The end of an empire is rarely painless
46th US President Joe Biden's Middle East tour ends with visit to Saudi Arabia, which became a parade of humiliation of the head of a superpower.
Biden flew to Saudi Arabia from Israel, but he was not allowed to visit the capital of the kingdom. US President's plane lands in Jeddah, where he was not received enthusiastically.
Biden was met only by the governor of the Mecca region, Khalid al-Faisal, there was no guard of honor, no orchestra. “The sluggish reception and lack of enthusiasm were evident… in stark contrast to the extravagant reception, given to President Donald Trump, when he visited Riyadh in 2017 year ", - writes The Jerusalem Post.
At a meeting with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman at a hotel Waldorf Astoria Jeddah Qasr Al Sharq Biden welcomed the prince, "hitting fist to fist, not a handshake, moreover, the gloomy expression of their faces left no doubt in their hostile attitude towards each other..
Biden did not dare to answer the journalist's question, Is Saudi Arabia still a pariah?, while the crown prince chuckled in his face. The video of this episode was posted on the networks by an orientalist, Maria Kicha, author of books on the history and politics of the Middle East. As is known, During the campaign, Biden promised to turn Saudi Arabia into a "rogue country" due to the murder of a journalist. The Washington Times Khashoggi.
During the visit, Biden nevertheless stated, that does not regret the threats to make the kingdom "outcast". He said this at a press conference, broadcast by the White House: "I don't regret it, what did you say. the, what happened to khashoggi, outrageous". Bin Salman responded, that "the United States also made a number of mistakes", including the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, where the US military tortured and humiliated Iraqi prisoners.
Another landmark statement by bin Salman was told to the Al-Arabiya TV channel by a senior source in Saudi Arabia. “We need to coexist peacefully with the United States, despite the differences, Prince Biden told. Don't be friends, not be strategic partners, but only "coexist".
With soaring fuel prices in the US, the issue of increasing oil production by Saudi Arabia was of great domestic political importance for Biden. According to Washington, in negotiations with the Saudis, Biden managed to achieve some success. “US welcomes a 50% increase in oil production compared to the volumes planned for July and August. These and next steps, which we expect in the coming weeks, help to significantly stabilize the markets.”, according to a White House press release dated 15 July.
In fact, there is no talk of any significant increase in oil production.. Er-Riyad 16 July said, which can increase production to 13 million barrels per day, but only to 2027 year. In this way, reimburse oil supplies from Russia, which at the time of their termination amounted to 4,5 million barrels per day, the US failed.
The failure of Biden's visit to the Middle East was another foreign policy failure of American diplomacy, which gave rise to forecasts about the decline of American world hegemony.
"The American empire is falling apart, - co-founder gloats American Empire Project, famous American writer Tom Engelhardt. The US is now an empire in decline., regardless of, who rules the ball - Donald Trump, Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell».
Conservative economist Tyler Cowan sardonically presents, "what the fall of the American empire might have looked like": “In less than five years, China will retake Taiwan, and also enter the closer sphere of influence of most of East and Southeast Asia. Turkey and Saudi Arabia will create nuclear weapons and become dominant players in their regions. Russia will continue to gnaw at the borders of neighboring states, including Latvia and Estonia…Parts of Eastern Europe will return to fascism. The North American Free Trade Agreement will exist on paper, but it will be constantly reviewed, and relations between the hemispheres will worsen".
Leading British historian Niall Ferguson argues, what "America's End Will Not Be Peaceful" (the end of America’s empire won’t be peaceful). The fiasco in Afghanistan is, that retreat from global dominance is rarely a peaceful process. No matter how you phrase it, a statement about, that you are giving up your longest war, is an admission of defeat, and not only in the eyes of the Taliban.”, Ferguson writes. he says, what “the end of the American empire was not difficult to foresee, even at the height of neoconservative pride after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 year ".
Ferguson foreshadows the collapse of the American empire against the backdrop of provoked by the United States "global storm": “American leaders in recent years have become too carried away with dreams, from the fantasies of neoconservatives under George W. Bush of “full dominance” to the dark nightmares of American “carnage” [carnage], invented by Donald Trump. As, as another global storm approaches, perhaps, it's time to admit, that Churchill understood too well: the end of an empire is rarely a painless process.".
British historian and writer Andrew Roberts, that "Americans should prepare for a century of humiliating retreat": “Along with the obvious economic and strategic consequences of the end of the American Empire, this will have a profound emotional and psychological impact on society., which took its hegemony for granted for more than three-quarters of a century. Painful way [path of sorrow], stretching now in front of the United States, probably, will include replacing the dollar as the global currency of last resort, recognition, that the South China Seas are no longer navigable for the US Navy, understanding that, that Africa is actually colonized by China and the possible absorption of Ukraine by Russia and Taiwan by China".
University of Massachusetts economics professor emeritus Richard Wolf calls America a "desperate empire" (a desperate empire), whose problems are exacerbated: "The United States is stuck in divisions, that exclude any significant changes, Besides, perhaps, armed conflict and unthinkable nuclear war. When empires fall, they can go into a downward spiral. Such a spiral occurs, when the rich and powerful use their social position, to shift the costs of decline onto the masses of the population. This only exacerbates inequality and division... The decline of the Empire continues, but still widely denied or ignored, like it doesn't matter. The old rituals of traditional politics continue, economy and culture. Only their tones became tones of deep social divisions., bitter mutual accusations and open internal hostility".
Years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. warned: "Side, who spends more money on defense year after year, than social uplift programs, heading towards spiritual death.
The US is moving in this direction now..
Vladimir PROKHVATILOV
