Peace and Prosperity
Diana Hochman, December 2023
It is time now for America (and the West) to give peace and prosperity a chance. And to see how that works out for us.
It occurred to me that Ukrainians want Zelensky out and the war to end as much as Russia and many other people in the world do. Zelensky is simply running off the fuel from his sponsors, namely the head honcho U.S., my country, under the charge of Joe Biden, who I hold unilaterally responsible for starting this horrific global meltdown—a bad chain of events that has greatly destabilized the world. I always believed Biden started this global catastrophe as a way to deflect attention away from the mounting cascade of evidence pertaining to all of his nefarious activity in the anti-Russia movement as far back as 2014, even further really. He was a staunch anti-Russia war hawk for the duration of his political career. He talked the lingo and crafted the talking points. In 2022, Biden’s exposure involved the risk of many dark secrets coming to the surface, thereby exposing a dark underbelly of the United States’ covert activity all over the world. Biden did whatever it took to save his own ass, even if it meant pushing the world to the brink of World War III.
Biden was too quick to capitalize on NATO's existential mission to topple Russia, and bring the cause both center and front. Definitely, the play was there all along, but the perfect storm of events collided in such a way as to produce an opportunity for Biden to act posthaste and to amplify the Russia is the bad guy, America and the West are the good guys narrative. The media drip—Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked— was prepared well before (President Vladimir) Putin’s announcement to wage a special military operation in defense of his country's safety and survival on February 24, 2022. It was important for Biden to frame the narrative that Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the innocent victim, as this provided cover (for Biden personally) and continuity of a broader narrative, i.e., the plan all along.
The truth has surfaced in any event, such that Biden’s ill intentions made covert activity overt. In other words, what was once considered esoteric knowledge, i.e., available only to insiders and/or the intelligentsia, is now common knowledge available to the masses at scale (globally). This is an example of what I call, even the bad is used for good. I am reminded of the Bible story of the ancient Israelites and Pharoah. As, sometimes, what people intend for our harm is used to our benefit. God stirs the hearts of humankind toward a purposeful end.
What the West intended for evil against Russia is precisely the catalyst that served as the opportunity for global transformation, and a resetting of the power balance in the world. Thus, seemingly insurmountable obstacles serve as stepping stones. People who lack creative vision, or the inability to think outside the box, more plainly, problem unsolvable, addicted to the drama types, create countless unnecessary problems as a pretext for existing. By way of contrast and comparison, solutions-oriented folks—who are not imprisoned by ideological confinement—treat situations that arise on an individual basis while staging the predicament into a broader framework, which is necessary for proper context.
Russia’s Special Military Operation is a major plot twist that dramatically altered the course of history. Biden's stubborn refusal to work with Putin in December 2021 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Putin pleaded for years on behalf of his people. His reasonable pleas fell on deaf ears. Often, he was mocked and ridiculed. To his credit, he maintained unwavering resolve. All the while, NATO inched ever closer to Russia’s border, posturing an aggressive, preemptive attack. Of course, Putin's audacity, a nod to his leadership acumen, was to stand up on behalf of Russia, against all odds. The choice was not haphazard though nonetheless risky. He put it all on the line, as there was no alternative for him to act otherwise. Biden backed him into a corner. Thus, February 24, 2022 was the beginning of the end of the old world order. It was the hill unipolar hegemony died on, and the birth place of multipolarity.
The next steps in this horrible debacle between two worlds (the old world and the new world) are crucial. Hopefully, the Ukrainian delegation and parties within the Ukrainian government continue to work together to thwart the will of its illegitimate war monger pseudo president, whose desire to perpetuate war is solely for the sake of self-preservation. Something Putin understands and publicly called out this past Wednesday. Clearly, with his own hateful rhetoric, Zelensky is showing Trump, and the world, he does not want peace, in case anyone was ever in doubt.
Zelensky is perfidious. His current 90-day extension of martial law is up in August. If the third Istanbul meeting takes place in the last week of June as proposed by Umerov and the Ukrainian delegation, then they may conceivably agree to the Package Deal, which is a comprehensive peace plan. It is a viable means by which to secure a lasting peace in the region, and by extension, for the world. From this writer’s perspective, Option 1 serves to test the true desire for peace by Ukraine, as it were. It begs the question, do you want to go all in, or shall we just attack this piecemeal? As it sets a condition of full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces in territory now part of the Russian Federation, but offers little more further detail.
Option 2, the Package Deal, is a comprehensive road map to peace that offers a step-by-step guideline for ending this conflict. As the protocols in the road map are adhered to and the commitments mutually fulfilled by both sides over the next coming months, when the final international treaty for peace is drawn up, it may be timed to coincide with an election in Ukraine, likely resulting in the installation of both a new president and a new chairman of the RADA (Ukraine’s parliamentary body). At that time (President) Putin will sit with his duly elected counterpart, and new colleague (an official head of state), to sign a binding international treaty that will serve as a place marker in history in perpetuity. Then of course, the UN Security Council will serve as the guarantors, with Russia, China and the US signing on board. The United Kingdom and France will be left in a lurch if they refuse to sign as guarantors to a lasting peace in Eastern Europe, offering perpetual evidence of their desire for war and devastation. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are not shining examples of leadership in the remotest sense of the word. It is such a pity these men are currently leading Western Europe.
But, no matter. Eventually, all will come around and get on board. As, the survival of any nation is wholly dependent upon its ability to adapt and overcome the changing tides of time. Though this is a time of rapid transformation, paradoxically, change is also slow. The world is catching on to the new era. Some people are stuck in their old ways of thinking and this will not serve them well in the present. It is hard for most people to think in the first place, let alone to go beyond self-imposed limitations of long ingrained ideology.
Zelensky's weak argument is that the Ukrainian Constitution bars him from ceding portions of Ukraine to Russia. He has ridiculed Putin's most likely successor (at this time anyway) and called him an idiot and low-level aide who does not even get the technicalities. Projections are a powerful psychological mechanism of denial of self. We project onto others our own failings and limitations, as a way to deal with the pain of our unacknowledged shortcomings. Putin is providing Presidential Aide Medinsky with an opportunity to show his capacity for leadership, and to see if he can broker a peace deal between two nations on the global stage. This is monumental. Medinsky must show he has the temperament and capacity to play at the highest level. After all, Putin will not be President of Russia forever. It is his (Putin’s) responsibility to leave Russia in good hands, and he is preparing the next generation of leaders in his country. Who will take over the reins, and guide Russia with a strong hand, and with wisdom, love, and commitment to maintaining Russia’s sovereignty and territory and noble place on earth.
The face of this current conflict, which began in 2014 and peaked in 2022, has irrevocably changed the dynamic of Ukraine, or, as Putin says, the realities on the ground. There is simply no turning back. It is impossible to return to the territorial perimeters of Ukraine as they were on December 8, 1991. Ukraine, technically a sovereign nation (a highly debatable matter when it is a vassal of Western hegemony), has lost a lot of ground since 2014. The will of the Russian People—in former Ukrainian territories—was to be reunited with Greater Russia for the sake of their survival. In response to ongoing persecution and suffering, Russians made their will known via a formal and public referendum in both 2014 and in 2022.
The longer the war goes on, the more territory Ukraine will lose. However, in the absence of the United States bankrolling the war, Ukraine will not last much longer in any event. Ultimately, Putin's Peace Plan is two-fold. Surrender in a boardroom, or on the battlefield. As you wish. But, if on the battlefield, Ukraine’s bad choice will cause many more people to die and to suffer displacement needlessly, all the while losing territory. The blood spilled in this war is on Biden’s and Zelensky’s hands, and also on every nation who continues to clamor for war.
Washington war hawks may have a lot of money invested in war stocks, and in banking on the boom from the military industrial complex whose entire reason for being is to profit from war. However, the rest of the world loses, and eventually, the MIC well will run dry, too. There is actually a lot more money to be made by amplifying peace than there is by waging war. War is to poverty what peace is to prosperity. Ultimately, all roads lead to the same place. In the case of Eastern Europe, both war and peace will end in a multipolar world, as this is the direction the world is heading now, and this transformation is both inevitable and unavoidable.
It is great that the two parties (Russia and Ukraine) are now in direct talks and that they are handling all of the settlement issues behind the scenes, while meeting to sign on the dotted line where they have already established consensus. In every sense, meetings are a formality and the real work happens in between the formal conferences. It is also a great thing that both sides announce the facts, after-the-fact, as it should be, as opposed to waging a war campaign of propaganda in the media. Discretion is prudent in the theaters of war and peace.
What is worrisome still, is that it is ideologically incongruous for the United States of America not to want to topple Russia. Politically, the U.S. sees Russia and China as foes instead of as potential peers and allies. Therefore, Trump must go against the swamp as he calls it—made up of both right wing and left wing war hawks on the Hill—in order to help bring this war to an end. The main way he can do this is by withdrawing all support to Ukraine’s war chest. So far, he has failed to do this, as he straddles the fence. Drones, surveillance, supplies, intelligence. The current war chest, promised by Biden, is almost running out. Ukraine is broke and does not have the money to pay its troops and take care of its people. Western Europe, in a shortsighted scheme, relied on Biden’s will to fan the flame of hate against Russia. The good news is that no new supplies have been authorized. However, Lindsey Graham, a quintessential Washington neocon, and swamp thing if one ever existed, is trying to enact nuclear sanctions to the tune of 500% on China and India. His cohorts, such as Blumenthal, and all the traditional cast of characters are making an alarmist play for amplifying war. This is the only language they know. The Washington war mongers want to punish Russia's friends as a way to harm Russia. But Graham is wrong in his calculation. India, China and Russia have already established a preemptive response to economic warfare. They anticipated Washington’s actions based on previous performance. Often, though not always, the past is the best predictor of the present.
It is time for America to scout for a new brand of leadership. To have the courage and vision to make changes and to take bold and innovative steps in a new direction for humankind. The military industrial complex is an outdated business model that has run its course. This is no longer a viable business model for America, not in a world governed by equitable partnership anyway. This does not mean to forego national security. For, it is incumbent upon every nation to protect its assets. To this end, a robust defense is the best offense. Always be prepared.
America is not innocent. We point fingers at all the evil other nations do, but we must look at all the evil that we do, and the damage we have caused and the harm we have created globally. It is time for us to take the speck out of our own eye, for we are in no position to cast the first stone. We are as guilty, perhaps premier amongst nations, of causing global catastrophes, all so that a few rich people could capitalize on suffering and manufactured poverty. For the past 80 years, America has been doing the same dumb thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Sure, it might have seemed for a time that global dominance, oppression and marginalization of other nations and people was a net positive, but, cui bono? It is time now for America (and the West) to give peace and prosperity a chance. And to see how that works out for us.
