Aprime time current affairs programme; a discussion about Donald Trump’s handling of the war in Ukraine. “He’s doing excellent things,” says a firebrand politician on the panel, before listing White House actions that have belittled Volodymyr Zelenskyy and weakened his battlefield position – military aid suspended; satellite communications obstructed; intelligence withheld. “Do we support this?” It is a rhetorical question.
“We support it all. Absolutely,” the celebrity host responds. “We are thrilled by everything Trump is doing.”
Such approval might not be out of place on polemical rightwing channels in the US, but these exchanges weren’t broadcast to American audiences. The show’s anchor is Olga Skabeyeva, one of Vladimir Putin’s most dependable propagandists. To hear the highest pitch of praise for Trump’s bullying of Ukraine you need to watch Russia’s state-controlled Channel One.
When Russian and US delegations met in Saudi Arabia last month to discuss a resolution to the war in Ukraine, the most revealing feature of the conversation was the exclusion of any Ukrainians.
Less discussed, but still significant, was the inclusion in Putin’s delegation of Kirill Dmitriev, an alumnus of Stanford University, McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, now head of the Russian state investment fund. His pitch was that US businesses have foregone billions of dollars in profits by quitting Russia. Sanctions against Moscow are presented as another way that Ukraine and its European accomplices are ripping off America. Shortly after the Saudi meeting, Dmitriev was formally appointed Putin’s “special representative for investment and economic partnership with overseas countries”, with a mandate covering deals with the US.
Living through it day to day, I assume most people are just confused and unbalanced, but looking back at this historically, it’s going to be so goddamn obvious.
Trump is systematically destroying ties with all of US’s allies going back 70-80 years. There is no justification, not even “fentanyl” and “immigration” apply to most of the allies we’re picking fights with. The only country safe from criticism is Russia.
To me there is no doubt what’s happening, but it’s incredibly discouraging that there doesn’t seem to be a thing we can effectively do about it. American voters were offered a cyanide pill, told it was candy by a known conman and liar, and ate it despite us all shouting, “It’s cyanide, don’t be an idiot!”
It’s all because of propaganda. They live in an entirely different world that is not reality. I’m surrounded by conservative voters where I live and most of them say “I haven’t heard about that” whenever I mention a new outrage that’s in the news that I see. I think it’s their way of saying “I don’t believe you”.
When I talked to a couple of them about the zelensky oval office fiasco one response was “well I heard that zelensky called Vance a bitch in the meeting”. I pointed out that he was lied to and that the whole thing was recorded and that never happened, but I would bet money that they still believe that lie over me. Another response was the Russian propaganda that zelensky is a dictator. There is no reasoning with them. They don’t care about what reality is. They only believe in what makes them feel good and feeds their pride and ego. I’ve tried having rational discussions, but it always ends with them saying “I can’t articulate why you’re wrong, but I disagree with you”. If you can’t articulate something maybe that means you don’t understand it enough and should reevaluate your conclusions, but they won’t because it would hurt their pride. God damnit I’m am so far beyond frustrated with them.
The Americans sold their nation for the promise of cheap eggs and an ethnostate.
And being “strong/great” again … whatever that’s supposed to mean.
The vagaries of Trump’s brain are indecipherable.
Hell say whatever he thinks he needs to to scam you out of a dollar.
To me there is no doubt what’s happening, but it’s incredibly discouraging that there doesn’t seem to be a thing we can effectively do about it. American voters were offered a cyanide pill, told it was candy by a known conman and liar, and ate it despite us all shouting, “It’s cyanide, don’t be an idiot!”
Yeah.
I’m… done with my fellow Americans at this point.
I would expect nothing less from Putin’s puppet.
While this may be true, and it may be comforting, it takes away the complicity of the state and the corporate interests that enable it. It portrays Trump as a rogue actor, separate from other structures. If I know it, and you know it, then the corporate boards and think tanks know it. It’s difficult to absorb, but the intelligencia in America is at the very least okay with what he is doing.
“emerging” JFC thanks guardian for just now mentioning the thing that’s been blatantly obvious to anyone with eyes and ears for over a decade
That image in particular says everything we need to know.
Sucks for Ukraine but I’m looking forward to how this will affect the world geopolitically. Hopefully the breaking of Europe with America will give the global South some breathing room.
This will really be an interesting question for the so-called global south. Since most countries there are generally considered to politically align with China/Russia due to “anti imperialism”, it’s going to be interesting to see if they remain on the side of Russia although this is now the side of the US or whether they alternatively remain opposed to the US but find themselves on the same side as the Europeans.
Since most countries there are generally considered to politically align with China/Russia due to “anti imperialism”,
Are you sure about that? To my knowledge some countries align strongly with Russia or China (mainly Russia as China doesn’t pursue alliances outside their immediate sphere of influence), but the vast majority are opportunists who only marginally sway one side or the other. I’m from the Middle East so I can’t speak much to other regions, but anti-West sentiment is mostly a common people thing that doesn’t make its way to the top levels of government (which are, as I said, primarily concerned with getting the best deal they can). For example geopolitically Egypt is American-aligned because America is supporting the floundering regime financially and militarily, and Morocco naturalized relations with Israel in exchange for US recognition for their claims over Western Sahara. The countries that do align with Russia due to “anti-imperialism” are mostly looking for a new boss to replace the old boss because they hate the old boss (stares at France). This is all to say: Russia and America aligning is of no immediate concern to most countries that don’t have close ties to Western Europe; it’s all about navigating conflicts between global powers and getting the best deal possible for oneself and one’s country.
A notable exception is probably Iran, which will probably be distanced by Russia if the US-Russia alignment fully progresses. However, this is because Iran is trying to attain regional dominance, so rather than getting the best deal they know the deal they want and they’re trying to get it.
As an American, I’ve only ever thought good things about our ties with Europe. I haven’t been paying attention to the southern half of the globe much, and I’d like to hear more about how that scary outcome could help things there. Apologies for my …well, American-ness.
Well, the crux of the issue is that for the last 80 years Western and Central European countries have been content to be America’s lackies and help further their imperialist ambitions around the world even though the EU itself is mostly not imperialist itself (emphasis on mostly stares at France). The biggest example of this is probably Israel. If Europe cuts off America they’d have no reason to continue supporting Israel (which they absolutely do; the EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner) because the only thing Europe gains from supporting Israel in the first place is pleasing America.
Sir, Israel is at 31 degrees N latitude. You were mentioning the southern hemisphere?
I said the global South, not the Southern hemisphere.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South
