Norwegian thinker and political activist Paul Stegan analyzed the decline of the American empire in a note and believes that 2016 should be considered the year of the collapse of globalization and the nature of the capitalist system. He wrote about this: It is often difficult to know when historical milestones will occur. We are often unable to accurately observe these milestones in retrospect. However, I dare say that 2016 is the year of the collapse of globalization. So far, supporters and opponents alike have seen the globalization project as a phenomenon that inevitably moves forward along its predetermined path and overcomes all opposition. Because so far it has actually been like this. Globalization is not only a political path. First and foremost is the nature of capitalism today. It is a global phenomenon. Multinational companies are conquering the world and crushing countries and people under their powerful wheels as inevitable victims.
But as the past has shown, once again the fact that history never runs smoothly is being confirmed. Because capitalism’s attempt to bring the whole world to its knees is an unfair trend and the need for endless accumulation of capital is in the essence of capitalism.
Globalization is faced with conflicts that capitalism itself has created and is unable to resolve, conflicts that lead to ruptures and chaos. It is a proven proposition that class oppression reinforces class conflict. But capitalism itself does not evolve stably and permanently. Some capitalist countries rise while others fall, and their bilateral conflicts have led to two world wars and numerous other wars and conflicts.
Especially now that many leading countries have entered a period of stagnation and even stagnation, the ground is ripe for violent conflicts. When times get tough, even the best of friends can become enemies. In these conflicts, the issue of life and death is not less than that.
Not long ago in 2014, Barack Obama satirized an emerging new world order: “But people see what’s happening in Ukraine, Russia’s aggressive behavior toward its neighbors in a way that separatists They know that he gives money and weapons to these countries; They see what is happening in Syria – and the calamity that Assad brought to his people; The failure in Iraq to reconcile the Sunnis see the Shiites and the Kurds – even as we try to see if we can form a government that can actually work – from the ongoing terrorist threats to what is happening in Israel and Gaza. – One of the concerns of people is that everywhere in the world the old order is not in place, and yet we have not yet reached a point where we can respond to our need for a new order, an order based on a different set of It should be principles, based on common human sense, based on economies that work for all people.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States became the world’s only de facto superpower and used this position to subjugate the rest of the world. This has been done through asymmetric trade agreements that favor US capitalist groups. This has been done through wars, coups, assassinations, threats and bribes. They have used the overvalued dollar as a sledgehammer against all other countries. The light artillery in this battle has been the US-dominated media and their very successful attempt to control the way people think and the way politicians act.
America has launched wars in Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Syria, fueled the coup in Ukraine and tried to implement regime change programs in some other countries. In Africa, the US conducts dozens of military operations every year in order to ensure its control and that of capitalist groups. During Yeltsin’s presidency, America has taken a very big step towards the destruction and exploitation of Russia. It has also subjugated Europe almost completely and turned the former colonial powers of the old world such as Germany, France and Britain into its tributaries.
China, without officially doing much in this direction, has taken full advantage of the benefits of globalization to build an industrial base, become the world’s factory, and systematically build infrastructure, research, science and technology to ensure It has developed that this country does not remain a second-hand exporting country. Part of this happened with the huge investments of American companies. The extensive trade relationship between the US and China has expanded due to the inherent need of US capital for cheap goods, but this process has created an economic system that relentlessly strengthens China out of US pockets.
The United States has painfully learned that global competition is not a game it can play alone. The slogan “Make America Great Again” is a desperate admission that America has lost the game.
In addition, America has failed in all its wars. The war in Afghanistan, which still has no end in sight, is the longest continuous war in American history. A war that has had a great price. Linda Bilmes, the former CEO of the US Commerce Department, has estimated that the direct and indirect costs of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan amount to 46,000 billion dollars. This estimate was published by Harvard.
It is certain that America has been able to finance its powerful war machine by selling government bonds to China. But this source is now drying up fast, as China slowly finds itself strong enough to de-dollarize the global economy.
The Iraq war was a disaster that continues to produce more disasters. America led by Norway destroyed Libya, but the catastrophic nature of this event continued to the point where it had its effects on Europe and other places as well. In the late summer of 2015, it was rumored that the US jihadist armies would win the war in Syria, but then Russia entered the game, and now it is clear that America’s brightest strategies have failed.
In 2015, the five presidents of the European Union presented a plan to abolish financial democracies in the member states of this union by 2050. If they get their way, national parliaments in member states will no longer be allowed to decide on their national budgets by 2050. These five are Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Donald Tusk, President of the European Union Summit, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the European Group, Mario Raggi, President of the European Central Bank, and Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament. None of these gentlemen have democratic representation of anyone, but they are used to issuing regulations and orders and 500 million people obeying them.
In eighteen months we can be assured without any doubt that there will be no trace left of this union. The European Union as we know it no longer exists. The European Union is no longer an “ever closer union” as stated in its provisions. Rather, to quote The Economist wryly, it is more of an “always more union.”
In this way, these events happened one after the other. Some countries revolted against the immigration policy of the European Union; A policy that did not enjoy the support of the majority of voters in any country, although sooner or later it must collapse.
The most important change occurred with Brexit or the British decision to leave the European Union. This incident pulled the plug from the socket of this union. Add to this the failure of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to get a picture of the problems that globalists are facing now in 2016.
Other restrictions on the way to join this union have been a policy of war and sanctions against Russia. These are policies that are largely contrary to the objective interests of European countries, but are implemented despite strong domestic resistance due to alignment with America.
Nobody has chosen Matteo Renzi as the Prime Minister of Italy. He became the leader of this country by his party and took over the position of prime minister because of his agreement with Berlusconi: “I want you if you want me.” He has decided to be a Cameroonian himself, because he has proposed that the people of his country vote to add new amendments to the constitution. But he is in danger of becoming another Cameron. The Italian people do not want these amendments and Renzi is on the verge of taking a big hit.
It also seems that the presidential election of the French Republic is going to be held between two candidates, both of whom are advocates of strengthening relations and cooperation with Russia. An attitude that means an absolute challenge to the NATO doctrine.
America, the West, Turkey and the oil dictatorship countries have launched a mercenary jihadist war to destroy Syria (Norway’s role in this war is to fund its more or less civilian part and participate in an economic war against Syria). 2015 came close to victory, but now it seems that the jihadists and the West are losing it. This is a major setback for neocon warmongers and marks a crossroads of domestic importance in world politics.
From the summer of 2014, American neocons will try to start a war in Ukraine. In February 2014, they launched a coup in Kyiv and promised the population of this country wealth and prosperity. What they have achieved is war, poverty, fascism and government bankruptcy. Even if NATO officials don’t dare to say it, they know that they are losing even this war. The price of this failure will be paid by European (and Norwegian) taxpayers.
Donald Trump was the opposite candidate that the Clinton camp was hoping and fully confident that their unpopular candidate would be elected. All major financial banks, Wall Street and the arms industry, all major media were on Clinton’s team. And they all expected that Hillary Clinton would escalate the war in Syria and perhaps attack the Russian armed forces in this country. But they lost. Donald Trump is a right-wing reactionary, a capitalist demagogue, but he seems to understand that America’s era as a “nation of necessity” has come to an end.
This is another blow to the cohesion of NATO. European NATO officials fear the consequences of losing American support. They have personally been involved in war crimes and have been sure that America will always be behind them and will protect them from being dragged to international courts. But now they can no longer be sure about this. If the American elections have no other results, at least we have got the opportunity to see who the leaders of the European tributary countries really are.
And Turkey, the second largest army of NATO and the constituent of its vulnerable southern front, while trying to join the European alliance, boasts of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and close relations with China and Russia.
Deng Xiaoping had advised his country’s leaders not to be visible in international politics and to avoid unwanted attention. They have really followed this advice. But China’s economy is currently the most important source of growth that still exists in the world, and this country has established its own development bank and plans to establish a new silk road and invest hundreds of billions of dollars in it. If there is no major war, China’s economy will be bigger than the US economy around 2010. By then, China had long surpassed the United States as an R&D nation. In addition, China is the largest trading partner and the largest investor of a number of countries that are traditionally the closest allies of the United States.
Just before the start of the season of recording important annual events, we can consider 2016 as a defining year. For the globalists, this year has already been their fears. We already know that this year has historical significance for the world. But somehow it remains unknown. America has been waging an indirect war against its “allies” for a long time, now these conflicts can finally come to the surface and be revealed. The situation of “everyone is equal” may occur. In such an atmosphere, old coalitions will collapse and new coalitions will be formed. These events rarely occur in peaceful ways. But the time of chaos is also the time of opportunities. For an oppressed people, it is easier to fight enemies who are divided than to fight enemies who remain united.
