Afrasianet - The concept of "Western cooperation and alliance" in confronting Russia, during the first year of the Ukraine war... How did it contribute to the escalation of the war? Was it real, or is Washington controlling the decision? Will it continue?
A year after the start of the war in Ukraine, this crisis revealed the extent of the discrepancy in Western positions regarding the relationship with Russia, and revealed the existence of a clear rift in the Western alliance, which raised a number of questions about the unity of the Western position in the face of Moscow.
Despite the clear differences in the Western camp regarding several files, such as imposing sanctions on Russia and supplying arms and ammunition to Kiev, there was agreement among the major Western powers on one goal, which is to fuel the war against Russia and support its continuation, in order to weaken and exhaust Moscow. .
“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kiev, this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and between Russia and the United States and Britain, basically,” said the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, stressing that “the plans of the Westerners are to continue to dismember and erase Russia.”
Ultimately, from the political map of the world. Patrushev's words indicate that the West views the battle with Russia as an existential battle.
Therefore, he unified his efforts and harnessed his alliances in order to achieve his goal. How did the concept of "Western cooperation and alliance" affect the war in Ukraine?
Did it contribute to the escalation of the war instead of calming it down? Western cooperation to escalate the war? The major Western powers entered the war, indirectly, with the aim of exhausting the Russian army and leadership.
The West, led by the European Union and the United States, deals with the Ukrainian war on the grounds that it is an arena of exhaustion and weakening of Russia and the government of President Vladimir Putin.
Brussels and Washington have not made great efforts to ease the crisis between Russia and Ukraine since its inception, but rather moved in the opposite direction, by providing weapons and ammunition in order to fuel the ongoing war.
Despite the great human and material losses in Ukraine, the Western camp seemed only interested in achieving its interests and reaping its gains, as it supported Ukraine militarily without directly engaging in the war, and obstructed any efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
This was expressed by the former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, during a meeting of the British House of Commons, last April, by saying that "we simply have to do everything in our power, collectively, in order to ensure the failure of Vladimir Putin, and his comprehensive failure." .
In the same context, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, confirmed that the defeat of the Russian forces would not be enough.
He admitted, "We want to see Russia so weak that it can't do the things it's done" in its war against Ukraine. These Western confessions confirm that the Western alliance aimed to defeat Prussia through a proxy war, drown Moscow more, implicate it and drain its resources.
This emerged through the imposition of continuous packages of sanctions on Moscow, since the start of the war until now, with the aim of weakening its economy and exhausting the capabilities of the Russian state. And the matter was not limited to this point, as the Western camp's effort to pump all kinds of weapons, in large quantities, into Ukraine, based on the Western conviction that continuing to support Kiev and strengthening its defense capabilities will ensure Russia's military attrition.
Despite the significant differences in the positions of the countries affiliated with NATO, NATO, and the United States regarding the nature of this military aid and the need to send it, the Western alliance has been constantly raising the level of Western arming of Ukraine, thus contributing to the escalation of military aid. war against Moscow. In addition, observers believe that this war could have been avoided since the beginning of the crisis, had Western leaders responded to the legitimate Russian security demands, stressing that the West was not serious from the outset in reaching an agreement with Russia, whether regarding security guarantees or the implementation of an agreement. Minsk related to eastern Ukraine.
This was confirmed by the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, by saying that the West procrastinated in implementing the Minsk Agreement in order to give Ukraine time to wage war against Moscow.
This, if anything, confirms that the West had no intention of reaching a peace agreement or a military truce, but rather was striving to ensure that war would occur and the fighting would continue for as long as possible.
Is it really an alliance? The heavy Western military support for Ukraine, along with the economic sanctions it imposed on Russia, did not pass without catastrophic adverse consequences for the West, as this caused the depletion of weapons from stockpiles, in addition to the economic recession, which plunged the Western economy into successive crises, which had direct repercussions.
The escalation of demonstrations denouncing inflation and the high cost of living, in addition to the decline in the purchasing power of European and American citizens.
These results were among the concerns of a number of European countries, which were keen, since the beginning of the war, to maintain their cooperation with Russia, due to the vital interests that unite them with it, so they took cautious positions, based on the fact that their economic interests are at the priority of their calculations, especially since the sanctions Against Russia threatening its economy.
Therefore, several European countries were keen to focus on diplomatic methods to reduce escalating tensions due to the Ukraine war, with no desire to escalate against Russia, in order to preserve their interests with Moscow. However, things did not continue in this way, because the United States pushed matters in a direction similar to what happened during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq:
“He who is not with us… is against us,” by portraying the war against Russia as a matter of defense. Western Civilization" and "Western Values". The Russian concept of war was not far from that, but the difference here is that the United States classified "Western values" according to its own interests, while the Kremlin sees it as a war against the West, which the United States reduces to its own interests.
Therefore, when Moscow spoke of being at war against the "collective West", it meant the American concept of that which placed Europe within the realm of a vassal rather than an ally. This is clearly evident during this crisis.
It was not surprising, then, that the United States was more keen on perpetuating the war, because it collectively seeks its own interests, and not the interest of the Western alliance.
The aim of prolonging the war in Ukraine was to consolidate the bases of Western hegemony, led by the United States of America, and to prevent the emergence of any competing power with the West, by raising the cost of the Ukrainian war.
Who benefits most from the continuation of the war?
The United States, without a doubt, as it was not by chance that the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, who represents the interests of the American giant Raytheon Corporation for military industries, managed the war against Russia, on the Ukrainian side.
Early last month, the American newspaper Politico reported that senior European officials were angry with the Biden administration, and accused the United States of profiting from the Ukraine crisis, by selling gas at high prices, and by selling weapons.
According to an analysis conducted earlier by the British "S&P Global Commodity" for the "Financial Times", American oil producers have reaped more than $ 200 billion in profits, since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, as they benefited from the geopolitical turmoil that destabilized the global energy market. , and led to an increase in prices.
While the European Union countries are trying to reduce their dependence on Russian energy sources, they are turning to American gas, but the price Europeans pay is nearly 4 times the same fuel costs in the United States.
It is clear, then, that the United States was leading the Western trend to escalate and prolong the war, so that the American administration would invest personally in the Ukrainian war, and exploit it in order to reap gains, albeit at the expense of fragmenting and destabilizing the economies of its allies. Does it continue?
A number of questions are being raised about the possibility that what we are witnessing today is the peak stage for what the West calls an alliance, as there are difficult choices ahead, which may make it difficult for the Western powers to follow in the same way. Europe may seek its own interests, especially as it faces difficult possibilities, including the possibility of a continuous rise in energy prices for years, a decline in industrialization and a decline in living standards, and the possibility of a trade war with the United States in the event of a global recession.
And European countries have witnessed growing anger, in recent months, due to US government support for some national sectors, which negatively affects European industries.
The alternative is to raise European fears of “selfish” American decisions, after Washington has proven that it puts its own interests above any consideration, even if the matter is at the expense of threatening its relationship with its allies.
The West, especially Europe, will be more affected by the prolonged war, due to the continued flow of refugees, high inflation rates, and various types of economic and political pressures, which may create problems and political divisions regarding ways to deal with the crisis, which may cause problems within the European Union countries, threaten his loneliness.
It is rare for political positions to be fixed in wars and conflicts. Thus, it may be wrong to assume that Western unity will continue, automatically, during the coming challenges.