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Martin Jacques: the United States is making two huge mistakes
Post on: 2022-03-14 | Martin Jacques | Hits:434

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Let's go back to 1991. The disintegration of the Soviet Union, the end of the cold war and the victory of the United States. Westerners believe that this provides unlimited opportunities. At that time, everything is possible, and the world can be reshaped according to its own image. The restrictions of the previous 40 years have disappeared, and people talk about the new international order. It was a unipolar era. The United States has no rival. It is at the top of the world stage. In fact, if you tell the truth, it is a dangerous moment for the United States. Arrogance has dazzled its mind, and dominating the world is waving to it. We can think that that moment was the beginning of the rapid decline of the United States, which is now so obvious.

The United States is making two huge mistakes. In doing so, it greatly overestimated the significance of its victory in the cold war.

First, it really thinks it can reshape the world according to its own interests. Its victory in the cold war will open a new American century. The neoconservative philosophy of George W. Bush during his presidency led to two disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are typical examples of the excessive expansion of imperialism. Only 20 years after 1991, the United States faced the prospect of disastrous defeat in these two wars. Moreover, we can add that China's development is showing that the world is far from unipolar, but increasingly multipolar. After the cold war, the United States was arrogant and completely misunderstood the development direction of the world.

The second big mistake was the way it treated Russia, which was a critical moment. Will it regard Russia as a defeated country and treat it accordingly, or will it adopt a magnanimous attitude based on the enlightened kindness of the superpower. The United States chose the former. Russia is greatly weakened and regarded as a defeated country rather than a future partner that needs to be cultivated and embraced. The map of Europe is constantly redrawn: Eastern European countries choose to join the EU and NATO, and 15 former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, declare independence. Russia emerged from the disintegration in 1991, leaving only half of its population and three-quarters of its territory. It was humiliated.

Ukraine has always been a key issue and has long been a part of the Soviet Union. As Kissinger wrote with great wisdom in 2014: "whether Ukraine joins the east or the west is often regarded as the key to a showdown between the East and the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and prosper, it cannot be an outpost for either side against the other - it should be a bridge between them." Kissinger's proposal was not adopted by the United States or Europe. NATO expanded steadily, reaching the border of Russia. It is only a matter of time before Ukraine becomes a member of NATO.

With Russia's special military action against Ukraine, the US policy towards Russia has disintegrated. It was seriously misled. Facts have proved that the West's refusal to recognize that Russia has reasonable security concerns is fatal. The core pillar of the US Post Cold War strategy is now fragmented. We return to a situation similar to that before 1989. The war ruled out almost everything else and dominated the news in Europe. This language is reminiscent of the cold war. But, of course, this is not a return to the Cold War era that cast a huge shadow on the whole world. The United States is no longer what it used to be, nor is Europe, nor is Russia. The world has moved forward. 2022 is not 1991. If the West once dominated the global agenda, the situation is becoming more and more different today. Although the Ukrainian war is undoubtedly very important, it is no longer the kind of major global event in 1991.

There is a very important fact that fully illustrates the changes of the times, which could not have happened 10 years ago, let alone in 1991. Europe is under increasing pressure for China to act as a mediator in the situation in Ukraine. The Ukrainian issue is a typical European and Western event. *** Borrelli, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, declared that China is "irreplaceable" as a mediator. "It's clear that we (Europeans) can't be mediators... Nor can the United States. Who else? Only China." This tells us how the world has changed.

One last thought. Like trump, Biden has announced that the priority of the United States now is the Indo Pacific region. As a global overlord who made two huge mistakes when he thought he was omnipotent, the United States has been dragged elsewhere, not long ago Afghanistan, but now Ukraine. Once the United States was willing to undertake obligations around the world, but now, as a declining overlord, especially due to its mistakes, the United States finds itself in a situation of excessive expansion for a long time.


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