I wrote this reblogged essay four years ago. Since then, even though it may appear that U.S. imperialism’s schemes have killed hope by producing a new war in Europe, Washington’s provocations against Moscow have actually backfired on the empire. Operation Z has accelerated the transition into a multipolar world order, freeing more of the globe from imperial control and making easier the task of revolutionaries in the core.
“…… At a moment when the U.S. empire was already in a state of rapid decline…..”
Please allow me to offer a modification to your statement.
The empire is not declining. The empire’s power is not declining. ON the contrary, the empire has just proven that at the flick of a fingers it can make Europe (which is has occupied militarily since 1945) commit harakiri - and hand over all its money to the empire while doing so. The same of Taiwan. And Japan (also occupied since 1945) and Korea (occupied since 1950s) heading that way too. Ukraine is literally estinguishing its male population of prime adult age just to serve the empire.
What’s happening?
The empire’s…..SOFT power is declining…in the developing world and in the BRICS.
On the other hand, the empire’s military power has never been stronger. And they are completely amoral about using it to break things and leave huge swaths of the world in a smouldering heap. Which is what they have done in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia…you get the picture. The pace of destruction is actually accelerating.
Oh and the rich billionaires in the empire. are richer than ever before. That’s what they meant by “build back better”.
The war in Syria was driven by a desire to build a gas pipeline from Qatar to the EU. This would allow the EU to break its dependence on Russian gas. There was no viable way to go around Syria.
Assad had rejected the pipeline, as any transit fees Syria could earn would be more than offset by the loss of Russia as an ally. That meant Assad had to go.
For Russia, losing Syria would have meant losing the revenue from EU gas sales within a few years, so they had no choice but to intervene.
Great article. Keep up the good work. 👏🏽👏🏽
“…… At a moment when the U.S. empire was already in a state of rapid decline…..”
Please allow me to offer a modification to your statement.
The empire is not declining. The empire’s power is not declining. ON the contrary, the empire has just proven that at the flick of a fingers it can make Europe (which is has occupied militarily since 1945) commit harakiri - and hand over all its money to the empire while doing so. The same of Taiwan. And Japan (also occupied since 1945) and Korea (occupied since 1950s) heading that way too. Ukraine is literally estinguishing its male population of prime adult age just to serve the empire.
What’s happening?
The empire’s…..SOFT power is declining…in the developing world and in the BRICS.
On the other hand, the empire’s military power has never been stronger. And they are completely amoral about using it to break things and leave huge swaths of the world in a smouldering heap. Which is what they have done in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia…you get the picture. The pace of destruction is actually accelerating.
Oh and the rich billionaires in the empire. are richer than ever before. That’s what they meant by “build back better”.
The war in Syria was driven by a desire to build a gas pipeline from Qatar to the EU. This would allow the EU to break its dependence on Russian gas. There was no viable way to go around Syria.
Assad had rejected the pipeline, as any transit fees Syria could earn would be more than offset by the loss of Russia as an ally. That meant Assad had to go.
For Russia, losing Syria would have meant losing the revenue from EU gas sales within a few years, so they had no choice but to intervene.