The logic of conflict seems to have taken on a life of its own. Zelensky and his European zombie friends continue to crow that Ukraine will be victorious, that no territorial concessions are on the table for a peace agreement with Russia. The world watches in agony and impotence as the State of Israel continues its campaign of destroying Palestinian life. How can this be stopped?
What is the way out? What can change the political geometry?
It may be that the light is at the end of the Bering Strait tunnel.
The warm meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin in Alaska included discussion not only of the NATO-Russia conflict unfolding in Ukraine, but also of the enormous potential for cooperation between their Arctic nations. Untold mineral wealth exists in the north. Building a land transportation and development corridor across the Bering Strait which separates the U.S. from Russia, will be a key feature of building out the World Land-Bridge.
Unlike transport by air or by sea, land transport and development corridors (including energy, water, and communications) fundamentally transform the economic productivity of the areas they pass through.
Were the United States to build up a partnership with Russia, and expand that to cooperation with other nations representing the future of the world (China, India, South Africa, to name a few), the paradigm of hegemonism could be replaced by one of growth.
The upcoming meeting in China of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization promises huge potential for China-India rapprochement and normalization. Already, one week ago, Wang Yi’s trip to New Delhi won benefits for both nations.
And on September 3, China will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Japanese militarism in World War II.
Will Donald Trump join Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at this historic event? It would certainly be better for Trump than his planned September 17-19 meeting with Britain’s King Charles!
Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert spoke to the need for a change of government to end the fighting. “If the meaning of this plan [to take over Gaza City] means the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Gazans, it is totally unbearable and unacceptable,” he told Danish media. In that case, “there is no other way to interpret it but ethnic cleansing,” he said.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins has noted that despite the paralysis of the UN Security Council, the General Assembly is independently capable of calling on countries to act, including with force if need be, to ensure the supply of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, a sentiment also expressed by former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor.
Despite the progress made by Trump and Putin in their bilateral meeting in Alaska, Zelenskyy and the Europeans seem intent on prolonging the war that is destroying Ukraine. Zelensky, who is acting as the President in Kiev, rejected Trump’s call for a comprehensive peace and declared that Ukraine will not part with any of its territory, including Crimea.
Escaping the your-gain-is-my-loss paradigm embraced by the Anglo-American establishment is the only way to achieve a better future.
