Hi Mark! I have not one but two big questions for you this time. 1. What do you think about this whole idea of "division of labor" between the US and the European Union? Some analysts, most notably Brian Berletic, insist that the United States is certainly not going to move away from Europe. Instead they want to organize some kind of "division of labor" - so that the US can focus primarily on Middle East and China, whereas the EU should handle the direct confrontation with Russia in Europe on behalf of the American Empire. How is this possible? To put it very bluntly, aren't the Europeans so dependent on the US because the US is (presumably) strong, whereas the EU is weak (at least in defense terms)? (continued in the next comment)

2. My second question is on the Iran War and specifically this latest "blockade of the blockade". Some analysts (again, most notably Brian Berletic) have been insisting lately that this whole mess in Iran is a culmination of a kind of long-term strategic 5d-chess game, and by blockading the Strait of Hormuz the US effectively declares an open sea blockade of China, which it has been working towards all along. I even heard a point made that by initiating this whole war the US actually weaponizes its own energy self-sufficiency and deliberately creates a worldwide energy crisis by cutting off everybody else's access to fossil fuels (because almost all the countries which are not energy self-sufficient are getting at least significant part of the fuel from the Gulf region). Which, among other things, means that by partially blocking the Strait of Hormuz Iran has been doing just what the US wanted from the very beginning. Have you heard theories of this kind? What do you think of them?

Thank you Mark, this was brilliant. Your summary in the end of the first answer really nailed it for me: indeed, "division of labor" is a measure born of desperation. This was my key doubt here. In his latest videos, Brian (whom I've been following for several years now) has been leaning very heavily into the idea of the american "continuity of agenda". And this idea, especially when pushed so hard, inevitably gives a feeling that the US has some grand strategic plan of global dominance that spans decades, and everything that is happening now is a also a part of that grand plan, just as everything that has been happening five years ago, and ten years ago, etc. And thus for the US everything is going "just as planned" - which is just... not how it looks. I wholeheartedly agree with you that probably this is not the idea that Brian is trying to get across - but that is definitely just how his latest talks sound to ordinary listeners like myself.