Lavrov Writes in Global Times, Pandemic Reveals the Immorality of Geopolitics and ‘Ultra-Liberal System’

May 28, 2020 (EIRNS)—In a Viewpoint article written for China’s Global Times on “Conclusion and Mission on COVID-19,” (“The Pandemic: Objectives and Lessons Learned” in the Foreign Ministry posting) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivered a scathing warning to those seeking to take advantage of the pandemic to further their geopolitical “predatory attitudes”: It is your own countries that are suffering the consequences of these policies, Lavrov stated.

The pandemic has shown that “all countries and peoples are equal before tragedy, regardless of geography, wealth or political ambitions,” he wrote. Yet

“the unavoidable natural consequences of the pandemic are being complemented with the man-made effects created by the inability of humankind, or rather a certain part of it, to abandon the friend-foe mentality even when facing a shared adversity....

“The pandemic has yet again laid bare the Western myth about the end of history and the victorious advance of the ultra-liberal development model based on individualism and on the belief that market methods offer a solution to any problem. This approach has played a dirty trick on its proponents. Self-sufficient countries with established mobilization mechanisms, clear national interests and distinct values have turned out to be more resistant to stress,”

he drily declares.

Lavrov counters to the “untreatable selfishness of some countries and their ruling elites,” the need to strengthen the United Nations.

Lavrov also points to the various integration projects now underway in the “vast Eurasian space” as a prospective area to generate areas of growth to help the world’s post-crisis economic connectivity. Calling on the European Union to join this perspective, Lavrov proposes that Eurasian integration will not only be economically beneficial, but also that such cooperation “will serve as an important first phase in the development of the territory of peace and stability from Lisbon to Jakarta.”

At no point is the United States named in his article, but Lavrov reiterates that Russia

“will cooperate with anyone who is willing to work together on the principles of honesty and mutual respect for each other’s interests and concerns.... Now is the time to abandon the mentality of inertia based on outdated stereotypes and to start, at long last, to act from positions of morality, because a safe future for all people on Earth, our common home, is hanging in the balance.”