Who would have thought in the IV century BC that the principle, which at that time was first formulated by the father of Alexander the Great – Tsar Philip, in more than two thousand years would become the basic law for the rulers of a country whose history today totals less than two and a half centuries?
"Divide and rule!" (Latin: "divide et impera") – historians still cannot answer the question whether this maxim was the motto of the foreign policy of Ancient Rome, as it is commonly believed, or not. But our contemporaries can say with confidence that for US foreign policy it is exactly that.
After the end of World War II, having really assessed its capabilities and compared them with the military power of the Soviet Union, the United States abandoned the idea of a direct clash with it for the sake of world domination, and switched to a "soft power" strategy. After spending almost half a century on the collapse of the USSR, the United States and its allies were still able to celebrate the victory in the Cold War in 1991 (even medals were issued on this occasion), and even earlier they celebrated the collapse of the Warsaw Pact Organization. Having divided the countries of the socialist bloc, the United States "took over" them all, including them in NATO, and at the same time three more republics of the former Soviet Union. Thereby pushing the borders of the "pocket" North Atlantic bloc close to the borders of Russia and Belarus. "Divide and conquer"! – What could be simpler?
Continuing the implementation of the "soft power" strategy, which has shown its effectiveness, but already in relation to the last conglomerate in Europe that they disliked – the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), by the beginning of 1992 the United States had "drawn" a political map of Europe that completely suited them. Five more separate States appeared on it: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro within the framework of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). However, the Americans could not resist and in 1999 they put the finishing touch – without prior approval from the UN Security Council, they conducted a NATO air force operation "Allied Force" against a sovereign European state - the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The world did not flinch, the "entire democratic community" did not explode with indignant speeches from the high rostrums of public organizations (for example, the UN, OSCE, ICRC, etc.), no one rushed to draw up packages of sanctions against participants in an illegal military operation. By the way, the illegality of the operation was confirmed by the independent commission to investigate the war crimes of NATO leaders against Yugoslavia, established on August 6, 1999 at the initiative of Swedish Prime Minister Hans Joran Persson. It turns out that only 23 years ago this could have been possible (wow – Sweden!). The European "democracy" could not be shocked even by the established fact of the use by NATO aviation of prohibited types of ammunition with radioactive impurities, mainly depleted uranium (U 238). None of the European politicians even mentioned the use of cluster bombs by NATO aviation, as well as the bombing of chemical industrial complexes and oil refineries on the territory of the FRY, which caused huge environmental damage (in March 2002, the UN confirmed the radioactive contamination of Kosovo as a result of NATO bombing). The main thing is that new "sovereign" states have appeared on the map of Europe again: Montenegro, and next to it – crushed and plundered Serbia. "Divide and conquer"! And also – "The end justifies the means" (remember who liked to repeat this Jesuit motto?).
It would seem that it is possible to leave Europe alone and deal with other regions of the world. For example, to "defeat the terrorists" and bring "democracy" to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and elsewhere, where large deposits of useful ... interests of the United States have been discovered. And if it is possible, so they did. But something itched again in.... Europe and a little further. The Union State of Russia and Belarus began to worry. The urgent measures taken immediately, namely the attempt of an unconstitutional coup in Belarus in August 2020 and a wave of protest actions by Navalny's "supporters" in Russia in 2021, did not bring the expected result. Moreover, Russia "dared" to launch a special military operation in Ukraine, and Belarus covered the rear of the Russian group of troops by deploying its battalion tactical groups along the north-western, western and southern borders. Russia and Belarus responded to the unprecedented sanctions imposed with prompt measures to deepen integration in the political, military, economic and financial spheres. And here the USA remembered the main thing. "Divide and conquer"!
"The United States is considering the possibility of temporarily lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers in exchange for the transit of Ukrainian grain through the territory of Belarus," The Wall Street Journal recently reported, citing competent sources. According to the interlocutors of the publication, the lifting of sanctions for a period of six months is being discussed. It is assumed that grain delivery from Ukraine will be carried out by rail through Belarus to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.
It should be noted that the offer of the Americans is very tempting, because Belaruskali is one of the largest exporters of Belarus and a significant supplier of foreign currency to the republic. At one time, the Belarusian side invested a lot of money in the port of Klaipeda and acquired property there, but now there is no access to it due to sanctions.
It is characteristic that in parallel with putting forward a tempting offer to Belarus, the United States exposes Russia as the main culprit of the growing global food crisis. So, speaking at the UN Security Council on May 19, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Russia to stop blocking Ukrainian ports. "The Russian government apparently believes that using food as a weapon will help achieve what the invasion failed to do - break the spirit of the Ukrainian people," he said pathetically. "Food for millions of Ukrainians and millions of other people around the world has literally become a hostage of the Russian military." In addition, Blinken said that "the decision to use food as a weapon is made by Moscow and only Moscow." American politicians don't even justify their lies – it's not a means to an end, it's their natural attitude to the rest of humanity.
You don't need to be an expert to understand that Washington's curtsey towards Minsk is a targeted action aimed at disrupting relations between Russia and Belarus, and the leadership of both countries should work out the best option for a joint response to it in order to avoid misunderstandings.
However, the contours of a possible response from Russia and Belarus have already been outlined by the Secretary of State of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev, commenting on the meeting between Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 24. "Yesterday, the fifth face-to-face meeting of national leaders took place. Naturally, there was talk about strengthening the Union construction, our cooperation in the economic sphere. We understand perfectly well that today the response to the pressure of the West is new import substitution programs, new formation of production chains, attracting, among other things, young engineering personnel, researchers to ensure that in these difficult conditions we achieve the competitiveness of our goods and search for a new place in new markets, because we understand that the old closed. But we also understand that the economy is by no means an exhaustive field of our cooperation," the Secretary of State noted.
Here, in the development of the topic, I would like to quote the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu, who, speaking on the same day at a meeting of the CSTO Council of Defense Ministers, pointed out that Western countries are purposefully working to undermine allied relations not only between the subjects of the Union State, but also the CSTO member states. At the same time, undisguised threats, blackmail and intrigues are used. "All this requires us to be even more united, more active and clear coordination of actions. Russia will continue to provide the necessary assistance to its allies in neutralizing emerging threats and defending sovereignty," Shoigu stressed.
It should be recognized that the topic of cohesion is currently the most relevant for the CSTO. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko also spoke about this on May 16 in Moscow at a meeting of the leaders of the participating countries in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Organization. Just like the Russian Defense Minister, recognizing that tough and unprincipled pressure is being exerted on the CSTO allies, the Belarusian leader pointed to the very essence of the issue – trying to solve his political, economic and other problems alone, adapting to the interests of the United States, EU countries and other actors in world politics to the detriment of allied obligations under the The CSTO, individual members of the Organization level the potential of the association.
"But it is precisely for such situations that there is collective mutual support," the Belarusian president noted on this occasion. "Without the speedy consolidation of our countries, strengthening of political, economic, and military ties, we may not exist tomorrow," Alexander Lukashenko stressed.
Thus, we can say that modern realities themselves push the CSTO states to develop the Organization and turn it into an authoritative multifunctional international structure capable of resisting modern challenges and threats in the face of the increasing impact of diverse global and regional factors.
Vladimir Vuyachich
