Last week’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) made it clear that the talk of a new paradigm among nations is concretely coming into existence. Nearly 1,000 deals were signed among the event’s 21,000 participants and 3,500 companies, who came from a total of 139 countries. The SPIEF Organizing Committee’s Executive Secretary Anton Kobyakov, at the conclusion of the event, emphasized that this dynamic is growing and said that there are now a whopping 59 countries which have expressed the desire to join the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). “The world has changed and is becoming increasingly unified,” he said.
But, unfortunately, that is not being met kindly by all. Those set on a unipolar world, or brainwashed by the “democracy vs. autocracy” narrative, have refused to see these nations as potential collaborators and equals, and instead have pushed ever harder to maintain world dominance. This weekend’s so-called peace conference near Lake Lucerne, Switzerland will likely be used as a means of advancing the intended “defeat” of Russia, at least among any of those who will listen. Whether or not it will be successful in rallying much of the world around the West’s leadership remains to be seen, but the war dynamic is proceeding relentlessly nonetheless—"the train has left the station.”
Russia began a second round of its tactical nuclear weapons exercises on Tuesday, June 11, following on the heels of similar exercises just days earlier. Taken together with the scheduled arrival of one of its advanced naval fleets in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday, June 12, these moves send a crystal-clear message: Russia is not willing to back down from defending its interests.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic captured the underlying reality of the crisis in an interview with the Swiss-based Weltwoche channel. From the standpoint of NATO and the U.S., Vucic said, they can’t afford to lose the war in Ukraine, because it will mean the end of their “legacy” or geopolitical position in the world, and “no one will be able to revive it.” On the other hand, Russia also cannot afford to lose the war, because Western countries intend to dismantle the country as it exists today. Therefore: “when you have these two sides so far from each other … you see that everything is at stake. Everything. No one can afford to lose…. That’s why I’m saying that we’re getting closer to a real disaster.”
Americans and Europeans must be awakened to this danger. Do they know their governments are playing a nuclear chicken-game with the other nuclear superpower, using them as expendable pawns in a geopolitical game? The European elections over June 6-9 to a certain extent point in this direction, but much more is needed, and fast. An entirely new paradigm in relations among nations, a new security and economic development architecture, is needed to bridge this gap and bring this runaway war-train under control.
The Schiller Institute emergency press conference today at the National Press Club featuring Scott Ritter and other experts represents an enormous opportunity toward this end, to bring the paramount issue of war and peace to Western audiences. Spread the word far and wide—this might just play a crucial role in pulling the world back from the brink before it is too late.
