Ukraine: US proxy war in crisis
Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, NATO has been calling the shots, fighting a proxy war against Russia on Ukrainian territory, using NATO arms, training, intelligence, “volunteers” and advisers, with Ukrainians as expendable cannon fodder on the ground.
This campaign is now in a deep crisis on all levels.
Key issues of the war in Ukraine
These notes should be read in conjunction with the document Theses on the war in Ukraine by myself and Renfrey Clarke which gives a succinct overview of the issues raised by the war. Here I want to deal in more detail with some of the key questions.
Washington has an historically unprecedented world empire which it wants to maintain and expand. It is never going to be reconciled to any country it doesn’t control or dominate. The two main targets in its sights today are Russia and China, both big capitalist countries which are by no means opposed to relations with the West but want them on their own terms.
One way or another, Washington wants to dominate Russia, to subjugate and exploit it, install a client regime, or possibly even to break up it up into several more pliable states, as advocated by some neocons. Right now, through the conflict in Ukraine, it seeks to move NATO bases and missiles right up to the border and to bleed Russia in an endless war (like in Afghanistan).
Theses on the war in Ukraine
By Dave Holmes & Renfrey Clarke
Climate change threatens the survival of
humanity. Disasters are coming thick and fast and will quickly get much worse.
But rather than deal with the truly existential crisis this represents, Western
imperialism is devoting more and more resources to a war drive against Russia and China, two big countries that have
persistently resisted subordination to Western imperialism.
This perverse misallocation of resources shows the pathological sickness of the world imperialist system presided over by the United States.
The war in Ukraine is being used to massively intensify the West’s anti-Russia campaign. But the blowback from the sanctions regime is destabilising Western Europe and intensifying the suffering of developing countries.
Ukraine war: Negotiations only way forward
The Russia-Ukraine war has been raging for over six months. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, many more have been wounded and traumatised. Millions have become refugees. The material damage is immense — towns and villages, infrastructure, transport and so on have been smashed up.
Ukraine: Who is perverting history?
Russia has finally invaded Ukraine. Socialists around the world have condemned the invasion and called for a Russian withdrawal and negotiations. They have also condemned the relentless eastwards expansion of NATO which Russian leaders rightly regard as an existential crisis for their country.
The solution would seem to be a neutral Ukraine in the manner of Austria or Finland, the withdrawal of US offensive missiles from Eastern Europe, and the federalisation of the Ukraine giving democratic autonomy to the Russian-speaking Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east.
The Russian invasion is a boon for the Western governments and their corporate media enablers. In their usual manner there will be all sorts of posturing and little light will be shed on what are the real issues in the conflict.