Dueling Agendas: Russia and China v. the US

Theme:
Iran

Sino/Russian and US geopolitical agendas are world’s apart. Together with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last week, Sergey Lavrov said the following:

“(O)ur foreign policy cooperation…is a stabilizing factor in world affairs. Russia and China consistently advocate a more just, democratic and polycentric world arrangement based on the principles of the UN Charter.”

“We expressed zero tolerance for any attempt to destroy the architecture of international security based on the results of World War II, to undermine strategic stability and replace the standards of international law, including the UN Charter, with arbitrary rules.”

“We also find unacceptable any attempt to circumvent WTO standards” so the hegemonic aims of one nation can prevail over others.

Both nations affirm the rights of Venezuelans, Iranians, North Koreans, Afghans, Syrians, and citizens of other states to decide the future of their countries, including their leadership, free from from foreign interference as mandated by UN Charter principles.

“(T)here is no alternative to maintain(ing) the territorial integrity of Syria,” as affirmed by SC Res. 2254, Lavrov stressed.

The JCPOA Iran nuclear deal is inviolable international law Russia and China firmly support. Both foreign ministers slammed the Trump regime’s unlawful pullout and “illegitimate nature of (its) unilateral anti-Iran sanctions aimed, in particular, at stopping oil exports from Iran.”

On Sunday, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it’s hard dealing with the US because its position “on many issues is subject to swift changes,” adding:

“Hardy anyone will have the guts to make forecasts regarding the future of our bilateral relations” given the way the US operates, by its own rules exclusively, adding:

Trump saying “getting along (with Russia is) a good thing, not a bad thing” is meaningless when “imposing additional (unlawful) sanctions,” along with “ignoring (Moscow’s) interests. It should mean something different.”

US hegemonic aims make normalized relations with Russia and other sovereign independent nations unattainable.

They’re polar opposite what’s vital for world peace and stability. The US seeks dominance over other nations, demanding they bend to its will, doing whatever it takes to achieve its objectives, naked aggression and other unlawful hostile actions its favored strategies.

On Sunday, Trump sounded like Pompeo and Bolton tweeting:

“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”

Iran considers his bombastic threats empty posturing, the more often made, the less credibility they have.

In response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier saying US confrontation with the Islamic Republic would be “the mother of all (regional) wars,” Trump shot back tweeting:

“To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.”

Attacking Iran would be madness, what cool heads in Washington understand. The same goes for Pentagon commanders, knowing war on Iran will be tougher than any previous conflict since the US defeat in Vietnam.

According to political analyst Ariane Tabatabai, Trump’s aggressive Sunday tweet “undermines (his) efforts to reach the Iranian people,” adding:

“Threatening not just war but ‘the official end of Iran’ taps into deeply and historically rooted anxieties in Iran. Far from leading Iranians to oppose their leaders, it’ll rally them around the flag…(further) cement(ing) distrust of (and anger toward) the US.”

Conservative commentator/Pompeo/Bolton critic Daniel Larison agreed, saying “Trump’s rhetoric is aimed at appealing to his domestic supporters, so he doesn’t think about or care how it sounds to the targeted (nation), but my guess is that the Iranian government will take this as additional proof that there is no point in talking to the US while (he’s) in charge.”

His rhetorical toughness mimics Pompeo and Bolton, opposed by the international community, firmly against war on Iran or Venezuela.

The Trump regime’s trade war with China risks pushing the global economy into recession if it continues months longer and escalates further than already.

The wrongheaded policy is doomed to fail. China clearly won’t be cowed into accepting what undermines its longterm developmental objectives.

On Monday, Xinhua accused the Trump regime of “recklessly rais(ing) tariffs on Chinese goods, unilaterally escalating trade disputes, and…restrict(ing) (tech giant) Chinese Huawei from doing business in the United States” by blacklisting the company and its affiliates, adding:

“(T)he US trick of exerting extreme pressure to deter China won’t work. (Its policy) will only make China stronger.”

The so-called threat of its technology is its ability to compete effectively against corporate American, notably Huawei’s 5G and other technological superiority over over US and other Western telecom companies, along with the expertise of its other tech companies.

China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, and Syria won’t bow to unacceptable US demands.

The harder the US pushes, the greater the risk of global war by accident or design.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.


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Articles by: Stephen Lendman

About the author:

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

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