The remarkable and valiant fight put up by the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War actually put an end to the Nazi Germany and buried the Thousand Years Third Reich. Just after the war, the Allies were fearful of the politico-military power of the Soviet Union, and soon they came up with the Truman Doctrine to contain and deter the Soviet Union.
However, in 2005, the Russian President Vladimir Putin called the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” President Putin was right, since the collapse of the Soviet Union was the result of the continued set of conspiracies of the West and resulted in the unrest in the international structure.
The Current International Structure
The basic reason for writing this article is to understand the current status of the international structure. In the contemporary world, the US and its allies seem ever busy in endorsing the sole leadership of the US, almost globally. However, the US is not now and has never been the sole superpower, and there is no such thing called as uni-polarity.
In reality, the current international structure is based on multipolarity, where Russia and China are formidable poles and continue to present open options to the peoples of the free world.
The US Unipolar Moment
Soon after that, the hawk within the US, especially the Neo-Conservatives or Neo-Cons started trumpeting the ‘US Unipolar Moment’ and the sole supremacy of the US in the international structure. They called it the ‘New World Order’. Charles Krauthammer was among the Neo-Cons who celebrated the demise of the Soviet Union and trumpeted the victory of the US. However, the US Neo-Cons were not aware of the fact that the International Relations are dynamic, and its dynamism turns the system against the will and desires of great powers.
The Russia-China-led Multi-polarity
The policymakers in Moscow, as well as Beijing, were closely monitoring the US-led New World Order, and were quite aware of the consequences of such an international order. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the international system was bipolar; however, after the collapse, the international structure became unipolar.
The unipolar international system was completely based on the US-led propaganda and completely neglected the grand strategic importance of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. In 1997, Russia and China jointly wrote a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) to declare the multipolarity.
This is very important to know that why Russia and China jointly wrote the letter to the UN Secretary General. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US and its allies were emboldened and encouraged to establish their supremacy throughout the world.
The US supported the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and gathered all the like-minded Muslims to fight against the Soviet Union. However, just after the withdrawal of the Red Army from Afghanistan, the US as per the expectations abandoned the Mujahideen and a civil war started in Afghanistan that lasted for more than a decade.
Putin-Wang Yi Meetings
On September 12, 2024, the Russian President Vladimir Putin met the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Saint Petersburg in Russia. President Putin said that “Russia and China defend the principles of a just and democratic world order based on international law, sovereignty, and equality.” President Putin also said that “This approach is also supported by the like-minded nations of the Global South, the Global Majority, as demonstrated during the recent BRICS summit.”
The Chinese media reported that both Russia and China are willing to work together and “to advance a multipolar world” especially using the BRICS platform. It was reported that both countries are jointly working on expanding the BRICS cooperation and are actively working on the upcoming Kazan Summit to be held in Russia in October 2024.
In the February 22, 2023, meeting between the two leaders were also geared towards strengthening the multipolar world.
Conclusions
One can confidently conclude that Russia and China are relentlessly working together to free the nations of the world from the clutches of the West. Both, Russia and China, are against the so-called uni-polarity and the New World Order led by the US.
In reality, the New World Order is aimed to ensure the monopoly of the US in world affairs and to reduce the action space of independent nations.
In such a scenario, the Russia-China led multipolar world is a better option, where nations can grow together while cooperating with each other. The BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are two very important multipolar platforms which can help in enhancing international cooperation and countering the threats.
Simon Westwood is a political observer or research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is an independent researcher and journalist working exclusively for “New Eastern Outlook”
