In recent years, the political landscape in the world has changed so much, that the further preservation of the existing relations between Russia and the West has lost all meaning. The balance of power between us changed dramatically in the post-war period at least three times.: as a result of the division of the world after the Yalta Conference, during the first phase of the Cold War, culminating in the victory of the West, and the second phase of the Cold War, until now not finished yet. In the course of it, the collective West, represented by the US and the EU, came out significantly beaten in the political, economic, and most importantly, militarily.
It may seem strange, but such a significant degradation of the West (like the United States, and Europe) caused, by and large, by one reason - the moral and intellectual degeneration of Western elites.
As is known, the fish rots from the head. And the rot started from the United States. The conditions for this arose as a result of a combination of circumstances and, surprisingly, due to the transformation of the United States into an unconditional economic, industrial, financial and military leader following World War II.
Of great importance was the appearance in the United States, and then the USSR has nuclear weapons. The latter circumstance was a guarantee of preventing a third world war..
The entire post-war period, the Soviet Union acted as a catch-up because of the economy, ravaged by war, and lack of human capacity, lost in the war.
The result is known: The Soviet Union economically could not withstand the arms race. This was one of the reasons for its collapse in the 90s of the last century and was regarded by the West as a global defeat of the USSR in the Cold War imposed on us..
It's all so, except for some nuances: the unleashing of a war between NATO and our country could have occurred solely at the initiative of the West. Under these conditions, the USSR was forced to mobilize all its organizational and intellectual forces.
It may seem paradoxical, but the collapse of the USSR objectively contributed to the revival of Russia. She freed herself from the huge costs of maintaining many union republics., which previously hoped to be brought up to the level of the Russian Federation. And this was done contrary to the same Marxist philosophy - by trying to drag essentially feudal societies into socialism, bypassing the capitalist formation.
We all saw great, what came of it. Most notable, but, there were consequences for the former Soviet republics. But what are the deep, but non-obvious processes originated from this in Russia, becomes clear only today. When Russia, in a very short time, quite unexpectedly for the West, on an intensively developing industrial and scientific base, turned from a “gas station country” into the most advanced military power, leaving behind not only Europe, but also the United States with their monstrous military budget.
Remaining in the illusions of its recently political, economic and military superiority, USA, as they thought, could afford to relax irresponsibly, as a result of which they made fatal mistakes for their future. The military budget was exorbitantly inflated, however, this did not lead to a qualitative take-off of the American military-industrial complex, but to an unprecedented wave of corruption in this area.
In pursuit of profits, the most important production facilities with advanced technology were exported to third world countries. (first of all, to the Asian region), which created a large number of competitors for the United States there and allowed China to make a huge industrial and intellectual breakthrough.
I list these known facts and circumstances for one purpose.: demonstrate, how existence in a lasting peace, with no danger of being drawn into a third world war, weakened and corrupted American society, contributed to the growth of corruption in the country, led to an underestimation of the economic consequences of decisions. Including the emergence of an unimaginable external debt, capable of destroying the financial system of the United States and its satellites in the future. it, in its turn, contributed to the emergence of extremely low-level elites from a professional and moral point of view.
Given America's continued military capability, what worries me most is the intellectual level of their political and military elites..
And if with the US military we sometimes manage to achieve some semblance of mutual understanding (eg, sometimes it happens in Syria), then dialogue with overseas politicians seems almost impossible. Partly because at present in the States, all the most important political decisions are made not by the executive branch., and an extremely ideological congress in a state of Russophobic hysteria. And the level of political literacy of congressmen, to put it mildly, It leaves much to be desired. And it's not even about their political and legal knowledge., but about elementary general knowledge, sometimes not reaching the level of a Russian high school.
It happened, that Russophobia turned out to be the only ideological base, able to unite various American political forces, torn apart by internal contradictions. The development of a dialogue with the United States is also hampered by the tense domestic political situation in the country., and the establishment of moral standards in American society, destroying traditional family values (flourishing LGBT communities, transgender tendencies, etc.. P.).
As long as the Americans are smart enough not to allow the outbreak of a nuclear war with us directly. But that fact worries, that many modern politicians have a noticeably lower perception of the threshold of nuclear danger, than their predecessors of the 60s and 70s of the last century.
They have no understanding, that the unleashing of armed conflicts along the perimeter of modern Russia can lead to an involuntary global military confrontation between Russia and NATO. conflict, in which the United States will no longer be able to sit comfortably across the ocean, because in the event of the outbreak of hostilities involving NATO, Russian nuclear missiles will first of all be aimed at defeating the military, US industrial and energy facilities.
In this regard, the intensification of military preparations of Ukraine in the Donbass is alarming., as well as the defeat of the opposition forces and their media there. Everybody knows, that not a single decision is made by the Ukrainian government independently today, and everything is consistent with the US Embassy in Kyiv.
In this regard, it should be remembered, what exactly from Joe Biden's trip to the Donbass as Vice President of the United States in 2014 year and military operations of Ukraine against the LDNR began. Looks like, that even now, due to his intellectual abilities and age-related metamorphoses, Sleepy Joe is simply not able to come up with something new. As well as calculate the consequences of their decisions not only for Ukraine, but also for myself.
In the current situation, Russia and the United States have fewer points of contact in all areas. And out of old habit, coming from the 90s of the last century, American politicians consider themselves entitled to shamelessly interfere in our internal affairs, constantly reading lectures and introducing various kinds of sanctions.
The very meaning of the word “sanctions” has been significantly distorted over time., and Zelensky now refers to any illegal repressive measures against the political opposition in Ukraine as sanctions.
European politicians also fall into fatal delusions or illusions, not understanding (or unwilling to understand), that the five-hundred-year period of Europe's domination of the world rested in Bose.
The post-war world has undergone dramatic changes largely due to the mistakes of Western elites., too relaxed in a peaceful life. The numerous local wars unleashed by the USA and NATO around the world were for them, like hot spices for meat: just added flavor to life.
Prolonged existence in such a carefree and safe state contributed to the degeneration of the elites., new, whose formation took place according to the laws of nepotism (in the broadest sense of the word), not "natural selection".
A massive economic crisis is finishing off the West, and it has intensified many times over due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
the, How do states deal with this scourge?, testifies not only to the degree of effectiveness of the leadership in the field of healthcare. As is known, in the world, the most affected by the epidemic is the United States - the most powerful state in economic terms. What testifies to the general professional level of its leaders, who, with the next change of political power, also change approaches to the organization of the healthcare system. And at the same time, they are not able to properly adapt it to the possible emergence of an emergency in the United States..
One can imagine, what will happen, if these authorities suddenly encounter hostilities on their own territory. And such a scenario is becoming more and more possible due to the growth of internal contradictions..
Meanwhile, the number of victims from COVID-19 in the United States has already exceeded the number of Americans, fallen in the last two world wars.
And already, of course, not in favor of the leaders of Western countries say attempts to write off all their shortcomings, errors and malpractice on the pandemic. They are trying to consolidate society and allies by the “traditional” way of appointing an external enemy, what, naturally, habitually considered Russia. And at the suggestion of the United States recently - and China.
The degradation of political elites in Europe has its own characteristics. If immediately after the war and somewhere before the end of the seventies, the Europeans managed to nominate worthy politicians in the professional sense of the word (Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Willy Brandt), then in the future this process went downward.
Modern EU leaders completely lack strategic thinking. It is replaced by sweet memories of, how satisfying and calm Europe lived under the American boot and a nuclear umbrella in the post-war years. And that, that the "Marshall Plan" and endless US subsidies for the European economy led overseas sponsors to a critical situation in their own country, for some reason it doesn't count.. Attempts by Donald Trump to rectify the situation and save the States from a serious crisis are perceived by Europeans as an extremely unfriendly step..
Meanwhile, Europe in the 90s had the opportunity to maintain a well-fed and safe life! It was about attempts to create, on our initiative, a political union between Russia and the EU. European leaders, but, did not take this opportunity seriously because, What was Russia then?, in their opinion, quite a pitiful sight.
However, and Nikita Khrushchev was suspicious of the phrase thrown by General de Gaulle at one time about the need to build Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. Later, during a meeting with the Soviet ambassador to France, S.. A. Vinogradov, de Gaulle said: "The time will come, when we will build Europe together with the Soviet Union".
Khrushchev did not understand the great geopolitical meaning of this phrase. The leaders of the united Europe of the 1990s did not understand our message about the creation of a political union between Russia and the EU..
But the story could have gone in a completely different direction.. Europe and Russia would be guaranteed a long and stable peace; unification of economic, scientific and energy potentials would give a synergistic effect to the entire geopolitical project.
But history, as is known, does not tolerate the subjunctive mood, and today, instead of the failed era of tranquility and prosperity, we are forced to consider the issue of a significant adjustment of relations with Western countries in the direction of their reduction. We have to take action in case the situation develops, which could lead to armed confrontation with the West and, god forbid, to the third world war.
Politically and economically, Russia is increasingly forced to turn towards the East. Relations with Asian states have developed unusually rapidly in recent years.: China, India and ASEAN countries.
This is a promising market for our traditional products: energy resources, arms, and lately food.
Most of all, the West is afraid of our military-technical rapprochement with China. Fears, but does everything for it, not just cooperation in this area between our countries, but conditions were also formed for the creation of a military-political union.
For the time being, we are held back by the hypothetical danger of falling into excessive political and economic dependence on China in this case.. However, under certain conditions, eg, in the event of a sharp aggravation of the military-political situation in sensitive areas for us and China, such as Ukraine, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the creation of a military-political alliance between Russia and China may become inevitable.
The theoretical possibility of such a development of events, albeit not too specific., allowed and. AT. Putin during one of his public speeches.
While Europe stands, like a famous fairytale hero in front of a stone, where it is written “you will go to the left ... you will go to the right ... you will go straight ...”. And there are no bright prospects in any of the directions..
In this situation, it is difficult to talk with a united Europe. rather, there is no one to talk to. And most importantly, that the Americans are pushing the Europeans towards the most catastrophic development of events - the disruption of the almost ready-made joint project Nord Stream 2. God bless him from an economic point of view! The Germans would still be forced to pay all the costs incurred by the parties in court. The thing is different: disruption of the finished project or giving the Americans the opportunity to cut off gas supplies at their own discretion will be perceived by Russia as a process of politicization of energy supplies. Neither the USSR allowed this, nor the West in the most difficult days of the Cold War. If this happens, then this will give Russia the right to use all oil supplies for its political interests, gas, coal and electricity to Europe. what, properly, and the Americans are trying to aggravate relations between the EU and Russia and prevent the development of economic and political ties between them.
How this could affect Europe during another extremely cold winter, easy to imagine.
Hoping for it, that at a difficult moment, America will definitely come to the rescue, of course, can, but, likely, she will help as well, how it “helped” Europe with a vaccine during a pandemic, and even earlier with medical masks. Remember, Europe has already paid for them, but the United States bought at a higher price the goods already ready for shipment: and masks, and vaccine.
Talking about all this with the Europeans is useless. They understand everything so well., but continue to live in illusions and hopes for the restoration of the former transatlantic alliance, forgetting, that you can't step into the same water twice.
What is Russia to do in this situation?? Turn even more intensively towards the East and wait, what, may be, Europe will finally be able to nominate a leader on the level of de Gaulle, convinced of the need to build a union between Europe and Russia. the main thing, so that such a leader does not come too late - before, how European countries will actually turn into some kind of western outskirts of greater Eurasia or a classic US colony.
Sergey Kuznetsov,
