brahmdeep alune
America and NATO are sleepy due to the growing closeness of China and Russia. China has come in front of America by becoming a much bigger rival than Russia. Biden is looking to Europe to deal with this. NATO is a military alliance between the countries of Europe and North America, aimed at reducing the influence of communism and Russia. Now the fear of the strengthening of communism with the increasing power of China is troubling NATO.
Ambitions to reconstruct history are often apprehensive of disastrous consequences. Countries like China and Russia, in their efforts to repeat their golden history, seek to circumvent geographical and cultural fragmentation, which, if impossible, increase instability. Even after this, the efforts of these nations to achieve everything from the overwhelming power of power are continuing unabated. This has posed a great threat to world peace.
In fact, the Ukraine crisis in Eastern Europe is influenced by the historical identity of Kievan Russia about a thousand years ago, which Russian President Putin appears determined to maintain and preserve under any circumstances. Kievan Russia was a kingdom in medieval Europe. Modern Russia, Belarus and Ukraine all take their identity from the state of Kievian Russia. Now these states are separate.
Ukraine is desperate to break away from the Russian identity, while Russia and Belarus seem to stand side by side. In order to put pressure on Ukraine, Russia has deposited state-of-the-art and destructive weapons with its troops in Belarus. Russia does not see Ukraine as just another country, it considers it to be a multislavic nation. Ukraine is also of paramount importance to Russia for strategic security. Therefore, he sees it more as the pivot of diplomatic and military strategy. Ukraine is on the western border of Russia. During the Second World War, when Western countries attacked the then Soviet Union, it had defended itself from the territory of Ukraine. Ukraine shares a border with European countries in the west and Russia in the east.
The political situation in Central and Eastern Europe has undergone major changes in the past three decades. Due to this, the strategic rivalry has also increased rapidly. The geopolitical rivalry between the world’s major powers is at its peak in this region. Ukraine is constantly trying to strengthen its relations with the West. Ukraine emerged as an independent country in 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Its geographical connection is with Europe. It is considered a strategically powerful country. One reason for this is that most of the nuclear stations of the undivided Soviet Union were in Ukraine.
Therefore it remained important not only for Russia, but also the eyes of European countries remained on it. In 2002, when Ukraine announced the start of the official process of joining NATO, Russian President Putin was shocked. The intelligence agency KGB believes that the Soviet Union was disintegrated due to the secret operations of Western countries. Putin has been a KGB official and his actions often show an attempt to retaliate and restore old glory. That is why he annexed Crimea, one of its territories, to Russia in 2014 to weaken Ukraine.
Putin’s move was widely criticized globally. After this sanctions were imposed on Russia and its isolation with the West was further strengthened. The port of the Crimean city of Sevastopol is a major naval base and the presence of Russian ships here has become a cause of tension. At present, there is full pressure from Russia on the border of Ukraine. There the pre-war conditions are clearly visible.
Russia alleges that NATO countries are continuously supplying weapons to Ukraine and the US is provoking tensions between the two countries. Russia wants NATO forces to return to the borders as before 1997, and the NATO alliance should no longer expand its forces in the East and cease its military activities in Eastern Europe. This would mean that NATO will have to withdraw its forces from Poland and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Ukraine appears to play a crucial role for NATO and the US to exert strategic pressure on Russia. One of NATO’s top priorities is maritime security, for which it has centered the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. For him, the Black Sea is also strategically important, which is connected to Russia and Ukraine. NATO is poised to upgrade its military to meet ground, air, space and cyber challenges. In this its direct competition is from Russia and China.
Significantly, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an independent nation organization – Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed on 8 December 1991 under the leadership of Russia to increase interdependence towards collective security and common interests. It is called the Minsk Pact. The states that came into existence as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union were made collectively within the CIS. This organization mainly deals with business, finance, law making, security and synergy among the members.
Ukraine was also instrumental in the establishment of this organization. But now the situation has changed with the intervention of Ukraine on Russia. US President Biden has warned Russia that Russia will face severe sanctions if it attacks Ukraine. Diplomatically, it is believed that the biggest economic blow to Russia could be to cut Russia’s banking system from the international payment system.
China’s joining Russia in the Ukraine crisis can increase the possibilities of a new economic and strategic order. If China openly supports Russia as the crisis in Ukraine escalates, the European Union may oppose it. The European Union is China’s second largest trading partner. If the Ukraine crisis escalates, the countries of the West can also impose sanctions on Russia.
In such a situation, China can give big financial help to Russia. This help includes steps like creating alternative payment arrangements, lending to Russian banks and business establishments and buying oil from Russia. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the policy of globalization, China’s economic clout increased as the global situation changed and it gained an edge over Russia. The effect of this is that China’s border dispute with Russia is almost over.
America and NATO are sleepy due to the increasing proximity of China-Russia. China has come in front of America by becoming a bigger rival than Russia. Biden is looking to Europe to deal with this. NATO is a military alliance between countries in Europe and North America aimed at reducing the influence of communism and Russia.
Now the fear of the strengthening of communism with the increasing power of China is troubling NATO. Russia’s stand on the ongoing trade war between the US and China also appears to strengthen communism, which reflects the Sino-Russian partnership globally. Clearly, the fears of war on Ukraine that are deepening, can have a very dangerous global impact. These are clear signs of the emergence of a new Cold War that may be more devastating than ever.
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