Despite Its Growing Isolation, NATO Escalates War Plans
As the power structures of the West and of NATO are increasingly discredited and rejected throughout the world, these same forces are attempting to save their system by maintaining and escalating tensions. Although all honest observers recognize that Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a PR trip to Kyiv last week, to promise increasing support to President Zelenskyy (cf. below). At the same time, German, Finnish and Swedish authorities have all announced that their countries must prepare for war with Russia on European territory in the next few years. The elections in Taiwan have been used, in particular by Washington and Tokyo, to threaten military action and other reprisals against China.
In Southwest Asia, not only is the brutal war in Gaza escalating, but it now threatens to spread to the Red Sea, with the United States and the United Kingdom launching totally disproportionate missile and other strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. An expansion of the military action to the Hezbollah and Iran could trigger the explosion of the entire region – and beyond.
The push for war and conflict, however, is not proceeding unchecked. The nations of the Global Majority, rallied around the BRICS, are building and strengthening new institutions to meet their common and mutual needs. The totally founded legal complaint against Israel for genocide in Gaza, presented by South Africa last week, is a stunning example of the moral leadership that Pretoria, with the support of many others, has assumed (cf. below). Unfortunately, “the West” is on the wrong side of history on this as well, with Germany going so far as to make itself a third party to the case in support of Israel. If the United States wanted to, it could pressure Israeli into accepting a ceasefire in exchange for the hostages, as many in the Israeli opposition are demanding, but that would not fit into Washington’s permanent war policy.
As of Jan. 1, both Saudi Arabia and Iran, the erstwhile enemies, including in Yemen, are officially members of the BRICS Plus and now have other perspectives to look forward to, rather than being used as geopolitical pawns in the “Great Game”. Another new member of the group, Egypt, just received Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for an official visit. An agreement was signed on joint work “on high-quality construction of the Belt and Road to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results at a higher level”. Moreover, Beijing has announced a far-reaching strategic initiative to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with all of Africa this year.
Europe could decide to join this dynamic, instead of preparing for war and imposing austerity on the population to prop up a hopelessly bankrupt financial system. That should become the focus of the mass protests that will certainly grow over the coming months.
