Of James Peter

Source: SakerItalia
Introduction
For much of the last decade the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have waged a campaign to undermine and overthrow the Russian government and, in particular, to oust President Putin. Fundamental questions are at stake, including the real possibility of nuclear war.
The latest Western propaganda campaign, and one of the most virulent, it is the one that started with the accusation launched by the British regime of Prime Minister Theresa May. The British have claimed that Russian secret agents conspired to poison a former Russian double agent and his daughter in England, threatening the sovereignty and security of the British people. No evidence was ever presented. But the UK has expelled Russian diplomats and called for tougher sanctions, to increase tensions. The United Kingdom, its US and European backers are moving towards a breakdown in relations and increasing military proliferation.
A number of fundamental questions arise regarding the origins and growing intensity of this anti-Russian sentiment.
Because Western regimes now believe that Russia is a greater threat than in the past? They believe that Russia is more vulnerable to Western threats or attacks? Why Western military leaders seek to undermine Russia's defenses? American economic elites believe that it is possible to provoke an economic crisis and the end of President Putin's rule? What is the strategic objective of Western politicians? Because only now has the UK government taken the lead in the anti-Russian crusade through false accusations?
This document aims to provide key elements to answer these questions.
The historical context of Western aggression
Several key historical factors dating back to the 1990s explain the current wave of Western hostility towards Russia.
First of all, during those years, the United States has degraded Russia, reducing it to a vassal state and imposing itself as a unipolar state.
Secondly, Western elites have plundered the Russian economy, seizing and laundering hundreds of billions of dollars. The main beneficiary banks were Wall Street and City of London banks and those in overseas tax havens.
Thirdly, the United States has seized and taken control of the Russian electoral process, ensuring Yeltsin's fraudulent “election”..
Fourthly, the West has degraded Russia's military and scientific institutions and advanced its armed forces to Russia's borders.
Fifth, the West made sure that Russia was no longer able to support its allies and independent governments in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Russia was unable to help its allies in Ukraine, Cuba, North Korea, Libya, etc..
With the collapse of Yeltsin's regime and the election of President Putin, Russia has regained its sovereignty, its economy has recovered, its military and scientific institutes have been rebuilt and strengthened. Poverty has been sharply reduced and Western-backed criminal capitalists have been jailed or fled, mainly in the UK and USA.
Russia's historic recovery under President Putin and its gradual international influence have shattered America's claim to rule a unipolar world. Russia's recovery and its control over its economic resources have reduced US dominance, particularly on its oil and gas fields.
When Russia consolidated its sovereignty and advanced economically, socially, politically and militarily, the West has increased its hostility in an attempt to return Russia to the Dark Ages of the 1990s.
The United States has launched numerous coups, military interventions and fraudulent elections to surround and isolate Russia. Ukraine, l’Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Russian allies in Central Asia were targeted. NATO military bases have multiplied.
Russia's economy has been targeted with sanctions targeting its imports and exports. President Putin has been the subject of a virulent propaganda campaign by the Western media. US NGOs have funded opposition parties and politicians.
The US-EU reversal campaign has failed.
The encirclement campaign failed.
Ukraine is fragmented: Russia's allies have taken control of the East; Crimea voted for unification with Russia. Syria joined Russia to defeat US vassals in arms. Russia has turned to multilateral trade, to China's transportation and financial networks.
When the entire US unipolar fantasy dissolved, it caused deep resentment, animosity and a systematic counterattack. The costly and unsuccessful US war on terror has become a dress rehearsal for the economic and ideological war against the Kremlin. Russia's historic recovery and the defeat of the Western smear campaign have intensified the ideological and economic war.
The UK's poison plan was designed to heighten economic tensions and prepare the Western public for escalating military clashes.
Russia is not a threat to the West: it is recovering its sovereignty to promote a multipolar world. President Putin is not an “aggressor” but he refuses to allow Russia to return to vassalage.
President Putin is immensely popular in Russia and hated by the United States precisely because he is the opposite of Yeltsin: it created a thriving economy, resists sanctions and defends Russia's borders and allies.
Conclusion
For a summary answer to the opening questions.
1) Western regimes recognize that Russia is a threat to their global dominance; they know that Russia is not a threat to invade the EU, North America or their vassals.
2) Western regimes believe they can overthrow Russia through economic warfare, including sanctions. Effectively, Russia has become more self-sufficient and has diversified its trading partners, particularly China, and even includes Saudi Arabia and other Western allies.
The Western propaganda campaign failed to turn Russian voters against Putin. Il 19 March 2018 voter participation in presidential elections has increased to 67%. Vladimir Putin won a record majority of 77%. President Putin is politically stronger than ever.
Russia's demonstration of advanced nuclear and other advanced weapons has had a significant deterrent effect, especially among US military leaders, making it clear that Russia is not vulnerable to attack.
The UK attempted to unify and gain prominence with the EU and the US through the launch of its toxic anti-Russia conspiracy. Prime Minister May has failed. Brexit will force the UK to break with the EU.
President Trump will not replace the EU with another replacement trading partner. While the EU and Washington could support the UK's crusade against Russia, they will pursue their commercial agenda; which does not include the UK.
In a word, the United Kingdom, The EU and the US are ganging up against Russia for several historical and contemporary reasons. The British exploitation of the anti-Russian conspiracy is a temporary ploy to join the gang, but it will not change its inevitable global decline and the break-up of the UK.
Russia will remain a global power. It will continue under the leadership of President Putin. Western powers will divide and tease their neighbors – but decide it is best to agree to work in a multipolar world.
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Article by James Petras appeared on Global Research il 21 March 2018
Italian translation of Cinzia Palmacci for SakerItalia