I know this column focused too late on Ukraine to the detriment of other theaters of conflict (like Taiwan for example), but in its defense, news and information about Ukraine – both types interesting and very interesting – continue to flow without any signs of ebb. And in that flow could lurk vital lessons for New Delhi about the rules of engagement with the West. So I bring another episode of very interesting tidbits from and about Ukraine for readers of The New Indian, with a promise to focus on a different region in my next article
The Western narrative is changing very rapidly!
As Kyiv finds itself increasingly weak in the face of the onslaught of Russian special operations forces, Western mainstream media has suddenly found a new voice – a voice unfavorable to Zelensky! A section of global analysts believe these could be telltale signs that the West is preparing to sacrifice Kyiv in order to secure winter and the EU’s energy crisis; after all, as war spirals out of control, someone has to take responsibility.
Let’s look at some of the recent events that hint at this.
A week after the Russian media covered a story about the “Zaporozhie gateway”, none other than CNN decided to cover the same thing. These are Ukrainian families making full use of the Green Corridor to rush to the occupied Russian territories. The video, where CNN’s Nic Robertson interviews the families, remains populated by ordinary Ukrainians traveling with their belongings (obviously, as much as they could fit in their car), suggesting that they may well be traveling with the intention of s ‘install ; they are not the people who take a quick trip to visit families or relatives.
Meanwhile, the German newspaper Die Welt has bring in serious allegations against Zelensky relating to tax evasion, the fact that he has offshore accounts in Cyprus, that he owns companies in the British Virgin Islands. One such organization he owns – Maltex Multicapital Corporation – owns apartments in London worth $7.5 million and apparently received $40 million from Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky (a neo-Nazi supporter famous) over a period of 10 years, since 2012. There are even whispers in Germany that the time might have come to review the negotiation process with Russia.
CBS released a documentary on Sunday about how only 30% of weapons shipped to Ukraine reached front lines while 70% “disappeared”. They withdrew the article after much pressure from Kyiv. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has in the recent past similarly accused Ukraine of massive corruption and absolute lack of trust between Washington and Zelensky. The Washington Post accused Zelensky of apparent collusion “to weaken any political rival” in an effort to eliminate future competition. But the one report which caught the eye is that of Amnesty International, on how Ukraine violates international humanitarian law and puts civilians at risk when carrying out operations in populated areas. Apparently Ukrainian forces are threatening civilians by setting up bases and weapons in schools and hospitals. The organization inspected sites, conducted its own research, interviewed people and ultimately came to the conclusion that Ukrainian forces were firing from densely populated areas, sheltering among civilian settlements, and therefore in serious violation of the rules. of the war, since February 2022.
This reinforces a tendency
In the previous episode on Ukraine, this column attempted to capture the predicament of the West: the result of an attempt to throw “personalities” into what is clearly a game of rigorous diplomatic negotiations, including the result had seen Zelensky on the cover of Vogue magazine. It seems the West has finally realized it’s time to knock Zelensky off the Patton/Churchill pedestal to a level where they can wash their hands with the message that they’ve done enough to help the Ukrainians but kyiv was too corrupt, too ignorant or too incompetent (remember Iraq and Afghanistan?).
Was this “personality war” completely stupid? Maybe not. This successful backing of a figurehead to do the US bidding helps legitimize Western intervention in the minds of its people. Do you remember Saddam’s WMDs? Or Assad gassing his own people? They were the exact opposite of the “glorious” Zelensky, but they too had “personalities” imposed by the Western media – images that justified different interventions (PM Modi is already a “Hindutva nationalist” according to the Western mainstream).
So why unplug Zelensky? Because Ukraine is now on autopilot. Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes had speculated: “I hope we will benefit from it” on the continuation of the conflict in Yemen and the beginning of a new one in Ukraine. The situation may be out of control in August 2022, but only when it comes to Zelensky. A low-intensity attrition war has spread. This would see more and more weapons being pumped into different sectors of Ukraine, and the MI complex would continue to make money from different government financial interventions. Ukraine can’t pay, but someone has to.
Another vital utility of Zelensky as a “hero” or Saddam as a “villain” is the representative role they play for a region. Behind the rise of each of these heroes or villains lies the idea of destabilizing a region. This is exactly what conflicts like the Ukraine or the one attempted in Kazakhstan do. In a predictable pattern, there has always been a threat of destabilization and chaos in pockets that lie in Eurasia and/or Africa (never in North America), and these sensitive pockets have always been very close to regional powers. potential – war in Syria/Iraq near Iran, destabilization in Pakistan/Myanmar near India, ISIS threat in Central Asia near China, war in Caucasus/Ukraine near Russia. These are some of the big ones; there are a large number of small, localized conflicts that are orchestrated around the aforementioned geographical areas (Maoist threat and NGO-sponsored national unrest against elected governments, etc.). Most conflicts and chaos suck up a lot of resources, which undermines stability in the neighborhood, thus affecting regional growth and development. It simply preserves and prolongs a unipolar status quo favoring the United States. And the United States – a giant island with two giant oceans on its two sides – retains its geographical advantage of being far from chaotic Africa or Eurasia.
The rise and fall of Zelensky remains the latest entry in an already long list of different political leaders around the world who have been jettisoned and jettisoned, from time to time, to suit American business and geopolitical interests revolving around two words: access and control. It is hoped that with the new perspectives governing Indian foreign policy prerogatives, these events will register at the cellular level.
(Arindam Mukherjee is a geopolitics enthusiast and the author of JourneyDog Tales, The Puppeteer and A Matter of Greed)
(Disclaimer: the opinions expressed above are those of the author)
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