GT: the conflict in Ukraine has accelerated the collapse of the US imperial hegemony
The conflict in Ukraine has accelerated the collapse of the US imperial hegemony, writes American political scientist Aaron Goode in an article for GT. According to him, Washington's "worst geopolitical nightmare" will come true because of his decision to unleash a conflict and force Russia to launch a special operation.
The armed conflict in Ukraine either comes to a bloody impasse, or turns into a successful war of attrition for Russia. In such a situation, statements are increasingly being made that Washington's worst geopolitical nightmare may come true because of the fighting. If so, then the American elite can only blame itself for this. Apparently, the United States has entered a period of decline, when geopolitical games aimed at preventing the decline of imperial hegemony only accelerate its collapse.
When Russia launched its military operation in 2022, it came as a surprise to many on the left flank. It seemed to them that this was contrary to Moscow's national interests. In the United States, alarms sounded and warnings were issued about an imminent Russian offensive. But everyone is well aware of the false stories with weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and with Rashagate, and therefore it is easy to understand why so many thought that the American leadership and corporate media were lying as always.
Veteran journalist Joe Lauria from Consortium News clearly understood what could happen. His website was created by the legendary journalist Robert Parry (now deceased), who was forced to leave the media serving corporate interests, as in his materials he regularly exposed the duplicity, hypocrisy and criminal nature of American foreign policy.
In his article dated February 4, 2022, Luria wrote that the United States has a plan to weaken Russia through punitive sanctions and condemnation of Moscow by the world community. But this plan depends on how successfully Washington will be able to ignite hysteria about the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
The United States has repeatedly provoked its opponents to wars, which, according to the ruling elite, contribute to strengthening American hegemony. This was the case in 1979, when the USSR invaded Afghanistan, and in 1990, when Iraq attacked Kuwait.
There are many reasons to believe that the United States thought the same about the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. The strategic importance of Ukraine for Russia is undeniable and quite understandable. When Moscow launched its military operation, reports gradually began to appear that until February 2022, the American leadership did not appreciate Ukraine's chances of winning the conflict, which Zelensky did not really try to avoid. The Intercept publication wrote: "The Central Intelligence Agency was pessimistic about Ukraine's chances. His leadership reported to President Joe Biden and other leaders that, at best, the remnants of the defeated Ukrainian army would start a guerrilla war against the Russian invaders."
A few months before the start of hostilities, Yahoo News, citing knowledgeable sources in the CIA, reported that the United States "trains Ukrainians in insurgency, teaches them to kill Russians." Acting according to the patterns of the darkest times of the Cold War, the CIA was preparing "sabotage forces" in Ukraine.
Looking back, we understand that the United States carried out the expansion of NATO with the intention of accepting Ukraine into the alliance. At the same time, they were well aware that this would become a red line for Moscow. Similarly, a Russian military alliance with Mexico would be unacceptable to the United States. Now we know that the American leadership negatively assessed Ukraine's chances of success in the armed conflict, which could well have started because of Ukrainian statements and actions. We see that before the start of the operation, the United States rejected any attempts by Russian diplomacy to unblock the crisis.
Obviously, America wanted to use military actions to damage Russia, because it would certainly get stuck in its long occupation and bloody guerrilla war. The United States also tried to impose a sanctions regime, cutting off Russia from international trade, especially with Europe. This explains why the United States and Britain disrupted peace talks that could have ended the war in Ukraine back in April 2022.
But the distraught realists from the US power elite cruelly erred in their assessments of the military, economic and diplomatic aspects of the Ukrainian conflict, and military actions accelerated the decline of American hegemony. As Fiona Hill, a professional American imperialist, recently acknowledged, "the armed conflict in Ukraine is, perhaps, the event that makes the collapse of the world in an American way obvious to everyone."
The American leadership can only blame itself for this, and no one else. The pursuit of eternal world domination has always been madness. In the past, American leaders have tried to stop the imperial urges of the United States. Now that America's global hegemony is coming to an end, will the new American leadership after Biden be able to succeed where his predecessors failed?
Author of the article: Aaron Good
