- (march 2013)
Did anybody noticed it?
The most astonishing thing about the recent meeting of Russia's and
China's leaders is that almost nobody noticed it.
China's president Xi Jinping visited Russia's president Vladimir Putin and
delivered a strong speech in favor of a multipolar world warning against
foreign interference in the domestic affairs of other nations, i.e. against
the USA's influence on world affairs.
The reason the world ignored them is that nobody believes that a multipolar
world is anywhere close to happen. Despite all the talk, the fact is that
world affairs move only when the USA and/or its allies in NATO move.
Everybody else just talks. And nobody listens. When the USA and NATO talk,
everybody listens.
If you live in the USA and have cable television, check how much Russia Today
talks about the actions of the USA and then check your favorite news channel
(BBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, whatever) for how much coverage they
provide of Russian actions or Chinese actions.
China is, in fact, part of the reason that the USA matters so much and that
the world is not moving towards a multipolar situation: China is a rising power
and will continue to be so only insofar as the USA supports it. China is totally
dependent on the economy of the USA, and, in fact, it mostly does what the USA
tells it to do. See
China is a colony of the USA.
Russia, on the other hand, offers an honest alternative to the USA. Russia's
power does not depend on the economy of the USA. Russia is much closer system
than China's. However, the appeal that Russia has on the rest of the world, even
on the countries that it has helped like Serbia and the Ukraine, is very low.
Russia is viewed (and quite correctly so) as an anarchic nation in which
ruthless organized crime rules, a hierarchy of mafias with Putin's mafia at
the top. No country in the world feels safe doing business with Russia, and no
country in the world would want Russia to be its defense partner. China itself
seems reluctant to sign real cooperation treaties with Russia, the way an honest
hardworking businessman is reluctant to make a deal with a notorious crook,
no matter how lucrative the contract looks on paper.
If you think
there is a little trust in the USA, it's because you never focused on how little
trust there is in Russia. Russia has also made a point of antagonizing the USA
in all the popular revolutions of recent times, or, better, the USA has been
smart enough to make Russia always side with the most unpopular side. If you
think Iraqis hate the USA, it's because you don't realize how much more they
hate Russia (that supported Saddam Hussein). If you
think Afghans hate the USA, it's because you don't realize how much more they
hate Russia (that killed many more civilians in a much bloodier invasion).
If you think the Arab public opinion hates the USA, it's because you don't
realize how much more they hate Russia (that sided with Qaddafi and is now
siding with Assad). In many of these cases Russia has been forced to side with
unpopular dictators by apparently suicidal Western turnabouts (for example,
against Mubarak and Qaddafi) without realizing that the net outcome of those
turnabouts has been to completely remove Russia from the landscape.
Hence, it is not so much that Russia doesn't matter. It could matter a lot
(you do matter if you have thousands of nuclear weapons). The problem is that
most of the world is indifferent or hostile to Russia's opinions.
The world does care about China, and is eager to make deals with China, a much
more credible partner. But China is de facto obeying the USA, rarely challenging
the USA other than in generic propaganda. And, in fact, the Chinese leaders must
be painfully aware that China's credibility stems in large part precisely from
being a loyal de facto ally of the USA. If China ever truly antagonizes the USA,
every partner China has would withdraw its warm smiles and handshakes.
Russia and China combined have 1.5 billion people and cover 27 million square
kilometers. It is astonishing how little their meeting matters.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2013 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
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