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As you may recall, in my article entitled "Communism: Is the Dead Beast Really Dead?", I discuss the pending election of a new Russian Prime Minister, in light of the fact that the government of Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko was abruptly dismissed by President Boris Yeltsin; a move which shocked the world of political analysts. As you may know, Kiriyenko temporarily replaced Victor Chernomyrdin, who had been the Prime Minister before that time. However, after two failed attempts to get Victor Chernomyrdin re-elected as the Prime Minister again in September of 1998 following Kiriyenko's dismissal -- extreme opposition from Gannady Zyuganov and the Communist-controlled Duma made it impossible to re-elect Mr. Chernomyrdin -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin decided to nominate sixty-eight year old former Soviet spy chief Yevgeny Primakov, who has served as Russia's foreign minister since early 1996. Being as he is well-liked by both hard-liners and moderates in Russia, and viewed as a compromise choice, Mr. Primakov was quickly accepted by the Duma.

From everything I have read regarding this man thus far, I am given the impression that in some ways, Yevgeny Primakov is very much like General Alexander Lebed, the recently elected Governor of the Siberian industrial region known as Krasnoyarsk Krai, to whom I dedicated the article "Alexander Lebed and the Year 2000 Russian Presidential Race". Similar to Lebed, Primakov is extremely patriotic. He is also very much opposed to NATO expansion into Eastern Europe. As you may know, over a year ago, NATO, under strong influence from the United States Of America, invited three Central European nations to join the treaty organization. Such a move would of course isolate Russia even further from the world. I will discuss this issue in more detail in just a moment.

In addition, like Lebed, Primakov -- who has been described as being "poker-faced" due to his ability to keep a very straight face and not show his true emotions -- claims to be a "former" Communist. Finally, in solidarity with some of the other important figures within the Russian government, Primakov firmly believes that Russia should form part of a "multi-polar" political world, and not be shut out from, or be controlled by, a uni-polar world in which the United States of America and NATO are the only key players.

One other very interesting point regarding Primakov is that he is considered by his peers to be an Arab specialist. In fact, not only was Primakov very instrumental in trying to create a respectable way for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to gracefully bow out of the 1990-91 Gulf War, but I believe he has also been busy working towards easing United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In short, Primakov is in large part responsible for the close ties which currently exist between the Russian government, and some of the more radical Arab nations such as Iran, Iraq and Syria, who are all friends of the Palestinians, and sworn enemies of the state of Israel.

As a confirmation of the above fact, consider that while I was writing this article, due to slow progress in the Middle East peace negotiations which were completed the second week of October by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, and U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleleine Albright, the Palestinian leader went to Russia in order to seek assistance before the summit in Washington between President Clinton, Netanyahu and Arafat. At this point, given the political and economic turmoil which continues to escalate in Russia, I honestly don't know how Russia will be able to assist Arafat at this time. But then again, we could be in for some surprises in months ahead. Again, I will explain this in more detail in just a moment.

Finally, and perhaps the most interesting point of all, as I had clearly foreseen in "Communism: Is the Dead Beast Really Dead?", the Communists are indeed taking advantage of Boris Yeltsin's show of weakness during the recent selection of a new Prime Minister. Aside from the fact that they are continuing to call for Yeltsin's resignation, as well as for some major changes in the Russian constitution in order to limit the president's sweeping powers, all across Russia the Communists are stirring up the coal miners and other people who form a part of the Russian working class.

Many of these people go literally months without ever seeing a paycheck; and even if they did have their pockets full of Russian rubles, the price of basic commodities has risen to such an extent, that the greatly devalued ruble doesn't buy much now anyway. Because of these factors, thousands upon thousands of Russian citizens have now gone on strike to protest President Yeltsin's inability to solve the serious economic problems which plague their nation. In fact, if it is to be believed, even the military is very demoralized, to the point that some of the soldiers are said to be selling their uniform and weapons and joining the side of the people.

Basically, as I mentioned in the aforementioned article, what is occurring there is that the corrupt politicians and bankers of Moscow are becoming more and more isolated from the common people of Russia; most of whom live outside of Moscow. Again, this is why Alexander Lebed's position and recent victory in Siberia is so important to the overall Russian political picture. The people love him. He is an outsider to Moscow. He is viewed as being untainted and on the side of the common people. I can very easily see how someone like Lebed -- who is a very popular former general himself -- could take advantage of just such a situation by rallying not only the common people, but the demoralized military as well.

The question is, will Alexander Lebed do it? If so, when will he do it? Will he wait and do it by normal political means via the coming year 2000 election? Or will he decide to take advantage of the current political and economic turmoil that is facing his country to seize upon a quicker victory? If you are interested in learning exactly what happened to Lebed -- that is, if you don't already know -- I invite you to read the aforementioned article regarding the general, entitled "Alexander Lebed and the Year 2000 Russian Presidential Race".

This is precisely where the picture becomes rather murky. In my opinion, it was a very shrewd move on the part of Yeltsin to choose Primakov to succeed Mr. Kiriyenko, once his bid to elect Victor Chernomyrdin as the new Prime Minister was twice rejected by Gannady Zyuganov and the Communist-controlled Duma. If I am correct in my assessment of the similarities between Primakov and Lebed, then perhaps Yeltsin knew that he might be able to block Lebed's possible election in the year 2000, by choosing someone who was very much like Mr. Lebed in certain ways, but who was in his own camp. Alexander Lebed is not in Yeltsin's camp, while Mr. Primakov is.

But alas, this still isn't quite the whole picture, because we have a very strong third contender who doesn't appear to be interested in playing by the rules like Mr. Primakov and Lebed. That of course is Gannady Zyuganov and the Communists.

So exactly what is in store for Russia in the near and the distant future? Personally, I find it rather ironic that at this very moment, we simultaneously have what many people view as the world's two most powerful leaders frantically trying to save their political lives. Just like American President Bill Clinton who is currently facing very serious political problems, which may possibly result in his demise via impeachment, Boris Yeltsin's days as president of Russia may also be very numbered; maybe even less than we, and he, think.

I just have this strange feeling that this is not by mere coincidence. As I clearly point out in some of my other articles, such as the series "The International Jew and the Protocols of Zion", there are invisible powers behind the powers. There are invisible leaders and manipulators behind the visible leaders; and their weapon is gold and money. At their whim, they can make a country either prosper, or else fall into utter economic turmoil, as we now see occurring in Russia, and in other countries around the world. In case you are not aware of it, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are their visible tools, which these manipulators use to force nations to do their bidding.

As I state in the as-of-yet unreleased updated version of the aforementioned series, the Communists are bankrolled by these invisible masters. The Communists are playing dirty. They are this very minute stirring up the Russian masses, just as they did in 1917. The Russian bear is hungry in a very physical sense. The Russian people are slowly starving. When a bear becomes hungry and can't find food, it becomes very irritable and angry. Given enough time, the bear can become extremely dangerous and very unpredictable. In such a state, it will do things which it might not do under normal conditions when food is plentiful.

In fact, a bear acquires a certain boldness for finding food by invading locations that are normally frequented by human beings; a boldness which it may not possess under the normal circumstances. It appears that the Russian populace may be reaching this state at this very moment. I must wonder if the popular revolution has already begun. Soldiers are defecting; railroad tracks are being blocked; scientists are selling government secrets and weapons for hard cash; etc. It is not a pretty situation in Russia right now.

There is another interesting aspect about bears as well; and that is that they will ferociously protect their young. As I was writing this article, I was reminded of certain ancient Biblical prophecies which I explain in a number of my other articles. It is commonly agreed amongst students who study Bible prophecy and the end of all things -- also known as eschatology -- that in the prophecies of Daniel, the ancient dual empire of Medo-Persia is represented by a bear which is lifted up on one side, and has three ribs in its mouth. I discuss this in the article entitled "The Kings of the North and the South", as well as in "The Seven Heads" series. In the former, I state the following:

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"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."


Cyrus the Great was the founder of the united Medo-Persian Empire. This king was known to the Jewish people as Koresh, or Kowresh -- pronounced ko'-resh -- which means "possess thou the furnace" according to the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon. In his native Persian tongue, Cyrus was known as Koorush, or Korrush II. He was the son of Cambyses I.

Notice that the bear is raised up on one side. This is probably because Persia was the stronger half of this dual empire. While Darius the Mede actually took control of Babylon at first, he was under the authority of Cyrus the Great. As I will explain in a moment, the three ribs in the bear's mouth may represent the three kings who ruled prior to Xerxes I, who was the richest of the Medo-Persian kings."

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There is an old saying which states that if there is one thing which we learn from history, it is that we never seem to learn from history. Within prophetic circles, there is also the belief amongst some students of the Bible, that sometimes ancient prophecies have a partial fulfillment, and then a final fulfillment. I don't fully embrace this belief, but it does make me reflect on the above prophecy regarding Medo-Persia. In other words, I do find it rather interesting, that just as that ancient bear had three ribs in its mouth, today we have a modern, angry Russian bear which, if stirred up and provoked enough, may possibly take three ribs into its mouth. Not to devour them, mind you, but rather to protect them.

As I have pointed out before, despite all of the current plastic talk regarding nuclear non-proliferation, the Cold War being over, etc. -- today in 2016, I believe a new Cold War may have already begun, or at least the original one has been re-energized -- the fact of the matter remains that Russia still possesses thousands upon thousands of nuclear warheads, as of course does the United States as well. But given her current state of turmoil, this presents a very dangerous situation insofar as her nuclear armaments are concerned.

Let us assume for just a moment, that at some point in the not-too-distant future, Russia should return to full-fledged Communism. While some of my readers may disagree with this view, and find the idea difficult to accept, personally, I see the proverbial handwriting on the wall. Russia is ripe for another revolution. Gannady Zyuganov and the Communists are continually growing in power and popularity with the common people as the widespread demoralization and suffering continue. The bear is already hungry, and its tamer -- Boris Yeltsin at this current time -- is not paying much attention. However, the Communists most definitely are.

If your stomach is empty and hungry, who are you going to listen to? A person who tells you how to properly obtain the ingredients and then make the bread? Or the person who saves you both the time and the energy by directly giving you the bread? Obviously, if you are desperate enough, and hungry enough, you will forget the formalities and just choose the latter; because you want to eat now, and not after you buy the ingredients, mix it together, wait for the bread to rise, and then wait for the bread to bake. You might not even have the rubles to buy the ingredients anyway.

So the point is, the Communists are quickly winning points with the Russian common people as the crisis continues. The older generation, in particular, misses the former days of stability under the old Communist regime. The hungry bear has already begun to do unpredictable things as I mentioned earlier in the form of massive protests, defections, selling government secrets, blocking railroad tracks, bartering to survive, etc. As proof of this, consider the following news clip which I extracted from a Cable News Network --CNN -- news report:

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RUSSIANS START ANTI-YELTSIN PROTESTS

Thousands of Russians staged protests in the Pacific port Vladivostok on Wednesday against unpaid wages and President Boris Yeltsin's seven-year rule at the start of a day of nationwide strikes, rallies and marches. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Russians were expected to take part in marches and other demonstrations across the country organized by trade unions, the Communist Party and other Yeltsin critics. Organizers expect it to be the largest protest of the post-Soviet era.

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In addition to all of these growing problems, Alexander Lebed and Yevgeny Primakov both claim to be ex-Communists; and Primakov has already taken certain steps to return to a more Soviet-style form of government, in order to bring the current economic turmoil under control. It may take some additional time, but at this point, given the current level of unrest, it appears that an actual return to full-blown Communism may almost be inevitable; regardless of who is in charge; be it Lebed, Zyuganov or Primakov. They all have or have had Communist links. They may try to deceive the world at large, but the marks of Communism are already there for those who recognize them.

This brings us to the final point concerning the angry bear which protects its young. What is one of Russia's, and even China's, chief concerns right now? It is the expansion of the sixteen-member NATO alliance into three former Soviet Bloc nations. Because of the significant political and economic reforms they have made since the supposed fall of Communism in 1989, the Central European countries of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were officially invited to join the NATO alliance during a summit held in Madrid, Spain in July of 1997. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported the following at that time:

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"Political leaders in Poland and Hungary are expressing pleasure at news from Madrid that NATO leaders reached a consensus today on inviting their nations, along with the Czech Republic, to begin accession talks. News reports say members of Hungary's Parliament broke into cheers when the news came during question time. In Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz told reporters that today "has a good chance of going down in history as the end of the order established at Yalta." The World War II allied powers, including the Soviet Union, divided Europe into spheres of influence in 1945 at a meeting at Yalta. In Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec also mentioned the passing of Yalta as well the 1938 Munich agreement after which Czechoslovakia first lost borderlands and then was absorbed by Nazi Germany. Zieleniec called the invitation from NATO one of the most important developments in the Czech Republic since the fall of communism."

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If additional reforms continue on schedule, these three countries are expected to become regular members of the NATO alliance by April of 1999, at which time NATO will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as the United States of America and her NATO partners have not tried to hide the fact that this is only the first wave of invitations. Others are eventually expected to be be extended to the Baltic countries -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- to Romania, as well as to other Central and East European nations as they continue to strive to meet the various requirements set by the NATO alliance. It is for good reason then that Russia and China both are quite concerned about this issue of NATO expansion. Today, more than eighteen years after I wrote the original version of this article, the situation has only grown worse.

However, this is still not the end of the story concerning Western expansionism. It is much more complicated than that. As if this action by NATO wasn't already enough to provoke and anger the Russian bear, consider that barely one week after the NATO invitation was extended, the European Union Commission also began its negotiations for the inclusion of these same three countries, as well as Estonia and Slovenia into the fifteen-member European Union. While this process will certainly involve overcoming some serious problems, this integration would eventually result in an even stronger more unified Europe, and a weaker and more isolated Russia. Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty also reported the following in July of 1997:

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"After months of study and political debate, the European Commission called today for opening negotiations to admit five Central and East European countries: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia. But, it turned back applications from five other countries, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, and in the harshest words of all, Slovakia. Jacques Santer, Commission President, presented the decision to the European Parliament today in Strasbourg in a report titled: "Agenda 2000."

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If all goes well, it is expected that these five countries will become a part of the European Union by the year 2002; and as with the NATO expansion plans, other currently non-participating nations are expected to follow. Thus we see that the Russian bear is indeed being provoked in a very real sense. It is because of all of these factors that I can't help but wonder if the current heated situation in Kosovo might not involve much more than what appears on the surface.

Let me ask you something. If you had a life-long opponent, who suddenly grew ill, or who became distracted by personal problems, wouldn't you try to take advantage of his weakened condition in order to try to gain some victory over that opponent? Now, let us be honest for a moment. If you were a shrewd, battle-savvy opponent, you most certainly would. However, due to political correctness and world opinion, you would have to make sure that you did it in such a way that it was acceptable to the majority of your friends. You would have to transform your subtle plans to conquer and to expand into a noble venture, such as in the defense of human rights for example; and there we have the Kosovo situation.

How many times before have we seen the United States of America intervene militarily in a certain country for the stated purpose of protecting the human rights of the citizens of that country? The problem is, once the Americans do go in, it seems that they have a very difficult time leaving after that. Today, as I update this article at the end of 2016, we can look back in retrospect. Just take a look at Iraq. How many long years has the United States government, along with its military, been engaged in that war-torn nation? Many will say too long, and I most certainly agree.

Of course, once Uncle Sam gets his foot in the door, next come all of the fancy little trinkets and the nice gifts, the military bases and the arms sales, and the trade agreements of Western industrialized society, in order to entice and to appease the natives so that the temporary visitors can stay permanently in one way or another. Thus begins their control, as well as the gradual deterioration of a society to Western standards; including the name brand tennis shoes, the famous American sodas, and the hard rock music to pollute the minds of the youth, and to cause them to rebel against their very own parents. A simple, rural life is traded for a selfish, materialistic, and quite often ungodly lifestyle.

The mass media has once again done their job well, as they normally do. The suffering of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has been brought to the attention of the world. They have been presented as the innocent victims of unjustifiable suffering and slaughter, while Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbs have been painted as the tyrants behind the crimes. The psychological manipulation has now been accomplished so that the next move will appear totally justified to the zombified masses who blindly, patriotically and ignorantly follow their leaders. Now the war drums are beating as these CNN news reports confirm:

----- Begin Quotes -----

NATO AIRSTRIKE PROSPECTS HIGHER AS MILOSEVIC STALLS

Warning that the "decisive moment" was approaching, a senior U.S. envoy has scheduled more talks on Wednesday with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in a bid to persuade him to withdraw from Kosovo and avoid NATO airstrikes. Milosevic has remained defiant through two meetings, during which Richard Holbrooke attempted to convince him Washington was equally firm in demanding that he comply with U.N. resolutions or face military action.

GROUND TROOPS RULED OUT IF NATO ATTACKS SERBS

"U.S. ground troops will not be used if NATO decides to attack the Serbs over Kosovo, the Clinton administration says. As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright flew to Belgrade from the Middle East to rally a united front against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Russia remains strongly opposed to any U.N.-sanctioned strike against Yugoslavia. U.S. officials said the attack would be carried out solely by air."

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As stated above, Russia is strongly opposed to military intervention by the United States and her NATO allies, and for good reason. This would be similar to Russia intervening militarily in Mexico in order to quell problems there. Would the government of the United States just idly stand by while this happened? Most certainly not! She would feel greatly threatened, and she would undoubtedly do something about it. Probably declare war! It is ludicrous then to expect Russia to remain quiet while the NATO forces plan air strikes on one of her neighbors not far from her western doorstep.

It is equally ridiculous to expect Russia to remain quiet while three of her other neighbors are integrated into the NATO alliance and the European Union, with others to follow after that. If you look on a map of Eastern Europe, you will quickly see that some of the five aforementioned countries are right up against Belarus and the Ukraine, while others are only separated from Russia by a country or two. That is how great this threat is to Russian security. In short, from the Russian perspective, these current moves by NATO and the European Union are very strong provocations, and I seriously doubt that they would have been made when Russia was a lot stronger.

But you see, Russia is in such internal turmoil right now, that as with the Palestinian issue, one can only wonder if she can really do more than offer verbal protest; and the NATO alliance knows this. But what if they are surprised? What if Mother Russia does something unexpected? What if the Communists come to full power even sooner than I personally expect? And even if they don't, what if some of the renegade Russian forces decide to use some of their nuclear stockpile to enter the fray in Eastern Europe? This is the present danger; that either the Communists, or someone else inside of Russia, might do something to either try to stop the NATO countries from performing air strikes in Kosovo, or to keep a strongly American-influenced NATO from grabbing three more of Russia's western neighbors, who are all overjoyed at the prospect of becoming members of the NATO alliance.

Even if Mother Russia does nothing to stop the integration of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into the NATO alliance and the European Union -- which I personally would find hard to believe -- it is even more difficult for me to accept that she would continue to idly stand by while the other remaining nations of Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia are integrated into the Western sphere of influence. Look at a map. Just as Mexico lies right across the border from the United States Of America, this would place American power and influence right across the Russian border! Who would have ever dreamed of such a thing happening even ten years ago?

Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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