There is a mindless march underway towards the biggest crisis in human history. If it’s not stopped by saner heads prevailing in the Western world, then we are on the fast track towards World War III. This was reiterated by Russia’s Director of the Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, Vladimir Yermakov, who said that a direct military conflict between the United States and Russia is continuing to grow, and that this is a conflict that would jeopardize “the fate of the entire world.” “We continue sending sobering signals to the West that a catastrophe must be prevented,” he said; however, the West “remains deaf to the calls.” In order to improve the situation, “the US must immediately take concrete steps on de-escalation….”
What’s worse is that not only is this war avoidable and unnecessary, but it is being caused by the ideological rejection of the equality and sovereignty of all nations. Compare two events that took place Monday. In New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at the UN Security Council, where he elaborated on what must become the principles of “genuine multilateralism,” to be achieved through “a balance of interests on the basis of the sovereign equality of states and the indivisibility of security.” At the same time in Brussels, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, steadfastly opposed this view. There are two sides, he said, and even though “there are many people who do not want to take sides,” nonetheless “they have to take a position” on the Ukraine war and also on countering China.
This ideological fanaticism is what underlies the West’s insistence on and involvement in the attempt to destroy Russia. Following the recent string of leaked Pentagon documents, which proved, among other things, that the US knows Ukraine is not winning the war, another report has come out in Politico that the White House is worried that Ukraine’s much-hyped offensive will fail. Despite this, the US still demands more and stronger weapons for Ukrainians to fight Russia “for as long as it takes”—a hypocritical and immoral sacrificing of lives in an attempt to hold onto its unipolar order. Another report, in the Washington Post, shows just how deeply involved the US is, and how flagrantly dangerous this war has become. The report details how Ukraine was planning a wave of strikes inside Russia for the Feb. 24 anniversary of the start of the Russian SMO—and was only deterred by a direct intervention from Washington to stop it. We truly are on the verge of catastrophe.
However, there is no more clear illustration of the extreme danger which Western elites are stoking, and the absolute truth that Yermakov warned of, than the seminar hosted Tuesday by the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. Titled the “Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum,” the event encouraged those within Russia to “seize the moment,” and push for the final dismantling of the Russian Federation itself. The West, the main speaker argued, should “embrace” the collapse of Russia, and begin to recognize new ethnic and regional “nations” as sovereign in order to facilitate the transition. And anyone worried about nuclear weapons should just relax, he said, “this can be done.”
The actual cause of this war is the collapse of the neoliberal system, and at the same time the assertion by a growing number of nations around the world of the right to an actual future—not one under the control of these types of geopolitical machinations. Increasingly, members of the Global South are refusing to cower in fear of global would-be imperialists, and are instead celebrating a certain principle of self-determination, and dignity. This is an assertion rooted in natural law, not merely a ruse for their own piece of the pie. Last weekend’s celebration in Ethiopia, “Enough with War—Let’s Celebrate Peace,” was a case in point. As some of the representatives at this event pointed out, the reason peace was achieved in Ethiopia was that it was an “African Solution to African Problems.” In a similar fashion, witness the continued growth in membership of the BRICS, and the absolute failure by the Global NATO crowd to recruit their “their side” of opposing Russia and China.
The task before each of us is to stare this dire reality straight in the eyes, and become a catalyst for a breakthrough. As is painfully obvious from looking at domestic politics in the US or Europe, the solution is not going to emerge from partisan politics in the West, as can be seen by the announcement of Biden’s re-election bid Tuesday. Only from the introduction of something new—a truthful punch to the ideological gut delivered by true-blooded citizens—will averting this tragedy become possible.
