by Pedro Baños is a colonel in the Spanish Army who was formerly the Chief of Counter-Intelligence and Security for the European Army Corps. He is one of Europe’s top specialists in geopolitics, terrorism and intelligence Pedro Banõs book has been described as antisemitic because of the cover and because three sentences in the book spoke about the Rothschild's fortune and their enormous power. Penguin have defended the book saying it is not antisemitic, and that the octopus symbol, which represents imperialism, goes back centuries. In the English version of the book the references to the Rothschild's have been removed. Pedro Banõs is part of a minority within the Spanish elite who believe Spain should improve relations with Russia, a view also held by a minority of the German and French
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Pedro Baños is a colonel in the Spanish Army who was formerly the Chief of Counter-Intelligence and Security for the European Army Corps. He is one of Europe’s top specialists in geopolitics, terrorism and intelligence
Pedro Banõs book has been described as antisemitic because of the cover and because three sentences in the book spoke about the Rothschild's fortune and their enormous power. Penguin have defended the book saying it is not antisemitic, and that the octopus symbol, which represents imperialism, goes back centuries. In the English version of the book the references to the Rothschild's have been removed.
Pedro Banõs is part of a minority within the Spanish elite who believe Spain should improve relations with Russia, a view also held by a minority of the German and French elite as well because Russia has the resources they need.
Pedro Banõs admits his book is depressing, where he describes how the rich and powerful play out the world. He says we don't have global capitalism but global warfare as countries all vie for top position and supremacy, where anything goes, including lying, cheating espionage, and war. In fact, he himself became a victim of the system when the British meddled in Spain's politics to stop the socialist government appointing him as Director of National Security because of his pro Russian views, despite the British government accusing Russia of interfering in the U.S. presidential election.
From WSW
Hackers reveal British government’s interference in Spanish politics
From the back jacket to Banõs' book:
Is there anything more cut-throat than global politics?
Wherever you turn – Europe, Russia, China, Korea, Syria, the Middle East – we are living in a time of global geopolitical power plays. Once an insider to this closed world, Pedro Banos reveals that however it might be smoothed over by the PR of political diplomacy, the world of geopolitics is one of war and conflict by strategic means, where countries have sought dominion and power over their rivals since the dawn of time.
Banos presents this high-stakes game as a series of 22 universal rules on how to act and exert influence in the international sphere. Each principle is contextualised in both classical and modern history, from Bismarck to Kissinger, but also related to the current world of Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping. With titles like ‘Kicking Away the Ladder’, ‘The Tower of Champagne Glasses’, ‘The Madman’, and ‘The Mule and the Saddlebags’, How They Rule the World is a practical set of rules for engagement that can be enjoyed by anyone. Written with the philosophic, aphoristic timelessness of a von Bulow, Sun Tzu or Machiavelli, Banos has created an utterly gripping manual on the secrets of how strategic power really works.Penguin Books - How They Rule the World
Pedro Banõs describes this world of domination and control, which he says, starts in the school playground.
The school playground In every school in the world, there are children who are the dominant members of their class or year group, and are respected and feared by everybody. This power hierarchy is especially evident at break time, when children let their guard down. Watching them in the playground, it is easy to see the influence that some wield over others. It can have a number of roots: physical strength, a born facility for leadership, sporting ability, belonging to a powerful family, being favoured by the teachers or simply being malicious and cunning.
The children who rise above the others, for whatever reason, may act in ways that benefit the group, but they more often cause trouble, scheming behind the teachers’backs, undermining school rules and psychologically or physically bullying their more vulnerable and less popular classmates. Children who behave like this become accustomed to being surrounded by others who seek protection and recognition from them. These followers will laugh at the leader’s jokes, applaud their teasing of the weak and hail their feats of skill or displays of strength. They are prepared to sacrifice part of their own personality in order to belong to the leader’s court of admirers, for this confers upon them a certain status.
In order to be able to act like this, the leader and their entourage need others around them to provide a constant source of affirmation. They will simply ignore some children, perhaps because they are not in the same social group or don’t play whatever sport is most popular in the school to the same standard. However, others become the unfortunate targets of the group’s poison arrows, which the members must keep throwing in order to keep feeling superior. There is all the more reason to target these unfortunate children if they happen to be outstanding students: they must be prevented from threatening the group’s superiority or becoming rivals. Some of these targets, if they lack mental strength or family support, may end up irreparably damaged by such childhood experiences, while others will wish to join the dominant group in order to stop being a daily target –these converts often become the group’s cruellest members.
Other children manage to resist the influence of the leader and the pressure of the group and are content to lead their own lives –to command respect but not to bully others. In certain situations, alliance with whichever group wields the most power might interest them, but in general they enjoy independence. Lastly, there are those who decide to isolate themselves from the main pack and not participate in any school activity.
The same dynamics exist in any group of people whose members spend a considerable number of hours together, whether in a barracks, a prison or a workplace. And something similar happens on the international stage, where different countries have distinct capacities for influencing global decisions.