Putin in a different December

This is a different December. This December is far, far different from the Decembers of 1990 and 1991 and 1992.

The difference is stark, as one goes through the statements and observations made by Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader.

In a recent press meet Putin covered a lot of issues — from Ukraine to NATO to China. There are messages in between the lines also.

Putin said: ‘China is Russia’s number one partner, and the two countries have very trusting relations. Russia-China ties are not based on confrontation with anyone else. Russia and China have agreed to develop a shared financial system to reduce reliance on US-dominated platforms. The two countries are in cooperation in the field of security. The countries are developing certain high-tech weapons together.’

China’s economy is already larger than that of the United States, in terms of purchasing power parity. By 2035–50, China’s economy will be the leading economy of the world, surpassing the US in nominal terms.

Meetings on tension in Ukraine are not enough. ‘We don’t care about negotiations, we want results. Not an inch to the East they told us in the 1990s, and look what happened — they cheated us, vehemently and blatantly. Now they’re saying that they will have Ukraine as well. This means they will deploy their weapons there, even if it’s not officially part of NATO. It is now up to the US-led bloc to come up with guarantees ‘immediately’, instead of continuously talking about it ‘for decades.’

The statements are enough to tell clearly what has recently gone and what is going on on world stage.

The recent gone days were not like the December days of 1990 or 1991 or 1992. Those were days of the empire’s assumed single-pole world  — one but me to decide the fate of this planet — that was the empire’s imagination.

The globe, in those clumsy days, appeared fully tilted towards the empire. Groups of countries were sold out to the empire. Bosses were deciding who would grab which part. The empire-in-euphoria imagined — the game is over.

But the empire’s fate was having a silent smile — an omen was there in the smile.

Bosses forgot one fact — contradictions. Conflicting interests were hyper-active below the surface that the bosses miss sometimes. That is the problem with the bosses’ philosophy and the approach the philosophy produces.

Now, there are many actors. The latest is in Chile, not General Pinochet’s Chile, but Allende and Neruda’s Chile.

One of the latest actors is Putin — his position. It is not easy to crack that position. Behind that position, there is a social force with which the empire has yet failed to reconcile with. With increasing competition, it will be difficult to reconcile.

Xi Jinping, China’s leader, is there — a much strong position. It is stronger as it is a stronger China with its stronger economy.

The empire has yet not succeeded to drive a wedge between China and Russia. The plan was with a wedge. But China and Russia understand the wedge game.

The capital that the empire operates with does not have that wedge power. The empire’s major limitation is the rise of monopoly finance capital in its economy, which has turned out as the centre of gravity of the economy.

The empire is failing to handle the changing parts of Latin America. The empire is finding it difficult to handle Iran and India. The empire is finding it difficult to handle Pakistan and Indonesia. There is possibility that the empire will find it difficult to handle Saudi Arabia. In Syria, the empire’s moves are not that easy that it planned. The Afghanistan case is unknown. Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya — the cases are also difficult and uncertain.

Yet, the empire is powerful enough to throw threats to the world.

But that scene may change within decades — Russia and China will, hopefully, grow stronger. Precedents show China and Russia have not faltered in their steps.

On the contrary, ruling classes in the empire are having a difficult time with factional fight.

The repeated talk of possible civil war is a meaningful indicator of the factional fight. Three retired generals, an expert and a part of media’s talk of possibility of civil war, real or fake, warning or propaganda, in the empire signifies something crook in political business. It turns out serious even it is propaganda, even it is a pre-emptive move by one faction against another. It is a real weakness within the empire.

With this situation, capitals in countries obviously are pondering — where is the bigger piece of cake? A group of these capitals is dependent on and tied to the empire. For the empire, it is also a difficult situation — a section of lackeys is turning unreliable. Capital always searches the bigger egg. That is a problem for the empire.

A significant shift in power equation is going on in today’s world. It is going to impact almost all countries, including geographically small and tiny countries. A recent incident including arson in an island country is one of the latest evidences.

This situation is meaningful for both of the ruled/exploited and the ruler/exploiting classes. It will be stupidity to not keep an eye on the developments, and listen to Putin’s pronouncements.

This makes this December different from the Decembers gone in the early 1990s.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/158231/putin-in-a-different-december