The Winds Of Change Blow Stronger

In 1991 The Scorpions captured the spirit of hope for a world no longer haunted by the possibilities of the decades-long Cold War, with their song Winds of Change. That hope was dashed as the US utilized its second unipolar moment to try to build a global empire. Actively working to destroy the economies of any alternative to “liberal capitalism”, and utilizing brute military force where deemed necessary. At the same time, any thoughts of combating climate change were cast aside in the pursuit of power and riches.

After three decades of aggressive wars, colour revolution regime changes, widespread covert and drone murders, sanctions designed to crush populations that support the “wrong” kinds of government, and neoliberal brutalization and authoritarianism at home, some of that hope may be returning as increasing numbers of nations find the ability to throw off the neo-colonial shackles. The core of this hope are the nations that the US, and the West, were unable to subjugate, most especially China, Russia and Iran.

After treating the drunken and corrupt quisling Yeltsin as a doormat through the 1990s, the US continued their arrogance toward Russia for another two decades; in the face of Putin’s remonstrations. NATO was marched to Russia’s border, a war with Georgia triggered, and Ukraine turned into a Western puppet state after two Western-driven coups; first the Orange Revolution of 2004 which overturned the legitimate results of a presidential election and then the Maidan Revolution of 2014 that overthrew the democratically elected president. To add insult to injury, the overthrow of both the Belarus and Kazakh governments was attempted. Then the 2022 war was triggered, as the Ukrainian army massed on the borders of the Donbass and its shelling of the Ukrainian citizens of Donbass greatly intensified. The West miscalculated and the sanctions so obviously prepared in advance for when Putin took the bait (or was simply forced to in order to forestall an invasion of the Donbass) blew back upon Europe, while making Russia stronger rather than weaker.

Now the West looks defeat in Ukraine in the face, impotent to stop the much strengthened and hardened Russian military finishing off a Ukrainian force already rebuilt and rearmed twice with Western money and arms. Instead of weakening Russia they have strengthened it, while also driving a much closer relationship between it Iran, Belarus, North Korea and China. The Chinese understand that if Russia falls, their position will be much weakened. With their support of the Israeli genocide, and their aggressive moves against Turkey, the West has also made that nation’s balancing position between the West and the Rest increasingly untenable. If Turkey were to align with Russia, China and Iran, it would shatter Western power in the Middle East while also showing the path to other nations such as Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Georgia. As an article from Rayna Prime put it in November last year:

While Türkiye ideally wants to remain a bridge between Asia and Europe, it is increasingly drifting away from the US. Or more accurately, it is being pushed away as the West isolates itself. The economic war against Russia has only pushed Türkiye and Russia closer together, as has the West’s efforts to stir division in the Caucasus via Armenia. Repeated attempts to prevent Türkiye from cooperating with Russia have not worked, and now it looks like the US wants a big war in the Middle East in which Türkiye will have no choice but to oppose the West.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that Turkish nationalists were the biggest winners in May’s elections. While one might think that affects other countries equally, one has to remember that countries like Russia and China respect other nations’ interests and try to find ways to work together that will advance both sides’ interests. The US nowadays does the opposite: it pressures, threatens and resorts to force. That plays even worse with the nationalists in Ankara who want to be treated with respect as a regional power. They will have no problem ignoring any NATO agreements if that is in the best interest of Turkiye. And non-agreement-capable US neocons will no doubt protest loudly should that occur.

Opinion polls have repeatedly shown that the majority of the Turkish population views Russia as an ally and the US as an enemy. With an Afghanistan freed from the Western occupation, and a Saudi Arabia carefully balancing and sniffing the way the wind is blowing, the bastions of US influence in EurAsia are at risk of becoming few and far between. Even the puppet leaders of Jordan and Egypt have to tread carefully with a citizenry enraged by the Zionist genocide; with Egypt now backing South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

The West will try everything to ruin the process toward EurAsian peace and security, including the assassination of leading figures that stand against them. The actions of yet another “lone gunmen” in an assassination attempt on the Slovak prime minister show how little the liberals care about democratic elections when the result is not to their liking. PM Fico opposed sending more aid to Ukraine, as well as being against the increasingly autocratic nature of the European Union (including the self-harming sanctions against Russia), and has spoken out about the utter hypocrisy of the EU stance on the Zionist genocide.

His attempted assassination reminds one of the 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, another leader that stood against US foreign policy and neoliberalism. His assassination facilitated the fall of Sweden away from social democracy and toward neoliberalism, and utter quisling status to the US in recent years; a great irony as the first quisling was actually Vidkun Quisling of neighbouring Norway, a man who served the interests of Nazi Germany rather than those of his own country.

Also of the Italian president Aldo Moro in 1976, at the very time that he was negotiating a coalition with the Italian communist party. A move absolutely at odds with the US, and the Italian right-wing that has been shown to be closely integrated with the security services and the Italian Mafia. A right-wing that had carried out many terror attacks, such as the bombing of the Bologna train station. Many of which were blamed upon the Red Brigade that kidnapped and murdered Moro; an organization that may have been quite extensively infiltrated by the security services. The former head of Italian military intelligence during the period has asserted that the CIA may have helped stoke the terrorism to keep the communists out of power.

This was part of the “strategy of tension”, preferring a period of controlled chaos that would drive the population toward a “strong” state rather than a compromise with the communists. This 1992 BBC documentary covers the period well, very well worth the time to watch. It is in three parts, so more digestible 50 minute chunks. An example of what the BBC was capable of before being bullied into utter submission by Blaire (over the “dodgy dossier”) and the Conservatives.

Let us remember that Germany, Japan and Italy are occupied nations, where in the immediate post-war period the US crushed any progressive forces (e.g. disarming the left-wing partisans in Italy and creating a Red Scare in Japan) before implementing quisling right wing governments and security services dominated by the CIA. There are 50,000 US troops in Japan, 35,000 in Germany and 12,000 in Italy. South Korea is also occupied by 28,500 US troops and the South Korean military reports to a US general not a South Korean one. In the immediate post-war period the US installed a man who collaborated with the Japanese as the president, who then went on to murder in the order of 200,000 who opposed him (i.e. those that had actually fought the Japanese) and fight a civil war against those lead by the man who had been a leading resistance figure; yes the official history of the Korean War is severely disconnected from reality. I. F. Stone’s The Hidden History of the Korean War 1950-1951 and Bruce Cumming’s The Korean War A History provide a much more truthful recounting of this conflict. Then of course there is the utterly subjugated US island aircraft carrier, the United Kingdom, occupied by at least 10,000 US troops.

Outside of such utterly occupied and dominated nations, as Gramsci so well understood, it is critical that national elements control the hegemonic culture. That is why anti foreign interference legislation is so necessary, and so resisted by the West; as currently in Georgia and 2 years ago in Thailand. Every country that has enacted such legislation, such as Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Hungary, has seen an immediate reduction in the foreign manipulation of domestic politics and the activities of comprador traitorous elements. Interestingly, an anti-NGO law recently passed its first reading in the Slovak parliament. A move central to the Slovak prime minister’s election campaign where he vowed to end the era of “NGO Supremacy”.

There is also of course the US-ordered coup (orders delivered by diplomatic cable) against the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the outright murder of the Iranian Soleimani (the 2nd most powerful man in Iran, equivalent to the US Secretary of State) who had lead the successful fight against ISIS. He was on a diplomatic mission to help establish peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia; something utterly opposed by the US. Thankfully, not even such a blatant murder could stop the reconciliation between the two nations; birthed by Russia and China.

At the recent meeting of President Putin and President Xi in China, the hopes for peace and development were in full show. In this piece, Karl Sanchez covers the Russian-Chinese expo in Harbin that President Putin attended; a previous site of Russo-Chinese conflict that is now a hub of commerce and interregional cooperation.

Days earlier, Xi Jinping had visited Hungary and Serbia to promote peace and trade and was very fulsomely welcomed.

While at the same time the US continues to bully EurAsian nations as if they are mere colonies and do not possess the right to make their own domestic and foreign policy decisions.

And stokes the civil war in Myanmar, and fully supports the Zionist genocide.

And bribes a mob to stop Georgia from ridding itself of foreign funded NGOs, many funded by the US NED and European governments.

EurAsia, as well as Africa, will rid itself of the Western shackles, it will take time and there will be crises and setbacks, but the winds of change are at their backs. There will be extremities such as South Korea, Poland, the Baltic States, and Western Europe that continue to be occupied and dominated by the US, as with the decaying island nations of Japan, the United Kingdom, and possibly also the Philippines. In contrast, the Iberian peninsula and parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe may also escape the Western shackles.

The US ruling class will increasingly find itself hemmed into the Americas, with its decaying vassals on the edges of EurAsia. It will attempt to degenerate the tune of the winds of change into a chaotic cacophony, as it would rather there be chaos and strife than a peace that it does not dominate. The only way for this ruling class to hang onto power is through increasing levels of domestic authoritarianism and perhaps the dictatorship of a “great man” as the population is dumbed down and pushed to feel rather than think and identify as anything other than part of a group opposed to capitalist ruling class dominance. As Jill Stein and Michael Hudson note, the US ruling class is now destroying the US from within:

While the University of Michigan gives “A”s to 74% of the students, so as to not hurt their feelings, the public school system serves to produce dumbed down easily pliable worker bees, and billionaires use their money to fully capture state courts. Interestingly Gramsci complained about the implementation of “progressive” educational reforms by the Italian fascist state, noting that children needed to go through the hard work of learning the skills required to be able to independently understand and affect the world around them. Through overcoming challenges children build resilience, dedication and self-respect; qualities central to effective political awareness and action. For an understanding of the differences between “modern” US teaching methods and realities and the “good old days” of the 1990s, from a YouTube channel entitled Teacher Therapy!

And currently university students are being terrorized by the police state for using those very skills to understand the world and point out the reality of the Zionist genocide. The other battlefield will be Latin America, the backyard that the US ruling class will do its damndest to keep within its claws. As we have recently seen in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

No matter what the US does, short of a nuclear war, the winds of change will continue to blow its Imperium away.