UK - After his brilliant, unconventional tactics had helped to secure victory for the Allies in the Middle East at the end of the First World War, Lawrence of Arabia was summoned by an Australian general. Colonel T E Lawrence, just 30 years old and a visionary soldier, expected to be congratulated for his efforts. Instead, the general unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade, warning him that if he didn’t ensure that electricity and running water were immediately restored in Damascus – now part of Syria – the city would collapse back into war and chaos. A century on, the West needs to learn that very lesson.

RUSSIA - The Russian Air Force has begun to carry out joint aerial patrols with Syrian planes at the Syrian-Israeli border along the Golan Heights, a Russian representative in Syria announced last week. “To monitor the situation, army aviation units of the Russian Aerospace Forces have organized aerial patrols along the disengagement line separating the armed forces of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic (the Bravo Line),” said Rear-Admiral Vadim Kulit last Thursday. Kulit is the deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, a Russian-Turkish organization with the stated aim of speeding up peace negotiations between the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad and opposition groups. Ever since Russia has increased its presence in Syria, Israel and Russia have been in close coordination to enable Israel to continue its alleged airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure and weapons deliveries in Syria.

CHINA - For Beijing, it’s not so much about replacing the greenback within the current system but creating an entirely separate alternative. Barely a day goes by without a headline about the Chinese yuan gaining further traction in global trade. As de-dollarization gains steam, the currency of the world’s second largest economy has been thrust into the spotlight. The dollar paradigm assumes any serious currency must be supported by a framework of full financial liberalization and open and deep capital markets. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that China seeks not to carve out for the yuan a bit more room in the current Western-led system – or even dethrone the dollar and install the yuan in its place – but to create ‘from the ground-up’ the financial infrastructure that insures national sovereignty and protection from the vulnerabilities of the increasingly mismanaged dollar-based system. And it hardly needs mentioning that China is far from alone on this path.

RUSSIA - 95% of trade between the countries is now settled in their national currencies, according to Andrey Belousov. Western currencies have been almost completely phased out in Russia-China trade, as nearly all payments between the countries are now carried out in rubles and yuan, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov announced on Monday. Since the introduction of Western sanctions on Moscow, Russia and China have accelerated the use of their own currencies in trade. According to Belousov, 95% of all transactions between Russia and China are now carried out in one of the countries' national currencies, and given the rapid expansion of mutual trade and cooperation, this percentage is likely to grow.

USA - The US faces a global movement to join the Russia-China-controlled BRICS trade group away from G10-controlled SWIFT, to remove the dollar as the world’s currency. While most predictions claim it will be a slow process, not everyone agrees. Among the greater BRICS de-dollarization plans, one expert has predicted big challenges for the US Dollar in 2024. Indeed, the expansion of the economic alliance has certainly created an obstacle for the greenback. Subsequently, many expect the trouble to begin as soon as this year. The US will be a lot poorer and far less powerful if this continues and it has momentum. So, will China and Russia rule the world? Is it either these brutal dictators or Wokes? Is that our choice?

RUSSIA - The US currency is being used to undermine the competitive rights of other countries, Russia’s foreign minister says. The US dollar is being used as an instrument for regime change and interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and “everyone” is “tired” of the greenback, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated on Thursday. The global trend towards using national currencies in trade instead of the US dollar began to gain momentum last year after Ukraine-related sanctions saw Russia cut off from the Western financial system and also saw its foreign reserves frozen.

USA - A fifth of global supplies were sold and purchased using other currencies, according to analysts’ estimates. Global consumers and exporters of crude are now managing without dollar-denominated trade deals, the Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing the head of global commodities strategy at JPMorgan Chase, Natasha Kaneva. The report comes a day after Iran and Russia, two of the world’s leading oil exporters, said they have finalized an agreement to trade in their national currencies instead of the US dollar. Moreover, the sanction-hit states have found buyers for their commodities in China and India, selling them at a generous discount.

CHNA - The Chinese currency has topped the Japanese yen in international transactions, according to data. The Chinese yuan has risen to become the fourth most active currency for global payments by value in November 2023, the latest transaction data compiled by global financial messaging service SWIFT has shown. According to the report issued this week, the renminbi (yuan) was used in 4.61% of transactions, climbing from 3.60% in October and overtaking the Japanese yen’s share, which slipped to 3.41% from 3.91%. The growing share of the yuan in cross-border transactions reflects China’s trend of shifting away from the dollar, as well as Beijing’s efforts to promote the use of its national currency, the report said.

CHINA - Western restrictions imposed on Moscow have boosted the Chinese currency, Oleg Deripaska claims. The share of Chinese yuan in global payments has nearly doubled because of the sanctions policies pursued by the US and the EU, Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska said on Wednesday. The aluminum magnate referred to a report in the Financial Times, which cited figures showing that global settlements carried out in the Chinese currency had gone from 1.9% in January 2023 to 3.6% in October. “The number of worldwide transactions made in Chinese yuan has doubled over the past year, highlighting the extreme success of European and American sanctions policies,” Deripaska said IN A SARCASTIC REMARK on his Telegram channel.

RUSSIA - Sanctioned businessman Oleg Deripaska says exorbitant government spending will lead to a financial crash. One of Russia's richest men has warned that the American economy is currently in a very challenging situation, due to global overreach. Tycoon Oleg Deripaska made the comments using his Telegram channel on Friday. He believes the underlying economy cannot take the weight of the country’s enormous government debt and exorbitant spending. “Reckless militarization, sanctions against everyone, and military adventures around the world have already cost this country almost $33 trillion,” said the billionaire, who was sanctioned by the US last year.

USA - The US economy is facing disaster following another interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury’s rejection of full deposit insurance, billionaire investor Bill Ackman has warned. “When combined with the higher cost of debt and deposits due to rising rates, consider what the impact will be on lending rates and our economy,” Ackman wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “The longer this banking crisis is allowed to continue, the greater the damage to smaller banks and their ability to access low-cost capital,” he added. “Trust and confidence are earned over many years, but can be wiped out in a few days. I fear we are heading for another train wreck."

IRAN - Iranian allies in Iraq and Syria have launched about 140 rocket and drone attacks against American troops since the start of the Gaza war. Perhaps the most severe came on January 20th, with a volley of “multiple ballistic missiles and rockets” fired at the Al Asad base in western Iraq, according to America’s Central Command. Reports say Patriot air-defence batteries intercepted most of them, but some hit the base, concussing or otherwise wounding an unknown number of Americans and Iraqis. Hitherto America has retaliated against local proxies. Mr Biden will now face growing pressure to take stronger action against Iran itself. It is a dilemma: do nothing and America looks weak; retaliate and the president risks a new war in an election year.

MIDDLE EAST - Hundreds of cargo ships are being rerouted around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the dangers of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, according to experts. Yemen’s Houthi rebel group have since November been targeting vessels passing through the Strait of Bab al-Mandab, a 20-mile wide channel that separates north-east Africa from Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. They have used an array of weapons, including hijackers, missiles, and drones – in response to Israel’s war on Hamas. Steering clear of the Red Sea and taking a detour around the Cape of Good Hope, adds around 3,500 nautical miles and 10-12 days of sailing time to each trip. The additional miles require extra fuel, the possibility of finding alternative ports of call, and adjustments to delivery timetables. This choice comes with rising costs which shipping companies have absorbed to avoid the risks of hijacking and missile attacks.

SAUDI ARABIA - IDF attacks on Gaza's civilians are unnecessary and unacceptable, the Saudi foreign minister said. A normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel will only be possible if the issue of Palestinian statehood is resolved, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said. The two regional powerhouses have never established diplomatic ties, with Riyadh refusing to recognize the Jewish state as a country. Last year, Saudi and Israeli officials held talks on a potential normalization of bilateral relations under US mediation. However, the incursion into Israel by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 and the subsequent IDF operation in Gaza reportedly put the process on hold.

GERMANY - Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD, says she would push for referendum on EU membership if her party came to power. Britain was “dead right” to leave the European Union and Germany should hold its own “Dexit” vote, the leader of the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has said. Alice Weidel, of the poll-topping AfD, said she would push for a referendum on EU membership if her party came to power. Ms Weidel said the vote would be held if an AfD government could not secure reforms to curb overreach by the “unelected” European Commission. “If a reform isn’t possible, if we fail to rebuild the sovereignty of the EU member states, we should let the people decide, just as Britain did,” she told the Financial Times.