The ongoing world war, fought in an increasingly bloody manner in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, offers us more than one reflection on the changes in the balance of world power. First of all, the one concerning the consequences that the conflict is having on the economy and on the Western war machine, in fact in great difficulty. This is demonstrated by the progress of the war in Ukraine where all the geostrategic ambitions of Washington and London have been shattered and the reality reveals a slow but continuous Russian advance that cannot be stopped. The immense economic and military commitment that the entire West has undertaken for the cause of Kiev has been of little use. And all the attempts to decisively and humiliatingly defeat the Moscow army have been of very little use. Besides, we, as historians as we are, have had no doubts from the beginning about the course of war events in this specific war theater. But the Anglo-Saxon political leadership did not think the same way and fell into the same trap that was fatal to Hitler and Napoleon. In the meantime, after two and a half years of hostility, Russia appears strengthened by the conflict. Its economy has shown no sign of weakness and has been able to replace Western markets with Asian ones for the export of its immense production of raw materials. This makes it richer and decidedly freer and more powerful on a geopolitical level. On the other hand, the USA and Europe are struggling in a more than evident way. Western economies are in great difficulty thanks to the unstoppable inflationary dynamic (due to the continuous creation of money by central banks), to the increase of a now uncontrollable public debt (to which war expenses have given a great boost), to the impoverishment of their own society and therefore, consequently, to the downsizing of their internal markets with all the inexorable implications regarding consumption and employment. And, despite this, they persist in falling into one trap after another. Without the possibility of getting out of it. As happened in Africa and the Middle East. In the first they have no chance of prevailing. And this is not only thanks to the joint military commitment of Russia and China but also because of the hatred that the countries and local populations have for the old “dominators”. Be they English or French. In the Middle East the situation is even worse. It was not enough to have fallen into the trap of Gaza with its exhausting guerrilla warfare. Now the project of “Greater Israel” and of the continuous war against regional enemies is also being dusted off, but without the necessary force, in our opinion, to do so. From information we have, jewels of Russian military technology have already arrived in the area that make any attempt at real expansion unrealistic. And, considering the size of the small Zionist state, it would be extremely easy for its antagonists to weaken and destroy its vital structures. With unpredictable consequences on its social and political structure. Even the morphology of the Middle Eastern territory does not lend itself well to a success of the Israeli forces on the field. As the various invasions of Lebanon have also well demonstrated. But, despite this, they continue to call for war. All this leaves us stunned and dismayed in the face of an establishment that, in a desperate attempt to maintain its power over the world, is in fact undertaking reckless and counterproductive actions. Which, far from re-establishing the old world order, shattered by Putin on February 24, 2024, are only accelerating the exhaustion of the strength and power of Washington and London on the world geopolitical stage. Heading precisely towards those that are the geopolitical and geostrategic objectives of Moscow and Beijing.
THE WEST IN ATLAS PALACE: THE DYNAMICS OF FINANCIAL MARKETS IN THE WEST AND OF THE REAL ECONOMY IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES
In the face of a very compromised economic, political and geopolitical situation, we are witnessing a paradox that perhaps has no precedent in history. In fact, we are witnessing a rally in Western financial markets as if everything were going swimmingly. In truth, we know very well that the virtual economy is a world in itself and is not connected in the least (even if it should) to the real one. In this way, an attempt is made to generate wealth, artificially, for the managed savings of the middle-upper social class (which invests in financial markets) by cushioning the effects of inflation and the economic crisis for the wealthier classes (while the poorer ones have no escape from the current economic scenario). In short, wealth is created out of nothing for the privileged part of the Western population. But stock market values no longer reflect the reality of the world they should represent. And such a disconnect has in fact allowed the creation of a bubble without equal in the history of humanity. Which sooner or later will have to deflate with enormous consequences on the economic, social and geopolitical solidity of the entire West. On the other hand, the state of the real economy in Europe and the United States is increasingly dramatic. As demonstrated by the dynamics of consumption that is literally plummeting. Also as a consequence of the policies on energy transition (which have specific geopolitical purposes being due to the desire to become independent from hydrocarbons and therefore from Putin’s Russia) which, as is known, are causing an unprecedented crisis in the automotive sector that today appears difficult to solve. Added to this are the costs of raw materials that are much less cheap today than they were before February 24, 2024. Which makes European industrial output increasingly less competitive on the markets compared to Chinese products. Against which sanctions are starting to be launched which, receiving an immediate response from the Chinese authorities (with the imposition of duties on European goods imported into China) further complicate the conditions of Western economies. Furthermore, the BRICS club’s determination to completely free itself from the dollar for its trade is eroding the lifeblood of foreign money that finances the Western war machine as well as the enormous amount of its debt (which is also the real reason for the ongoing world war). In short, the economic and geopolitical conditions of the West are progressively deteriorating and the fact that it has not been able to bring its bitter antagonists back to order manu militari speaks volumes about the state of its war machine and the real possibilities of maintaining its hegemony over the world.
THE WEST IN ATLAS’ PALACE: THE WESTERN ESTABLISHMENT SEEMS TO BE TRAPPED IN ATLAS’ PALACE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF UNDERSTANDING THE GLOBAL GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS AS A WHOLE AND WITHOUT RELEASING IT FROM ITS OWN HEGEMONIC CLAIMS
In conclusion, we can therefore assert that the West seems to be trapped in the Palace of Atlas that traps it in a continuous illusion and that makes it blind to any reality that does not adhere to its dreams. In a state of mere enchantment where the teachings of history and the objective reality that is maturing on the global economic and geopolitical scenario are challenged. We do not know how such a spell can be broken even if we believe that renouncing a narcissistic vision of global geopolitical and geoeconomic reality is the first step to be able to see and analyze the reality of the facts for what it actually is. And act, inevitably, accordingly.