A Video Update on The West’s Faltering TNT Production and Aerial Attempts to Provoke Russia

This will be a departure from my normal post. I want you to watch two videos: the first is from Inside China Business by Kevin Wamsley, the second is BORZZIKMAN. Both tell two important stories about the situation confronting the West as it scrambles to figure out some way to save Ukraine. Unfortunately, the West is on a fools’ errand. Each of these videos is less than 10 minutes running time.

Here’s a summary of Kevin’s video:

Artillery shells involve two volatile components: the explosive, and the propellant. TNT is in critical shortage in NATO militaries, as decades ago the production of TNT was outsourced abroad for environmental and safety reasons.

But another bottleneck exists for the highest-quality cotton fibers, which are used in propellants. Most of that cotton was sourced from China, who is closely allied with Russia. Military suppliers are scrambling, to locate alternate sources of high-grade cotton, and to refurbish TNT factories that have been long closed.

TNT also is used in civilian applications, for engineering, mining, and heavy construction. High demands from the defense sector are causing prices to soar for industrial users as well, increasing over four times in the past year.

To put it simply: The US and Europe face major supply chain challenges and a shortage of manufacturing facilities to produce sufficient amounts of artillery shells and other explosives that are essential if they plan to fight Russia or China.

Next up is BORZZIKMAN. NATO continues to try to intimidate Russia in both the Baltic and Black Seas, but Russia is not backing down. This is dangerous brinskmanship on the part of NATO because such actions carry the risk of an accidental confrontation that could escalate rapidly into a hot war… a war that NATO is totally unprepared to fight:

I was interviewed late last week by Stanislav “Stas” Krapivnik. Stas is a Russian-American military analyst, commentator, and consultant specializing in geopolitics, military strategy, NATO affairs, economics, supply chains, and international relations. He is frequently featured in pro-Russian and independent media outlets, providing insights on conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war, global economics, and regional dynamics in the South Caucasus. Based in Moscow since around 2010, Krapivnik operates as an independent contractor and maintains a YouTube channel (@MrSlavikman) where he discusses these topics.

Stas is an American citizen who was born in Luhansk (then part of the Soviet Union, now in eastern Ukraine) during the Soviet era. His family emigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. Stas joined the US Army, rising to the rank of major until his discharge in 2004. He cited disillusionment with US military actions in the former Yugoslavia (e.g., NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign) as a key reason for leaving, which he described as conflicting with his values and involving operations near his homeland.

We had a great discussion about Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the current situation with the war in Ukraine:

I also was interviewed on Monday by Glenn Diesen. Glenn attended the Valdai Conference and was able to ask President Putin a question about the Baltics during the marathon question-and-answer session: