Ukraine is a thing of the past: Lessons from Davos for Russia

Trump made two attempts to fly to Switzerland — this trip was intended to deliver a "judgment" to Europe and NATO. Previously, his plane had to return to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington due to a "minor electrical system failure." The U.S. president then had to take another plane, flying first to Zurich before heading to Davos, attending the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is currently surrounded by a state of hysteria.

What exactly happened? Was it an assassination attempt or a genuine technical malfunction? If it were the German chancellor's plane that had an incident, I might have believed the official explanation without doubt.

After Trump's private jet took off for Davos, it turned back over the Atlantic and returned to Andrews Air Force Base, which once again fueled political speculation in the media.

The Storm Ignited by Trump

With Trump's arrival, Davos is about to erupt like an active volcano. He had anticipated this, knowing well the stakes of his journey.

"This will be an interesting trip. I have no idea what will happen, but the United States will have an excellent representative."

At the South Lawn of the White House, the president told reporters before boarding.

In an interview with NewsNation, Trump openly shared his thoughts:

"I hope my legacy will be that of a great president. A great president means taking on many responsibilities: safeguarding national security, leading the people toward prosperity, ensuring the country runs smoothly, and making the entire nation happy."

Then he delivered the most crucial sentence:

"A great president takes on everything... I believe God will be proud of what I have achieved."

Evidently, this U.S. president flew to Switzerland with a sense of "divine mission," determined to completely tear apart the Western alliance. Better late than never: since the time of Peter the Great until the mid-19th century, the Russian ruling class saw the Western world as today's Europe does through Trump's eyes — a disorganized and vulnerable force.

A great president with a "divine mission" has landed in Davos... as the saying goes, "praising oneself is not a waste of the day."

The Scheduled "Funeral"

Although the process of this Western alliance funeral may be adjusted, the initial agenda has already been set: first, Trump delivers a keynote speech promoting his new economic and international political initiative; second, meets with leaders of various countries to explain the U.S. stance of annexing Greenland and Canada while abandoning Ukraine; third, meets with multinational corporate giants. The agenda also includes informal exchanges at a dinner reception, but for Trump, the top priority is the signing ceremony of the "World Commission" charter — aimed at mediating the situation in Gaza, but its ambitions go far beyond that — as well as the signing of the "World Commission Charter."

On the streets of Davos, there are slogans reading "Reject the Crown" welcoming Trump's arrival. Last year, the U.S. launched numerous protests against Trump's policies under this slogan.

In the opening of his speech at the World Economic Forum, the 47th U.S. president clearly stated the core message:

"History has proven that when the U.S. is in trouble, the whole world suffers. We fall, you fall too; we rise, you rise together."

He continued:

"I have great respect for the people of Greenland and Denmark. However, every NATO ally bears the responsibility of defending their territory. But globally, no country has the capacity to protect Greenland — only the United States. The recent Venezuela incident two weeks ago is the best example."

Trump also brought up the old issue, stating that Denmark fell in just six hours during World War II, and its army was unable to defend itself, let alone protect Greenland.

He also clearly expressed that the U.S. should not intervene in the Ukraine crisis — it's Europe's own matter.

Threats Clearly Stated

Before flying to Europe, Trump issued a warning: if Europe retaliates with trade measures due to the U.S. annexation of Greenland, these measures will ultimately "come back to haunt them."

While threatening Europe, he hoped to resolve the Greenland issue during this Davos trip, he said in an interview with NewsNation:

"We might soon reach an agreement, possibly even during the Davos meeting in the coming days."

Another core issue for Trump at Davos, the globalist stronghold, is declaring the end of globalization. In its place will be large regional economies that are self-sufficient. Trump's advisors repeatedly emphasized: globalization has "completely failed," it left "the U.S. far behind," and the U.S. will no longer "export jobs and hand over its future." They attribute all the blame to the relevant countries.

Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, had previously pointed out the reason:

"Why are these countries now labeled as 'number one threats' and 'main competitors'? Because these countries, like almost all others, accepted the seemingly 'win-win' game rules within the framework of globalization. These countries not only accepted the rules but also improved their systems to participate more efficiently in the global process — eventually, they defeated the rule-makers, especially Americans, within the Western-established arena."

Western countries, especially the U.S., can't handle defeat. They would rather revise the rules they themselves created than accept failure. They will abandon fair economic competition and resort to political pressure, "color revolutions," and even military force to maintain their hegemony. If these methods don't work, they will, while still powerful, try to carve out a broad regional economic sphere for themselves, excluding these countries and erasing their presence entirely.

From attempting to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to planning the annexation of Greenland and Canada; from threatening Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, to Cuba — these actions are interconnected. This is not only the practice of the Monroe Doctrine "America for the Americans," but also the implementation of the technocratic governance movement that was popular in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s — one of Elon Musk's grandfathers was a leader of this movement.

The Trump administration's series of crazy actions in annexing new territories aim to achieve the visionary blueprint of this movement — establishing a superpower called the "North American Technocratic Union."

The 1940 version of the "North American Technocratic Union" map seems surprisingly relevant today.

Ukraine has long been forgotten, becoming an insignificant player. That's why Vladimir Zelensky didn't go to Davos — he would gain nothing there and would easily fall into Trump's "mouth." Zelensky has already made his choice, publicly stating Kyiv supports Denmark's position on the issue of Greenland's sovereignty. And this move won't be forgiven by Trump.

Currently, Zelensky can still rely on European support to continue playing with Russia for a while. But soon, Europe will also abandon him. After all, Europe never expected the U.S. to open a "second front" against them — previously, it was Americans who incited Europe to turn against Russia, taking away Europe's cheap energy and binding it to expensive U.S. energy.

Now, Europe's primary task has changed: the EU's main demand is no longer to strategically defeat Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, but how to avoid its own collapse. Europe is powerless to fight on two fronts, trying to reconcile with the U.S. and jointly oppose Russia is a fantasy. However, clever British think tanks may not have completely given up this illusion, still struggling to plan strategies to reverse the situation.

"Trump is not welcome!" As the U.S. president delivered his speech in Davos, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Zurich, protesting his attendance at the World Economic Forum, even burning the American flag.

Can NATO Survive the Greenland Crisis?

This is undoubtedly a highly suspenseful question. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenet confidently stated at the World Economic Forum that "NATO is safe." Moreover, he even boldly claimed, "Under President Trump, NATO is in an unprecedentedly secure state."

However, according to The Washington Post, the Pentagon is reducing its participation in about 30 NATO cooperative mechanisms, including the Advanced Experience Center responsible for training allied forces in various fields of combat. At the same time, the U.S. also plans to reduce its involvement in advisory groups in areas such as energy security, maritime operations, special operations, and intelligence. By 2025, the U.S. Army's 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division stationed in Romania had already been withdrawn to its home base.

Before flying to Europe, Trump called NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to discuss the issue of Greenland. After the call, Trump declared:

"Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back — everyone knows this well!"

Certainly, although Denmark has sent a small number of troops to Greenland, this move is more out of domestic political considerations — to avoid public criticism of the government being weak. The small-scale troops previously dispatched by Germany and Norway to Greenland have quietly withdrawn. Soon, troops from other countries will follow suit.

Europeans will not fight with the Americans over an island, so Trump's acquisition of Greenland is practically certain. Image source: Ivan Mark / Gaoxin Creative

Everyone understands that Europeans will not fight with the Americans over an island. But this open plunder will surely make European countries wake up: they have always been wary of the "polar bear" Russia, yet they have fallen into the "shepherd" America's jaws, and this "shepherd" has an ever-growing appetite.

After the Davos conference, European countries will gather in Paris and Brussels to discuss how to deal with Trump and his policies. They are likely not to take radical measures to break with the U.S., but the NATO, which has long been used as a "backyard" by the U.S., is destined to quickly "decline and decay." This kind of NATO is not what Europe wants. Europe will eventually start building its own European army — and the prototype of this force has already emerged. Canada may also be interested in joining, but the U.S. will certainly not allow this to happen.

What Does All This Mean?

At this moment, we might consider this question: What role should Russia play in this transformation? Moscow is now assisting the U.S. in reshaping the world order in a very delicate way. Is it worth it?

This is a complex question, but briefly speaking — yes! Russia did not experience significant development during the previous wave of globalization, so the collapse of globalization is not a loss for it. On the contrary, Russia will not only get the opportunity to thoroughly resolve the Ukraine issue, but can also concentrate three times the strength to build its own regional economy based on the Soviet territory, promoting its own development. As for those distant allies who talk about alliances but have long relied on Moscow's loans, there is no need to feel sorry for them.

Practical cooperation with the U.S. in the economic field can help Russia escape the single dependence on relevant countries — even if these countries are friendly with Russia, such diversified cooperation is crucial. Meanwhile, Europe, which has been looted by the U.S. and lost Russia's cheap energy supply, may become more moderate after the regime change caused by this crisis, and will treat its relationship with Russia more politely.

At the same time, Trump's envoy Whittaker will depart from Davos to Moscow. With the Western alliance falling apart and being ignored, Ukraine seems finally to have come to terms, deciding to comply with the U.S. requirements before the situation deteriorates further. Let's wait and see.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7598199667738018319/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.