State sovereignty and territorial integrity are fundamental values. However, the very notion of state sovereignty is being washed away. Countries that conduct an independent policy or that simply stand in the way of US interests get destabilised. Tools used for this purpose are the so-called ‘colour revolutions’ or, in simple terms, takeovers instigated and financed from the outside.
This is the conclusion of the Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent speech on Russia’s security given by him in the Kremlin during the meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. With Ukraine having received some five billion dollars from the US [1] in the run up to the neo-fascist coup that ousted its democratically elected government, Putin had its close neighbour on its western border very much in mind.
The US historian William Blum has documented the long list of nations that the US has toppled, bombed and destabilized since 1945 [2]. Whether it is CIA-instigated coups in Latin America or aiding or carrying out the mass slaughter of civilians in Indonesia or South East Asia, under the smokescreen of exporting ‘freedom and democracy’ the US has deemed it necessary to ignore international laws and carry out atrocities to further its geo-political interests across the globe.
Post-1945, a powerful Soviet Union served as some kind of counterweight to US aims. Since the break up of the USSR, however, a weakened Russia has served as little deterrent.
In the last two decades, among other things, we have seen the US march into Iraq and Afghanistan, wage proxy wars in Lybia and Syria and destabilise countries from Pakistan, Yugoslavia and Ukraine to Venezuela and elsewhere. Washington is targeting Chinese influences throughout Africa via AFRICOM and is seeking to militarily ‘pivot’ towards Asia in order to choke off China’s rise as an economic powerhouse.
In his speech, Putin noted that destabilisation tactics often focus on a nation’s internal problems. Every nation has problems, especially the more unstable states or states with a complicated regime, which are used to destabilise and break down a country. The forces used to destabilise include radical, nationalist, often even neo-fascist, fundamental forces, as was the case in many post-Soviet states.
Turning to Ukraine, Putin notes that people came to power through the use of armed force and by unconstitutional means. Elections were held after the takeover, but power ended up again in the hands of those who either funded or carried out this takeover. And now, Putin says,without any attempt at negotiations, they are trying to suppress by force that part of the population that does not agree with such a turn of events.
At the same time, Russia is presented with an ultimatum by the US: either you let our proxies destroy the part of the population in Ukraine that is ethnically, culturally and historically close to Russia, or we introduce sanctions against you.
Putin argues that such tactics are absolutely unacceptable and counterproductive. He also warns that such methods will not work within Russia itself. Such a warning stems from the fact that attempts are being made to destabilise the social and economic situation within Russia. It has been a long-standing aim among certain strategists in the US to break Russia up into smaller states to carry out a ‘divide and rule’ strategy. If this is not possible, the aim is to destabilise and weaken the country in order to make Russia compliant with US hegemonic aims.
Putin says that Russia must give an adequate response to such challenges and continue to work in a systematic way to resolve the issues that carry a potential risk for the unity of the nation. He speaks of cracking down on corruption, striving for the better integration of ethnic groups within Russian society and promoting equal rights for all citizens, thereby closing down any opportunities that outside forces seek to exploit.
A major challenge includes sustainable and balanced economic and social development, not least ensuring priority development for strategically important regions, including in the Far East and other areas. Putin recognises that this needs to be taken into account when developing federal and sectoral programmes, improving inter-budgetary relations and building plans to develop infrastructure, selecting locations for new plants and creating modern jobs.
Additional steps are required to decrease the dependence of the national economy and financial system on negative external factors. With threats of ever-more economic sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy, it is for good reason that Russia has been taking steps to decouple itself from the dollar-system of international finance, whether in terms of the newly established BRICS bank [3] or by carrying out major trade deals in the ruble or regional currencies [4].
Putin also says that Russia will react appropriately and proportionately to the approach of NATO’s military infrastructure toward its borders, of which events in Ukraine form part of. He argues that the US Anti Ballistic Missile system in Europe is part of the offensive defence system of the United States and that groups of NATO troops are clearly being reinforced in Eastern European states, including in the Black and Baltic seas.
The scale and intensity of such operational and combat training is growing. In this regard, Putin says, it is imperative to implement all planned measures to strengthen Russia’s defence capacity fully and on schedule, including in Crimea and Sevastopol.
While the mainstream media in the West set out to revive the Cold War mentality and demonise Russia as the aggressor and threat to world peace, Putin’s speech makes clear what most informed people already know: US neo-con strategists on behalf of their powerful corporations are seeking global hegemony and regard Russia (and China and indeed ordinary working class people – the bulk of humanity) as obstacles in their way [5].
These criminals with their warped US ‘exceptionalism’ superiority complex have complete disregard for human life (apart from their own). Putin’s speech is an attempt to draw a line in the sand.
Mr. Colin Todhunter is one of the frequent contributors for The 4th Media.
Notes
[1] http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37599.htm
[2] http://nottheenemy.com/index_files/Death%20Counts/Death%20Counts.htm
[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-nasser-h-saidi/the-brics-bank-signals-th_b_5604294.html
[4] http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/9/russia-banks-currency.html
[5]http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Project_for_the_New_American_Century