This article appears in the July 19, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
GUEST OPINION
On the Issue of Struggling Against Neocolonial Practices
[Print version of this article]
Mr. Antonov is Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States. His article was submitted for publication exclusively to the Schiller Institute and its associated news outlets.
July 11—Russia stands for the formation of a fairer and more stable multipolar system of international relations, based on the U.N. Charter and, above all, on the principle of sovereign equality of states. We advocate the emergence of a global order that will reflect the cultural and civilizational diversity of the modern world, and take into account the right of every nation to determine its own destiny.
This approach is gaining increasing support within the international community that seeks to eradicate vestiges of the colonial system.
Meanwhile, the collective West is still actively resisting such efforts, trying hard to retain the “reins of power” and the status of “master of destinies.” The current dynamic in Ukraine, and restless attempts by Western capitals to destabilize the situation in the post-Soviet space, are illustrative examples of the “global hegemon’s” desperate struggle to preserve its dominance and an opportunity to impose the unipolar model on the international community.
The world majority clearly understands that the Western colonial practices don’t lead to anything good. A bitter confirmation to this is the use of force by an aggressive minority under the leadership of the U.S. in a number of countries, including Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and some states in Asia and Africa. Experts estimate that since 1945, Washington has made more than 50 attempts at coups d’etat and military interventions.
In the same line is the imposition of illegitimate economic barriers. These include limitation of opportunities for independent development, coercion to conclude unfair contracts, extracting resources for nothing, as well as relocation of dirty industries to countries of the South. Of special note is the unlawful practice of the West, aimed at unleashing sanctions pressure on the states that refuse to submit to the dictates and sacrifice their sovereignty and national identity. Examples of such illegal restrictive measures include the long-term economic blockade of Cuba, and unilateral restrictions against Iran and Venezuela.
In order to preserve their geopolitical presence in various regions of the world, Western capitals actively resort to the mechanisms of “debt neocolonialism.” Under the disguise of environmental protection and fight against climate change, they hypocritically promote the concepts of “green imperialism” which only benefit the so-called “golden billion.” The technological divide is being deliberately enhanced to consolidate the monopoly of Western IT corporations. There is a taboo on any publications contradicting the established Western narrative in the information space controlled by them.
An illustrative example is unequal distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 [pandemic], with simultaneous Western efforts to artificially delay certification of the Russian Sputnik vaccine which could save millions of lives in developing countries. At the same time, no one was held responsible for cases of severe side effects from the use of hastily certified Western vaccines.
Another symptom of neocolonialism is the aggressive imposition of neoliberal attitudes to the detriment of traditional spiritual and moral values. It’s about pushing a destructive agenda, including gender diversity and legalization of drugs. Among other things, the so-called “summits for democracy” organized under the auspices of Washington in order to update the U.S. toolkit of external control and interference into the internal affairs of sovereign states, as well as the fight against those who are labeled here in the United States as “autocracies.”
These facts clearly point at who remains the true colonizer. It is high time for the Western camp, representing the minority, to understand the futility of imposing neocolonial practices (including the so-called “rules-based order”), and any attempts to lay the blame on someone else.
Based on the experience of our country in promoting the people’s liberation movements in the 1960s, nations of the world majority demonstrate their strong commitment to the struggle aimed at establishing an equal and mutually respectful dialogue. A vivid example of this is a disagreement of our partners representing the countries of the Global South and East with Western interpretations of the situation in Ukraine and their understanding of the goals and objectives of a special military operation.
In the same line is the support of the Russian initiative to create an international anti-colonial movement “For the Freedom of Nations!”, to eradicate modern practices of exploitation and hegemony.
