The impending Russia victory in Ukraine has been quite costly to the West. Perhaps costly enough to make it rethink a U.S.-centered, unipolar global order. From Timofey Bordachev at swentr.site:
No single power rules the world anymore – and that may be a good thing
Russian President Vladimir Putin © Sputnik / Alexander Kazakov / Sputnik
With the deterrent of guaranteed mutual destruction between Russia and the United States still intact, global politics is entering a new phase of “normality.” For the first time in decades, there is no single center setting rules for all. Something older, more pluralistic, and less predictable is emerging – a return to the natural state of international affairs.
One of the least discussed effects of the decline of the liberal economic order that dominated the late 20th century is the erosion of Western capacity to manage global politics effectively. The European Union offers the starkest example of this change, though even the United States – despite its power – is less confident than it was twenty years ago.
At the same time, other nations have grown relatively more independent. China has led the way, proving that economic success need not depend on direct control of other states. Its global political initiatives may still be taking shape, but they already offer a model based not on coercion, but coexistence.
Russia plays its own distinct role in this transformation. With immense military capabilities and a more modest economic footprint, Moscow contributes to the democratization of world politics simply by existing as an independent pole of power. Its defiance of Western dominance has forced a rethink of US strategy itself – particularly after the failure of Washington’s attempt to “isolate and strategically defeat” Russia.
Russia prepares the peace by preparing for WAR?
The Evil Empire bully doesn’t bother those with nukes even if they don’t have a Rothschild bank?