Sunday,
March 2, 2014
Folks, the United States has for
many years now prided itself as the only SUPERPOWER of the world (especially after
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed at the impact of Mikhail
Gorbachov’s “perestroika’ and “glasnost”, vain attempts to offset the hugely
negative impact of the arms race and the devastating consequences of the Cold
War).
In its pride, the US has done
things all over the world and boasted of its capability to continue doing so
till thy kingdom come. It has made no secret of the potency of its military-industrial
complex, entering countries and systems and doing anything that its superior
arms would allow it to.
It inserted itself into the
Iran-Iraq war and eventually turned the scales against its former ally, Saddam
Hussein, when it invaded Iraq in 2003 and flushed him out of a rat hole to face
the gallows. It shifted to Afghanistan, not learning the bitter lesson that the
Soviets had learnt there when they mindlessly extended their influence there as
part of the search for pockets of influence in that part of the world.
Now, after many years of
supporting the Afghan system, Hamid Karzai is proving to them that there is
more to hegemony than military superiority. President Obama’s threat to pull
out US forces doesn’t really turn anybody’s crank in Afghanistan. Howe could
any President anywhere not know that the Talibans and the so-called Afghan or
Pakistani Establishment are just two sides of the same coin?
Reckless militarism has only one
consequence—death of soldiers in pursuit of a mirage in territories that had
better be avoided!!
As if the US hasn’t learnt any
useful lesson from the double-dealing meted out to it by its so-called allies
in storm-centres into which it has inserted itself, it is still expending
energy, flexing muscles to dare the devil.
This time, it is about Ukraine, a
country that identifies itself more with Russia than the United States or the
European Union. The truth is that there is more of Russia in Ukraine than any
other force in the world. Forget about the Russian fleet in the Black Sea or
the millions of Russian citizens in the Crimea and other parts of Ukraine who
are now rocking the boat after the tumultuous events leading to the overthrow
of Yanukovych. Ukraine cannot disentangle itself from the umbilical cord tying
it to Russia.
But in his usual garb as the
leader of the so-called superpower, President Obama
has warned Russia that “there will be costs” for a military intervention in
Ukraine. What costs, one doesn’t
know!
Intriguingly, the United States
seems not to know that truth and is taking a faulty step that won’t solve the
problem. When I heard three days ago that the US had warned Russia not to
involve itself in the internal affairs of Ukraine or face the consequences, I
laughed my heart out really loud.
I didn’t miss anything to know
that the US’ warning was either misplaced or given out of ignorance or some kind
of misplaced self-deceptive authority. Or some kind of self-confidence that will
only bring out the real stuff in the Russian Establishment.
True to prediction, Russia’s
Vladimir Putin shrugged off Obama’s warning and has now had the full backing of
the Russian Establishment to do as he wishes. Russian troops are being sent to
Ukraine because Russia feels it has a legitimate right to do in Ukraine as it
wishes. After all, wasn’t Ukraine an integral part of the USSR? Where was the
US at the time? And what right does it have to dictate to the Godfather?
Those aware of world politics
will wonder why the US will be so reckless in giving that warning, considering
what is happening in Syria. Indeed, but for the stance of Russia, the Syrian
crisis would have been brought to an end by now. But Russia has its own interests
to defend and is not compromising even though hundreds of thousands of lives
have been shed in the uprising.
So, can’t the US learn any lesson
from Russia’s entrenched position on Syria that it won’t yield grounds when it
comes to defending its interests? Shouldn’t Obama even have known that as of last
year, Vladimir Putin had emerged as the world’s most powerful leader to be
deferred to?
Indeed, we are beginning to see
new windows open right before us to know how global politics is gradually
shifting from one arena to the other. But really, the situation developing in
Ukraine points to a kind of local politics that will reflect a lot for us to
know who is who in this 21st century.
Interestingly, in all this
hubbub, the United Nations is missing in action. It hasn’t said anything so far
and one wonders whether it is really still in existence.
I am happy to be alive to all
these developments and will continue monitoring it all to see how it unfolds.
The reality now is that no warning by the US to Russia will solve the problem.
Apparently, the US is no Godfather over Russia, which is why Vladimir Putin is so
resolute to prove that when it comes to matters affecting his backyard, he is
the one to call the shots!!
If for nothing at all, he is
reminded of the shenanigans resulting from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s
escapades in Europe (close to his country’s doorsteps) and why the Warsaw Pact
collapsed but the integrity of Russia must be defended at all cost.
Will Ukraine be that turning
point in our time? At what cost to the world? And why isn’t the US equally
concerned about the situation in Syria to warrant stern warnings to Russia or
any direct action to prevent the daily massacring going on?
We recall the speed with which
Obama ordered the US troops to join forces with Britain, France, and other
countries in the Arabic world to eliminate Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi or others elsewhere
considered by the powers-that-be as pariahs.
Are the Ukrainians more human
than the Syrians (or the Palestinians being daily tyrannized by Israel)?
And Putin told Obama in his
90-minute telephone contact that Russia reserves the right to determine what
goes on in Ukraine and will do as it wishes to safeguard its interests. Now,
what will Obama do? Withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and send them to Ukraine?
A dilemma of sorts for him and his handlers to contemplate while Putin laughs
them to scorn for not knowing how to cut their coats according to their sizes!
We can tell from Putin’s frontal
response to the Obama warning that he really doesn’t see Obama as anybody to
defer to. How will this stance influence international politics? Of course, the
US’ threat regarding the upcoming G8 summit slated for Russia isn’t really
worth Putin’s bother. He knows more than those issuing the vain warning do, and
will act to safeguard his country’s interest in Ukraine, damn the feelings of
those he considers as nosy outsiders.
Will Ukraine bring back the Cold
War or reinvent Russia as a second SUPERPOWER, especially as the US’ economy
weakens and China threatens to dislodge it from the number one position as the
world’s strongest economy?
Indeed, a lot lies ahead for us
to ponder about international politics in contemporary times.
I shall return…
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