Biden’s Warsaw Speech was a Milestone in the New Cold War

Biden’s historical revisionism of misportraying the rise of America’s multipolar rivals over the decades as supposedly being related to an ‘autocratic’ threat to the self-professed ‘democratic’ West is meant to convince everyone that this is a cause greater than themselves that’s worth sacrificing for, potentially even for several decades.

Yet another milestone was reached in the rapidly intensifying New Cold War in Western Eurasia between Russia and NATO following US President Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw on Saturday. The US-led West’s unprecedented and preplanned response to Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine that America itself triggered by refusing to respect Moscow’s security guarantee requests from last December set into motion a complex sequence of events that continues to unfold before the world’s eyes. The latest such one was on full display in the Polish capital over the weekend, during which time Biden made clear his country’s aims and motivations in this geostrategic competition.

He began by evoking the late Pope John Paul II, who stands as among the most famous Poles in history, in order to add an ethno-religious and ideological dimension to this New Cold War theater. The purpose was to imply a comparison between himself and that former Catholic leader in order to rally Poles behind the US on a supposedly patriotic basis. Furthermore, knowing that the Pope’s anti-communist crusade ultimately contributed to inspiring the anti-Soviet Solidarity movement that later played a role in the USSR losing control over Central Europe, Biden hoped to convince Poles that the current struggle will inevitably end the same way with the decline of Russia’s regional influence with time.

The key qualifier is that it won’t happen right away, he reminded everyone, instead warning them that “We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.” The American leader then segued into talking about his government’s official portrayal of the Ukrainian position in this conflict, which he predictably lauded as the epitome of “democratic” values and whatnot. The irony is that everything that he said that former Soviet Republic supposedly stands for — the rule of law; free and fair elections; the freedom to speak, to write, and to assemble; the freedom to worship as one chooses; freedom of the press – is indisputably being violated by none other than Ukrainian President Zelensky.

The former comedian recently criminalized multiple opposition groups, banned critical media, and consolidated his national outlets under a single body, not to mention having already earlier restricted minorities’ rights to freely express themselves in their indigenous non-Ukrainian languages. The point to be made is that Biden is purposely misrepresenting the Ukrainian cause, which isn’t “democratic” but ethno-fascist and oligarchic. Nevertheless, most of the targeted American and Polish audiences probably won’t question what he said since they’re more concerned with the bigger picture that he’s painting with respect to the New Cold War that might very well last years, if not decades.

Biden spun a story about “autocracy” supposedly being on the rise over the past three decades in complete contradiction to his country’s hitherto “politically correct” interpretation of history, all without anyone batting an eye despite having previously been indoctrinated into believing in the so-called “End of History” thesis pushed by the infamous Fukuyama at the end of the Old Cold War and beyond. This reversal of the grand strategic narrative is purely strategic since it’s intended to imbue the New Cold War with a distinct ideological dimension, not just for prestige’s sake (though that’s likely part of it), but also to provide a reason for why the Western public will likely have to sacrifice a lot going forward.

Following his ideological appeal to the public, Biden then trumpeted how the US-led West’s anti-Russian sanctions supposedly tanked its target’s economy, though he gaffed by falsely claiming that one dollar nowadays exchanges for 200 rubles when the real rate is closer to around 100. For reference, it used to be approximately 80 before recent events. The American leader also repeated his claim that Russia’s special operation has been “a strategic failure” despite a Russian Ministry of Defense briefing the day prior explaining in detail just how successful it’s actually been. According to Biden, the political-economic fantasy that he shared means that “the democracies of the world are revitalized”.

There’s truth to the observation that self-professed Western-style “democracies” are more unified than before, but that’s only because the US exploited the sequence of events that it provoked in order to reassert its hegemony over Europe through NATO on a renewed anti-Russian pretext. Describing it as a “revitalization”, however, is a bridge too far. It was also unbelievable that he’d directly appeal to the Russian people by claiming that they’re not his enemy despite his much-touted unprecedented sanctions directly targeting their living standards. He also crossed one of Russian culture’s sacred red lines by comparing their special operation in Ukraine to Hitler’s genocidal invasion of the Soviet Union.

Being an American leader, Biden couldn’t help but attempt to further advance his country’s hegemonic interests over its vassals by making a pitch for Europe to reduce its energy dependence on Russia by purchasing comparatively more expensive US LNG. That was to be expected since this represents an unprecedented business opportunity for the American elite that’ll ensure their country’s influence over Europe for generations. Biden then wrapped up his speech by explicitly calling for regime change against President Putin while thundering that “this man cannot remain in power”, though White House officials then attempted to walk it back by claiming that he was only saying it for dramatic-emotional effect.

In any case, Biden’s Warsaw speech was certainly a milestone in the New Cold War since it elaborated everything that American is aiming for as well as its motivations. His deceptive attempts to manipulate his target audience’s perceptions of this struggle resulted in him making false comparisons between himself and Pope John Paul II and between President Putin and Hitler. Biden’s historical revisionism of misportraying the rise of America’s multipolar rivals over the decades as supposedly being related to an ”autocratic” threat to the self-professed “democratic” West is meant to convince everyone that this is a cause greater than themselves that’s worth sacrificing for, potentially even for several decades.

The US-led Western Mainstream Media is already praising his speech as an epochal moment in modern history, which while being an exaggeration, isn’t exactly too far off since it nevertheless represents a decisive moment whereby America fully articulated everything connected to its stance in the New Cold War’s Western Eurasian theater. That’s not to imply any credence to Biden’s many false claims, but simply to point out that this is the most high-profile attempt by America yet to explain everything that it’s aiming for in this struggle and why, although Biden of course wasn’t truthful with his audience. Even so, his speech should still be seen as yet another US-provoked intensification in the New Cold War.


By Andrew Korybko
Source: OneWorld

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *