I recently stumbled upon a moronic Chatham House article that described Russia’s refusal to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel as the reason why the latter considered itself the ally of the former no more.
Beyond nonsensical.
Let me explain myself. In IR theory, there are two major currents of opinion: idealism and realism.
Idealism claims that the world is wrongly arranged. It means to set it to right.
Realism knows the world as it is. It accepts it and works with it as is.
Nowadays, as always, there are waning powers that once dominated the international arena, as hegemons. Yes, you guessed right, the good old USA.
But there are also upcoming powers, such as China or India, whose economies are the envy of the world because let’s face it, they make everything we consume.
The difference between the old unipolar world that it’s dying, and the new one, is that this one is multipolar. Meaning that the world no longer accepts or tolerates the notion of a single nodal power, ruling them all.
As a legacy power from the age of the Cold War that opposed two major camps, Russia is no longer the major powerhouse it once was at least on paper. Its economy is slowly being rebuilt because it is based on a mountain of resources, and its military-industrial complex is cutting edge.
Be that as it may, Russia no longer has the means to aim for world domination. And because Russia is led by a realist, it doesn’t even want to.
But the waning power, USA, is clinging on its last trump card, military power, to remain the leader of a world that resents it, and is actively organizing against it (BRICS).
Its actions stem directly from the idealist dogma, since it wants to remake the world order transforming it from a globe abiding by international law into a rule-based world order, operating under Washington’s Rules.
But America is enthralled in chaos, which undermines it internally because of the culture wars opposing idealistic neo-Marxist wokism to realistic conservatives. This in turn goes to show how disunited it is. And a disorganized house cannot endure.
Yet, externally America acts with the confidence of the bold. It sows chaos throughout the world with much gusto.
It supports coup d’état left, right, and Center. It props corrupt regimes that make it the amoral actor of the proverbial textbook.
It gives carte Blanche to people who don’t deserve to be called people judging by their capacity for evil and mayhem.
Yet, what does its archenemy Russia do? It supports regimes antithetical to America, like Iran. But does it provide them with green light to go out and do their worst? No, siree. Russia doesn’t give offensive weapons to Iran and tells them to go nuts.
It helps Iran with defensive weapons and makes sure that no unwarranted escalation ensues.
How do we know this to be true? Easy.
In the current chapter of the Israeli-Arab war, Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni outfit, launched a terror attack that greatly threatened Israel. Israel is currently waging a full scale war against Hamas in Gaza. The era of proportionate limited response is gone.
This is the Age of Total War. No half measures here.
What does Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah do in South Lebanon?! Nothing or close to nothing. Why? Because Iran, and Russia, do not want an escalation of the War.
At the same time, what did America do? Ah, easy. The United States of America sent two carrier groups and 1 Marine Corps off the coast of Gaza for backup, just for kicks.
According to you, who acts chaotically in this picture? A restrained Russia that keeps Iran on a tight leash in terms of weaponry and support? Or a happy go lucky America that is ready to double down on its policy to come through for Israel come what may?!
Again, I’m not saying the USA shouldn’t support Israel in its quest to survive in the Middle East. I am saying however, that if Iran was involved in the current War, they’d have done much more than meets the public eye.
And since they haven’t, America’s actions are clearly chaotically perverse.
Götterdämmerung 