In the West, contemporary politics would have folks believe that the crises in the world are the fault of Russia, China and anyone who opposes the Rules Based Order, a mindset that grew after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Soon afterward the Project for a New American Century was implemented. There would be no opposition to Anglo-American hegemony, or else.
Russia, of course, was looted by Western powers in cahoots with Russian oligarchs, until Putin was elected and put and end to it. NATO increasingly moved eastward. Ukraine President Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014. Vice President Biden and other administrations encouraged this by spending $5 billion in Ukraine since 1991. Ukraine Neo-Nazis began slaughtering ethnic Russians in the Donbass. After 14,000 deaths, Putin ordered the Special Military Operation.
His repeated calls for negotiations were sabotaged or dismissed.
China is now an economic powerhouse. Successive U.S. administrations and congresses for decades encouraged American deindustrialization, globalization, and other policies which hollowed out our economy, while sending jobs, industries, and technologies to China. China said thank you and pulled 800,000 people out of extreme poverty.
Russia and China are founding members of the BRICS+ that’s developing a new financial and security architecture. The Global South which holds 2/3 of the worlds’ population is waiting to get onboard, bringing development and modernity to their peoples. As the Rules Based Order collapses, desperation by the U.S. threatens nuclear annihilation. Contemporary politics avoids this truth at all costs.
Nicholas C. Kockler