Hegemony is at stake, and the world is too

Salvador González Briceño

10/09/2014

Opinión

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Russia, after the offensive in Ukraine: the enemy to overcome.

The United States is still on the alert. The offensive against Russia continues on the world stage. There are a number of fronts involved, but the most threatening is that of the war in Ukraine.

This is at least the scenario where the most perverse games of political chess will be decided, with violence against innocent civilians in the east of that country. This is being carried out with a clearly pro-western ally: President Poroshenko.

That is to say, with the openly militaristic participation of NATO commanded by the US, the aim is to encircle Russia with a double objective: 1) to maintain, whatever the cost, the imperial hegemony over – or against – the whole world without opposition, because the economic crisis urgently demands this; 2) to gain control over the regions of eastern Europe – once “communist” – and Central Asia, given their enormous energy supplies. Or to plunder them without competition, as has been happening since the events of 9/11.

Ukraine is the centre of attention, although ISIS has appeared as a threatening “distraction”, with its indiscriminate campaign of assassination in Iraq and Syria, alongside the lost war of Israel against civilians in the greatly devastated and besieged Gaza Strip. All these fronts lead to one thing: the pretext of the United States and its allies, through the employment of the military power of NATO, to threaten or even invade Russia. This is the current objective.

Why else would the recent NATO summit of 28 countries decide to increase their budget by a minimum of two per cent, in order to “create a rapid action force against Russia”? “We have agreed on a plan to reinforce the collective defence of NATO. This expresses our solidarity and our resolution”, said spokesperson Rasmussen with reference to the continued militarist presence in the east of Europe, in particular Ukraine.

After the failure of the ruse of blaming the pro-Russian Ukrainians for the downing of the Malaysian aircraft, presenting Russia as the stage-manager, the “western allies” continue to look for pretexts to justify a possible attack: NATO has also just sanctioned the use of military force on the pretext of and in response to cyber-attacks carried out against any member country. “Today we declare that cyberdefence is part of the central task of NATO as collective defence”, added Rasmussen in a press conference on Friday, September 5. Yet another pretext.

This is not the scene of a “new cold war”, nor is it a question of NATO hegemonism, but it is still using a western war against Russia, as a potential “enemy” that is competing and gaining ground, even as it looks for alliances with countries such as those of Latin America, and promoting caravans with food for civil zones hit by violence, such as that unleashed in eastern Ukraine.

This is a well-planned offensive orchestrated by a group of European “allies” whose governments look to overcome, at any cost, a crisis that is harming them and affecting their standing with their own peoples. The US looks even further: to win the battle against Russia, going ahead without getting their own hands dirty, pushing their allies to the forefront, and triumphing by gaining control of these large regions with ample energy supplies.

They also have two further considerations: to get out of the economic and financial crisis at their door, and to acquire the strength to confront China in the world market. Hegemony is at stake. The problem is that the world is too.

(Translated for ALAI by Jordan Bishop)

Salvador González Briceño is director of the newspaper El Día en 2009. Director of Reporte México. sgonzalez@reportemexico.com.mx

https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/103264?language=en