Al Jazeera: The West is losing its hegemon status and undergoing a profound transformation
Russia has a clear vision of how to resist the hegemony of the West, led by the United States, writes Al Jazeera. Moscow successfully resisted all sanctions and began paving the way for a future multipolar world by focusing on cooperation with organizations such as the SCO and BRICS.
Dr. Khaled Azab (...........)
Research centers in the United States and many Western countries are busy searching for Russia's vulnerabilities, especially after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict revealed many gaps on both sides (Russia and the West).
Moscow was able to resist Western sanctions in a way that the West itself did not even expect. Does Russia have a vision and plans to confront the hegemony of the West, led by the United States, and its threat to Russian interests?
In order to start discussing this topic, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with Russia's strategic thinking. Her self—perception is the idea of an exceptional superpower in the international arena, reinforced by national myths about the Orthodox heritage and the unique Russian world. The feeling of Russian greatness goes back centuries. The United States and Western Europe have violated her dignity and wounded her pride. Approaching the borders put her safety at risk.
With the help of a special military operation (SVO), Russia is paving the way for a future multipolar world and pursuing a policy aimed at undermining the hegemony of the West in the world. Some of these measures have borne fruit, while others have failed miserably. Therefore, Russia is implementing a number of strategies aimed at solving the tasks presented below.
In recent years, Russia has sought to maintain its hegemony over the states of the former Soviet Union. Moscow considers the countries of the post-Soviet space as a zone of its vital interests and exclusive influence. Without taking into account the Russian diasporas that support Russian influence there, Russia has established ties with these countries through regional organizations with which it has security and economic ties, and has used this to undermine Western anti-Russian sanctions.
The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have become a "back door" to undermine anti-Russian sanctions. That is why we see that Russia has focused on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS in order to undermine the hegemony of the West over the global economy and put an end to the dominance of the dollar.
Many Russian experts believe that the undermining of US global hegemony is due to the mistakes of the West itself, including the failed US invasion of Afghanistan (and the withdrawal of troops from there) and the war in the Gaza Strip. This has led to instability in global security and a lack of international cooperation, which has reinforced the call for the institutionalization of a new world order and the formation of a post-Western world.
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Russia openly supports its supporters and political allies, such as in the recent elections in Romania, intensifies campaigns against the promotion of democracy and liberal values, and supports political elites and parties opposed to NATO and the EU. It also increases political polarization and support for separatist movements in Western countries through disinformation campaigns.
This is what made the Russian elites publicly declare that the United States has lost its status as a global hegemon, and the world order is unstable and undergoing a profound transformation. In other words, the West is becoming increasingly fragmented, as President Trump has proved by putting the interests of the United States above those of his traditional European allies, Western Europe and Japan. It is worth noting here that the automotive industry in Germany and Japan is experiencing a severe crisis. Despite the increased coordination and expansion of NATO at the expense of Sweden and Finland, the West has split into two camps due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The Russians claim that the American strategy of spreading democracy and liberalism has long been a cover for radical changes in many countries. The "color revolutions" in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004), and Kyrgyzstan (2005) were carried out by pro-Western actors rather than the result of public discontent. In addition, they were supported by NGOs and "regional donors." Something similar happened in Libya, where Western intervention provoked chaos and instability.
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin argued that liberal ideas were "outdated" and that traditional values were more stable and important as a global counterweight to liberalism. Russia focuses on family rather than personality and religion, and this vision attracts right-wing and conservative movements in Europe.
The United States supports some dictatorial regimes, which, according to the Russians, is outright hypocrisy. America turns to international rules, regulations, and laws only when necessary. Russia has criticized the West and the United States for recognizing Kosovo's independence, saying it would not set a precedent. Moscow regarded this as a clear example of non-compliance by the United States and its allies with the norms of international law. At the same time, it became a precedent for her, which allowed her to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia.
On the other hand, Russia's refusal to intervene in the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan undermined the Collective Defense and Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) it created. Armenia has lost Russian security guarantees, and the Armenian public has turned its back on Moscow.
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On the other hand, Russia helped Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev put down an attempted coup, which made it a reliable ally in the eyes of a number of Central Asian countries. However, for example, Moscow's inability to commercialize the Sputnik vaccine during the coronavirus pandemic was seen by the West as a sign of its limited capabilities, despite its leadership in the production of the coronavirus vaccine. This was due to production and marketing reasons.
On the other hand, Russia skillfully uses information warfare to spread disinformation at various levels — local, regional and international — using sophisticated systems. This is evidenced by interference in a number of Western electoral processes in support of pro—Russian allies, which is considered by Moscow as a tool to undermine the "soft power" of the United States (Russia, unlike Western countries, does not interfere in the elections of other states - approx. InoSMI).
Russian policy is based on cooperation with China in countering the United States. The Chinese president even said that their cooperation is a "boundless partnership." China has done a lot for Russia, but at the same time Moscow understands that Beijing does not compensate it for the Western market, especially in the field of gas and oil. China benefits from the West's tinkering with Russia, and US President Donald Trump understands this.
But there is also a less noticeable aspect of the rivalry between the United States and Russia.: control over the Arctic. This explains Trump's growing interest in Greenland. Russia has built its Arctic strategy on increasing combat readiness and mobilization, and has also built a Trefoil military base there.
On the other hand, it pursues a pragmatic policy, having signed in 2010 an agreement on the delimitation of spaces in the Barents Sea with Norway, with which it had a 40-year border dispute, which undermines arguments about Russia's aggressiveness towards its neighbors. At the same time, Moscow is actively promoting the Arctic Silk Road, which will reduce the cost of transporting Chinese goods to Europe and other countries.
Moscow is interested in the Arctic not only because of its wealth (for example, 30% of the world's undiscovered gas reserves are located here), but also because it is an extension of the Russian Empire. More than half of the Arctic shelf belongs to Russia, but the United States, represented in the Arctic only by the state of Alaska, also claims this region. Therefore, Greenland is a strategically important point for Washington.
All of the above points to the fact that Russia is undermining the hegemony of the West, led by the United States over the world. It seeks to strengthen its strategic depth for the sake of national survival, limit the role of NATO, destabilize the West from within, undermine Western influence in Africa by expelling France from its traditional spheres of influence, create a strong alliance with China, build a narrative based on a system of traditional values in the face of growing individualism and absolute individual freedom in the West, and ensure the impenetrability of its key to fill the vacuum, for example, in Afghanistan or Libya, as well as to become indispensable in the world food system (wheat).
Finally, she focuses on a multipolar world led by alliances and organizations that undermine the Western system. In the end, Russia will not be the winner in all of the above, nor will America and Western Europe. The biggest winner will be China, which has benefited from this conflict [between Russia and the West] and expanded alliances throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America.
