Those bothered by the New World Order According to Trump may have specific triggers. Mine is the way Trump has managed to make the moral cesspool of our support of Israel’s genocide even more mephitic and wantonly cruel. The Biden Administration had enough self-awareness to feign discomfort even as it backed Israel’s monstrous conduct. The Trump Team might be mindful of overextension with Iran and the Houthis. But the Trump Administration has largely shared Israel’s lack of inhibitions, indeed, apparent glee in the crude application of force to make the utterly wretched lives of Gazans (or more accurately, what is left of them) even more horror-filled. I wish I could to resign from the human race.
And of course, that’s not enough, not remotely enough. Yet brave sacrifices by those more noble than I am, from doctors and medics and ambulance drivers and journalists who have gone to Gaza and been tortured, killed, or survived with have life-changing injuries, to protestors beaten up, arrested, and threatened with an end of their pursuit of a degree, to Aaron Bushnell, have not seemed to slow the acceleration of the genocide juggernaut.
As most of you know, Israel has greatly upped the intensity of its starvation campaign and is having wonderful success, as the proliferation of worse-than-Biafra starving children images attests.
So in the small-bore Team Trump variant of “Never let a crisis go to waste,” which is, “Always use pushback to justify more bullying,” the Administration is using the well-warranted uproar over the starvation campaign to kick the UN bigly while stomping on Palestinians.
Oh, yessiree bob, the US has a plan to feed the Gazans. But it must be a US run plan, with shadowy new armed Israeli contractors distributing the aid. And if the UN does not capitulate, the US will cut the UN budget, not just for UNRWA, but also for the much bigger, both in funding and populations served, World Food Programme.
Now perhaps you can squint and see something positive here. The spectacle of starving children has gotten so ugly that even the Trump Administration has to pretend it’s going to Do Something to feed them. And this is another drop in the drip-drip-drip of undermining Netanyahu, since the US action demonstrates that his government was part of a problem but is not part of this solution.
We’ll turn later to an issue this gimmick raises. Where is the Global South, as in BRICS? South Africa bravely lodged its case with the ICJ and created a well-warranted furor. But now Trump is threatening to cut the funding of a major UN initiative that feeds populations well beyond those in Gaza. Perhaps there are some counter-measures being planned, but this strikes me an another case of the so-called Global South having serious and not-sufficiently acknowledged issues in moving beyond immediate BRICS goals of collaborating to create bi-lateral payments systems.
Highlights from the Financial Times’ Trump team gives ultimatum to UN over Gaza aid plan. First to what the plan amounts to. It actually is an Israeli scheme, just not one with the Israel government having a formal role:
Israel halted the entry of all food, water, and other essentials to Gaza in early March, after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government ended a two-month ceasefire in the shattered Palestinian enclave…
The Israeli government imposed the siege in a bid to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds in Gaza, alleging that the group was siphoning aid for its own fighters and to sell on the black market.
Israeli officials, in co-ordination with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a little-known entity incorporated in Switzerland in February, have devised a new plan to funnel aid into the enclave with the assistance of US private military contractors that they claim will circumvent Hamas.
The UN on Sunday rejected the scheme as not fulfilling the “core fundamental humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independent delivery of aid”….
In a GHF proposal seen by the Financial Times, the group says their scheme will provide assistance through the initial establishment of four “Secure Distribution Sites”. These would be set up in southern Gaza and secured by armed private contractors.
According to the proposal and several people briefed on the plan, Palestinians will be invited to the distribution sites, most likely on a weekly basis, to pick-up “pre-packaged rations, hygiene kits, and medical supplies”.
GHF has budgeted $1.30 per meal, including the cost of logistics, which it claims will be enough to provide every “at-risk civilian” with a 1,750 calorie meal.
There is plenty of reason to be suspicious, starting with Israel having before gunned down Gazans trying to pick up food at a distribution site in what is now called the Flour Massacre.
And some takes from Twitter:
The US plan for aid to Gaza.
Private security companies and a very dodgy outfit set up by one of Trump's old mates, who he previously installed as head of the World Food Programme:https://t.co/wl4nB67YdT— Jeff Crisp (@JFCrisp) May 11, 2025
REPORTER: Gaza needs 6.6 million meals a day; the US provided 11,500. It's a gap.
PENTAGON: I'm certain that every single bit of aid helps. pic.twitter.com/tKwu31dkQk
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 10, 2024
This plan will fail as even people in the document of the roll out have said are no part of it. Already we have a plan to feed Palestinians.Done by Palestinians. Next to @WCKitchen @UN @WFP @AneraOrg and others.We need food! https://t.co/REhtswF9cA
— Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳 (@chefjoseandres) May 10, 2025
A Hamas official suggests this eyewash is to burnish Trump’s image right before his Middle East visit:
🚨Hams opposes the US plan to distribute food in Gaza. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim: We warn local officials not to become a tool in the hands of the "occupation" to implement its plans. Israel must provide food to the Strip as an "occupying" state. The "occupation's"… pic.twitter.com/fYMYX9Ee8a
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) May 9, 2025
Next, and here the pink paper give commendable coverage, is how the Trump Administration is bullying the UN to fall into line:
Donald Trump’s aides have threatened the UN and other international humanitarian groups with funding cuts and other sanctions if they do not back a new US-led aid plan for war-torn Gaza, according to people familiar with the matter…
The most significant threats were directed towards the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, the largest aid providers in Gaza, according to three people familiar with Witkoff’s conversations.
The WFP was told that the US, its largest donor, would sever funding that currently makes up some 40 per cent of its budget, a step that would endanger programmes in trouble spots such as Sudan and Bangladesh.
According to one person familiar with WFP deliberations, the agency’s director Cindy McCain has stood “firm”. “It was a hard no [from her],” the person said. A WFP spokesperson did not return emails seeking comment…
UNOPS, the key logistics agency inside the global body, also faced US threats of a funding freeze.
Based on a fast look, the World Food Programme looks to be another one of those odd public-private initiatives. It says all of its money comes from voluntary donations. It won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 and But it is substantial, having raised $8.3 billion and assisting 152 million people in 2023. But its current funding level is well short of its needs, projected at over $16 billion for 2025. There is a lot of hunger out there!
UN officials seem divided on what to do. Again from the pink paper:
“Either way Israel and the US wins,” said the senior UN official. “Either the UN caves and plays along, compromising its humanitarian principles and neutrality, or the UN leaves and Israel gets to do this anyway with other partners.”
A second senior UN official, who does not support the new Gaza aid scheme, still criticised the global body for not engaging with Israel. “We prefer to remain religiously pious and not attend any talks on Gaza,” they said. “There’s an order from the top . . . they would rather die as heroes and show that we don’t blink under pressure.”
Now to my BRICS speech. Where is the Global South on this? Many countries look set to become collateral damage if the UN holds fast and the US does indeed seriously lower World Food Programme donations.
I will admit that my initial reaction shows that I have fallen for BRICS boosterism, as in many who are keen to see it succeed are projecting ambitions upon it that go well beyond any commitments so far.
In fact, the Kazan Declaration reaffirmed the central role of the UN, BRICS does not intend to supplant it but (somehow over time) to play a greater role in governance, as in a slow-motion (presumed not hostile) takeover:
5. We welcome the considerable interest by countries of the Global South in BRICS and we endorse the Modalities of BRICS Partner Country Category…We commit to further promoting BRICS institutional development.
6. We note the emergence of new centres of power, policy decision-making and economic growth, which can pave the way for a more equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order…we reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and upholding the international law, including the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN) as its indispensable cornerstone, and the central role of the UN in the international system
If you search the Kazan Declaration on “food,” there are 7 hits. Many are to support the development of improved practices, such as:
114. We welcome the enlargement of the BRICS Network University as well as expansion of its research areas including mathematics, natural sciences, social and humanitarian sciences, sustainable agriculture and food security, health sciences. We agree to explore opportunities of cooperation between the BRICS member states to promote the development of the framework for mutual recognition of qualifications. We support continued dialogue on quality evaluation systems for BRICS universities,in line with their national education systems
There are also references to “unilateral coercive measures, including illegal sanctions” which means the Western sanctions on Russia, which among other things, interfered with Russian sales and supply of fertilizer, particularly to countries in Africa. There are also apple pie and motherhood statements about supporting smallholder farmers.
None are about emergency hunger relief. There are only two mentions of hunger, again backing initiatives in a general way.
So why are no BRICS members proposing to step in and make the US look bad? This could be a great way to undercut US power at key UN institutions.
Sadly, BRICS cannot do so as BRICS. BRICS has no budget. It is perhaps best thought of as an economic forum, even though many commentators (and I have too often made that mistake) tend to think of it as an organization.
But this is a long winded way of saying that if BRICS members, or the Global South, or whatever group of non Collective West states intend to have more influence over the behavior of major international organizations, they need to step up their funding in return for greater vote share. Or as the World Food Programme case indicates, hollow out US/EU influence by moving towards dominating the funding, and thus the operation, of initiatives that are particularly important to Global South members.
Yes, this sort of takeover will be a slow process. But I don’t yet see much thought, let alone effort, being devoted to haw to make that happen. I’d be delighted to be prove wrong. Any readers who can do so, please pipe up in comments.
>> BRICS has no budget. It is perhaps best thought of as an economic forum
>> if BRICS members, or the Global South, or whatever group of non Collective West states intend to have more influence over the behavior of major international organizations, they need to step up their funding in return for greater vote share.
I’m reminded of this quote:
Arun Shourie: Instead of asking such a supposedly terrible government to do something, why don’t you say what you will do?
Applied at an institutional/national level, why would you invest in international organizations that are too susceptible to hegemonic dominance? Rather invest in a relationship with fewer middlemen and their agendas. China in Africa may be the bell cow.
When using Price’s Equation to investigate co-operation and altruism, an altruistic act is considered to benefit a random member of the group. I can find no political cases of such an act. In fact, it would be difficult to do so – if I give to a ‘random’ homeless person, I am responding to an emotional state in a non-independent environment. If I try to give through an unbiased intermediary, again, show me one.
Underneath it all, climate collapse has altered the incentive structure. No going back.
I think the ball lies in China’s court which needs to unload US paper and demonstrate that, when all else fails, it is prepared to use its fleet, aircraft and troops to intervene in crises of this nature as the country of last resort in conjunction with its other partners in the region, both as supplier of food and peace services and as an impartial mediator to assist in solving this and related problems. The world can no longer rely on the US, a failed state teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, to provide its services to UN organisations and other international organisations as it so freely did in less parlous times.
How come the ball is always is someone else’s court? Maybe it’s not a ball, but a hot potato.
Even better. Once the potato cools a little, a couple of starving kids will be able to eat it and be very grateful for your kindly thought.
Yes, a distinct international congress should handle humanitarian aid programs to humiliate the corrupt UNSC members. All developed nations should contribute per GDP and agree on distribution.
A United Cultures congress would:
1. Dispense with the political structures and squabbles of the tyrants of money, militarism, and religion;
2. Provide intercultural education and assistance irrespective of national boundaries;
3. Handle humanitarian assistance and medical care;
4. Show the irrelevance of our corrupt political structures to human needs and policymaking.
Laudable goals, however, what is the power that is capable of stepping forward with leadership and funding?
Antonio Gramsci’s quote comes to mind:
This should be a grass roots civil movement leading to
1. A model structure and acceptance first by a small group;
2. Support from several governments responsive to humanitarian concerns;
3. Gradual growth and media acceptance;
4. Acceptance by larger nations, then a few superpowers redirecting UN program funding;
5. Final phase of international treaties and mandatory acceptance by UN powers.
Designed to fail. Gaza is a real estate deal with the inconvenience of a couple million “squatters”. They need to go, so they are being dealt with.
Appalling? Yes.
Makes an uncomfortable signal to how people without agency will be handled moving forward in these early days of climate collapse.
When a crime is planned, the irresistible tasty morsels must be prepared to distract the guard dogs. But when the potential guard dogs R us, it is not just distractions but the vivid war pornography that works the needed magic. The lies about sex crimes – that have been exposed by Jewish journalists as lies – live on in the fevered imaginations of millions. Part of the problem is that capable people like us don’t find the time to keep up with the investigative journalists like Max Blumenthal of Thegrayzone or the Katy Halper and Aaron Mate’ whose satirical wit skewers the compliant mainstream media in their “Useful Idiots” programs (“We watch the Sunday talk shows so you don’t have to”). The hero of the music festival who claims to have saved scores if not hundreds of lives has been exposed as a malicious fraud by journalists in Israel, then the documentary was blocked by the network owner. He has been escorted to venues across the US to speak to college students and others, to make sure no one forgets the vivid accusations of sex crimes. As the quote attributed to Mark Twain observes, it is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled. But what good is all our education and care if we fall short on the need to do something every day, no matter how small. Good luck, y’all. This is an unfortunately consequential test.
FEMA camps for us “useless eaters”? We should be so lucky. /s Just look at the way homeless encampments are handled here in the good ol’ USA – people’s belongings and habitats are bulldozed into a pile and bucket-loaded into containers just like construction debris (sadly quite the opposite) Why? “It’s bad for the real estate value…”.
Totalitarian regimes need to be TOTALLY excised from a People’s government. Methinks it’s time for the UN to relocate – the waters around NYC are rising y’know…..
Yeah, at least Genocide Joe and a few of the Ds displayed some cheap posturing and phony hand-wringing while they shipped more weaponry to Israel. But the likes of Sanders and AOC, still keep sheepdogging for the Ds in a disgusting, yet predictable display of vulgar hypocrisy.
(And the Adelsons have to get their 100 million worth out of the Puppet Emperor., what great ROI eh)
And let’s not forget the total support of the EU and UK. The state of Israel would simply not exist if it were not for the British. The Brits had no right to give away land that didn’t belong to them in the first place.
The indigenous population must be removed or exterminated in order to make more lebensraum for European settlers. Palestinians, no matter if Muslim or Christian, are not human beings, they are considered “terrorists”, less than animals, and compared to roaches. The historical irony is almost unbelievable, but most turn away and live in denial, very convenient. History sure does rhyme.
Just stick head in sand and be distracted by the mass media spectacle: hey the “market” is skyrocketing, hooray for me and my riches.
In future, the US will not be treated as a shining beacon of freedom and democracy, but a ruthless empire that committed atrocities equal to other historical regimes. Anyone from US/UK or EU that criticizes other countries engage in rank hypocrisy. It sure looks like mendacity, hypocrisy, narcissism, and genocide are considered virtues in mainstream culture.
I don’t think this is a real word but I made up one to describe the oligarchy/neo-aristocracy that runs the place: “necrophagist parasites”. Even that might be euphemistic.
The trouble with Trump s that if you buckle down to him, he will come back for more to get any concession out of you until there is nothing left. But if he cuts money to the World Food Program, there is the possibility that countries like Russia or China might step in and help fill the gap. It would be of huge propaganda value to see bags of grain and food delivered to poorer nations with the Chinese or Russian flags stamped on them. And no side-order of regime change either.
BRICS has no budget, but the so-called Christian evangelicals and some US Jewish groups “donate” funds to support the genocide. “God” always needs lots of money…
Of course, Jesus said to genocide the Samaritans, the only good Samaritan is a….
Jesus didn’t like women and children either, apparently. Blessed are the Mass Murderers… Blessed are the warmongers, blessed are the money-changers. They must have re-written their bible. And I don’t think they have to pay taxes, so folks can write off donations for genocide. Isn’t that special
I agree it is too optimistic to believe the Global South or BRICS can really do much about the genocide when we have such reckless and ruthless characters in charge. Anyone who challenges Israel/US/UK policy, will be severely punished. The slowly-but-surely declining, desperate empire has shown its willingness to bring the world to the brink of total annihilation. The US/UK/Israel “Samson Option” always looms in the background
No, the Christian Evangelicals haven’t re-written their Bible. The early church simply lacked the wisdom to dump the canonical Old Testament and this error has had a lasting and totally malign effect on way the Good News brought by Christ has been interpreted by the vast majority of nominal Christians and it became nothing more than the continuation of the old Bad News and the primary justification of the need to burn men’s living bodies to save their souls. Bad News travels faster and better than the Good News. C’est la vie.
Sorry, that makes no sense to me. The bottom line is that they are just another bunch of rank hypocrites and charlatans trying fleece their flock instead of being “good shepherds”. The churches don’t pay tax, it’s a racket.
And twisting their religious mumbo jumbo to “justify” mass murdering children?. So much for family values and pro-life. They clearly don’t give a toss about human life, or have any moral compass whatsoever.
Amen!
When looking at the background of some of the economic advisors in some BRICS countries, connections appear that seem to keep the USA right in the mix or not too divorced from Western economic orthodoxy.
Here’s the example of Kirill Dmitriev (in the news lately because of his involvement with the US-Russia negotiations), who assumed the office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation on 23 February 2025 in Russia.
This is what a quick Wiki look up reveals:
“Kirill Dmitriev was born in 1975 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. In 1989, Dmitriev came to a host family in New Hampshire, as one of the first Soviet exchange students from Ukraine. The same year, he was sent to live with friends of his parents in California, where the host family and Dmitriev convinced administrators at Foothill College to enroll him.[11] Although Dmitriev had no prior English-language schooling and only just graduated from the Soviet equivalent of middle school, he was highly successful at the community college. Upon receiving his associate’s degree, he transferred to Stanford University, from which he holds a BA in economics with honors and distinction.[12] He continued his education at Harvard Business School, where he completed the MBA program as a Baker scholar.[1]
Career
Dmitriev worked[when?] as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York and a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles, Moscow, and Prague,[13]
In 2000, he returned to Russia. He was an associate at private equity fund Delta Private Equity Partners from 2002 to 2007, while also working for The U.S. Russia Investment Fund.[14]
In 2004, Dmitriev worked on the sale of DeltaBank to General Electric,[15] and in 2005 DeltaCredit Bank to Société Générale,[16]
Dmitriev was the president of Icon Private Equity from 2007 to 2010.[17]
Dmitriev sold CTC Media shares to Fidelity Investments, National Cable Networks to Basic Element, CompuLink to three investment funds, TV3 to Prof-Media, and NTC to Bank Rossiya.[citation needed]
Dmitriev was Chairman of the Russian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association from 2005 to 2006.[18]
In 2010, the World Economic Forum selected Dmitriev to be a Young Global Leader, and he was elected as a Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).[19][20]
In 2011 he was the only Russian national to be named one of 100 most influential private equity professionals of the decade by Private Equity International magazine.[17] “
Regarding BRICS not stepping in to replace the UN world food program: we are in that period of transition where old solutions are breaking down and new ones are being formed, and perhaps that is at play here. But the new solution is not specifically in BRICS, but in Africa itself. I spent the weekend studying Ibrahim Traoré, the association of Sahel States, and Morocco, among other African subjects. There looks to be a lot developing there: Morocco is a major major source of phosphorus (used for fertilizer) and there’s a lot of energy development going on in the Sahel, including solar, small solar, and possibly nuclear. So, I’m going to keep studying this because I find it absolutely fascinating and also spirit lifting, and I’ll try to come back and share what I find.
Out of BRICS, only China could possibly do something and as a nation they did increase their funding to UN.
What I don’t see is the Global South at least clearing its throat concerning the issue. Norway could speak lowder and open the checkbooks.
Nevermind the sheikdoms. One feels that the luxury airjet Trump is getting from the Emiratis is a thank you note for taking care of the pest infested Gaza. All the royals in the desert will one day hang from very high up.
The main issue that is happening to all of us is that Israel is bringing an age of unspeakable barbarity, beyond Bronz Age, onto the world and this is unpardonable. There should be a cordon sanitaire around that land, as it is afflicted of high level toxins.
China is China first. And that’s understandable with having to administer to a population of that size.
But China’s concept of China first implies a stable multipolar world with all nations subscribing fully with all the requirements demanded by UN membership in which trade can take place on the terms agreed by the contracting parties fully cognisant of their international obligations without uninvited intervention by a third party. This is a concept largely unfamiliar to the collective west but, in time, as their tools cease to have anything other than a rebound effect, I’m sure they will come to understand it. If not, they can eat their own steel porkie pies in the relative isolation of the children’s table.
“implies”
Yes. Chinese diplomacy is the very essence of politeness and moderation.
They also don’t want any entangling alliances that get in the way of taking care of first and foremost China. They handle their business and do deserve respect.
There is no way that the BRICS would do anything for Palestine. At a time when India is at war with Pakistan, it’s inconceivable that New Delhi would support anything that might incur the displeasure of its long-time friend and arms supplier, Israel.
Where is the Global South, as in BRICS, you ask.
Where is the West, as in the people of Western countries, I ask.
Rhetoric is cheap. As the saying went when prices were much lower, that plus 25 cents would buy you a subway ride. I don’t see you saying you are writing a check to the UN World Food Programme. It does accept donations to individuals.
In other words, you are a hypocrite, not living up to your posturing.
The BRICS countries and the Global South are the ones who lose from the threatened cuts in the UN World Food Programme. They are the ones who have an interest in replacing the support the US is threatening to pull.
It is also BRICS and the Global South who say they want a greater role in UN and international institution governance. That is not a realistic aim unless they are prepared to take up more of the funding of these organization.
People of Western countries are way too busy with virtue signalling, and throwing the ball into someone else’s court. There are so many hours in a day, and one must have priorities in order to get anything done and save the humanity, aka mantain the status quo. /s
It’s becoming even more evident that we are not pursuing dreams but privileges or the pivilege of not being the one currently fucked. What a time to be alive, where a construct (Capitalism) is the condition of possibility of our dreams, goals and desires.