Recent years have given rise to a great deal of evidence that the current governments of some Western nations have stopped taking into account the fundamental rules of international law and are breaking previously made agreements. Their practices include outright lies and deceit; they do not shy away from passing off black as white and proceed to open acts of plunder and theft.
In obvious violation of the well-known Vienna rules on international relations, the Americans are seizing buildings that belong to our diplomatic mission, and the Poles have now followed suit.
The acclaimed Pulitzer-winning American journalist Seymour Hersh detailed how US intelligence agencies blew up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. However, the US pretended not to notice his investigation, despite the fact that if it had been untrue, they might have sued him.
Now that the Western countries are accustomed to referencing a “new world order based on rules,” they have no qualms about seizing the $300 billion that rightfully belongs to Russia and wound up in their financial institutions.
Currently serving as leaders in some Western nations are individuals that have a history of criminal activity, are primarily motivated by personal gain, and have virtually no strategic vision.
The most striking example of this is former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He organized merry parties during the fight against the pandemic, when all events of this kind were banned by his own instructions, but these regulations, as reported in the British press, apply only to ordinary people in Britain but do not apply to those in power. When these facts became public, Johnson was forced to resign as prime minister. However, it has recently come to light that he also lied to a parliamentary commission made up of members of his party, and so he must surrender his mandate as a member of the House of Commons. It is worth noting that several British newspapers called Boris Johnson a charlatan.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who held a referendum on leaving the EU seven years ago, also proved to be very short-sighted as he hoped that London would remain in the European Union. Subsequent prime ministers have been one worse than the other.
Recently, one of BREXIT’s enthusiasts, Nigel Farage, stated: “Brexit has failed …, We’ve not delivered on Brexit.” As the London newspapers emphasize, subsequent heads of cabinet “have failed to take advantage of what they consider to be significant Brexit freedoms”: these include the ability to deviate from the European Union in areas such as taxation in order to gain a competitive advantage.
Recent polls of the British population show that 56 percent of Britons think Brexit was a mistake.
And Johnson was a zealous supporter of aid to Ukraine and orchestrated a campaign of attacks on Russia. He and other leaders of Western powers have repeatedly instructed us how to behave and how to build our policies. The European Parliament was particularly vivid in admonishing our country to adhere to European values. Its members are the most fond of lecturing to different countries: a few months ago, several members of the European Parliament, known for their “moral values” were arrested for bribery, among them the Vice-President of the European Parliament.
Former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, who recently passed away and proved himself to be the brightest star on the European political scene, referred to German Chancellor Scholz as “a very average politician.” French President Macron’s rating has fallen to a record low in recent years: the French are unhappy with the pension reform he has drafted.
The Paris riot in early July showed that the current president is unable to cope with the country’s urgent problems. (A large part of the population did not listen to Macron’s appeals, but to the appeal of the murdered young man’s grandmother.)
US President Biden is coming under increasing criticism, including for trying to protect his son, the scandalous lobbyist Hunter Biden. Republicans are vigorously trying to investigate not only Hunter’s machinations but the entire Biden family, while openly threatening impeachment.
Some of today’s leaders, Putin said on June 16, do not even have higher education, but this is the specifics of the political system in some countries; it throws people with, let’s put it this way, weak educational background and cultural level to the top. Putin also said that Jacques Chirac, when asked why the American leadership behaves so aggressively and shortsightedly in some cases, replied, “because they are uncultured.”
25% of the world’s 100 richest people have no college degree, and most of those who have a bachelor’s degree (68%) own businesses unrelated to their qualifications.
The renowned philosopher Michael Sandel noted the staggering inequality of access to education, which is largely due to inheritance and donor appreciation.
All of this demonstrates an ignorance of an objective development process.
Perhaps the most eloquent example of the inadequacy of some Western leaders is the statement made by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to an Italian newspaper in February of this year: “The defeat of Russia became the raison d’être of Poland,” not the improvement of the Polish people’s welfare, nor the strengthening of Warsaw’s international position, but the annihilation of the Moscow state.
All of this is amusing, but given that these men are in charge of powerful nations and some of them have access to nuclear weapons, many people are more aware of imminent danger.
In early July this year, Harper’s Magazine pointed out that the US had made a fatal mistake by not being afraid to upset the “delicate balance of terror” and stop treating Russia as a country to be reckoned with. According to the author of the article, Washington’s policies have brought the world to the brink of nuclear war: The US has created ever-expanding borders of insecurity by “unceremoniously expanding its nuclear security commitments.” Moreover, the US side did so knowing that Russia is a country with its own nuclear arsenal and aversion to its absorption into the global order on US terms.
Veniamin Popov, Director of the “Center for Partnership of Civilizations” in MGIMO (U) MFA of Russia, Candidate of Historical Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
