The decline of the West. One hundred years after Spengler’s work

Who knows what Oswald Spengler would think today of the global geopolitical dynamics and the role that the West is having within it. Given that his work is not ascribed to geopolitical analysis but rather to the philosophy of history, the foresight of this man is to be admired who, in our opinion, was able to grasp “the existential void” of Western culture founded essentially on money and on instrumental cultural models (aimed at shaping the masses and referring them to a biased and fictitious idea of ​​good), empty and sterile, which condemn it to extinction. Its collapse, however, would be determined by the course of history (as well as by its own inconsistency) because all civilizations have their own “biological development” which follows that of the human being (childhood, youth, maturity, old age) and reach therefore, at a certain point, to its own end. We cannot go into analyzes of this type because we are not philosophers of history and we cannot maintain that every civilization is condemned to this deterministic process. What is certain, however, is that everything in this world has a beginning and an end and that every civilization (as well as every empire) has experienced a birth, a development, an apogee and finally its collapse. Nothing lasts forever in this world. In every area. Geopolitics does not ignore these considerations and cannot therefore derogate from them. The dynamics and development of international relations today expresses and reflects this inexorable dynamic of the world. And in this Spengler was certainly right.

THE CUPID NIMIA OF THE WEST AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR AND THE MESSIANIC VISION OF ITS ROLE IN THE WORLD.

The West, however, does not seem resigned to its fate. On the other hand, no empire and no civilization has accepted its end without fighting. Sometimes down to the last man. Other times until one’s total destruction. Why should the Anglo-Saxon empire derogate from this “rule”? Furthermore, he is the victim of an almost messianic vision of his role in the world which deprives him of foresight and this is largely due to the victory achieved against his geopolitical antagonist after the Second World War. The victory against the USSR (brought to economic collapse in 1991 and won, therefore, without a military victory which would have been impossible) had convinced the US establishment that Anglo-Saxon power would impose itself across the globe without anyone being able to resist you. At that historical juncture, politicians in Washington and London began to frame the role of the Anglo-Saxon empire in a messianic vision. And they rose to an almost unprecedented level of hubris. Victims of a cupid enemy very similar to the one that Rome experienced after the definitive victory over its most fearsome and bitter geopolitical rival: Carthage. Thirst for power (this is how we could translate the Sallustian expression today) described very well by Sallust in his main work: The Conspiracy of Catiline. In this work Sallust highlights not only the contradictions of the Roman political system but also the arrogance and delirium of omnipotence that had pervaded the Roman political class after the victory over the only geopolitical rival that seemed to be able to threaten the power of Rome. After the defeat of Hannibal, Rome no longer found any brake on its claims of expansion and its lust for power. Similarly, in the contemporary age, the victory over the Soviet Union, which occurred thirty years ago, led the Western political leadership to go beyond reasonable hegemonic claims, convinced of the divine nature of its role on planet earth. Obviously the course of history is bringing them back to reality even if they still seem convinced that they can tame the rebel forces and fully reaffirm their hegemony. Historically, moreover, no hegemon has ever agreed to give way to any challenger. The ongoing clash therefore does not represent anything geopolitically anomalous and is only the natural outcome of the rise of new powers on the global geopolitical stage.

DUSK OF TRADITIONAL VALUES.

But the West does not only seem to be a victim of its lust for power. It also appears to be a slave to its own degeneration of customs which it seems to perceive as the “summary expression” of its own social evolution. Of the same social evolution that brought Rome to ruin after its victory over Carthage. Or, of the Athenian one in the golden age of Pericles (5th century BC). Social evolution expressed by freedom of views (in the political, social and even sexual fields) typical of societies with hegemonic geopolitical realities in which everything and its opposite are debated. And in which time-honored values ​​such as the values ​​of family, homeland, savings and morality are challenged. Social evolution that undermines the foundations of human life as Mother Nature imposed on us. And which, alas, only leads to the collapse of the civilizations that have experienced them (the cases of Rome and Athens teach us a lot). And here we return to Spengler. The Western social and cultural model appears more empty and sterile than ever. It is enough to study the evolution of the Roman and Athenian cultural models (which appear as the historical antecedent of the Western one) to understand the destiny of our civilization. Even in the apogee of the classical world, in fact, a lascivious modus vivendi based on excessive affectation as well as on a lifestyle light years away from that of the founding fathers took shape. A lifestyle that calls into question the sacred values ​​of the family and the homeland and that exalts the most extreme relativism even in the field of gnoseology (think of Gorgias and Protagoras), thus leading to the total loss of points of reference. Lifestyle that is based on a materialistic and hedonistic conception of human existence. Conceived in a totally autonomous way from any transcendent reference. In this vision, which was also that of the Renaissance homo suaefortunae faber , there is no room for the beyond. What matters is “this side” and what can make human life satisfying and enjoyable in this world. Hence the exaltation of a system of values ​​or pseudo-values ​​based on money and everything connected to it. What the West today perceives as “social evolution” is nothing more than a pseudo system of values ​​already experimented in other “evolved societies” before it. Collapsed in turn due to a degenerate cultural model perceived, precisely, as the “maximum social evolution of a modern civilization”.

WASHINGTON’S GEOPOLITICAL DESIRES  NO LONGER IN LINE WITH REALITY.

The moral decay of the West as well as its lust for power also seems to have led to a total loss of the sense of geopolitical reality. To the point of convincing himself that he is capable of achieving the unattainable. The Western establishment is trying, as is well known, to put a noose around the neck of the Russian political leadership and to isolate Moscow on the world geopolitical scene. Russia represents for America today what Carthage represented for Rome in the 2nd century BC. That is, the main obstacle to his desire for power and his most dangerous geopolitical opponent in the world. So it is Washington’s desire that Russia end up like Carthage. The point is that this is impossible not only due to the Russian nuclear deterrent but also due to the fact that Moscow can boast the best military technology in the world. Just think of missiles and their developments in Russia. To date, only the Russians possess hypersonic missiles capable of traveling at over 10,000 km/h and in fact not interceptable by any defense system produced in the world. This means that in the event of war we would not even be able to defend ourselves from a Russian nuclear attack and we would certainly be destroyed. Let no one rejoice that Russia would itself be destroyed by the West’s retaliatory attack. Because this is not at all obvious. And the brand new S 500 anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems have such capabilities (according to what many experts report) to destroy a large part of US ballistic missiles even before they reach Russia. Is all this said by the Western press? Obviously not. Indeed, it continues to portray Russia as a country with an obsolete and non-competitive military-industrial complex. But this is not the case and we hope that the Kremlin’s military potential will never be tested. The Western media have managed to convince their public opinions that Russia is an imperialist country that wants to pursue its geopolitical and geostrategic objectives through war. Let’s not say that some of it isn’t true. What is not true is that Moscow is isolated internationally. There is nothing further from the truth. Russia enjoys the support of much of the southern hemisphere as well as China and India (towards which it is reconverting its economy due to the well-known geopolitical developments underway in competition with the West). It is, among other things, actively riding the anti-colonial anger in Latin America and Africa with the aim of putting an end, totally and definitively, to Western neocolonialism. There are many countries that today look to the Kremlin (and Beijing) to free themselves from the noose placed around their neck by the IMF and the World Bank. This dynamic represents a huge threat to the status quo geopolitical that has taken shape in the world since the end of the Second World War. The global changes on the world geopolitical stage are truly impressive. The world is no longer what it was in 1991. The course of the world is taking a different turn. Between the regret and the anger that is rising in the West. Who, alas, does not accept the new course and lashes out against it. Are we close to the collapse and decline of the West? We just have to observe the course of events. 

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