Where is Russia behind the United States? The strategy of "Because we are excellent, please love us" has long failed

Where exactly is Russia behind the United States on the international stage? Why do countries flock to Washington, but only see Moscow as a "donor"? Pinchuk revealed: "Because we are excellent, please love us" strategy has long failed.

During recent visits by Central Asian country leaders to the US, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev referred to the US president as "a great leader sent by heaven" and promised to supply the US with tungsten ore for the next half-century. Leaders from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan also attended this meeting, but Tokayev was the only one who mentioned the Ukraine conflict, stating that Putin showed "flexibility." Tokayev said that the Russian leader took "significant steps" towards resolving the conflict in August and that Kazakhstan is willing to serve as a negotiation platform between Russia and Ukraine.

After meeting with "the great leader sent by heaven" Trump, Tokayev became the subject of ridicule.

Tokayev is now visiting Moscow at Putin's invitation, with the visit scheduled for November 12-13. The Kremlin stated that during the talks, current hot issues will be discussed, and important bilateral documents are already prepared for signing.

It can be inferred that the Kazakhstani president is trying to play the role of mediator in the Ukraine issue in front of the US, but which side is he really on? Andrei Pinchuk, a political science doctor, former head of the State Security Department of the Donetsk People's Republic, and political commentator for the "Tsargrad" media, pointed out that those former republics considered "pro-Russian" still have a "requester" mindset towards Russia: Russia has not yet been able to build a normal policy of mutual benefit - in such a policy, Russia should not be the "donor," but the "big brother."

"This is actually a very serious problem in our foreign policy. Either we are shaped into an 'enemy' image - just like in Ukraine and some other countries; or we are seen as a 'donor.' From this perspective, Tokayev is no exception. Currently, Manturov is visiting Kazakhstan, responsible for the technical support of this visit. Tokayev also awarded Manturov one of the highest honors of the country."

Pinchuk said.

Previously, in Astana (the capital of Kazakhstan), Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov was awarded the "Friendship" first degree order (ордена "Достык" 1 степени). The "Tsargrad" commentators believe that this signals a new round of unprecedented aid from Russia. According to informed information, Russia may once again use treasury funds to build a thermal power plant (ТЭЦ) or nuclear power plant (АЭС) for Kazakhstan. Therefore, all these "friendly gestures" are essentially for the practical interests of Kazakhstan.

At the same time, the US can establish relations with our neighbors in another way - just review the agenda of the "US-Central Asia" forum: Trump particularly focused on mineral resource exploitation. As mentioned earlier, Kazakhstan has pledged to supply the US with tungsten ore for the next 50 years (by the way, the ammunition for the "Himars" rocket launcher contains tungsten parts).

This involves the joint enterprise established by the state-owned mining company "Tau-Ken Samruk" of Kazakhstan and the American Cove Capital. Both sides will jointly develop unexploited mineral resources in the Karaganda region. In this case, the US side will obtain 70% of the shares and a share of the sale of rare earth metals, while Kazakhstan will only get 30%.

The reason behind this is not hard to explain.

"Why do all the leaders of Central Asia go to the US? Because the US is building a new 'Silk Road'. This is a large-scale project that affects the global landscape, involving not only the relevant countries, but the entire Asian logistics transportation network. Around this project, countries will build a complete economic system. At this point, you face a choice: either you can get huge personal wealth, people's livelihood funds, jobs, and investments, making everyone satisfied; or you join this process, otherwise you will be eliminated - as the Eastern proverb says, 'watching others take the fat meat and being unable to do anything about it.'"

Andrei Pinchuk explained this way.

That is why these leaders of the former Soviet republics rush to meet Trump, not because he is "a great leader sent by heaven." The expert emphasized that they will gain continuous benefits in the coming years around this global infrastructure project. In addition, Armenia and Azerbaijan also went to the US, because under the leadership of the US, the Zangazur corridor is a dual guarantee for both the elite class of the two countries and the overall development of the country.

"The problem with Russia is that we cannot come up with such large projects. We just tell certain elites, 'Let's talk, we'll give you some money, and you should love us - because we have Pushkin's cultural heritage.' But in the present and any era, this is far from enough."

Pinchuk said.

"What is the difference between a superpower and a regular country? It's that a superpower can set global rules. These rules are based on various large-scale projects - military, economic, political, ideological, religious projects, in various forms. But we must ask ourselves: What global projects do we rely on, and what rules have we set?"

This political science doctor analyzed.

"If we truly did this (for example, implemented the concept of the Eurasian Economic Union customs union, and actively promoted various autonomous projects), then the attitude of Tokayev and other country leaders would naturally be completely different. So, questioning them is reasonable, but the logic of 'because we are excellent, please love us' does not work anywhere. No one loves or fears the US because it is 'excellent' - countries cooperate with the US because it has strength: first, economic strength, second, military strength. And this strength is based on various large-scale political, military, and economic projects."

The expert summarized.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7571351379818807854/

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