We all know the real reasons the US created the proxy war with Russia initially. It allowed the deteriorating US empire to cut Russia off economically from the consumer base of Europe – especially when it came to “energy” – thereby strengthening the petrodollar. (If sanctions didn’t do it, the US could always just blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, but we would never do that. Heh heh heh, ermmmm…)
The US rulers thought they could sanction Russia into oblivion and then easily create regime change — Push out Putin and then put in a puppet. (Yes, I’m happy with that pun.) Once effectively puppeteered, Russia would cut ties with China and shift entirely to acting as another vassal state of the US empire, as the European nations already were.
Some of it worked. Most of it did not. But if that’s why the US has been crafting this proxy war in Ukraine for at least 15 years, why have the UK and EU supported it and recently even led the charge at provoking a larger war with Russia? Well, my friend and favorite economist Professor Richard Wolff recently elucidated what he believes to be the answer. (I agree.)
Since World War II, Europe has lost most of its colonial territories. Subjugating and extracting those lands was how Europe built its wealth. The US, Europe, and other rich countries have extracted roughly $152 trillion from the global south since 1960. But Europe has largely maintained that wealth by being a junior partner to the US empire. However, now the US is in decline and acting increasingly erratically. (Not sure if you noticed.) So, as Professor Wolff said:
“Inside each nation, rich and powerful minorities use their social positions to sustain their wealth and power while the masses bear most of the burdens of decline offloaded onto them by the rich and powerful. The problems flowing from these cumulative developments are approaching points of social explosion. …[And] the shock of Trump’s abandonment of Europe as the US economy’s junior partner accelerated Europe’s decline.”
The rich ruling elite need to find a way to either enrich Europe anew or, at minimum, convince the unwashed masses to accept the coming harsh austerity. Russia is their answer to both, or either. If their plan works, not only will the rich keep their heads, they might even keep their riches.
Europe’s leaders believe they can accomplish this by pumping up mass anxiety and fear around urgent preparations for a war against Russia. To that end, they demonize Russia beyond even the levels achieved against Stalin and Stalinism during the Cold War.
A terrified public is far easier to control, especially when economic times are rough. The great bogeyman of Russia is by far the easiest threat to dust off and reintroduce. Of course, the crown jewel would be to actually destroy, melt down, and sell the largest country by landmass in the world.
Longer-run hopes entail imagining Russia’s military defeat and consequent de jure or de facto dismemberment. The resulting subunits of old Russia would then offer Western Europe a new colonial opportunity, a vast expanse for profitable investment to obtain food, raw materials, and possibly workers to rejuvenate Western European capitalism.
This explains why the ruling elite of the UK and EU are pushing towards a completely unnecessary, bloody war that could result in a nuclear exchange killing most of humanity — Their repulsive wealth depends on it. And as we’ve seen with climate crisis, the rich and powerful are fine with putting the future of humankind at risk if there’s a lot of money to be made in the death spiral.