Exxon and Putin Take Charge Of US Foreign Policy  

The fossil fuel lobby and Vladimir Putin appear to be the big winners from Donald Trump's nominations for positions in his new administration (assuming he makes it past the intelligence agencies conspiring against him and the plotters trying to get the electoral college members to dump him before the inauguration) - Rex Tillerson: an appointment that would confirm Putin's US election win.

If Rex Tillerson is nominated as the next secretary of state, it would confirm Vladimir Putin as one of the strategic victors of the US presidential election. Barack Obama has ordered an inquiry into covert Russian intervention in the campaign, which the CIA says was designed to secure a victory for Donald Trump. But whether or not Russian intervention made a significant difference to the outcome, a Tillerson appointment would represent a significant gain for Moscow.

While the other leading candidates for the job hold largely traditional and adversarial views on Russia, the outgoing chief executive of Exxon Mobil has a history of close business ties to Putin, who bestowed the Order of Friendship on Tillerson in 2013.