October 4, 2019, Strategic Culture Foundation (Russia) https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/10/04/western-zero-sum-geopolitics-is-a-dead-end/
The
US and its Western allies are creating more international tensions and
instability in a futile bid to carve the globe into “spheres of interest” and
“exclusivity”. That’s the way Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov views it,
and few objective observers of international relations could disagree with his
admonishment.
Russia’s
top diplomat says the only way forward is for multilateralism to prevail and
for all states to abide by the principles of the United Nations’ Charter, to
which they are signatories.
A
prime example of the destructive US-led Western policy is seen in the Persian
Gulf where tensions have reached an explosive pitch which could trigger an
all-out war across the Middle East, possibly embroiling the entire world.
There
can be little doubt that the precarious situation in the Gulf is extant because
of Washington’s irresponsible provocations towards Iran. The unilateral
abrogation of the landmark 2015 nuclear accord by the Trump administration and
the militarization of an already dominant US presence in the Gulf over recent
months is
a brazen case of Washington going it alone in contravention of
international law and norms. (Alas, has the US ever been different?, one might
demur.)
In
its unilateral initiative, the US has cobbled together a clique of nations to
support its presumed military right to act as a policeman in the Persian Gulf:
Britain, Australia and Saudi Arabia have indicated they are willing to join a
US “coalition” to purportedly safeguard “freedom of navigation” through the
vital chokepoint in global oil trade.
Declared
intentions aside, the problem is Washington’s attempt to demarcate a “sphere of
influence” in the strategically important Middle East. No matter, it seems,
that this action is seriously aggravating tensions and instability in the
region. Iran has every right to protest what it sees as a US-led campaign of
aggression, piled on top of Washington’s bad faith regarding the UN-endorsed
nuclear accord.
However,
by contrast, a viable way out of the dead-end that Washington’s policy of
unilateralism has created is the formation of a multilateral naval security
system, which involves all nations in the Persian Gulf, including Iran, Saudi
Arabia and others. Extra-regional nations can also be involved, including
China, India, Japan, the European Union, as well as Russia and the US.
Such
a proposal has been submitted to the UN by Russia earlier this year. This week
during a meeting with Sergei Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad
Zarif gave his full support for such a multilateral security mechanism. The
initiative is consistent with UN principles of respecting national
sovereignties and non-aggression. It obviates the notion of nations presuming
to have “spheres of influence”. The latter concept is a relic of colonialism
and imperialism, and should be obsolete in today’s world.
Another
contemporary example of destructive unilateralism is the ongoing conflict in
Ukraine. The country has been trapped in a nearly five-year war in which
civilians in the eastern Donbass region have suffered greatly. Western
governments and media accuse Russia of meddling in Ukraine. But the reality is
that it was Washington and European states that interfered by illegally
overthrowing an elected government in Kiev with a violent CIA-backed coup in
February 2014.
Ukraine
has been turned into a failed state because Washington and its Western allies
wanted to impose a “sphere of influence” on Russia’s border.
It
is patently obvious that such unilateral policy is a violation of international
law and democratic principles. It is a criminal assertion of geopolitical
“interests” and “objectives”. Moreover, such misconduct inevitably leads to a
morass of conflict, destruction and immense human suffering.
The
disgraceful irony is that while Russia is constantly accused, without evidence,
of interfering in other countries, the abundant, irrefutable proof is the opposite:
Washington and its Western allies have an incessant habit of violating and
destabilizing nations and regions in presumed zero-sum geopolitical games.
For
the sake of world peace and progressive development, all nations must adhere to
the concept of multilateralism, mutual respect and genuine cooperation, free of
stereotyping and demonizing others for propaganda gains.
The
question is though: can US corporate capitalism and its militarist machine
abide by that reasonable, minimal demand for international cooperation?
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário