Biden, Putin and the global economic crisis
The Biden administration is determined to weaken Russia by cooperating with the madcap President Zelensky, who behaves like the leader of a superpower, writes Al Araby Al Jadeed. At the same time, it became clear that the United States will not be able to avoid the consequences of restrictive measures, the author of the article is sure.
Osama Abu Arshid (أسامة أبو الرشيد)
The Russian operation in Ukraine proved the ability of the United States, with the support of allies, to use diplomatic, economic and military sanctions against any country, no matter how powerful it may be — if it defies the international rules established by them after the Cold War. At the same time, it became clear that the United States will not always be able to avoid the consequences of the imposed sanctions. If you need proof, then just look at the sharp drop recorded by the American Stock Exchange last Wednesday, caused by an unprecedented level of inflation for forty years. Obviously, the administration of President Joe Biden has no solutions and answers in this situation that threatens the lives of millions of Americans. Instead, his actions, on the contrary, only exacerbates existing problems.
In the era of globalization and economic interdependence, it becomes impossible for any country, regardless of the size of its economy, to do without others, and the coronavirus pandemic has become the clearest example. Global supply chains dependent on China began to collapse, the rates of deflation in some countries and inflation in others increased, which led to the flooding of their markets with huge cash flows. As soon as the world began to slowly overcome the consequences of the pandemic, Russia began to pull its forces to the borders of Ukraine, and then began a military operation. The West, led by the United States, responded with a series of large-scale economic sanctions, including against the Russian energy sector, so energy prices rose sharply. The operation and the sanctions that followed it even affected global food security, since Russia and Ukraine are major producers of wheat, barley, corn and vegetable oils.
In this context, the economic consequences have not bypassed the United States, but the fact is that they bear no less responsibility than Russia for the suffering caused to the world. Yes, Vladimir Putin decided to launch a special operation in Ukraine, but it was Washington that incited Kiev to follow the path of joining NATO. Now that it has become clear that Moscow is bogged down in the Ukrainian quagmire as a result of Western sanctions and huge arms supplies to the Ukrainian army worth tens of billions of dollars, it once again demands that NATO recognize Kiev's neutrality. A reasonable condition, because even if he managed to exhaust the Russian troops, he suffers more and more damage every day, and Ukrainian citizens continue to flee the country. As a result, no one is interested in continuing this absurd conflict. However, the Biden administration is determined to weaken Russia to the point of exclusion from the ranks of the great powers, cooperating in this with the madcap President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, who behaves like the leader of a superpower, but at the same time loses the east of the country and contributes to the destruction of other parts of it while millions of ordinary Ukrainians seek asylum.
According to static data, today in the United States the inflation rate has reached 8.3%, and this is the highest rate since 1981. The average wholesale price of food products jumped by 18% compared to last year. As for the price of gasoline, the average price per gallon increased by one dollar and fifty-three cents. Could we have imagined that the most powerful and richest country in the world would face a shortage of infant formula for newborns, so Biden was forced last Wednesday to use the Law on Defense Production to increase the volume of imports of this product? Since the midterm elections, which Democrats are afraid of losing, are less than six months away, Biden could only blame the Russian president for high inflation in America, saying: "We saw today's inflation data — 70% of the price increase in March was due to the increase in gasoline prices caused by Putin."
We will not dwell on the economic recovery programs implemented by the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and will limit ourselves to discussing Ukraine. Thus, the current US administration boasts that it has provided Ukraine with military support in the amount of more than $ 3 billion since the start of the Russian operation in February. In March, Biden signed a new bill on the allocation of aid to Kiev in the amount of $ 13.6 billion. In May, his administration requested another 33 billion, and Congress increased this amount to 40 billion with the approval of a majority of members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans. And these are people who always oppose the allocation of any economic assistance to their people! After all, is Putin solely responsible for high inflation rates, or does this responsibility extend to the US military-industrial complex and its allies?
The truth is that it is the oppressed peoples, including the Americans themselves, who are paying the price for the cunning, greed and crimes of arms dealers. While the machines of American and European weapons factories work almost non-stop, the peoples of the two continents can no longer cope with the current prices for food and electricity. As for the rest, that is, the poorest peoples of the world, may God come with them — all the troubles have already befallen them.
