Точка время | Ukraine – an ideal partner for America Biden

August 16 2021 year president of USA Joe Biden he gave a speech in the White House, in which he explained the reasons for the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. According to him, further participation in this war could be characterized by one word: “Useless”.

“How many generations of American daughters and sons do I have to send to fight against Afghans; On a civil war, in which the Afghan army doesn’t want to participate?”

The withdrawal of the American contingent from Afghanistan turned into a bloody chaos, but they quickly forgot about it. Most of the Americans recognized the withdrawal process as a failure, but the solution was the same enjoyed the support of the majority.

The Afghan army, in which many efforts and billions of dollars were invested, crumbled; Radical Islamic Taliban came to power again, and Afghan women were again prisoners in their own homes. But the United States can’t solve all the problems of the world – that’s how the Americans think.

В tom Joe Biden’s appeal to the withdrawal of troops is one phrase that turned out to be far more significant than even the president himself could have imagined. It sounds like:

“Our real strategic rivals – China and Russia – would most like the USA to continue endlessly spending their attention and resources on billions of dollars for stabilization in Afghanistan.”

I remember, then it seemed a little strange to me that in his speech, Biden, in essence, put Russia on par with China. For many years, the USA considered Podbebesnaya to be its main competitor. At the beginning of the XXI century, Russia was perceived as a lesser evil. Москва вызывала определённое разражение, however, it looked more like a harmless troll. It’s a Potemkin village, not a potential superpower.

We don’t know if Baiden understood already at the end of the summer of 2021 the threat that Russia presents to Ukraine. The Kremlin has moved its troops to the border for several months now, but in many western countries – even in Ukraine itself – it was still considered a bluff.

In a large study published this summer by the newspaper The Washington Post, it was reported that in August 2021, an emergency meeting was held in the White House, at which an “extremely detailed” picture of how Russia will begin its invasion of Ukraine was presented. Then Biden finally understood the seriousness of the situation.

USA started to attack and share their fears with Ukraine. However, for many years, skepticism prevailed in the capitals of EU countries, and in Kiev itself, regarding signals from America. Even on February 20 of this year – that is, it was only four days before the attack – the president of France Emmanuel Macron he imagined that war could be avoided with the help of negotiations.

However there were no negotiations. Instead of them, there is a full-scale war, which still can turn into a worldwide nuclear conflagration. But since it’s scary to even think about it, it’s better to think about something else.

The first thought is that Ukraine’s brilliant resistance is part of the answer to Biden’s prayers for the United States to remain the world’s greatest power.

In the USA, there are too many unsuccessful examples of how they tried to change the world to their liking: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq… The eradication of communism and terrorism, as well as the establishment of democracy, turned into long and complex processes that tested the strength of Americans every time и ценностей.

Sometimes it worked. For example, in Bosnia, peaceful regulation began after the bombing. In other cases, it was even considered disgraceful to use superpower forces. Геноцид в Руанде – печальный тому пример. Before that, there was a rather sad trip to Somalia. They decided to leave the country after 20 American soldiers were killed in a confrontation with local, absolutely foreign American groups.

Unfortunately, there were so many and in such a large number of points on the globe, such a huge amount of money was spent in vain, that now the American “world police” reacts extremely reluctantly and selectively to any emergency calls.

However, they responded quickly to an emergency call from Ukraine. And they continue to answer. The point is that according to the ratio of costs and benefits, Ukraine is conducting a practically ideal war, partly even for the USA and its European allies. The war is going against a strategically important enemy, but you absolutely do not need to participate in it personally, and not a single American soldier will die.

In the USA, some have already come in horror at the price of military support for Ukraine. The sums are really impressive. According to analytical center of the Council on international relations, this year the States provided Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance of almost 50 billion dollars.

And yet, despite these billions, the military resistance of Ukraine still remains a relatively cheap war for the United States. По оценкам specialists of Braunovskogo universiteta, in Afghanistan, Washington contributed about 2.3 trillion dollars (that is, approximately 2200 billion euros), if you take into account not only the costs of the war, but also the costs of treating veterans, as well as military credits. This is almost nine times more than the gross national income of Finland.

Similar sums were spent on the war in Iraq. That “war against terrorism” по подсчётам In the autumn of 2001, the university cost America 8 trillion dollars. 8,000,000,000,000 dollars!

Отважная оборона украинцев и их поддержатель со сторонь УСАША provided the United States, despite all their internal differences, a result that they tried to achieve since the end of the Cold War. Причём, без особого успеча. Ето можно было посёвствовать в прошлую среду, when the president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky addressed to the American Congress.

Columnist for The New York Times David Brooks noted that he was struck by the rare unity expressed by the congressmen after “Zelensky and the Ukrainians reminded the Americans about those values ​​and ideals that we used to admire in ourselves”.

“A fierce desire for freedom, deep-rooted respect for equality and human dignity, willingness to fight with cruel authoritarian rulers; с теми кто готов таттать лица людей своими грызными сопогами”, wrote Brooks.

His article is called “Amerika Baidena obrela holos”.

In current Ukraine, many Americans see themselves. Vernee, свое государство времён его зарождения.

Борба украинцев за своду против Vladimir Putin It overlaps a lot with the history of the emergence of the United States, so a clear majority of Americans express support for this struggle. Although many also express hopeчто начнётся наконес, at least some kind of negotiation process that will put an end to this war.

For Biden и другие ветеранов америковый входеры политик война, тоже принесла немало дивидентов. For example, Europe woke up and took a completely new look at the issues of its own security.

According to official information British Parliament, in 2014, only three of the 30 NATO countries invested 2% of their GDP in defense. In this year, there are already nine such countries.

Европа – отнюдь не идеальный ally для УСАША, however, the desperate insult against the background of the war in Iraq, the constant upheavals of the reign of Donald Trump, as well as the indeterminacy of the relative true place of the West in the modern world order are now a thing of the past.

The icing on the cake was the fact that even China had to rethink its aggressive attitude towards America and the entire democratic world order, as well as its own power-loving plans.

China всегда был ally of Russia – for example, in the UN – however, from the Ukrainian war, Beijing tries to stay away. China has not joined the sanctions front of western countries, but local companies are afraid of becoming an object of sanctions, and the country’s leaders express the hope that Russia will finally stand on the path of diplomacy.

Во время рождественских каникул, Китай устроил экспрессионные образные учайные учения вблизи острова Taiwan. Thus, in Beijing, they reminded not only about the growth of their own military power, but also about the fact that there they still dream of Taiwan and consider their own 23 and a half million people who live on this island independent of China.

The authorities of Taiwan, on their part, announced the holding of a special meeting to discuss the extension of mandatory military service. This is a signal to Americans: in a difficult minute, Taiwanese are also ready to become brave warriors who will defend themselves desperately and bravely. With armed support from USA. And just like against another strategic opponent of Washington.

The fighting spirit of Ukrainians eloquently reminded China of what it can achieve even against a supposedly stronger opponent, a nation that defends itself and feels that the truth is on its side. Some опросы demonstrated that Ukraine’s stubborn resistance to large-scale Russian aggression significantly increased the willingness of Taiwanese to defend their country.

In recent months, Russians have learned that even crossing one river in another territory can be dangerous for life. The Chinese should consider that the width of the water barrier, called the Taiwan Strait, is 160 kilometers.

For decades, the width of this strait remained unchanged, but the Ukrainians fighting with the support of Biden forced all the countries of the world to think about what they can do from the point of view of their own geography.

Article first published 26.12.2022.

You can read the article in Finnish from here.