The US Defeat in Ukraine: Falling Back Means Retreat

The US is losing the war in Ukraine. No matter how much the Western media hides it, no matter how much Trump presents himself as supposedly “tough,” the essence of words and actions counts. The Trump slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again” means exactly the opposite and is an indirect confession that the US is constantly declining and is no longer the only global superpower, as the fronts in Ukraine and Palestine show.

Trump’s staged or not public showdown with Zelensky in the White House and the artificial crisis in Washington’s relations with Kiev with the cessation of US economic and military aid to Ukraine is clear evidence of the failed US policy in the Ukrainian war. Donald Trump said that the US is adjusting its stance, distancing itself from its previous full support for Kiev and, while maintaining a policy of equal distance towards Kiev and Moscow, it aspires to assume the role of a negotiator. Who? The US, which provoked the conflict by seeking to integrate Ukraine into NATO.

This move is a 180-degree turn for the once sole superpower and a clear admission by Trump that the US lost the war on points and with this move they are trying to come out as unscathed as possible with a draw, sharing Ukraine’s mineral wealth with the Russians and retreating on security issues towards the Kremlin.

The cynical conflict in the White House for the Ukrainian, and not only, people has five main implications: a) to signal in communication the change in Washington’s stance towards Kiev, b) to justify the sale of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, c) to prepare the “heroic” exit of the “stolen lemonade” called Zelensky from Ukrainian political life, d) to prepare the Europeans for the role of the keeper of the intermediate space in the new Cold War landscape they are preparing, and e) for the US to strategically attract Russia as a cunning neutral in the Great Game against China. The world has now entered a multipolar system with China and Russia claiming their own “place in the sun” in control of the global geopolitical pie. The consequence of this ever-emerging multipolarity, as evidenced by developments in Euro-American relations and the role of NATO, is the reflection of the long-standing inadequacy of the US to play the role of the post-Soviet sole global superpower of the New Order of Things of the last three decades.

The post-war, and especially post-Soviet, period of hegemonic inertia and respite of the US in Europe has passed. Global competition with Russia and China forces the US to increase its human and material resources, which are however not sufficient to maintain its tutelage over Europe. Using Russia as a scarecrow, Trump is trying to sell “free hegemony and protection” to the Europeans, seeking to get them out of the post-war security trap that the Americans had imposed on them, when China was still “asleep”.

The Europeans believe that without economic support the US cannot maintain its control over Europe in the medium term. Everything indicates that the time for the geopolitical weaning of the Europeans from American hegemony is approaching. In the medium term, however, the Americans will rely on Europe and on initiatives that the Europeans should take in various crises, such as the Palestinian Question.