Witness History: Egypt Joins BRICS - What Does It Mean?

All right, hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. My name is David Oualaalou. I'm so excited to be here. So, uh, first of all, uh, let me know if you can tell me where are you joining me from, uh, what part of the world you're in. So, uh, let me first of all say thank you to, uh, Osiris the Great, you know, thank you very much for your continued support. And FYI to all of you, uh, Osiris is, is a member of the channel here, so I truly appreciate your support, it, it means a lot. So to all of you I appreciate you. So anyway, as promised, because I'm a man who follow— who does what I— what he says he will do. So, you know, I only do what I say I will do. So I told you I will be doing live stream to answer some of your questions, and that's exactly what I'm going to be doing. As a matter of fact, this is like the new format, uh, that I'm gonna be doing anytime I release a video. We'll do a, a quick session on it. We'll figure out the timing. We'll figure out either the— towards the end of the week or so. This one has to be done for now. So, uh, let me just see here quickly, uh, as to who's joining me from, uh, Athene Wu couldn't make it today, so sorry to, uh, not to have you. Terry To, thank you for joining me from Australia. So So funny, I just met somebody today from, uh, uh, from Adelaide. So I used to have some colleagues who used to work in Australia, sort of near the Pine Gap area. So, uh, Tony Monte from Nigeria, good to have you. And we're going to be talking about Nigeria today, so I'm going to be mentioning some stuff too. Tom Chung, I hope I pronounce it correctly, joining me from Mississauga. I'm very familiar with the University of Mississauga, so, from Canada. So good to have you. And, uh, who else? Let me see who else here. And that's about it. So let's jump into the questions so we won't waste a lot of time because there are a lot to cover. So I'm gonna start with the first question, uh, and, and FYI, for you, for those who might not know what this live stream is all about, this is a follow-up in, in a sort of a Q&A session, if you will, for the last video I just released for you, uh, 2 days ago about Egypt joining BRICS New Development Bank. So, and as I said, you just leave me your questions in the comments and we'll answer them here for you. So, so first question is from William N. Uh, the question, it says, BRICS is acquiring more fossil fuel rich countries, so what direction will the group be heading, uh, where the world is turning into renewable in the coming decades? That's a good question. I remember I had a conversation with a, a petroleum analyst, uh, uh, uh, his name is Art Berman, very knowledgeable guy, and we talked about 2 years ago. We had on the other show for an interview, and, and this conversation about renewables It, it's, it's gonna require a lot of money, okay, for the infrastructure. For it, it's gonna take a lot of time. And third, if you take the world out of the oil right away, it won't be a pretty outcome. I'm telling you this based on the insights from somebody who spent the last 40, 50 years dealing with this. This is why, you know, for the BRICS acquiring this, this has to do with insuring— excuse me— ensuring access to raw materials. But at the same time, it's not like only one country is going to benefit from this. That's the whole reason for why the BRICS is coming together. So, uh, where it's gonna go, they're gonna benefit from access to this natural resource because the renewables ain't gonna happen. You know, how long you've been hearing about renewables? I've been hearing about it for the last 15 years here in the US. What has happened? Nothing. You still depend— look where oil prices are, and there should be an indication for where things are. So, uh, next question will be from Jesus Aguilar: which Latin American country do you believe will follow? This is after Egypt has joined the a national bank. And, and his question, uh, as part of it, he says, I believe it would be Venezuela because it's being ravaged by sanctions, but also the PSVU party of Nicolás Maduro hold the majority in the Congress Parliament, so ratification will not be a problem. Yeah, but I won't see Venezuela first, the reason being because Venezuela has a lot of issues. Economic one, that is, you know, with the currency and so forth. Yes, it is an OPEC member. Yes, it has a lot of oil. But BRICS countries, the one thing that you guys need to understand, and there is a lot of conversation out there, uh, some say, oh, the BRICS is gonna sort of, uh, uh, change the world quickly. No, it ain't gonna happen that way. It doesn't happen that way. First of all, because BRICS countries so far— Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa— their economies are not on the same footing, shall we say. You look at China's economy, you look at Russia's economy, you look at South Africa economy, you look at India's economy, and, you know, Russia— they are not on the same footing. So the idea that, uh, just because the BRICS aren't even gonna admit whomever. It won't work that way because it will create a problem. And the analogy that I can give you, or the example I can provide you with, is the EU. If you recall how the EU used to be when it started, okay, it used to be the strongest economically speaking. Once you start adding— it's no different than NATO, how NATO used to be back then. I remember when I was a kid, I used to remember Because I used to follow that stuff and I used to write down the list of the countries. There were 9 of them at that time, then it moved into 11, I believe, 13, 15, 17, 21. Now they are 30. Why they are 30? Because you have countries like Montenegro as part of NATO, which is a joke. No offense to Montenegro, but, but when you look at Montenegro defense budget, I can take the defense of, uh, the budget rather of the police department in Boston And it would be much higher than that. It's the same argument. So BRICS will have to be very careful moving forward that now so many countries— there are about 23 in addition to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Argentina, and other ones to join it. So, uh, so to go back to your question as to which country I see personally, I do see Chile Chile will be the country that will be most likely to go, and after that it will be Mexico, because you want to have a strong economy. Mexico is the second strongest economy in Latin America, after— or, or in the, in the south, shall we say, after Brazil. Uh, so Brazil first, Argentina, uh, Mexico second, and Argentina third. So this is why China, during the recent, the recent, uh, uh, BRICS summit, invited Argentina. So they didn't invite Argentina because they care for Argentina. No, it doesn't work that way. Let's just say it straightforward. China will not do anything just because out of the goodness of its heart. No, no, no, no, no. It's an economic reason and a strategic reason, and rightly so. So the next country that I see coming will be Chile. That's the one that I see coming into, into that one, and most likely Mexico after that. Uh, Jack Robert, uh, uh, question: how much— let me see here— how much can— okay, how can so much of the oil field be owned by others? Does Egypt lost money— lose money, rather— or sovereignty, or over the oil. No, no, Jack, is the reason why you have, for example, the ANI, which I was very familiar with that case because as a consultant I had to advise some clients. You know, just FYI, for those who do not know, I am also a geopolitical consultant, so I do consult for companies that they are thinking of investments. Uh, usually when a company wants to invest about $10-15 million or $50 million or whatever that is in whatever part of the world, they can— I can provide them insights into whether their investments will be, uh, feasible or not. In this case of the ANI and the gas in Mediterranean, I had the conversation with the individuals involved back in 2016. So to go back to your question, Jack, is because ANI owns about 50 %, uh, Rosneft, which is Russian, about 15 or 35, that is. And if I'm not mistaken, uh, BP, uh, British Petroleum, and United Arab Emirates own about 10%. The reason for that is because the entities that put a higher stake or higher percentage, they have, they have the know-how, they have the resources, and they have the capacity to explore, uh, those kind of fields. Egypt doesn't have the infrastructure for that. This is no different than what happened in Iraq. And I spent years back and forth in Iraq after the invasion, which by the way, I, uh, kind of argue against the invasion. And the reason why, knowing what I know about the history of that part of the world, in addition to writing a book— I wrote that book right there about Iran, Volatile State Running the Nuclear Age, uh, knowing the old history, a thousand-year history between Sunnis and Shiites And I kind of advised whomever at that time in Washington, you do not want to do this, because if you go in, you're not coming out till about 15, 20 years, let alone you're gonna turn the Middle East, Middle East upside down. And this is exactly what's happening. So to go back to Iraq, uh, the reason why Iraq, uh, asked China to explore an oil fields in the south is because Iraq doesn't have the resources. The infrastructure, the, the technical know-how. This is the same case for Egypt. It's not about losing sovereignty or losing money, because the way it works for those companies to invest, they're going to take a share of that investments, of course, and the country where the oil or the gas is will take another one. Uh, Boon, by the way, guys, Boon is a member of our channel. On the other channel. So good to see you, Boon. Uh, my question is— let me read it here— how are the Egyptians able to act so independently with their old ties to the United States military? That is a good question. And once again, this is where history comes in, because you have to know the history of Egypt. And one thing I can share with you quickly Uh, it's not— I share with you, but also you need to ask yourself the question: how did Egypt end up having a peace accord with Israel? Who was behind it, and why did it happen? Well, of course, after the visit of the late Anwar Sadat to Egypt, which most Arab countries didn't like, the US supported that. And how did the US support that? The US supported that by providing Egypt with about $2.7 or $3.2 billion a year for the last 30 years. Actually, now it dropped to $1.8. Don't quote me on this because I, I don't remember the exact number, but the whole reason for why Egypt end up having a peace with Israel is because the US bribed them with money. Well, that money that we've been— by the way, it's taxpayers' money that we've been paying to Egypt It didn't go to serve the people. It went into the military establishment. This is no different than what's going on right now in the Philippines, which I will tell you about later, uh, Philippines, if, if somebody can remind me if I forgot. Uh, because by the way, last time I said that the US was in talks with Philippines about 4 bases, actually there are 5, and there were 9 discussion— 9 bases in the in a conversation. So, so far is 5, not 4. And I will tell you because I have the name and I pull up all the, the, uh, geolocation for where all these locations are and so forth. So, so the question is whether the establishment, the military establishment in Egypt will be able to move forward. Well, apparently to me that the head of the Foreign Relations or Defense Committee, as I said in the video, went ahead and support this initiative for Egypt joining the BRICS New Development Bank. Yes, because Egypt wants to move away from the dollar. The question that's going to become is whether the United States gonna tighten the belt on Egypt or not. Like one of you, uh, one of the viewers, I don't remember the name, put a comment, you know, regime change in Egypt. Yeah, Because remember, how did, how did Abdel Fattah Sisi, the current president, how did he came to power? And who approved the military coup? Because he was a military man, you know. Egypt would never be, in my opinion, ruled by a civilian, you know. Majority have been in the military before. So Mohamed Morsi was the one before that, and he was overthrown because two countries approved the coup. And the two countries are the United States, and yes, Saudi Arabia. This might shock you. So, so that is the reason why, uh, uh, how the military is going to move forward, it depends. It depends with the how the US is going to react, and all this is going to be seen moving forward. So, all right, let me see next question here. Uh, Simon Chow question: Israel may also dump the hegemon and join BRICS. To do this, it will need at least, uh, the question said at least a cold peace with Iran, something like the relationship between China and India. So Dr. Oualaalou, in your, uh, in your opinion, will Israel join BRICS and cool down with Iran? The short answer is no. There is— there will never— there will never be peace between Iran and Israel. That ain't gonna happen because you have to understand the, the, uh, the history of— and by the way, there are a lot of Iranian Jews that lives in Iran and they are protected. By the way, I know somebody who went to Iran, an academician, it was a professor, and, and he was able to— because if you are an academician in academia, you can either do research or When I did the research for my Iran book, I didn't go there, I didn't need to, but I was able to talk with individuals who've been there, and, and they said there are a lot of Iranian Jews that they've been— their rights are protected and so forth. So, so Israel will not join because remember the whole situation with Israel, you know, the security of Israel depends greatly on the United States. Israel, and I say this based on what I know, Israel will not be able to do anything without the approval of the United States. Because, for example, for Israel to attack Iran, Israel will need fueling, air fueling planes, which it doesn't have. That means the US will have to provide that. Yes, we share the latest technology, uh, like the F-35s with Israelis and all that. But even with that, they won't be able to because the missiles that Iran has are within distance. They will shower Tel Aviv with missiles. And, and, and take my word for it because I did the research on it. And this is why you're seeing this hesitation from— and the US made it clear, you know, almost telling Israel, don't go alone on this. So So that's why I don't see them joining BRICS. And, and little long now that Israel said that they will be willing to support Ukraine with the Iron Dome, which the Russians are not happy about. So how do you think Russians going to take this if Israel will be? So the short answer is no, they won't be there. Uh, next question from RG. Uh, I see where it's going, but where do regular or close to being poor people stand in your opinion? Meaning when he said, I see where this is going regarding the Egyptian, uh, joining the New Development Bank. Uh, yeah, it is an intricate— it is a— what's the word I'm looking for— it is very, very, uh, sensitive aspects of, uh, determining exactly What's in it for the average Joe or average Jane in those countries? You know, which is legitimate question. I'm glad you asked this one, uh, RG. But the way I see it, and I could be wrong of course, and if I am wrong, I'll say— I'll come on there and say, hey, I was wrong. There is nothing wrong with being wrong if you admit to it. You don't play smart and think you are this Mr. Knowledgeable when in reality you're not. You know, it's like those who wants to, uh, claim, uh, like I always say about geopolitics, you know, everybody now is geopolitical analyst and this and that. Well, come on, let's use some brakes here. And because it goes with the experience, it goes with the terrain, shall we say. So the idea of how the, uh, average people will benefit from this, because the BRICS so far, and this is what I always say BRICS will have to play its cards right, economically speaking. But also, BRICS has some strategic thinking to do. You look at, for example, China and India. They can't be moving forward if they don't resolve the border issue. Yes, there is no war between, uh, uh, uh, India and China, and it will never be a war, but just the fact that there are tensions there It should be resolved, which means China and India need to sit down and resolve that once for all. Then they can move as a unit, as a team. This is BRICS, and this is where it's going to benefit the people. You take the example of India, and I did a video for you guys, uh, when, uh, the question was about India becoming the voice of the Global South, and I was like, hold on a second, not too fast. Why? Because India needs to fix its own home first. When you still have issues in the infrastructure, when you still have— when I say infrastructure, I'm referring to telecommunications, energy, finance, you, you name it, you know. So if that happens, then now you can see the benefit of BRICS being in cohesive unit translating into the average people. And how so, you may ask? Is by building the infrastructure that they— those people is going to benefit from. Because here is the thing: prosperity— economic— pardon me— economic prosperity depends greatly on infrastructure. That's just a given, because you will do far more and you will achieve far more if you embark on economic than if you embark on conflicts. War doesn't bring prosperity. We all know, we all know the hardships of war. We all know the devastating outcome of war. Who wants war? But if you pursue economic avenues, everybody will win. And that's how I see how those average people will win for this one. Uh, Ian Sterling, uh, your question. Any chance Scotland could join BRICS? Not now. Short answer is not now, because here's the thing: Scotland, first of all, needs to really be independent from the UK. As you know, by the way, guys, I'm gonna make a video for you guys about what's really going on in the UK, which by the way is not being reported, and I'm gonna tackle it from almost 3 aspects. Economic, finance, and military. Yeah, UK is going down the drain as we speak, you know, let alone the demonstrations that's going on in, in, in Britain right now. But that's not about that, it's about where their economy is headed, where their military capabilities is really, uh, the assessment that I came across from the Pentagon, it even suggests UK might not even be able to defend its own, despite what you hear. You know, it's all bravado. It's all about— this is where understanding what geopolitics is all about will help you see through, because you can cut the noise and see through the reality. You know, when UK is screaming bloody loud about sending Apache helicopters and sending €50 million to support Ukraine, and its economy is going down the drain So for Scotland, the first thing it needs to do, first of all, it needs to cut its ties completely. Now, the historical ties will never be cut, cut, I'll tell you this, because there's all the history, of course, there. You can't ignore that. History is part of the reality. But Scotland needs to stand on its own by being separated from— and if it does, then that will give it the opportunity to decide whether to do that. And I, if I am to, if I were to advise the Scottish government, I will tell them not to go into the BRICS first. You go into BRI first. It is a reason for that, economic one, that is. That's like Poland. And Poland didn't play its card right because its president was like clueless as to why he's embarking on policies that the EU is pushing on him. You know, it really demonstrates leadership matters when it matters. Another word, when there is a situation that requires leadership, that's when someone's leadership is tested. I look at it, uh, just to give you a quick example, the recent, uh, Australian Open in tennis. Uh, Novak Djokovic, who won the Australian, you all know what happened to Novak Djokovic last year, right? When the Australian government prevented him from playing because he wasn't vaccinated. Well, he didn't want to be vaccinated, so they deprived him from playing. This year he went, he went and played and won. So, but he took, he took a stand last year, unlike Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, because they were still playing, you know, but they couldn't take stand in supporting their, their— he's a player too. But they couldn't extend because they were weak. Yeah, despite the titles and the stats, all that didn't matter when they were really— they, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, were presented with the real life experience, a reality that will test their leadership, and they couldn't stand. They couldn't take stand. That's what Novak did. What the same thing that's gonna be happening So Scotland needs to take a stand. First of all, get away from England, then move forward. So next question from J.O., it says, what about Nigeria and Algeria? Good question. By the way, Algeria— uh, Nigeria now, according to the recent World Bank stat, which I just looked at yesterday to confirm, uh, uh, Nigeria now is number one economy in Africa, you know, the one I mentioned in the video that was from 2 or 3 years before. Yeah, Nigeria is, but also you have to understand how you calculate the ranking based on what. Is it based on PPP, the purchase parity power? Is it based on, on commodities? Is it— so that depends again. So Nigeria's first and Egypt is second. So Nigeria and Algeria, what do they share in common? They both OPEC members. What makes it very fascinating is that if Nigeria and Algeria join BRICS, in addition to Iran and Saudi Arabia, and you already have Russia from an OPEC+, you all see where this is going and who's going to be dictating the terms. And let alone the US dollar won't have any play or any role into that. Because the transactions among those countries will be done in their own currency. So the problem in Nigeria, and this is my personal opinion and I could be wrong, but based on what I know, and I've been around and I've been in around that part of the world, there's, there's some corruption going on in Nigeria. And, and, and we're not, we're not picking on Nigeria, by the way. We have corruption right here in the U.S. Yeah, you know, for those who think that we are this, this, uh, saint nation, that— no way. We do have corruption. Our system is corrupted to the core. And it's only, uh, a person with, with concern, a citizen with concern about the country, will come forward and say it. And that's what I'm saying, you know. Call it the patriotism, call it love for country, call it responsibility, whatever, you know. People needs to know, and the role and the duty of a citizen is to challenge his or her government, hold the government accountable. We do have corruption that is running to the core of the system. This is why nothing is getting done in America, and all we are pursuing is matter of inciting conflicts while the American people are suffering. Look at the numbers of poverty, it's going up. Homelessness going up. 65% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. And yes, we are the richest nation on Earth, but where is that wealth? It doesn't transfer or doesn't sort of reflect on the well-being of the citizens. So in that case, the government will be useless. Why? Because corruption. We allowed it in all our branches, by the way. Even Supreme Court. You will think Supreme Court is because they are the law and all that. Supreme Court is as fractured as it can any other institution be, you know. And again, I fall back on their decision of 2010 by allowing unlimited funding into the political, uh, uh, uh, uh, landscape here in the US, which leads to corruption. So Nigeria needs to fix its issues— corruption first. But again, is people are not content with what they have. When people get power, uh, they tend to want more. Why? It's because they never discipline or, or, or, or sort of, uh, train themselves to be content with whatever they have. You have $1,000, you want $10,000. You have $10,000, you have $1 million. You have $1 million, you want $10 million. You have $10 million, you want $100 million. So the greed never ends. But if you train your soul into accepting whatever you have and be content about it— why? Because we're just passing through this life. You know, just, just take a step back and think about this, guys. How do we come to this life? Do we come with this wealth and all that? No, we came here with nothing. And how do we leave when it is time for us to check out? Do we take all the wealth with us? No, we go out as we came in. And that becomes just a question: how you want to live your life? In between. And this is why I am thinking in terms of, uh, you know, this idea of sharing this time with you is because we have to learn from each other, and we have to point out things that we can learn from each other. So the idea of Nigeria— Nigeria, Nigeria, it's a wealthy nation, massive oil reserves. As a matter of fact, the last stats that I saw for their GDP, it It was based on the commodity of oil, and they have the resources, they have the manpower, they have the youth, young generations, they have the resources, but the will is not there. Corruption runs deep. Algeria is another example of being an OPEC member, but Algeria has also some issues to deal with. And Algeria, if you know anything about Algerian history, you have to go back also to when Algeria was colonized by France. Still some tensions there between the two. As a matter of fact, Algeria also has some serious resources, but also Algeria has some issues with its neighbor Morocco to the west. So regarding the, the, the, the Sahara, the south, and all that stuff. So till they resolve the issues, then they won't be able to join in BRICS because they'll come in with their baggage or luggage or whatever you want to call it. So, all right, next question. Uh, Donkey Kong, I hope I pronounced it correctly. Uh, you mean Egypt doesn't want to supply Europe with gas in euros only where the euros can also be printed at will and weaponized. Yeah, you're absolutely correct. Egyptians are seeing what's going on right now. Look at the pound in Egypt now, took a hit against the US dollar, you know. But also, why is that? Why do you think that is? It's because the debt, the national debt in Egypt. That's why we also keep giving them money. It's not like we care, because here is one thing: the IMF and the World Bank We're sinking countries into debt. Argentina is the latest casualty with a $44 billion in debt that they needs to figure out how to pay it off and not acquire more loans from the IMF. The BRICS, the New Development Bank, does provide the loans but at least doesn't put restrictions or conditions, that is. So, and this is where the Egyptians Uh, and I am certain that if the parliament and the president approved this, they have thought through the consequences of it. But also, they saw where the strategic train is headed, and they don't want to be left out. That's why it's smart, smart move on their part to move faster. That's why they approved it and moved forward. So Uh, next question, Kang Dae. I hope I pronounced it correctly. Why are not countries like Afghanistan, Cuba, and the PRK also interested in joining BRICS? That is great question. Pardon me, guys. The reason why Iran is not in BRICS yet, because Iran is subject to sanctions. Now Russia is subject to sanctions, but Russia is already a member of BRICS, because there will be certain restrictions on, on countries that they are currently under sanctions prior to joining, uh, BRICS. Cuba, well, how— Cuba's economy is not where it needs to be for it to join BRICS, you know. As a matter of fact, China now is helping, building infrastructure in Cuba. I had a chance one day, uh, to be close to the islands there, and, and I could see the satellites and that the Chinese were putting there. It's just an old thing that, that the Chinese were willing to sort of invest, uh, in building infrastructure for Cuba. Hey, if the country— if Cuba invited the Chinese, so be it, you know, because we've been having the embargo on it. And there's one thing about embargo I want you guys to know and, and be aware of. The embargo doesn't impact the higher-ups in the government. The embargo end up translating into the average citizens. Those the one end up paying the price. So, so in the case of, uh, Afghanistan is the same thing. As one who spent time in Afghanistan, my first trip was in 2002. That's how far back I go. So, and, and I, uh I used to say, uh, there are a lot of potentials in Afghanistan. It's almost like when you look at those mountains and, and, and just rugged terrain and you said to yourself, there's a huge opportunity here. And someone else might say, oh, there are no opportunities here. And, and the reason I say there are huge opportunities because I did the research on the country and understanding the resources it has under that ground. You know, China already cut a deal with the, with the Afghan government. The— look, look what the Taliban that is. So, and its first deal was about the energy extraction agreement, which means, like the case of Egypt, uh, doing— allowing ANI and Rosneft and BP and United Arab Emirates to extract gas from the oil field in return for percentage. Afghanistan is doing same with, uh, Afghanistan. As a matter of fact, I'm going to share one map with you that you need to see why that is important. Uh, background right here. So if you guys see that screen there, so that BRI, there is one of them is going to go through Afghanistan. And why Afghanistan? It's because it's the key to Southeast Asia. And if you look at the history of the world, for that matter, whoever controls South— whoever controls Eurasia controls the world in a way, you know, back then Because Euro-Asia used to be a major hub for where commodities traverse or travel between one location to another. This is why China's BRI is mainly into those countries. And this is why you see, for example, the likes of Kazakhstan now wants to join BRICS. It's no coincidence. So China has already cut a deal with the, with the Taliban. So, uh, let me share something. Let me take a look at the, uh, your comment here. Sorry, the, the print is so small, I have to wear glasses, you know. Uh, let me see what you wrote here. Uh, good, uh, good morning to you, Shairo, from Indonesia. So, so what's your analysis on Somalia, present and future? Let me see here. Chuck from Myrtle Beach, uh, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Nice place, by the way, Chuck. I, I used to visit back then. So, uh, let me see who else here. All right, let me move on with what I need to talk about here. So, so when you look at the, uh, the, uh, the New Development Bank, and, and now with Egypt being the most recent one, the list already has about 10 members, 8 or 10, somewhere around that. Uh, I couldn't remember exactly. I think they had about 9, if I'm not mistaken. Uh, that includes of course Brazil, Russia, India, China, because they're part of BRICS. You know, I remember when I wrote the RAND book, I had to talk about the New Development Bank. Then there's South Africa, of course. Then there's Bangladesh, believe it or not. You know, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Uruguay. You know, but for those, uh, the recent country, uh, for Egypt now, uh, because remember, you can't just, come and join BRICS overnight. There is a procedure, there is a protocol that goes through all this. And this is probably what we're going to be seeing in, in this year, in May 2023, when South Africa hosts the BRICS summit. Most likely what you're going to see is the application for Egypt will be processed, then you're going to see the two others Argentina and Saudi Arabia. I don't know about Iran yet, but that's the one I'm seeing, uh, where this is heading out, uh, moving forward. So, and of course, just because it's just the way it works, they're not gonna do, uh, it's just how it works. So, uh, that is why, uh, you get, uh, countries now almost 23 countries are interested into all this. So let me, uh, change the direction here, or change the topic here, about talk about the bases in Philippines. As I told you, I will address— let me share one screen with you that you need to see, uh, one of the bases here that I, I kind of geolocated it. Are right there on your screen. So, so as I said last time when I did the video, I talked about the 4 bases, but there are 5. But actually behind closed doors, the conversation was about 9. That's, that's what it is. But this leads me to mention what I said way back. When I say way back is when Marcos Jr. was elected president. And if you can check the video, because it's on the record right there, And I said it will be interesting to see how Marcos Jr., or Bongbong they call him, right? Uh, uh, I don't know what does it mean. If anybody from Philippines, if you will be kind and just put a comment so I can understand what does it mean. So anyway, uh, and I said back then it would be interesting to see how he's going to proceed because he has to balance between his security ties with the US and and his economic ties to China. You know, you know, uh, uh, Johnny, one of our, the channel supporters, he mentioned to me, uh, on the, uh, on a comment that some Filipinos are not happy about where the government is going with this, its decision about military. But here is the reality and the truth of it, is that in Philippines, maybe those people do not know, the Filipinos themselves, they might not know In Philippines, the power is concentrated within the military, not the president. Is the same like in Egypt, is the same like in Pakistan. Speaking of Pakistan, uh, the previous, uh, former president Pervez Musharraf just died yesterday. And if you don't know anything about President Musharraf, or the former, uh, he was a US ally because he turned in so many people What people do for power, I tell you. Uh, you know, it's— I'm not laughing out of laughing, but it just said, you know, but also for him, he had to walk a fine line between not upsetting domestic agenda and so forth. I'm gonna do a video down the road about the role of Pakistan in all this, and we'll get an idea. So, so now let's talk about the Philippines. So, so the idea of the Philippines because the military has the say. And this is why I am starting now to be more convinced that the Marcos Jr. trip to China was not sincere. Because, you know, as we always say, and I'm sure you're aware of this, a man is as good as his word. I know in international affairs or geopolitics, all it matters is what Yeah, you got it right. Can you type what it is? What is the real thing that matters when it comes down to geopolitics and international affairs, in your opinion? So if anybody can type in the word— yeah. It's a strategic interest. That's all it is. Whether I give you my word or not in politics, you know, which is very— but, but that is the problem that I see, uh, uh, uh, uh, Marcos Jr. is facing because he went to China, you know, in a good faith per se, but his intentions were different. The question that you guys need to ask is this: Did he knew, or did he know ahead of time that he's going to China just to play nice and at the same time cut a deal behind the scenes or behind the doors with the United States? So, and by the way, the 5 bases are— and I'm gonna— I, I, as I said, as I told you guys, I dig through this, uh, the first one is called Antonio Bautista Air Base, which is, uh, based on the geolocations that I found, it is located near the capital of the island province of Palawan. So those who live in the area, they know which one I am talking about. And Palawan is a very strategic location, very, very, very strategic location near the, uh, what you call the, the contested islands in the South China Sea. So the second one is called Basa Air Base, which is located about 40 miles northwest of the Philippines capital, Manila. So the air base, by the way, this air base is not new. It was originally constructed by the U.S. Army Air Air Corps before the Second World War. That's how old that place is. The third one is Fort Magsaysay, which is located on the northern island of Luzon, L-U-Z-O-N. So, and this one is considered the largest military installations in the Philippines. The next one is Lumbia Air Force Base. Lumbia, L-U-M-B-I-A Air Base. This one is located on the southern island of Mindanao. Uh, and Mindanao, by the way, I heard it's a nice, nice place. I've never been in Philippines. I met people from Mindanao and they suggested if I ever go to Philippines to visit Mindanao. And this one is connected to a civilian airport. So, so this is why, uh, it's important to understand this dynamics because you put things in perspective for you to understand it. And the, uh, last one is Mactan Benito Ubin base, which is located, this one, on, on the, on the Mactan Island, which is on the coast of the Cebu in the Central Philippines. So that is, that is why it is important to understand, uh, the importance of this, because all these bases you are looking at, uh, and again, the question becomes, did Marcos Jr., when he went to, to China and received the red carpet treatments, did he knew ahead of time that that he was just giving lip service to China. Because it's a— Philippines is of strategic to both the United States and China. And, uh, he, he's in a tough spot because he has now to consider, because you have only two options, at least the way I see it. If there is a conflict between US and China Philippines will be targeted. Just let's say it straightforward. Second thing, if Philippines cut off its security ties with the US, it will become vulnerable. So it's a very, very delicate balance between the two that they have to, uh, think about that one. So, all right, let me see if you got any questions right here on this comment here, and I am gonna sign off on this. And okay, let's hide this one here. And, uh, and by the way, there's some of you suggested to invest in a new camera. Here it is. So let me see your comments. And by the way, I will be doing the next video and we'll do the same thing so you guys can leave your questions. So Uh, so how many billions, uh, this is from William, you know, how many billions will the US military sink into this Filipino bases? Well, those, by the way, they are already there. So it's gonna be serious money. Uh, it's gonna be a sort of upgrade, and you have to bring the hardware, military hardware, and all that stuff costs. You all heard about the, the Chinese balloon that's been shot down, you know, just to do that for that F-22, for it to take off, it cost about $85,000 an hour. Okay. And that missile itself was about $329,000. Yeah, we, we used it on a balloon, you know. While at the same time, uh, as I read on Twitter that somebody said it will cost about $9,200 to help a poor person here in the US. And look where our money is spent on. So it's, it's, it's unfortunate. I, I kind of don't get it. I don't understand. But again, when you have a system that is corrupted to the core, what do you expect? It's just, just how it works. So, all right, let me see if you— if there are any other questions here, and I am gonna sign off here. And before I leave, as I always say, I can't thank you enough for your support, guys. Please, please, uh, spread the word about this channel because word of mouth is very, very important. So, and if you truly like the content of what I'm putting out consider becoming a member. I am working on, uh, on, on some other stuff for you. So I didn't forget about the webinar. I didn't forget about the course that I'm going to be doing about the government, something you truly want to sign up for and learn about because you won't hear that stuff anymore. Nothing classified, of course. So, but that's what I'm going to be doing. So, uh, all right, well, if I don't have any question, I'm gonna sign off here. And I wanted to say thank you all for your support and showing up. And as always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.