#BTColumn – Will this lead to a nuclear holocaust?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Lenrod Nzulu Baraka

On February 27, President Vladimir Putin of Russia raised the global stress and fear factor up a few notches when he placed Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.

Since that time the international news cycles have been intermittently raising the possibility of the war in Ukraine escalating into a nuclear conflagration.

Even though the major powers understand that an all out nuclear war means mutual annihilation, the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in the present conflict cannot be totally ruled out.

The Ukrainian conflict seems to have taken the international community back in time to the era of the cold war when the now defunct Soviet Union engaged in proxy wars with America and its allies to see who would eventually be the last nation standing in the quest to be the global hegemon.

The collapse of the Soviet Union signaled the emergent of a unipolar world order dominated by American foreign policy.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the American-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has been steadily expanding eastward inching ever closer to the borders of Russia.

President Putin and his predecessors were justifiably concerned about NATO expansion in the direction of Russia.

Historically, Russian leaders watched both Napoleon and Hitler expand their empires across Europe culminating in invasions of Russia.

Driven by a quasi-messianic mindset, the US and its allies have been spreading the gospel of liberal democracy all over the globe. Militarily weak nations like Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan were invaded and a policy of regime change was implemented to supposedly transform these nations into paragons of liberal democracy.

It should be noted that the seed of liberal democracy did not take root in any of these three nations.Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan have all disintegrated into thinly disguised failed states.

The recent flight of American forces out of Afghanistan was reminiscent of US soldiers fleeing Vietnam.

Russia, unlike Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan, is a major nuclear power.Russia currently has about 6 000 nuclear warheads which is the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons possessed by any nation.

Six thousand nuclear warheads are more than adequate to totally annihilate Europe and the US.If Russia were to launch a nuclear strike against any NATO country or the US, it would be wishful thinking to expect NATO and the US to stand down and not retaliate in kind.

The President of the US added fuel to an already combustible situation when he called President Putin a war criminal and a butcher.

The continuous funneling of weapons into Ukraine by the US and its allies will serve to extend the life of the Ukrainian conflict.Neo-Nazis pouring into Ukraine also raise questions about the racial motivations of many of the combatants.

One question that needs to be considered is whether the Ukrainian conflict is a proxy battle to maintain the hegemony of the US and its allies in Europe and around the globe.

The US has had a good run as a super power.The collapse of the Soviet Union elevated the US into the position of a peerless global super power.

The rise of China and the challenge currently being mounted by Russia strongly suggests that the global order is realigning and changing.The US and her allies need to come to grips with the new emerging global order.

Fighting proxy wars to maintain a unipolar world with the US and its allies controlling all the levers of power and influence will prove to be very costly for the world.China, Russia, and India are all nuclear powers and neither of these nations will allow themselves to be humiliated by the US and its allies.The world will either become multi-polar with non- whites exercising significant global power or the hubris of Caucasians will eventually unleash the nuclear genie in our world.

Lenrod Nzulu Baraka is the founder of Afro-Caribbean Spiritual Teaching Center.