A Palestinian song related to current geopolitical events. English subtitles available as CC.Singers: Mohammed al-Arani (محمد العراني) and Suhaib al-Jamma'in...
I used to think like that, but after seeing this comment I agree with it (https://hexbear.net/post/219294/comment/2791966). I'll quote it below:
I can no longer agree with this statement.
After 6 months, it has become very clear the reasons why the vast majority of the Global South stands with Russia on this issue, which was certainly not the case with the Iraq War.
Even if we admit that Russia is doing this purely for its own selfish reason, even for its own imperialistic ambitions, we cannot deny that the fact that Russia has done more anti-imperialism in 6 months than the Western anti-imperialist left had done in 20 years.
North Korea is now sending its construction workers to rebuild Donbass. Iran secured a great energy deal from Russia and the North-South Transport corridor (INTSC) is in full swing to bypass the Suez Canal, bringing economic growth to the regions. Thanks to SWIFT sanctions, the Mir payment system is starting to be deployed in Cuba, which will only bring closer economic integration with Eurasia and a relief from Western embargo and sanctions. Even the US is considering lifting sanctions on Venezuela, providing them with a stronger leverage for further negotiations.
All these are merely the immediate results made possible by the Ukraine war in 6 months. These are real material benefits to the people living under US sanctions for decades, not some empty anti-imperialist slogans that we on the left are so proud of ourselves but have zero political impact on the real world.
But what I think is the bigger story that everyone has missed is this:
On August 5th, the desperate US diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield went to Africa to “lecture” them about what they can or cannot buy from Russia, which pissed off many African countries. 3 weeks later, China announced debt writeoff for the African countries. This is a total PR victory for China and you will soon see the full pivot of African countries toward China in the near future, and these opportunities are only made possible because of what happened in Ukraine.
And all this is just the beginning. The dedollarization will diminish the US foreign policy influence across the world, and will allow left wing movements and governments in the Global South the ability to assert themselves with much less fear from Western financial institutions (IMF, World Bank) or US-funded right wing death squads.
What’s more, this is the first serious decoupling attempt from the West that does not end in complete destruction of the initiating country (remember Iraq, Libya?) The entire developing world is watching closely to see if Russia can successfully decouple itself from the hegemonic Western neoliberal system, and if they do, this will be a tremendous confidence boost for many developing countries to follow. No matter if they succeed or fail, it will be an important lesson to every leftist anti-imperialist who seeks to end the US hegemony.
I will just end with a quote I saw from Chinese social media early in the war (they are far more dramatic than I ever could be):
"In 1917, Russia showed the world how it was possible to achieve a socialist revolution.
In 2022, Russia will once again show the world how it is possible to decouple from Western hegemony."
No matter what you think about Russia, whether you like them or not, due to its unique geostrategic position, Russia will always be at the forefront of world changing events. And we are indeed living through a world changing period right now. Every leftist who claims to be anti-imperialist should pay close attention to what Russia is doing and there will be valuable lessons to learn from.
Wow, that’s so cool, it also put two more countries into NATO and gave an excuse for every Western nation to dump trillions into the military industrial complex and may end up re-arming Germany! Imperialism is soooo damaged!
I think your reading of this comment is wrong and some of the anlysis of this way too charitable and is unable to separates certain events from one another. I agree with the conclusions in last paragraph that is useful to learn lessons from their decoupling. I do not agree and do not see a basis to assert that the intent of Russia's invasion was to decouple it's economy in some noble pursuit of a grander anti imperialist cause.
When the post speaks to African nations strengthening relations with china as a positive it ignores the large suffering that will be caused by resulting famines from the conflict, sanctions are part of this but you know a intense land war on the arable land itself is also a factor(?). It just feels like some people here are ignoring the suffering that this war has caused. The tens of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian conscripts don't deserve to be fed into the meat grinder of two competing right wing governments. The people who will starve do not deserve it. The comment you quote comes off(again not saying that's the intent) like it comes from a position of privilege and it dismisses real human suffering that is born out of any war.
Sorry if my writing comes off as unfocused or inconcise on phone and don't practice writing enough.
I used to think like that, but after seeing this comment I agree with it (https://hexbear.net/post/219294/comment/2791966). I'll quote it below:
Wow that is a SOLID material analysis. Someone should make that into a pinned post. Kudos to the original commenter.
Wow, that’s so cool, it also put two more countries into NATO and gave an excuse for every Western nation to dump trillions into the military industrial complex and may end up re-arming Germany! Imperialism is soooo damaged!
I know, smdh why didn't russia hit the big "end western imperialism" button , classic blunder right there
I think your reading of this comment is wrong and some of the anlysis of this way too charitable and is unable to separates certain events from one another. I agree with the conclusions in last paragraph that is useful to learn lessons from their decoupling. I do not agree and do not see a basis to assert that the intent of Russia's invasion was to decouple it's economy in some noble pursuit of a grander anti imperialist cause.
When the post speaks to African nations strengthening relations with china as a positive it ignores the large suffering that will be caused by resulting famines from the conflict, sanctions are part of this but you know a intense land war on the arable land itself is also a factor(?). It just feels like some people here are ignoring the suffering that this war has caused. The tens of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian conscripts don't deserve to be fed into the meat grinder of two competing right wing governments. The people who will starve do not deserve it. The comment you quote comes off(again not saying that's the intent) like it comes from a position of privilege and it dismisses real human suffering that is born out of any war.
Sorry if my writing comes off as unfocused or inconcise on phone and don't practice writing enough.