Washington as a failing player in great-power-competition is trying to rig the context by acting as the umpire. It is caught in its old paradigm of competing by posturing, while the world has moved on to relations based on practical proposals and tangible results.
Global War on Dissent
Therefore, Washington accused China of doing what it has been doing, but without any evidence. Its attack on free media was also noted earlier in 2021 when it shut down 36 Iranian media sites, greatly limiting the diversity of voices, far beyond what China could achieve by buying stakes in other outlets. From the foregoing, Washington has been silencing dissent by attacking the media from its appointed ‘adversaries’. The reason for this cranky behavior is that Washington has been yanked out of its comfort zone, where it thrived by causing chaos and posturing through its media as the savior, to current times where it has to compete with parties that are presenting practical developmental solutions to their partners.
Washington in Unfamiliar Paradigm of Competition
While Russia and China are interacting with Africa through partnerships in security, donating grain and fertilizer, and building infrastructure, Washington bets on winning through indoctrination of Africans, which is strange. Africa stagnated in the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s due to endless cycles of Washington-led chaos orchestrated through interventions and bombings in Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Sahel. Such occurred in the post-soviet paradigm, when The East was weak and looking inwards. Things have changed, such that the Russians the Chinese are back with practical partnership solutions as opposed to the west’s plunder and neocolonialism. Washington knows that its old mentality, ‘Chaos Strategy’, stands no chance, but is too arrogant to change. Instead, it chooses to smear and silence the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians’ points of view on global affairs.
After the dissolution of the USSR, Washington implemented policies to make the rest of the world chaotic, and pose as the only source of stability to maintain global leadership. However, CSIS in 2015 revealed that many countries have learned that Washington cannot solve this chaos, and are seeking solutions elsewhere. As Washington was planning and fanning chaos, the Russians were rebuilding from the post-soviet collapse while the Chinese were rapidly industrializing to become ‘the world’s factory’ and mastering advanced infrastructural technologies. Meanwhile, The US was distracting Africa, especially Kenya, using threats it was fanning regionally. It never proposed meaningful development in infrastructure such as ports, airports or rail. Resultantly, it had nothing to mention during the highly dramatized Kenya’s state visit to Washington in May 2024, when both celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations. Amidst the US distraction, successive Kenyan regimes prided themselves in ‘building peace in the region’ by mediating numerous conflicts the pentagon was fanning and ignored development. Resultantly, Socio-economic collapse was eminent in the late 1990s, a period characterized by old and failing infrastructure, failing economy and crime. This reality changed in 2002 when a sober president rose and turned to the east, especially China, which brought cheaper technology for development. Kenyans were able to access Chinese technology including motorcycles, computers, solar panels, and small machinery costing a fraction of, but superior to, their western options. This change boosted the country’s economy, beginning a transformation that has continued to date. Nationally, the Chinese investment enabled construction of major infrastructure including the 10-Lane Thika Superhighway, Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway, and the Nairobi expressway. Kenya has experienced unimaginable infrastructure change in the Capital Nairobi, and major cities of Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru since 2002, enabled by Chinese technology and investment. Oppositely, no infrastructure of any significance has been built by Washington over the said 60 years of relations with Nairobi. Russia has given grain and fertilizer assistance to Africans including Somalia and Kenya, and is assisting Sahelian states to conclusively eliminate Washington’s terrorist chaos. The Americans are becoming agitated because they have nothing to offer than the façade of being a solution to their perpetual chaos. This explains pentagon’s effort to silence the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian media which offers objective information to deconstruct Washington’s neocolonial narratives.
Posing as the Deciding (Not the Working) Tribe
After failing to compete on merit, The US, wishes to act as a referee and rig the great-power-context in its favor. Blinken’s announcing the creation of a resilient global information system that will elevate ‘objective facts’ and make ‘deceptive messages’ ‘gain less traction’, shows such efforts. The said system allows only Washington DC, and London to decide and dictate what objective facts for the whole world are. A brilliant example of such was when Accurate Hunter Biden’s laptop story was ranked as ‘deceptive message’ by 5 unknown intelligence officials, and the FBI ordered social media platforms to suppress it until Joe Biden was elected. Similarly, Washington, and London decided that Iraq’s Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) tales were ‘objective fact’, and were widely reported by the western Mainstream Media. The contrary story, which was made to ‘gain less traction’ has turned out true. While announcing sanctions against RT, Blinken named three parties that Washington’s ruling tribe think should decide for the whole world; US, UK, and Canada. He added how their intelligence services ‘unearthed’ RT’s wrongdoing, and proceeded to announce intelligence diplomacy in which Americans embassies will share this information to host countries. This ‘diplomacy’ will essentially mean spreading Anglo-Saxons biases (interests) to influence sovereign decisions of how other nations should relate, showing modern-day imperialism. Similar efforts may have been taken concerning China and Iran. Information remains America’s last ditch effort to appear relevant to other countries after three decades of its chaos strategy. However, real security solutions, technology, infrastructure, and trade offered by the Chinese and Russians to their partners will defeat scaremongering and chaos, any day. Washington should accept this logical conclusion and change accordingly to salvage its reputation of having a chaotic, and insane foreign policy.
Simon Chege Ndiritu, is a political observer and research analyst from Africa, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
