AI revolution’ is going to require vast amounts of physical silver and physical copper. At this stage, it would take a truly apocalyptic event to stop the construction of the thousands of colossal data centers that are currently going up all over the globe.

At the same time, there has been a worldwide explosion in demand for physical silver from individual investors as paper currencies rapidly lose their purchasing power. And as long as the data center construction boom continues, the price of silver and the price of copper will both continue to rise.” (themostimportantnews.com)

“This is the first time in world history that all of the major powers are facing a nightmarish debt crisis simultaneously. For the year, the US dollar index is down about 10 percent… Please keep in mind that the other currencies that the US dollar is being measured against are rapidly losing value as well. It is just that the US dollar is losing value even faster. The US dollar is certainly not dead yet, but the fact that it is in the process of dying should deeply alarm us. Many are anticipating a great deal of financial chaos in 2026, and at this stage it is hard to argue that they are wrong.” (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)

“The global financial landscape is on the brink of a potentially catastrophic crisis, triggered by a simmering geopolitical tension between the United States and the European Union. Rumors have been circulating that the EU might divest its $2.3 trillion holdings in US Treasury bonds, sending shockwaves through the US economy and global markets. This threat, compounded by Japan’s ongoing unwinding of its yen carry trade, has raised concerns about a severe destabilization of the global financial system.” (dinarchronicles.com)