Who is Driving the Train? American Leadership is in Full Retreat
American Weakness Emboldens Russia and China
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin
In one of the most incredibly myopic public statements in American political history, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby commented on the summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. As reported by Breitbart, Kirby claimed that the meeting was “a manifestation of how much China and Russia know that American leadership on the world stage is back.” He further claimed that the China-Russia alliance is merely “a marriage of convenience, certainly not one of affection.”
Given the facts and evidence unfolding before our very eyes, this statement is wishful thinking naivete on a par with other unbelievable statements from the White House over the last two years (“the inflation is transitory” line is a good example).
Perhaps Xi and Putin have other ideas; after all, they do get a vote on what is reality and what is farce. Let us examine the topic.
AMERICAN LEADERSHIP FADES
How would John Kirby spin the following US retreats (strategic debacles) on the world scene in two interminable years of the Biden administration?
The Biden administration has committed to a legally binding agreement that “will give the World Health Organization (WHO) control over U.S. pandemic policies,” as reported here. How is giving up US sovereignty to foreigners a demonstration of US world leadership?
Then there was the Biden administration helplessly standing by and watching the communist Chinese facilitate a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Losing geopolitical leverage to the Chinese in the Middle East is more US world leadership?
How about the gifting of Afghanistan’s natural resources to China? Afghanistan holds lithium deposits estimate to be worth “between $1 trillion and $3 trillion.” China will be delighted to exploit those deposits to retain world leadership in the production of green technology (i.e., electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels) for export to the US. The debacle of the US withdrawal itself probably helped convince Putin to launch the Russian invasion of Ukraine, too.
The Biden administration failed to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Somehow, Putin chose not to invade Ukraine on President Trump’s watch. There was ample warning of the Russian buildup, but direct diplomatic efforts (threats?) were insufficient to prevent the invasion.
Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman conversed with Putin on 7 June to reinforce “their cooperation within the context of the OPEC+ oil producers' group,” per a Reuters report. "Both sides praised cooperation within the framework of OPEC+ allowing for the adoption of timely and effective steps to ensure balance between supply and demand for oil." Saudi Arabia has pledged to make deep production cuts next month as part of an OPEC+ plan to reduce production in 2024 in what could be an inflationary death blow to the American economy. And the Biden regime is AWOL.
American citizens don’t seem to think that “America is back,” either. According to this Wall Street Journal poll, “[s]eventy-eight percent of Americans doubt their children will be better off in President Joe Biden’s America,” which is the highest that number has been since the survey started in the 1990s. That pessimism on the home front is focused on inflation and other woes associated with the US economy. A weak US economy translates directly into a projection of American weakness to the rest of the world and a lack of confidence in American leadership.
It would appear that European leaders aren’t buying Kirby’s spin either and are alarmed about the strengthening China-Russia alliance. A headline in Politico blared, “Xi Jinping’s blooming bromance with Vladimir Putin is freaking EU leaders out. Now they’re booking flights to Beijing.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron are schedule to pay Xi a visit soon. Other EU leaders are pushing for engagement with China, too.
WHAT IS THE REALITY?
Xi and Putin made it crystal clear at the end of the Moscow summit, as reported here: “Right now there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years — and we are the ones driving these changes together,’ Xi said, to which Putin replied: ‘I agree.’”
By all appearances, the Moscow summit kicked off phase 2 in the burgeoning Russia-China alliance.
The first phase, likely cemented when Putin visited Xi in Beijing on 4 February 2022, set their joint strategy that precipitated Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine. In retrospect, what strategy did the two leaders cook up during that summit? Was China’s support for Russia’s invasion secured as part of a quid pro quo agreement that guaranteed Russia’s support for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan? Quite possibly. In any event, the result was Russian hydrocarbons on the cheap for China, and China’s silence about Russia’s clear violation of international law in invading Ukraine.
Did the phase 2 meeting in Moscow advance the PLA’s timetable for the invasion? Did Xi secure assurances of receiving Russian energy resources and diplomatic support from Putin for that invasion during the closed-door meeting in Moscow? Did they agree on coordinated operations that would distract the US and NATO in eastern Europe, making the PLA’s cross-strait invasion more of a cake walk?
Xi’s ruminations about “change not seen in 100 years” could prove prophetic. As noted by Spectator (UK), “Xi was re-affirming their shared longer-term project to create a new international order, and both men see the Ukraine war as part of that project. Both regard western democracies as decadent and in decline and share a culture of grievance and victimhood and an almost messianic vision of restoring imperial greatness.” And their strategic alliance is clearly aimed at shaking up the world and diminishing the US in every respect.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Despite the wishful statement of John Kirby that “US world leadership is back” (an absurdity given the foreign policy and national security debacles that have already occurred during the Biden administration), it is no secret that supplanting the US-led liberal international order with a new world order “with Chinese characteristics” is a top goal of Xi Jinping. He has been telegraphing his plans to the world for a decade. The common thread among those plans is their globalist focus: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. Xi wants to become the world’s hegemon before he dies. It is becoming clearer that he has a strategic partner in pursuing those megalomaniacal goals in Vladimir Putin.
Both leaders would almost certainly disagree with Kirby’s statement about American leadership. In fact, they probably laughed when they heard about it.
The end.