Apart from Britain, who is proceeding in the American orbit, Russia and the rest of the major powers do not dispute America’s leadership of the world, but rather seek strategic and security survival in their historical sphere of influence within a host of political approaches imposed and shaped by the might of the US and her international influence; this is because their membership of the Security Council and the regional organisations despite being infiltrated by America, and the International institutions dominated by her, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, tend to frame their political movements instead of providing them with a margin of influence in world politics, especially as America controls the oil regions and her currency dominates the dollar-based International financial system, in addition to controlling most of the influential world media outlets and having the upper hand in terms of the means to execute International resolutions; all this has given America the exclusive power to break the law, rebel against the world order and bypass its institutions without fearing the sword of sanctions which she incidentally keeps wielding to muzzle the countries of the world including Russia and the major powers.
Despite the power America enjoys, and in spite of Russia and the other major powers being integrated within the governance system instituted by America about 90 years ago, extending its continuance after the Second World War, then again after the fall of the Berlin Wall, America places Russia outside the category of independent states since the disparity in military and economic power between major powers does not necessarily mean either affiliation to the leading superpower or proceeding in its orbit; it only denotes a classification of the major powers in terms of military clout, influence, and international decision-making. Consequently, the Russian undertakings that seem to identify with US policy actually fall under the understandings and mutual interests between the two countries. Examples of this would include Russia’s military strikes against the Syrian armed opposition which were designed to weaken them and restore a military equilibrium between the Syrian regime and the opposition, and force the fighting factions and opponents viewed as loose cannons to return to the American fold while inducing the masses to reject the militants with Islamic tendencies and coerce them into accepting America’s solutions and initiatives such as federalization and the Deal of the Century. This was corroborated by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, Andrew Exum, in a speech before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in which he justified the Russo-American understandings by claiming they were necessary to preserve the security of the “Israeli” entity.
Moreover, some of the Russian political undertakings and stances were independent of the understandings with the US, such as her collusion with “Israel” to strike the Iranian forces and their affiliated militias in certain areas, and the strikes against the city of Idlib to displace its residents with the collusion of the criminal Bashar Assad; those Russian undertakings were harmonious with America’s policy in terrifying Turkey and Europe with the waves of migration and “terror”, especially as America’s strategy in Syria and Libya tends to absorb in its segment related to disconcerting Europe with the independent Russian moves whose outputs could be turned into inputs for future phases, such as exploiting the presence of the Wagner mercenaries and Russia’s objection to Turkey’s storming of Sirte and al-Jufra as a pretext to limit the Russian and Turkish field of activity in Libya, freeze the military process, kick France out of the game and exhort all foreign and domestic stakeholders to join the political process according to her vision of the solution as per the Berlin Conference and the outputs of the Geneva talks.
On the other hand, Russia is a nationalist state and does not compete with America on the world stage; despite her conversion to capitalism, it remains however a distorted mafia-like specimen that lacks the civilisational Western democratic model that may be emulated. She also lacks the competitive edge in the technological sectors and civilian industries which Western states dominate. However, Russia endeavours to assert herself and her nationalistic sovereignty through her military might and developing her military industry, bullying all the religious, nationalist and ethnic components within her entity and her regional sphere, and flexing her oppressive military muscles in Syria and Libya. This is what forces her to conclude a host of understandings with the US beyond her geopolitical sphere and engrosses her in resisting American expansion into her lebensraum and geopolitical sphere, most of which is no longer under her total control, especially after Georgia and Ukraine exited the sphere of her influence following the Colour revolutions, the electoral events in Belarus, Kirgizstan and Moldova, and the war in Armenia. Meanwhile, Russia continues through her understandings with the US to gain some bargaining chips in certain regions and uses them to defend her regional depth.
As for America, she continues to make rapid strides to besiege Russia within her geopolitical areas; and most observers are aware of the political changes that took place after most of the former Warsaw pact countries joined the EU and NATO, and of America’s attempts to chip away at Russia’s lebensraum within the Russian Commonwealth and to destabilise her union through the Chechen war that Putin eventually won.
America also uses Russia as a scarecrow by allowing her to extend her presence to the Middle East and North African coastlines, which are considered an extremely sensitive area for Europe’s security and interests and for the Arab states. She also exploits Russia in the “Game Theory” and “The Strategy of Conflict” with the aim of deepening the ongoing crises and besieging Europe from the east, south and southeast with a belt of unrest and conflicts, and consequently perpetuating the state of uncertainty in Europe towards Russia in order to control and blackmail all of them and orchestrate the relationships between them according to her vision and interests. The president of the European Council Charles, Michel, expressed this sentiment by saying that “Europe is surrounded by a belt of instability.”
America is banking on strengthening the performance of NATO and exploiting the European fears of the Russian threat to influence further the domestic and foreign policies of the European states. Hence, the US provokes Russia by violating the Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles Treaty and establishing missile defence systems in Poland and the Baltic states under the pretext of the Iranian threat and “terrorism” that she incidentally sponsors, in addition to snubbing the French offer to mediate with Russia on the issue of the missile agreement for the same reasons, namely perpetuating the uncertainty towards Russia and tinkering with European security.
America continues her endeavour to isolate Russia internationally by raising Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and her meddling in the elections of neighbouring countries to impose sanctions on her, downsize her and curb her resistance to the American version of the Eurasia Project which Kissinger has often talked about and which America aims to implement in order to reach the energy sources in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea countries, and eventually, in anticipation of the 21st century challenges, wean Europe off Russian gas or at least dwarf Russia’s gas exports thus depriving her of the revenues shoring up her military industries, and on the other hand, keep Europe dependent on her and the regions under her influence for her energy, within the strategy of dual containment of Russia and Europe.
As for the Sino-Russian rapprochement, it does not provide Russia with sufficient power to influence world politics inasmuch as corroborate America’s strategy to encourage China to abandon her communist system that impedes the introduction of the liberal approach. The strategy focuses on the impact of the capitalist laws that automatically infiltrate the communist system via the gates of foreign alliance and the network of strategic imports. Hence, America is not worried about the Sino-Russian rapprochement turning into a rival political force, since the frail alliance that has brought them together could not withstand the conflict of interest pertinent to oil price rises which serve oil-producing Russia and harm oil-consuming China. Besides, Russia and China came together and used their veto several times in the Syrian file without achieving any impact on the International situation, apart from being viewed as opponents of the International consensus. This is due to America’s ability to contain the movements of the potential opponents and harness their presence on the international scene to deceive the masses and distance herself from the dirty work, or delegate them to act on her behalf either due to domestic considerations such as the presidential elections, or to avert the resentment of US public opinion against the president and his party, especially on issues pertinent to Israel or any other objective reason.
The peripheral and media presence of countries such as France, Britain, Russia, and China in the international scene is often a necessity dictated by US policy aimed to either implicate them or divert attention away from herself, or mobilise world public opinion on a specific issue and provide International cover for it, such as America’s nomination of France and Britain to handle the file of East Euphrates and the Buffer zone sought by Turkey on the borders with Syria; this manoeuvre was designed to remove the attribute of “terrorism” and lend legitimacy to the Syrian Democratic Forces and the PKK, whose presence Turkey categorically rejected.
Moreover, when America allows the conventional major powers to be present on the political scene, this tends to either divert the masses’ resentment towards another enemy, such as the Muslims’ resentment towards Russia and Iran in the Syrian file, or generate a tussle between the conventional major powers and drive a wedge between them. Other examples of this manoeuvre are America’s decision to partially turn a blind eye to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and tempting Russia and Europe with the Arab markets and linking their interests to her areas of influence in order to blackmail and control them, oversee their relationships with those countries and to lend legitimacy to her clients such as Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. This explains why America allowed her clients to open their markets to her rivals, especially in the fields of arms and energy.
Furthermore, it is possible to note the type of relationship between America and Russia through the statements of former US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter in 2016: “The United States does not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia… But make no mistake, we will defend our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords all of us.” Ashton Carter was more explicit when he described the US relationship with Russia by saying that the balanced approach of the US administration towards Russia was summed up in deterring Moscow while continuing to cooperate with her in the fields of common objectives and interests. Ashton Carter’s statements justify the US’s bilateral relations with Moscow and inhibit the Russo-European relationship; they are compatible with the reality of the relationship between them and consistent with America’s attempt to compel Europe to deal with Russia according to the American vision that categorises Russia as an enemy and justifies the continuance of NATO and the increase in its budget. Therefore, Putin endeavoured to alleviate Europe’s fears and attract Macron after he won the presidential elections. He said on Russia’s Victory Day, 9 May 2017: “This monstrous tragedy was made possible primarily due to connivance to the criminal ideology of racial superiority and due to the lack of unity among the world’s leading nations. This allowed the Nazis to arrogate the right to decide the destiny of other peoples, to unleash the cruellest, bloodiest war, to enslave nearly all European nations.” He added: “We will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won back Europe’s freedom and the long-awaited peace.”
We conclude from this that Russia remains an independent state and is genuinely targeted by the US. America has been pursuing Russia in her lebensraum and working relentlessly towards preventing her from meddling in the affairs of the neighbouring countries. America has been striving to make incursions into Russia’s regional depth in the south, i.e. the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, in order to control the oil and gas resources and their supply routes, and subsequently reduce Russia’s revenues and hamper her spending on Putin’s policy that seeks to revamp the Russian armed forces to face the challenges of the 21st century.
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