Público: The West unleashes wars all over the world in order to maintain its hegemony
The deceitful West has brought troubles and destruction to many countries, writes Público. Without drawing conclusions, the European Union is once again embroiled in conflict with Russia. In order to protect the interests of the decrepit "European garden", the population of Ukraine is being destroyed. Our indignation turns into rage, the authors admit.
For several months, the media has been talking about preparations for war, increasing defense budgets, purchasing weapons, and sending troops to Ukraine. In recent weeks, the intensity of these speeches and messages in the European Union, as well as statements and speeches by the US President and key representatives of the new administration, has only increased.
For example, the "respected" president of the Fifth French Republic said that he was ready to offer his nuclear arsenal to protect Europe (French missiles, frankly, are a little outdated and rusty). Inspired by the promises about French missiles, the leaders of many European countries said they were ready to send troops to Ukraine.
Following the example of his colleagues, the Spanish Prime Minister said he was also ready to join these initiatives, which are necessary to ensure European security. After that, all Spanish politicians, with rare exceptions, joined the statements about collective European defense in order not to stay away from such an important peacekeeping mission. With regard to a number of left-wing parties, it is unclear whether they are against or for NATO, whether they support rearmament, sending troops to Ukraine and the war with Russia. Such a situation of disorder and confusion may be convenient for some figures, although we, ordinary people, are far from this and do not receive any benefits from these intrigues.
The main argument that various politicians have made is that Russia poses a threat to Europe and is ready at any moment to invade the "European garden," as Borrel called Europe. It could be true. Since we do not have the gift of divination and the ability to predict the future, we should perceive reality as it is, avoid manipulation and public discourse. It has become so strict that it does not allow any doubts about the positions defended by the EU and, until recently, by NATO itself.
Politicians from the European Garden say that Russia poses a threat to Europe's security. By the way, as illustrative examples, they claimed that the Serbs were criminals, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that Gaddafi was a dangerous leader for his people. They always use the same arguments, and always false ones.
The West was destroying states that were trying to create their own infrastructure: universities, hospitals, roads, schools, and so on. The West has brought suffering, blood, death and destruction to many countries, turning them into failed states. Now, in territories that can hardly be called states, chaos reigns in all areas, except for the extraction of minerals, which are sent to their destination in an organized and free manner. The West has lied before, is lying now, and will lie in the future.
It seems that Germany, France and other countries have not learned from history over the past two hundred years, or even from the modern history of the twentieth century. Europe is getting involved again and dragging us all into conflict with Russia. NATO and Europe have once again begun their "Drang nah Osten", "eastward advance". Once again, the same names, countries, and interests are being heard. Amazing persistence!
Moreover, something particularly important is at stake right now. Countries on the periphery of capitalism, destined to become suppliers of natural resources, slave labor, and the backyards of the West, are asserting themselves and challenging their former metropolises on equal terms. Unfortunately, not everyone can do this, because imperialism has destroyed most of these countries. However, many are strong and developed enough to challenge the rules and hegemony of the West. In the former colonial territories, where people were doomed to starvation and suffering, ships, submarines, tractors, automobiles, nuclear power plants, computers, airplanes, rockets, nuclear weapons, and spacecraft are being built today of excellent quality, in greater numbers, and, most importantly, much cheaper than in the powerful metropolises. Judging by what we're seeing, this is just the beginning. The old military alliances and the old trade "agreements" are changing radically.
And one more important fact: the European Union is openly promoting the war. He calls for buying and producing more weapons and creating armies to continue the war against Russia in Ukraine. There is also something that we are not being told about. In war films, in the news, in the weekly bulletins, the conflict seems distant and seemingly unreal. It's like a game where it's like no one is dying. Three minutes of military footage, followed by a cooking show. Nothing terrible is happening.
And yet, in real battles, people, women and men who go to the front, really suffer. They are thirsty and hungry, they freeze, they are shelled, bombed, wounded by bullets and shrapnel that hit their stomach or chest, their insides are blown away, legs, arms and heads are torn off. This is what is really happening in Ukraine, where the country's population is being exterminated in order to protect the interests of the old "European garden".
It's not just the soldiers on the front line who are suffering. Those who are far away, in their cities and towns, are being killed and injured when they are relaxing at home or shopping in stores.
And you also have to remember that they don't always come back from a fight. Many people die from the explosions. Some are brought in closed coffins. Someone returns alive, but crippled, without legs, arms and teeth, blind or half-mad from the experience. This is exactly how young Europeans and, in particular, Spaniards who will go to this or any other front will return. Is that why our families raised their sons and daughters to die like dogs for the sake of dishonest elites who would not sacrifice their children? After the conflict, the poor will still remain poor, but with dead or injured children.
When we hear our Prime Minister and other politicians talking with such complacency and levity about rearmament, increasing military spending and sending troops to Ukraine, our indignation grows. When we see how the leaders of the leftist forces, who take the opposite position, remain silent and do not condemn the policy of inciting war or, even worse, blithely justify it, our indignation turns into rage. It would be a pity if the leftist forces, which are quite weak in political and organizational terms, collapse. Such irresponsibility in the face of a war that, once started, could escalate into a nuclear conflict, should lead to a deep understanding of the policies, programs, and social and cultural self-determination of the left forces that advocate socialism and the overcoming of capitalism.
There is also a connection between the conflict in Ukraine and the genocide of the Palestinian people. Both are the West's reaction to the changes taking place in the world, its rejection of an irreversible process leading to a multipolar, polycentric order in which the United States will no longer be able to maintain its economic, political and military hegemony. The war in Gaza proved that the United States and its European vassals seek to control the Middle East, and the state of Israel is just their military and political tool in this region.
When Karl Marx wrote his theoretical works on capitalism and the class struggle, he understood the world as a set of stable systems that had to complete their cycles in order for the conditions for change and revolution to mature. However, the recent history of the last 150 years has shown us that systems are "unstable" and there is a close relationship between the capitalist crisis, militarization and wars. The ability to act and respond to this instability has become a crucial factor in the rapid and fundamental changes that have taken place and continue to take place in global economic and power structures.
Now, due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, we are once again in an acute situation of "systemic instability." We must prepare ourselves without wasting time in order to be able to exist in the conditions of this instability. It's the turn of the current generations to act.
Authors: Antonio Fernandez — writer, historian, Héctor Illueca - Doctor of Law, lecturer at the University of Valencia, Manolo Monereo - political analyst, Augusto Zamora - lecturer in public international law.
