Pepe Escobar
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Pepe Escobar (born 1954) is a Brazilian journalist and geopolitical analyst. His column "The Roving Eye" for ''
Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kong-based English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...
'' regularly discusses the multi-national "competition for dominance over the Middle East and Central Asia."


Central Asia

In 2011, journalist
Arnaud de Borchgrave Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave (26 October 1926 – 15 February 2015) was a Belgian-American journalist who specialized in international politics. Following a long career with the news magazine ''Newsweek'', covering 17 wars i ...
described Escobar as "well known for breaking stories in the Arab and Muslim worlds." Escobar has reported extensively from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. In August 2000, the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
arrested Escobar and two other journalists and confiscated their film, accusing them of taking photos at a soccer match. On August 30, 2001, his column in ''The Asia Times'' warned about the danger of Osama bin Laden in a piece that has been called "prophetic." Escobar's 2001 interview with Afghanistan's leading opposition commander against the Taliban Ahmad Shah Massoud was also widely quoted. His October 26, 2001 piece for ''Asia Times'', "Anatomy of a 'terrorist' NGO," described the history and methods of the
Al Rashid Trust The Aid Organization of the Ulema (AOU), formerly known as the Al Rashid Trust is an NGO based in Pakistan. Beginning in 1996, it supported "charity and welfare projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan" while also providing "financial and legal support ...
. This has been cited by researchers at the USAF Counterproliferation Center (2003), at Stanford University (2012), and in the 2006 book '' Alms for Jihad''.


Pipelineistan

"Pipelineistan" is a term coined by Escobar to describe "the vast network of oil and gas pipelines that crisscross the potential imperial battlefields of the planet," particularly in Central Asia. Articles by Escobar about his "Pipelineistan" theory, many first published in
TomDispatch Thomas M. Engelhardt (born 1944) is an American writer and editor. He is the creator of Type Media Center's tomdispatch.com, an online blog. He is also the co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of the 1998 book, ''The End of V ...
, have been re-published in ''
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
'', ''
Grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...
'', ''
Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'', ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', and elsewhere."China antes up, bets, and bluffs in the new world oil game" by Pepe Escobar (''Grist'', August 13, 2010
/ref> As Escobar argued in a 2009 article published by '' CBS News'', running energy pipelines from the energy-rich nations near the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
would let Europe be less dependent on the natural gas that it currently gets from Russia, and would potentially help the West rely less on OPEC. This situation results in an international conflict of interest over the region. Escobar has asserted that the West's
war on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
is "always over energy." Some writers have supported but others have criticized Escobar's "Pipelineistan" theory "that the bloodshed in Syria is simply another war over Middle Eastern energy resources." A recent (2021) scholarly critique of Escobar's theory that "oil and gas interests are central factors for understanding foreign intervention in Syria" concludes that Russia is more likely to be motivated by "regime consolidation." Others criticizing the theory state that "the timing is wrong" and that unless "Syria and Iraq stabilise, and political relations with Saudi Arabia and Iraq improve" any pipeline involving Syria remains a "pipe dream."


Libya

According to
Arnaud De Borchgrave Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave (26 October 1926 – 15 February 2015) was a Belgian-American journalist who specialized in international politics. Following a long career with the news magazine ''Newsweek'', covering 17 wars i ...
, during the 2011 Libyan Civil War Escobar wrote a piece "uncovering" the background of Abdelhakim Belhaj, whose military leadership against
Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
was being aided by
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, had trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. According to Escobar's story, published by ''Asia Times'' on August 30, 2011, Belhaj's background was well-known to Western intelligence but had been concealed from the public. Documents revealed by
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
in the
2012–13 Stratfor email leak Internal emails between geopolitical intelligence company Stratfor's employees and its clients, referred to by WikiLeaks as the Global Intelligence Files, began appearing on WikiLeaks on February 27, 2012, with 5,543,061 emails published as of July ...
show this story being shared by Stratfor employees as they review media articles on Libya. Interviewed about his story by Radio New Zealand, Escobar warned that Belhaj and his close associates were fundamentalists whose goal was to impose Islamic law once they defeated Gaddafi. Escobar's story was further reported by others, including
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and ''
The New American ''The New American'' (''TNA'') is a right-wing print magazine published twice a month and a digital news source published daily online by American Opinion Publishing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the John Birch Society. The magazine was cre ...
''.


Russia

The
United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
's Global Engagement Center (GEC) has identified several outlets that publish or republish work by Escobar as being used by Russia for propaganda and disinformation. In 2020, the GEC stated that both the '' Strategic Culture Foundation'' (SCF) and ''
Global Research Global Research may refer to: * Global Research Alliance, a New Delhi organization promoting the Millennium Development Goals through R&D * GE Global Research, R&D division of General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American mu ...
'', two online journals where Escobar's work has appeared, acted as pro-Russian propaganda sites. According to the GEC, "Pepe Escobar began writing articles for Global Research in 2005 and ten years later became an SCF author. Escobar has also been a commentator for RT and
Sputnik News Sputnik (; formerly Voice of Russia and RIA Novosti, naming derived from Russian ) is a Russian state-owned news agency and radio broadcast service. It was established by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya on 10 Novemb ...
; both outlets were highlighted in a 2022 GEC report as members of "Russia's disinformation and propaganda ecosystem." Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Yermolenko describes Escobar as an example of "anti-Western intellectuals" hosted by ''RT'', adding that Escobar suggests "dividing Ukraine between Poland and Russia.""Russia, zoopolitics, and information bombs" (Volodymyr Yermolenko, 2014) published in "What does Ukraine think?" by the European Council on Foreign Relations
/ref> In 2012, Jesse Zwick at ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' asked Escobar why he was willing to work with ''RT''; Escobar replied, "I knew the Kremlin involvement, but I said, why not use it? After a few months, I was very impressed by the American audience. There are dozens of thousands of viewers. A very simple story can get 20,000 hits on YouTube. The feedback was huge.” On February 25, 2022, the Spanish newspaper ''
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
'' criticized Escobar's ''Sputnik'' comments concerning
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and other topics, calling them "the usual ones of Russian disinformation: 'Yankee' imperialism, NATO excesses, Russian victimization."


Bibliography

* Pepe Escobar (2007), ''Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War'', Nimble Books. * Pepe Escobar (2007), ''Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge'', Nimble Books. * Pepe Escobar (2009), ''Obama Does Globalistan'', Nimble Books. * Pepe Escobar (2014),
Empire of Chaos
', Nimble Books. * Pepe Escobar (2015), ''2030'', Nimble Books. * Pepe Escobar (2016), ''2030, suivi de Dialogues inactuels (Jorge Luis Borges)'', Éditions du Cercle.


References


External links

*Manning, D. & Cotton, M. 2007, 'Embedded with Power: An interview with Pepe Escobar'

, ''Mediabite'', no date.
Articles at Asia Times

Pepe Escobar
at Telegram
Pepe Escobar
at VK {{DEFAULTSORT:Escobar, Pepe 1954 births Living people Brazilian journalists Brazilian people of Spanish descent