Above photo: European Council President Charles Michel, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo.
Who Is Really The Patsy?
Karlof1, aka Karl Sanchez, points to his translation of the latest Dmitri Trenin piece:
Yesterday, Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Institute of World Military Economics and Strategy at the Higher School of Economics, wrote an op/ed for Kommersant, “The War Will Be Long,” which was picked-up translated and altered by RT for publication today. My practice is to provide the translation of the original because of RT’s past and present manipulations that I’ve denounced every time I encounter one. IMO, Trenin makes clear that Putin knows the Outlaw US Empire’s plans, which is the basic reason why Putin doesn’t yield anything to Trump. Here’s Trenin:The war will be long
Dmitri Trenin on the intermediate results of the “special diplomatic operation”…
The war will not end in 2025. It will not end after the end of hostilities in Ukraine.
We need to realize that the current conflict is not about Ukraine as such.
This is a proxy (so far) war of the West against Russia. And this confrontation itself is part of an ongoing world war, in which the West is fighting to maintain world hegemony. This will be a long war, and the United States, with or without Trump, will remain our adversary. At stake for us in this struggle is not the status of Ukraine, but the existence of Russia. [My Emphasis]
To which English Outsider replies:
Karlof1. Thank you again for these translations and commentaries you are providing. The Trenin piece was particularly useful in that it sums up where we’re heading:-
“Even now as Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, we see the next round set of aggravations along the Arc of Instability already forming with Moldova, Armenia, and possibly Azerbaijan. Escalation also threatens in the Baltic Sea, and I still anticipate NATO attacks on Russia’s Arctic energy infrastructure.”
Useful because one question of particular interest since well before the start of the SMO has been, what are the European politicians up to? It’s too facile to regard them as hapless Europoodles swept along in Washington’s wake. I believe they’re looking ahead to the time when Ukraine’s over and done with.
That is, hoping to revive the economy with military Keynesianism and taking us into Cold War II with, as in the previous Cold War, the emphasis on covert destabilisation activities along the perimeter of the RF and if possible within Russia itself.
The Ukrainian gamble failed. I don’t believe the European politicians see any alternative to doubling down on it.
As for the “hapless Europoodles”, it’s rare to find Americans who recognise that that’s not how the European politicians see themselves. More that they hope to lever American military and economic power in pursuit of their own objectives. For most Americans it’s usual to regard the Euros as the patsy. For the Euros, it’s always been the other way round.
b here:
In my observation the ‘covert destabilisation activities along the perimeter of the RF’ and within Russia itself’ by the EU, U.S. and UK have never stopped. The Balkan wars and various color revolutions in eastern Europe were all part of it. There is also a constant attempt to mess up Central Asia.
While the CIA or other U.S. agencies have often led in those cases, the Europeans were nearly always involved. Last years brouhaha in Georgia also demonstrated that.
Thus one should give English Outsider‘s last sentence some thought:
For most Americans it’s usual to regard the Euros as the patsy. For the Euros, it’s always been the other way round.
