Time for “the West” to Shake off Its Lose-Lose Strategy
There seem to be two very different but parallel universes shaping up in the world, one represented by the so-called trans-Atlantic world and its military-financial complex, and the other, the “non Western world” or the Global Majority. The first is that of the “rules-based order”, of a dying empire which is increasingly discredited and whose financial system is hopelessly bankrupt, and the second, represented by the BRICS and the demand for sovereign development. Nowhere is the rift more blatant than on the issues of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and NATO’s proxy war against Russia being fought in Ukraine. The double standards flaunted by the transatlantic countries in these two cases could not be more shocking, be it in terms of human rights or international law.
The division was once again clear at the G20 meeting of Foreign Ministers that took place Feb. 21-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with no final statement issued, presumably because of differences. According to the Brazilian read-out, a very large number of representatives expressed great concern about the conflict in Palestine, in particular about Israel’s announced operations in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, and called on Israel to suspend its decision to attack the area. Although the United States refused to call for a ceasefire, and the United Kingdom remained ambivalent, as usual, there was apparently virtual unanimity for supporting a two-state solution.
Moreover, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and his counterparts of the G7 attempted to play up the Ukraine conflict, confronting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with their self-righteous accusations. But that did not fly either, and the Russian minister, who has seen more than one confrontation, was not impressed.
For Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who chairs the G20 this year, the key objective of his presidency is to reform the international system so as to give the Global South a greater voice, followed by the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality. Lula’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, emphasized in his speech that “Brazil does not accept a world in which differences are resolved by the use of military force,” adding that it isn’t even “minimally reasonable” that $2 trillion are spent annually on military budgets rather than directing this amount to economic development instead. “A very significant part of the world has opted for peace and doesn’t accept being involved in conflicts promoted by foreign countries,” he asserted.
In any case, the G20, which was designed from the beginning to be dominated by the G7, is by no means the most important forum for the nations of the Global Majority. The BRICS Plus, which over 20 other countries hope to join, is much more promising. And that group is chaired, this year, by Russia.
The only reasonable option for Western, de-industrializing nations is to abandon their desire for hegemony and to join in that New Paradigm taking shape to build the future. One immediate step in that direction would be to adopt the Oasis Plan for Israel and Palestine designed by Lyndon LaRouche (cf. SAS 7, 8/24, and the video posted here).
