Everyone is watching the carriers and the bombers. The real linchpin of US power in the Middle East may be Saudi Arabia, and it is cracking. Riyadh has reopened its war on the Houthis, the Houthis have answered by knocking out a third pumping station, and Washington, with depleted stockpiles and a navy stretched to its limit, has refused to come to MBS's rescue. If the kingdom's oil stops flowing, the petrodollar goes with it, and with it the financing behind US power projection from the Gulf to Ukraine. We ask whether the US pushed MBS into this fight, whether Pakistan will step in, and whether MBS gets one last phone call offering him a way out.Then to Ukraine, where Zelensky is not the power he appears to be. The Azov formations have grown from a battalion into two army corps, they fill the gaps in the line and shoot deserters, and they are the reason the front has not collapsed. We map the three factions that make up the Kiev regime, ask why Banderite ideology keeps strengthening even as the country's population halves, and take a hard look at the strikes on Kiev: residents fleeing west, rents collapsing, a daytime drone strike on the main Dnieper bridge, and warnings to embassies that are now being backed up.We close on a strange conclusion: the people most able to end this war may be the ultranationalists themselves. Only Nixon could go to China. Could only Zaluzhny go to Moscow?Timestamps00:00 Intro00:37 B-1 bombers bolt from Fairford: real threat or cover story?04:50 Saudi Arabia's new offensive against the Houthis07:56 Saudi Arabia is the weakest link in US hegemony16:09 Did Washington push MBS into war with Yemen?17:47 Why the US refused to rescue Riyadh19:42 Will Pakistan step in?25:33 The end of the petrodollar29:07 MBS's last chance34:00 Azov: the government within the government39:51 Banderites, Sorosites and the Zelensky clan44:46 Why does Banderism keep growing?55:15 Kiev under fire: residents flee west1:06:42 The bridge strike and the rotting roots1:15:17 Could an Azov junta make peace with Russia?Go Deeper: https://ruinsreport.com/Substack: https://conversationsamongtheruins.substack.com/Support the Conversation:Join as a Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW9CSfmP6gEjqtOdGTD_JKw/joinBuy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/amongtheruins