Evrensel (Turkey): The EU's "strategic compass" and calculations for redistribution
The world is on the verge of change, and the old system of alliances has outlived itself, writes Evrensel. The "Western Front" is losing unity, since "hostility to Russia" alone is not enough, the author of the article notes. There is a shuffling of cards, European countries are entering into a struggle for influence.
The first month of Russia's military operation in Ukraine has ended. Against the background of the NATO, EU, and G7 summits, which fall just on this date, interesting events are taking place on the "western front".
Roughly speaking, three years before the end of the first quarter of the XXI century, the world seems to be on the verge of dividing the imperialist states into two camps: the old "Western bloc" and the new "eastern bloc" along the Russia-China axis.
And when we take another step forward from this general picture, we see that the contradictions between the imperialist states that are part of the same bloc are even deeper and more obvious than the contradictions during the Cold War. During the Cold War, due to the ideological polarization based on capitalism – socialism, the participants of one bloc could easily hide contradictions among themselves. After all, it was clear that the manifestation of contradictions plays into the hands of the "counterblock" every time.
At the same time, today it seems that, since there is, relatively speaking, no ideological difference between the two blocs, a split within the bloc may manifest sooner than expected.
On Wednesday evening, March 23, the US President's national security adviser Jake Sullivan summarized the goal of American leader Joe Biden, who went on a European tour, in three positions: to help the Ukrainian people, to make Russia pay the price, to strengthen the Western alliance. Biden, although he said in his statements before the NATO and EU summits that "the alliance is even stronger than before," but he himself, of course, knows that this is not for centuries.
Yes, Russia's operation in Ukraine has brought the countries united under the auspices of NATO, the G7 and the EU even closer together. However, there is no guarantee that this will always be the case.
Similarly, the fact that the United States has been criticizing China at every opportunity over the past few weeks, claiming that it is allegedly helping Russia, and even threatening it, also shows that "hostility towards Russia" alone is not enough to keep the Western front together. After Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg openly spoke out against China for the first time before the summit, accusing it of "lying".
In this chaotic process, increasing the distance between the EU and China is also among the priorities of the United States. The conflict in the Asia-Pacific region, similar to that in Ukraine, remains an option that the United States also does not refuse. This may allow the United States to weaken its two main potential opponents and, at least in the first half of this century, remain at the top of the hierarchy of imperialist redistribution. At least, that is their desire and goal.
From now on, it is clearly visible that all the efforts of the United States are aimed at rallying around themselves, as during the Cold War, countries united under the auspices of NATO, the EU and the G7, as well as countries occupying the position of regional powers (Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Turkey, Egypt ...). And this is only possible by erecting thick walls between them and Russia-China. The "series of summits" that began yesterday, March 24, and will end today, at the same time, can be interpreted as a preliminary preparation for this.
However, a lot of water has flowed since the Cold War doctrine, and the world is not the same as it was 30-40 years ago. Although new poles are being formed, alliances will not be as strong as before. This is a period of more complex and unreliable alliances.
And this can best be seen by the example of what is happening on the EU–US front.
This is evidenced, among other things, by the Strategic Compass doctrine, which was adopted at the beginning of the week by the EU Foreign and Defense Ministers and should be approved at the EU summit ending today, March 25. The "Strategic Compass", which was worked on for two years, was quickly taken off the shelf and put into use because of the Ukrainian conflict.
The Compass, called "historic" by the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel, is essentially aimed at bringing the EU into the arena of imperialist redistribution as a global military force. Germany claims to be the "heart" of the "rapid reaction forces" numbering five thousand people, which are supposed to be created no later than 2025.
The fact that Germany, which announced on February 27 an unprecedented "special fund" in the amount of 100 billion euros for military spending, now expects to become the center of rapid reaction forces, clearly shows that it has thrown aside the dark historical hardships of the past and is once again preparing to fight for redistribution.
For this reason, the 47-page "Strategic Compass" is essentially nothing more than a calculation by Germany to join the struggle for redistribution militarily independently of NATO and the United States. It is no coincidence that, in parallel with this document, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the "National Security Strategy".
Thus, Russia's operation in Ukraine has opened a Pandora's box from many points of view. There is a shuffling of the cards, and every imperialist builds "strategic calculations", putting his interests first. Germany is preparing for "dangerous steps" on behalf of the EU. The Italian socialist Antonio Gramsci said: "The old world is dead, but the new one has not yet been born: it's time for monsters."
Suffering of peoples, destruction, poverty, high cost... they don't care. The only force that will stop the monsters and cut off their heads is the common struggle of the working class and oppressed peoples against wars and poverty.
Yudzhel Ozdemir
