Grayzone Day: the West’s disastrous war for Eurasia

Watch Kit Klarenberg, Wyatt Reed, Glenn Diesen and host Thaddeus Russell discuss Ukraine, NATO, and the war for Eurasia at the first Grayzone Day at Icarus Fest in Rutherford, NJ, August 23, 2025.

Chapter 1 – Reporting from the Ground in Donbass
00:09:29:03 – 00:11:01:13
Wyatt shares his experiences reporting in Donbass, describing the strong pro-Russian sentiment, the symbols of allegiance, and the devastation caused by U.S.-made weaponry. He emphasizes why independent reporting is critical in contrast to mainstream media coverage.

Chapter 2 – The Costs of Dissenting Journalism
00:11:01:13 – 00:15:39:04
The panel shifts to how journalists and academics like Wyatt and Glenn have faced punishment: smear campaigns, financial deplatforming, accusations of being foreign agents, and pressure from governments and media institutions for challenging dominant narratives.

Chapter 3 – Exile, Surveillance, and Suppression
00:15:39:04 – 00:23:24:13
Kit recounts his effective exile from the U.K., including police interrogations, detentions, and the broader crackdown on dissent in Britain. He details how authorities target journalists through surveillance, raids, and intimidation, illustrating the larger erosion of press freedom.

Chapter 4 – Truth, Repression, and Palestine
00:23:45 – 00:32:11
Vindication of earlier reporting, truth-telling as revolutionary under repression.
Britain’s crackdown, the banning of Palestine Action, and signs of regime weakness.
Contrast between British grassroots defiance and American apathy, with Gaza as a trigger for awakening.

Chapter 5 – Russophobia and Europe’s Decline
00:32:11 – 00:41:15
Glenn on the historical roots of Russophobia.
How propaganda exploits psychology and enforces roles: aggressor, victim, savior.
Europe undermining its own security and prosperity through irrational policies.

Chapter 6 – The Anglo-American Project
00:41:15 – 00:56:02
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech to today’s proxy wars: Britain’s intellectual dominance over U.S. strategy.
Empire as elite obsession, not popular will.
Norway’s total NATO consensus and erasure of dissent.
Conclusion: imperialism is an elite project, while publics remain largely unaware.
Thaddeus introduces Mackinder/Brzezinski’s Eurasian geopolitics as the bedrock of empire.
Chapter 7 – Mackinder and the Logic of Empire
00:56:28 – 00:59:11
Mackinder’s theory: maritime powers dominate via choke points, but land connectivity across Eurasia threatens them.
U.S. adopts this British logic throughout the 20th century—world wars, Cold War, divide-and-rule strategies.
The imperative: keep Eurasian powers divided (Russia vs. Germany, China vs. Russia, India vs. China).

Chapter 8 – Russophobia as Strategy
00:59:11 – 01:05:39
Russophobia as a “spigot” turned on/off depending on imperial needs.
From Obama mocking Romney on Russia → to Democrats reviving Cold War rhetoric.
Cultural politics (e.g., LGBTQ issues in Russia) weaponized for moral leverage.
Britain’s long-standing animosity toward Russia: from the Crimean War to the Great Game to today’s NATO expansion.
Project Alchemy and historical plans to partition Russia.

Chapter 9 – NATO, Ukraine, and the New Cold War
01:05:39 – 01:13:09
U.S./UK expansion into Russia’s traditional sphere (Georgia, Eastern Europe, Ukraine).
Bill Burns’s 2008 cable warning: Ukraine in NATO unites Russians across the spectrum.
Audience Q&A shifts to Nord Stream sabotage: Hersh’s reporting, media narratives blaming Russia, and later contradictions.
The deeper question: why NATO exploited the attack to escalate militarization despite knowing Russia wasn’t responsible.
Proxy war handoff from U.S. to Europe, convenient scapegoating of “one Ukrainian.”

Chapter 10 – Anti-Imperial Traditions and European Decay
01:13:09 – 01:32:22
Audience (Jose Vega) invokes American anti-British roots, JFK’s optimism, and asks about alternatives.
Kit expands: global memory of “Freedom from Britain Day,” Mossadegh’s appeal to U.S. independence, Ho Chi Minh citing the Declaration of Independence.
Britain’s manipulation of U.S. policy in Iran, Syria, Ukraine.
Sachs’s critique of EU foreign policy: ignored by leaders, but Europe’s subordination to U.S. laid bare.
Audience reflections on imperial consciousness among European publics → panelists argue ordinary people are more skeptical than elites admit.

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