Speech by the Director of the SVR of Russia at the International Moscow conference on security

Source: The Saker

May 07, 2019 • 7 Comments

translated by Scott

source: https://cont.ws/@serfilatov/1316761

Sergei Naryshkin

Sergei Naryshkin:

Dear participants of the Conference!

Our meeting is taking place against a backdrop of an extremely complex international situation. It is qualitatively different from previous periods of the "cold war" and the brief triumph of American unipolarity. The confrontation between the powers in those years was tense, but generally predictable and regulated by a clear set of rules. In today's world, the degree of disorder and uncertainty is growing rapidly. Old balances of power are collapsing, norms are being rewritten, and rules are being destroyed in all spheres of inter-state cooperation.

The main reason for the observed processes lies in the unwillingness of the so-called West led by the United States to recognize irreversibility of formation of multipolar world. Clearly visible is a desire of the Euro-Atlantic elite to maintain its leadership, which until recently seemed uncontested. German philosopher Walter Schubart at the beginning of 20th century said about the British that they, unlike other nations, look at the world as a factory, and do not crave anything but profit and benefits. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have had an opportunity to observe how historical and political successors of the British – the Americans – have built and expanded their factory, or rather the corporation, which now squeezes profits on a global scale. Many countries, such as Yugoslavia, Afghanistan or Iraq, have experienced its business model.

But, at the beginning of the new century, something went wrong for the Atlanticists. States and peoples began to remind Washington about their geopolitical sovereign subjectivity in more and more stern terms. The global financial cataclysm of 2008 revealed a shaky foundations of the global liberal economy built by the West. To date, no new sources of high and stable growth have been discovered. In the Western countries themselves, the population was not prepared for the severe consequences of the crisis, nor for the experiments of its own elite in the field of multiculturalism and the substitution for traditional identity. Proof of this – a sharp rise in popularity of anti-systemic, nationalist and populist forces. A society sends clear messages to the authorities that it feels deceived. But, instead of an adequate response, their elites chant about a mythical "foreign interference" and organize "witch hunts".

Many of the above-mentioned problems would lose their relevance if the Western elite would learn to consider international relations not as a "zero-sum game", but as a way to jointly solve accumulated problems. However, the global corporation cannot stop expanding and allow its profits to decline. It is more likely to destroy the international legal system and security architecture, which has become disadvantageous and inconvenient for them.

Motivated by selfish motives, Americans and their obedient allies are increasingly resorting to use of force to advance their interests at the expense of multilateral negotiations. They are making outright attempts to destabilize the situation in most regions of the world. And increasingly, they act not only without regard to the norms of international law, but also against common sense.

A striking example is the situation around Venezuela, which today is being cynically decimated in the same way as previously Libya or Syria. The White House itself is talking about danger of uncontrolled migration, plans to spend billions on strengthening the border with Mexico, and at the same time inflates a new civil conflict, provokes another humanitarian disaster, and this time – almost at its doorstep. Such arrogance and self-deception are some of the main challenges to international security.

This reckless line of action is not limited to Venezuela, which the United States, judging by its behavior, considers to be almost its own province! We see the United States, the United Kingdom and its most loyal NATO allies gradually abandoning basic rules and multilateral regimes, even on issues as critical to strategic stability as arms control and WMD. They violate principles of free trade, which is fundamental for the global financial and economic system they themselves have built. They arbitrarily interpret international law, inflicting military strikes on the territory of sovereign states, killing tens and hundreds of thousands of civilians and imposing sanctions against their geopolitical rivals. Even the very concept of law was turned into a joke after the British introduced a "Highly Likely" expression into legal circulation. Other Western countries considered it sufficient for a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats (which received a mirror response).

Please go to The Saker to read the entire article.
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