Foreign results of the year
Episode One. "Allah akbar" in Paris. The attack of Islamist bearded men on the Charlie Hebdo editorial 7 in January was the first in a chain of terrorist attacks in France. Al-Qaeda and IG militants claimed responsibility for attacking the magazine’s editors.
The satirical weekly “Charlie Hebdo” has repeatedly published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. In 2013, the magazine drew a whole comic about a prophet. The terrorists who attacked the magazine shouted: “We have avenged the prophet!” The soldiers of Allah chose France for their fearsome action because this state “participates in the war against Islam and oppressed countries”. So said one of the militants.
Inside the editorial building, the terrorists came with the help of the publication's employee, the artist Corinne Ray. She went out to go to her kindergarten for her daughter, and saw a couple of militants in camouflage at the entrance. “Their French was flawless, they claimed that from al-Qaeda,” she later told reporters. They began to threaten, and Corinne entered the code. Then the bearded men burst in and shouted “Allah Akbar” and opened fire.
The next day, January 8, a terrorist opened fire in Montrouge (south of Paris): he shot a police officer and injured a road service officer. The next day armed with an automatic weapons Amedy Coulibaly seized a kosher grocery store in Paris, near the Bois de Vincennes. Coulibaly declared that he is a warrior of the “Islamic State”. By the end of the day 9 January "warrior" eliminated the special forces.
A few days later, journalist attorney Richard Malka said that the cartoons of Mohammed and jokes about religion would appear in the issue of Charlie Hebdo, which will be released in a million copies. Thus, the magazine does not intend to retreat from its line.
The reaction of the world community to the behavior of caricaturists and a series of terrorist attacks, which began with the murders of employees of Charlie Hebdo, was mixed.
In memory of the victims of Islamist terror in France, there was a massive Sunday rally: at least 3,7 million people took to the streets, honoring the memory of the victims and speaking in support of freedom of speech.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the Paris march in memory of the victims. In the message of the UN press service, it was noted that the Secretary General was “deeply moved” by the demonstration personnel of “global solidarity”.
Russia gave a much more restrained assessment of the events.
Protopriest Vsevolod Chaplin said that the fight against terror does not mean solidarity with blasphemy: “There is no need to fight terror, there is no justification for terror, but this does not mean that you need to identify with provocative blasphemy and provocative blasphemy or with insult of one or another person, and that’s also took place in famous caricatures ... "
The head of the Duma’s international affairs committee, Alexei Pushkov, said that the attacks in Paris are a heinous crime, but freedom of speech must coexist with responsibility for what was said.
The representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Markin, compared the Paris terrorist attack with events in the Donbas. “What is happening in the Donbas and what happened in Paris is equally tragic, but the reaction of the West is predictably different,” wrote Markin on Twitter.
The reaction of the West to the events in Yemen, which were very similar to those in Ukraine, turned out to be “predictable”.
Episode Two. The war in Yemen. In March, the President of Yemen, Hadi, fled from the capital of Sana'a to his native city, Aden. There he stated that his own words about resigning did not mean anything, since they were spoken under pressure from insurgent Shiite Hussite militants. As it turned out, these words of the former ruler meant little: the rebels defeated the military forces that the president had gathered and launched an offensive. Hadi had to flee Yemen, noticing traces, which was very reminiscent of Mr. Yanukovych’s shameful flight from Ukraine in the 2014 year.
March 26 began a foreign invasion of Yemen: Saudi Arabia and its local allies decided to support Hadi. Saudi air force bombed Aden and the Houthit bases. Saudis were supported by the League of Arab States, the United States, Great Britain, France, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt. Iran and Russia opposed military intervention.
There are double standards: after all, with regard to Ukraine, the United States and its allies acted exactly the opposite, promoting a coup and demanding that President Yanukovych not use force against the “democratic opposition” that organized the “euromaidan”.
It became clear that the paths of the West and Russia diverge more and more. This was confirmed by the next event of world significance - the parade in Moscow, dedicated to the seventieth anniversary of the victory over the fascist invaders. Representatives of the West at the parade chose not to appear.
Episode Three. They have not come. On the 70 anniversary of the Great Victory, not all invited guests arrived. A little more than three dozen heads of state arrived at the celebration of 9 May. The leaders of the CIS countries, China, India, South Africa and a number of other countries arrived. But the West tried to ignore the triumph on the occasion of the Victory in a special way - without attaching great importance to it. For example, Britain was represented at the parade by the grandson of Winston Churchill, only foreign ministers from Italy and France arrived, for Germany it was ... an ambassador in Moscow. Angela Merkel deigned to fly "later", 10 May. And after arriving, she told the world that Moscow’s actions had thrown back relations between Russia and the West. “The criminal annexation of the Crimea, which violates international law, and the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine have seriously undermined our relations,” said Frau Chancellor.
“The Obama administration has put tough pressure on a number of European countries so that their leaders refuse to go to Moscow. This is the US line. The rest is rhetoric, ”wrote Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, on Twitter.
French journalist and writer Pierre Lorrain expressed regret that the celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of the Victory did not unite the participants in the rout of the Third Reich: “The absence of Western leaders to some extent contradicts the celebration of the 70 anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany. It is not just like that. This is a very important event, which we, for our part, also celebrated in Europe, in the USA. But the unification of this celebration did not happen. And this, of course, is regrettable. ”
Some French and British newspapers published 9 in May 2015, with materials in which journalists directly wrote: Western politicians offended the Russians, not finding the time to recall the tens of millions who died in the war.
In their own way, they “celebrated” Victory Day in Western Ukraine, on the territory where, apparently, “Europeanism” is especially evident. 9 May in Lviv Iosif Sitnik, a deputy of the regional council and a native of the nationalist party "Svoboda", tore the St. George ribbon from a pensioner and crushed it.
Western political disregard for Russia continued in June at the G7 summit.
Episode Four. Without Russia. The G-7 Summit was held on 7 and June 8 in Bavaria, in Elmau. Of course, without Russia: in 2014, it was excluded from the “big ones” due to the “annexation of the Crimea” and the Ukrainian crisis. And here is strange: Russia was not invited to the summit, but the conversation turned up every now and then to Moscow.
Even before the official start of the meeting, Mr. Obama, having devoured a Bavarian beer and breeze it, told the audience about the “Russian aggression”.
On behalf of the European Union, and at the same time on behalf of “b. Seven, ”was made by the main person in the European Council, Donald Tusk. According to him, the G-7 wants to return Vladimir Putin to the table. And he immediately recovered: no, Moscow “will not be invited for as long as it behaves aggressively towards Ukraine and other countries.”
What kind of "other countries" this is, Mr. Tusk did not specify. Probably, Poland and the unfortunate Baltic republics, which almost every day transmit reports from the “Russian front” and consider the bombers in the blue Latvian sky.
Following Tusk spoke Briton David Cameron. He said that Europe should maintain unity and continue to punish Russia with sanctions - because of the Ukrainian crisis.
Beer with pretzels served the summit guests to the locals. Obama and Merkel were treated to a frothy drink to the sounds of alpine horns. Having treated herself, Frau Chancellor admitted to Barack Hussein that the arrival of an American guest in Germany was a great joy for her and for the Bavarians. Sipping a beer, she told the American that "we share common values."
After the summit, the policy of the "cold war" by Western leaders was unanimously continued. Puppets from the White House continued to do everything to preserve the confrontation between the European Union and Russia, despite the tangible economic damage caused by prohibitive policies of Berlin, Paris and other "sanctioners" who danced in Elmau under the alpine horns. Die, but let the Russian become worse!
However, in the next item on the geopolitical agenda, the West nevertheless became closer with Russia.
Episode five. Iran and the "six". On the night of July 14, an agreement was reached between Iran and the "six" of international mediators to regulate Tehran’s nuclear program. Politicians dubbed the agreement "historical". As noted by the media, the July talks marked the adoption of a plan, the implementation of which will allow the UN to lift financial sanctions from Iran.
“We have achieved what the whole world hoped for. Universal commitment to order allowed us to hold hands to make the world even safer. This is a historic day, since we have created the conditions for building trust and opening a new chapter in our relations, ”said Federica Mogherini, the head of European diplomacy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the settlement was possible thanks to the efforts of specialists from Russia: “It’s important to say that three years ago we managed to bring these negotiations out of a deaf impasse thanks to the concept of phasedness and reciprocity proposed by Russian specialists when an agreement in which every step of Iran to meet the demands of the world community would be accompanied by reciprocal steps by the “six” and the UN to relax the sanctions pressure right up to Foot lifting of sanctions. "
US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the agreement reached is "a significant step from the prospect of the proliferation of nuclear weapons to transparency and cooperation."
Having dealt with the nuclear crisis, in the same July, European politicians began talking about a refugee crisis. However, if the “nuclear” crisis was over, then the migration crisis has just begun.
Episode Six. Migration crisis in Europe. The commitment to “democracy” and the support of the “Arab spring” of the United States and the states of Europe in North Africa and the Middle East led to political and economic instability in a number of regions. Destruction, impoverishment, terrorism, civil wars, religious, tribal and interethnic strife led to an unprecedented flow of migrants rushing to Europe.
20 July European politicians approved the decision to accept thousands of refugees and illegal immigrants in the EU countries 55. And that was just the beginning. The numbers changed very quickly.
At the end of October, Angela Merkel said at an emergency summit in Brussels that she expects a million refugees in 2015 year alone in Germany.
According to the December data of the International Organization for Migration, the number of refugees who arrived in Europe this year has already reached 1.006.500 people.
The democratic “spring”, openly encouraged by the West, led to the invasion of migrants to Europe, which historians now call the biggest migration crisis from World War II.
20 July 2015, another significant event occurred, which should be attributed to the historical.
Episode seven. Cuba smiles at America. On this day, the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations that broke off more than half a century ago. On July 20, the Embassy of Cuba opened in Washington, and the US Embassy opened in Havana.
Analysts believe that the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba will allow President Obama to not only strengthen the position of the Democratic Party in the upcoming presidential elections next year, but also to go down in history. Political scientists admit that the leading motive of the White House administration was the desire to pull the votes of the Cuban electorate in the United States to the side of the Democrats. Finally, it was suggested that Washington also set a geopolitical goal: to weaken the traditional ties of Havana with Moscow.
Havana made big political concessions to Washington. Unlike his brother Fidel, Comrade Raul Castro is set on rapprochement with America and carrying out market reforms on the island. The Cuban authorities have assured Washington that they will not prevent Cuban citizens from visiting the American Embassy. The camp at Guantanamo will not be closed, despite Obama’s long-running campaign promises. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter confirmed that the Pentagon does not have plans to close the Guantanamo base.
“The Obama administration did the right thing to restore the relationship long before the end of the Castro brothers regime, which is inevitable. The United States will play an important role in the de-communization and privatization of Cuba, ”said Ariel Cohen, director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (Washington), told Vzglyad.
It seems that the Americans did right on a Russian proverb: they harnessed for a long time, but quickly drove off. In the Cuban press the phrase “democratic reforms” flashed. Familiar, yes?
Meanwhile, in France, the “democratic” policy has gone so far that it has overtaken the capitalist economy.
Episode eight. How to make money on "Mistral". In August 2015, Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin reached a final agreement to terminate the contract for the supply of two Mistral-type helicopter carriers (signed in 2011). Recall that the French had to transfer the ship “Vladivostok” to Russia in November 2014, but they were prevented by the EU imposing sanctions against Moscow. The contract was thus breached by the French side.
In early November, it became known that France reimbursed Russian enterprises for the construction of helicopter carriers, and the money was returned to the budget. This was announced by the head of Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Isaikin. He also recalled that Rosoboronexport is concluding contracts in hard currency.
The contract with France was concluded in the euro, and since then the ruble exchange rate in Russia has changed a lot. Therefore, Moscow was able to earn on termination of the contract. Of course, not in the euro, but in inflationary rubles, but for a thin budget because of the fall in oil prices, this is a help.
August was replaced by September; the Cold War opponents have become a bit closer due to the UN and Putin’s speech.
Episode Nine. 70 Session of the UN General Assembly. In September 2015, the anniversary session of the UN General Assembly started. Vladimir Putin, in his speech, called on the international community to create an international antiterrorist coalition.
The Russian president said that not to involve the Syrian army in the fight against the "Islamic state" is a "huge mistake", since Syrian troops are the only force that "bravely, face to face" fights against terrorist fighters. The Russian president also criticized the West: after all, he is arming the "moderate" opposition in Syria, who then go over to the IG.
Obama in his address to the General Assembly noted that the United States is ready to cooperate with Russia and Iran to ensure the removal of Assad from power and the organization of the "transition period". Obama believes that Syria should not return "to the pre-war status quo."
By the way, at the suggestion of journalists, the “symbol” of the session was the handshake of Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin: the first stretched out his hand, and the second thought for a moment whether it was worth shaking it?
As a result, the famous Senator McCain said that Obama’s “unnecessary” meeting with Putin played into the hands of the Russian president, and the potential presidential candidate, billionaire Trump, said that Putin was “nicer” than even he, Trump.
And then began the operation of Russia in Syria. The case followed the word.
However, the West reacted to this operation coolly.
Episode tenth. Word and deed. September 30, Russian aviation launched an air operation with striking at the positions of "IG" in Syria. The operation was completely legal and began at the request of official Damascus for military support.
The first exact blows to the positions of the militants and the demonstration by Russia of their weapons and military power made a great impression on the East and the West. The press did not have time to publish the statements of major politicians and experts.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, for example, brought to the attention of the international community that Washington no longer intends to demand the immediate resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The eminent British expert John Bradley, the author of several books on the problems of the Middle East, acknowledged that the most "sensible" plan for resolving the conflict in Syria is not at all the White House, but Moscow. Marine Le Pen spoke in Paris: she believes that France should join Russia in solving the Syrian problem.
Seeing the general positive attitude towards the actions of Russia in Syria, the world "puppeteers" in the White House were worried. By December, the attitude of the Western media has changed almost to the opposite. Journalists began to write about the fact that the strikes of Russian aviation in Syria were “useless”, while human rights activists, along with Turkey, which shot down the Russian aircraft earlier, began to broadcast about civilians and children killed by the Russian military.
Here, for example, is a quote from the British newspaper The Guardian: “... Russian aviation inflicted new air strikes that resulted in at least 600 Syrian civilians, including 70 people killed in the city, killing at least Idlibe.
David Lesh wrote in Foreign Policy that “Putin’s intervention in Syria will end in something akin to the Egyptian Pyrrhic victory of 1957 of the year or the sudden increase in Soviet influence at the end of 1950’s, which was accompanied by a sharp increase in foreign policy problems. It will take another half a century, and historians will probably call the Russian actions in Syria in 2015 the beginning of the end of Putinism, as the landing of Egyptian troops in 1957 was the beginning of the end of Nasserism. ”
Of course, Washington is not going to lose its status as a world hegemon. Therefore, the reports of “human rights organizations” and similar materials in the press will continue. Neither the West nor Turkey will recognize the prominent role of Russia in the fight against IG, for such recognition would be tantamount to political defeat.
However, other Western countries would still like to converge with Russia.
Episode eleventh and last. Return to Paris. And again we are transferred to the long-suffering Paris.
In this city, the Islamists launched a new series of attacks in the late evening on November 13. 130 dead and more 350 injured. Responsibility for the attacks took all the same "Islamic State".
The radicals staged several bloody attacks: explosions near the Stade de France stadium, the killing of visitors to several restaurants, the slaughter in the Bataklan concert hall. The November attacks were the largest in terms of the number of victims in the entire history of France, analysts say. The authorities imposed a state of emergency in the country.
Representatives of the "Islamic State" in the network called the killings "September French 11."
President Hollande in a speech before parliamentarians spoke about the need to unite the efforts of all countries, including Russia, in the fight against "IG". After this speech, international experts talked about the fact that the Paris attacks would lead to a change in the West’s attitude towards Russia's policy towards Syria.
By the end of the year it became clear: there will be no change. The United States will not allow the championship of Russia in anything, even in the fight against terrorism. Moreover, the White House hints that the situation in Syria will turn out to be a “new Afghanistan” for Moscow. If we consider this point of view seriously (otherwise it is impossible), it will become clear: Syria has become a center of confrontation, where the interests of Russia and the West have clashed.
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