Kelly Ross
@kellybruys.bsky.social
Retired former AFL-CIO Policy Director. "Colonization dehumanizes the colonizer" (Aime Cesaire). He/him. Visca el Barça.
Pinned
"US strategists describe this as "strategic sequencing" — staggered global confrontation designed to isolate and exhaust centers of resistance one-by-one, preventing their consolidation into a unified anti-hegemonic bloc. It's a world war in slow motion." progressive.international/wire/2025-10...
"This is world war in slow motion."
Popular forces around the world oppose the escalating war on Venezuela — part of a renewed Global Monroe Doctrine that seeks to dismantle sovereignty and self-determination around the world.
progressive.international
Progressive International claims that US aggression against Venezuela fits within a larger strategy of “strategic sequencing” — meaning the staggering of a series of conflicts to isolate and exhaust centers of resistance to US global primacy. 🧵1/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
The obscenely high number of Ukrainians casualties clearly does not enter into their calculations. And I doubt they regret provoking a global confrontation, since at least some of them had concluded by 2020 that this was inevitable to perpetuate the "US-led global order." 23/23
November 9, 2025 at 3:26 PM
The obscenely high number of Ukrainians casualties clearly does not enter into their calculations. And I doubt they regret provoking a global confrontation, since at least some of them had concluded by 2020 that this was inevitable to perpetuate the "US-led global order." 23/23
Reposted by Kelly Ross
But are they really disappointed? They prevented Russian economic integration with Europe; tightened US domination of the continent; and developed a powerful narrative that will help them sell the public on a global confrontation to shore up the crumbling US world empire. 22/23
November 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM
But are they really disappointed? They prevented Russian economic integration with Europe; tightened US domination of the continent; and developed a powerful narrative that will help them sell the public on a global confrontation to shore up the crumbling US world empire. 22/23
Reposted by Kelly Ross
One could argue that US empire planners screwed up badly trying to flip Russia against China by dealing Russia a strategic defeat in Ukraine (in 2020-2021!). They lost their proxy war against Russia, strengthened the Russian economy, and cemented the Sino-Russian alliance. 21/23
November 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
One could argue that US empire planners screwed up badly trying to flip Russia against China by dealing Russia a strategic defeat in Ukraine (in 2020-2021!). They lost their proxy war against Russia, strengthened the Russian economy, and cemented the Sino-Russian alliance. 21/23
Reposted by Kelly Ross
If the above analysis is correct, it would mean US empire planners have already made extraordinarily consequential warlike decisions with no pretense of democratic accountability; with poor understanding of the situation; and without fully thinking through the consequences. 20/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
If the above analysis is correct, it would mean US empire planners have already made extraordinarily consequential warlike decisions with no pretense of democratic accountability; with poor understanding of the situation; and without fully thinking through the consequences. 20/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Though the language of “avoiding a two-front war” sounds defensive, the assumption of future conflict is bellicose. Mitchell called for “making the most of America’s quickly closing window of opportunity”—before “future conflict”—to "sequence the Russia and China threats.” 19/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Though the language of “avoiding a two-front war” sounds defensive, the assumption of future conflict is bellicose. Mitchell called for “making the most of America’s quickly closing window of opportunity”—before “future conflict”—to "sequence the Russia and China threats.” 19/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Mitchell further argued that a strategy of “diplomatic concourse” and “compromise” would be a concession to Russia and China, who are engaged with the US in a competition of political and economic systems, and would signal weakness, making a multi-front war more likely. 18/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Mitchell further argued that a strategy of “diplomatic concourse” and “compromise” would be a concession to Russia and China, who are engaged with the US in a competition of political and economic systems, and would signal weakness, making a multi-front war more likely. 18/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Why would US empire planners commit to such a strategy? Mitchell ruled out the alternative strategy of “cooperation” because he said Russia and China want to “weaken the US-led global order," and any reform of the global order is apparently out of the question. 17/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Why would US empire planners commit to such a strategy? Mitchell ruled out the alternative strategy of “cooperation” because he said Russia and China want to “weaken the US-led global order," and any reform of the global order is apparently out of the question. 17/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
And we should understand US attacks on Venezuela and Colombia as another campaign to eliminate resistance to US regional hegemony. US moves to appropriate resources of the countries most vulnerable to US coercion look like preparation for future global confrontation. 16/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
And we should understand US attacks on Venezuela and Colombia as another campaign to eliminate resistance to US regional hegemony. US moves to appropriate resources of the countries most vulnerable to US coercion look like preparation for future global confrontation. 16/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
If this is correct, then we must understand the series of conflicts we see unfolding every day as sequenced battles in a larger confrontation with Russia and China. This is why Progressive International describes strategic sequencing as a "world war in slow motion.” 15/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
If this is correct, then we must understand the series of conflicts we see unfolding every day as sequenced battles in a larger confrontation with Russia and China. This is why Progressive International describes strategic sequencing as a "world war in slow motion.” 15/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Strategic sequencing would explain why the US immediately closed all off-ramps to end the war in Ukraine, which struck me at the time as wildly reckless. It indicated to me that the US anticipated escalation until achieving Russia's strategic defeat and/or regime change. 14/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Strategic sequencing would explain why the US immediately closed all off-ramps to end the war in Ukraine, which struck me at the time as wildly reckless. It indicated to me that the US anticipated escalation until achieving Russia's strategic defeat and/or regime change. 14/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
The problem, Mitchell wrote, was that Russia would not “flip” against China unless it were dealt a strategic defeat in Ukraine. Mitchell’s (flawed) reasoning thus provides a plausible explanation for otherwise inexplicable US behavior in Ukraine. 13/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
The problem, Mitchell wrote, was that Russia would not “flip” against China unless it were dealt a strategic defeat in Ukraine. Mitchell’s (flawed) reasoning thus provides a plausible explanation for otherwise inexplicable US behavior in Ukraine. 13/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
In 2021 Mitchell wrote, "the most common form of sequencing is to align with the weaker of two rivals in order to concentrate resources on the stronger." This would be the Nixon example of “flipping” China against Russia, but in this case "flipping" Russia against China. 12/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:49 PM
In 2021 Mitchell wrote, "the most common form of sequencing is to align with the weaker of two rivals in order to concentrate resources on the stronger." This would be the Nixon example of “flipping” China against Russia, but in this case "flipping" Russia against China. 12/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
How can we know whether the US empire is applying a strategy of “strategic sequencing”? Such questions are purposefully obscured by pervasive war propaganda and lack of transparency, but strategic sequencing certainly fits the facts we know and helps explain US behavior. 11/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:49 PM
How can we know whether the US empire is applying a strategy of “strategic sequencing”? Such questions are purposefully obscured by pervasive war propaganda and lack of transparency, but strategic sequencing certainly fits the facts we know and helps explain US behavior. 11/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Eliminating resistance to US hegemony in West Asia, in turn, is critical for setting up the next in a series of staggered conflicts — against China. This is because much of West Asia’s energy resources now flow eastward to China and southeast Asia.10/20
bsky.app/profile/kell...
bsky.app/profile/kell...
Adam Hanieh: “The centrality of the Middle East to the global oil economy is often left out of the picture, and I really do think it’s impossible to understand the year of genocide we’re witnessing without centering the story of oil.” 🧵1/3 www.youtube.com/watch?v=E41F...
How Oil Fuels Global Capitalism | Adam Hanieh | TMR
YouTube video by The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Eliminating resistance to US hegemony in West Asia, in turn, is critical for setting up the next in a series of staggered conflicts — against China. This is because much of West Asia’s energy resources now flow eastward to China and southeast Asia.10/20
bsky.app/profile/kell...
bsky.app/profile/kell...
Reposted by Kelly Ross
It is certainly arguable that Russia would have more actively assisted the resistance to US hegemony in Syria (possibly also Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza) had it not been tied down in Ukraine and facing the threat of escalation in a proxy war with NATO. 9/20
bsky.app/profile/kell...
bsky.app/profile/kell...
The views of the outgoing commander of the US military in the Middle East (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Kurilla, help us understand how genocide, ethnic cleansing, and military aggression against Iran all figure into the US empire’s meltdown over the rise of China. 🧵1/11 x.com/BMarchetich/...
Branko Marcetic on X: "Outgoing CENTCOM commander Michael Kurilla, a close Israel ally inside the WH, has recently been revealed to be an influential pro-war voice who urged Trump into war with Iran. Both aspects are part of Kurilla's wider vision for the ME, which is focused on combating China. A🧵:" / X
Outgoing CENTCOM commander Michael Kurilla, a close Israel ally inside the WH, has recently been revealed to be an influential pro-war voice who urged Trump into war with Iran. Both aspects are part of Kurilla's wider vision for the ME, which is focused on combating China. A🧵:
x.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
It is certainly arguable that Russia would have more actively assisted the resistance to US hegemony in Syria (possibly also Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza) had it not been tied down in Ukraine and facing the threat of escalation in a proxy war with NATO. 9/20
bsky.app/profile/kell...
bsky.app/profile/kell...
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Though the US ultimately failed to deal Russia a “strategic defeat” in Ukraine, one consequence of sequencing this conflict first was to clear the way for a later US campaign to eliminate resistance to US hegemony in West Asia (the Middle East). 8/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Though the US ultimately failed to deal Russia a “strategic defeat” in Ukraine, one consequence of sequencing this conflict first was to clear the way for a later US campaign to eliminate resistance to US hegemony in West Asia (the Middle East). 8/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
The linked article in Defense Magazine argues that the US did in fact apply a strategy of “strategic sequencing” in Ukraine — essentially laying a trap for Russia, much like the trap it laid for the USSR in Afghanistan in 1979. 7/20 www.defensemagazine.com/article/opin...
Opinion: Does strategic sequence theory guide U.S. foreign policy?
It is obvious that the US can no longer conduct its foreign policy in a way that is inconsistent with its economic and resulting military resources. It is also…
www.defensemagazine.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
The linked article in Defense Magazine argues that the US did in fact apply a strategy of “strategic sequencing” in Ukraine — essentially laying a trap for Russia, much like the trap it laid for the USSR in Afghanistan in 1979. 7/20 www.defensemagazine.com/article/opin...
Reposted by Kelly Ross
In 2021 Mitchell argued for “inflicting a far more serious defeat [on Russia] than it has heretofore experienced in Ukraine” and alleviating "America’s simultaneity [i.e., multi-front] problem by giving Russia incentives to be less a European power and more an Asian one.” 6/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:43 PM
In 2021 Mitchell argued for “inflicting a far more serious defeat [on Russia] than it has heretofore experienced in Ukraine” and alleviating "America’s simultaneity [i.e., multi-front] problem by giving Russia incentives to be less a European power and more an Asian one.” 6/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
In 2020 Mitchell proposed a dual strategy of dealing Russia a “significant defeat” and “a major setback on one of its frontiers”; and applying economic sanctions to maximize Russian dependence on China, with the expectation that Russia would then seek alternative alliances. 5/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:43 PM
In 2020 Mitchell proposed a dual strategy of dealing Russia a “significant defeat” and “a major setback on one of its frontiers”; and applying economic sanctions to maximize Russian dependence on China, with the expectation that Russia would then seek alternative alliances. 5/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Mitchell similarly argued in 2021 that the “central preoccupation of American diplomacy today” should be the sequencing of rivalries with Russia and China; that is, the intentional staggering of conflicts with each rival to avoid a multi-front war. 4/20
nationalinterest.org/feature/stra...
nationalinterest.org/feature/stra...
A Strategy for Avoiding Two-Front War
THE GREATEST risk facing the twenty-first-century United States, short of an outright nuclear attack, is a two-front war involving its strongest military rivals, China and Russia. Such a conflict woul...
nationalinterest.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Mitchell similarly argued in 2021 that the “central preoccupation of American diplomacy today” should be the sequencing of rivalries with Russia and China; that is, the intentional staggering of conflicts with each rival to avoid a multi-front war. 4/20
nationalinterest.org/feature/stra...
nationalinterest.org/feature/stra...
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Aaron Wess Mitchell, a State Department official in the first Trump administration, first argued in 2020 for a strategy of “strategic sequencing” to avoid a multi-front war against Russia and China. 3/20 www.themarathoninitiative.org/wp-content/u...
www.themarathoninitiative.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Aaron Wess Mitchell, a State Department official in the first Trump administration, first argued in 2020 for a strategy of “strategic sequencing” to avoid a multi-front war against Russia and China. 3/20 www.themarathoninitiative.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Kelly Ross
The implication of this framing is that the US has been deliberately fueling a staggered series of conflicts -- in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and Colombia -- for geopolitical strategic reasons. 2/20
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
The implication of this framing is that the US has been deliberately fueling a staggered series of conflicts -- in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and Colombia -- for geopolitical strategic reasons. 2/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
Progressive International claims that US aggression against Venezuela fits within a larger strategy of “strategic sequencing” — meaning the staggering of a series of conflicts to isolate and exhaust centers of resistance to US global primacy. 🧵1/20
"US strategists describe this as "strategic sequencing" — staggered global confrontation designed to isolate and exhaust centers of resistance one-by-one, preventing their consolidation into a unified anti-hegemonic bloc. It's a world war in slow motion." progressive.international/wire/2025-10...
"This is world war in slow motion."
Popular forces around the world oppose the escalating war on Venezuela — part of a renewed Global Monroe Doctrine that seeks to dismantle sovereignty and self-determination around the world.
progressive.international
November 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Progressive International claims that US aggression against Venezuela fits within a larger strategy of “strategic sequencing” — meaning the staggering of a series of conflicts to isolate and exhaust centers of resistance to US global primacy. 🧵1/20
Reposted by Kelly Ross
You probably won't hear about it on the news, but the climate scientists just straight up called for political revolution 🚨
"The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink"
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
"The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink"
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
October 29, 2025 at 10:15 PM
You probably won't hear about it on the news, but the climate scientists just straight up called for political revolution 🚨
"The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink"
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
"The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink"
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
Little of both.
I continue to be unsure if I've moved further to the left as I've aged, or if the people on the right moved so much further to the right than they were 30 years ago that just by standing still I've effectively moved leftward.
November 17, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Little of both.