When the Biden administration pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in summer 2021, it signaled the end of the War on Terrorism that the United States has been involved in since 2001. However, we are still involved in Yemen and other areas in the Middle East. And the Biden administration is still waging economic war on Afghanistan, starving their citizens, and even drone striking innocent civilians. While it doesn’t seem that our Middle East adventurism will ever truly be over, leaving Afghanistan does seem to close the chapter on a significant phase of U.S. foreign policy. So, the question begs, what next? Since the era of early-20th-century global progressivism, outside of very brief periods, U.S. foreign policy has always proactively looked for dragons to slay. The military-industrial complex that Eisenhower belatedly warned us about cannot afford to rest. This is why you should pay very close attention to what U.S. corporate media tells you about Kazakhstan over the next few weeks.
Kazakhstan is a former member of the U.S.S.R., and like many central Asian former Soviet republics, doesn’t make the news often. Former president Nursultan Nazarbayev presided from the inception of the office in April of 1990 until 2019. Kazakhstan’s constitution does not allow a president to serve more than two terms, however, there is a convenient clause where “the present restriction shall not extend on the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.”
Nazarbayev was often re-elected with 98% majorities in elections that fell under criticism from international monitoring organizations like the OSCE for not providing genuine choice and restricting freedom of expression. A groundswell for democratic reform began in 2010, and whether this happened organically or not, Nazarbayev resigned in 2019 due to rising counter-government protests. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a member of Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party was elected in the snap elections of 2019 which also fell under international criticism. Tokayev remains in office today.
Despite this, Kazakhstan has for the most part enjoyed friendly relations with Russia, China, and the United States. Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources and oil. They are a significant part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and benefit from U.S. foreign investment. But the Russian interests are what is relevant at the moment. The border between Kazakhstan and Russia is the largest on Earth. About 25% of Kazakhstan’s population are ethnic Russians, who face persecution from the Muslim majority. Russia does have reason to fear instability in Kazakhstan, such as ethnic cleansing of Orthodox-Christian Russians. This could lead to a migration crisis that Russia would have to use its resources to accommodate. Russia also has leftover space, military, nuclear, and fuel operations in Kazakhstan from the Soviet days. It isn’t hard to see why Russia would want to preserve a stable Kazakhstan.
Which brings us to today. Anti-government protests erupted in Kazakhstan on January 2. The reason our media gives for the protests is rising gas prices. It is not a major news story here, but it is running 24/7 on Russian news networks. Christmas in Orthodox Russia falls on our January 7, so for a story like this to take precedence over a religious holiday, it is a very big deal. While it is true, gas prices have risen, and there has been mounting anti-government sentiment for at least a decade, something about the current situation doesn’t quite add up. The protests have been extremely organized. Block airports. Occupy government buildings. And this was all done quickly, within 30 or so minutes. This doesn’t smell like the political revolution boiling pot finally tipped over. This smells like a counterinsurgency operation. And that is where the United States comes in.
The U.S. routinely invests in Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to promote global democracy. Organizations like the NED train anti-government protestors and distribute political propaganda, in the name of democracy. Some may say call this counterinsurgencies or color revolutions. Westerners often equate democracy with free speech and equal rights, but all the word really means is tyranny of the majority. Look at any recent example of our Middle Eastern policy where we flipped a Sunni/Shi’ite power structure in the name of democracy, and it resulted in nothing but chaos. America does not have a good track record of exporting democracy, in the topical meaning of the word.
Based on recent history, Russians do have reason to fear the previously mentioned ethnic cleansings when U.S.-backed NGOs get involved. The U.S. funneled $1 million to the NED for Kazakhstan, which by our GDP standards, seems like nothing. But Kazakhstan is a sparsely populated country of only 19 million people, where the U.S. dollar carries an awful lot of weight (1 USD = 435.28 KZT). One million dollars is a very significant amount. And that’s before you factor in any involvement from the Soros Foundation, MI6, and Turkish intelligence. Russia, or any country in its position, has every right to be concerned.
Kazakhstan is also not happening in a vacuum, and more Americans are probably familiar with the current Russia/Ukraine conflict. U.S./Russia and NATO/Russia diplomacy talks are scheduled for this week. As of now, Russia has sent 3,000 paratroopers to Kazakhstan, which seems to have stabilized the situation. There is speculation that if Kazakhstan is a color revolution, that it was done to distract the Russian military from Ukraine. There doesn’t seem to be much to that, as Russia is more than capable of sending more troops to Kazakhstan if needed while also allocating 125,000-175,000 to Ukraine. The Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) would still have at least 72,000 paratroopers. This may be nothing more than a nuisance to the VDV, but it is part of a wider pattern that concerns Russia.
The U.S. seems to have a special interest in destabilizing nations within the Russian sphere of influence. Nobody can ever explain why we have such an interest in Ukraine either, it’s always vague mumblings of democracy. That’s funny, because only the United States seems to have an interest in undermining Ukrainian democracy. Remember, Putin did not take the Donbass region after the 2014 referendum. And the United States helped overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government twice within ten years. Whether you agree or not, from Russia’s point of view, we also did this in Syria, Belarus, the Caucasus, and Moldova. We are poking the bear.
One of the only things the American left and right seem to agree on these days is that Russia is our enemy. I’m not sold, and when there is a general consensus on the mainstream of both sides, that should raise red flags. Remember the “non-partisan” lies that got us into the Middle East post-9/11? American foreign policy has been an absolute disaster for two decades. And yet, the same people are still calling the shots. Why would they suddenly be right? Keep that in mind when the hawks start calling for action against Russia in the coming weeks, on both sides of the aisle. The Obama administration provided training and aid to actual Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine in 2014. Trump lent assistance to Ukraine as well, which made the claims that he was a “Russian agent” all the more foolish. Blocking pipelines, surveillance flights, sanctions, he was either the most anti-Russian president we’ve ever had or had no control over his administration. I’ll let you decide which.
The temperature hasn’t cooled under Biden either. His rhetoric has been just as bullish towards Putin. This gave way to one of my favorite moments of the past year, where Biden criticized Putin for not allowing free speech and jailing political dissidents back in June. To which Putin pointed out how we allowed BLM rioters to burn down entire cities while jailing protestors for January 6. Putin is a man familiar with revolutions and he was 100% right in his rebuttal.
If it sounds like I am pro-Russia, it’s because I am. Russia no doubt has corruption problems. But in Russia, they do not defecate in the streets. They do not burn cities down when a violent criminal overdoses. They still value traditional masculinity and femininity. The biggest concern of their military is not transgender awareness or feminism. They still respect Christianity, their borders, and national identity. Many of the events occurring in America today are eerily similar to the Bolshevik revolutions that lead to Russia’s collapse post-WW1. Russia has been there, done that.
Today, Russia has cultural stability, which the west is rapidly throwing away. If the 21st century is a debunking of the 20th century liberal world order, it may be interesting to see if authoritarianism is accepted with a stable culture. I am pulling for the Russian people despite their government’s problems, and I do not feel that further attempts to cripple their nine-to-five working class in the name of global progressivism are good ideas. The United States has serious corruption problems of its own right now and we should be looking inward, not outward. As the Jeffersonians pointed out, the best foreign policy is leading by example. We should be good neighbors and not get involved in entangling, globalist alliances.
Next week will be important as Secretary of State Blinken will be meeting with Russia. Biden has threatened further sanctions, which will only further shut Russia off from the global economy, and harm their working class. Be prepared for the U.S. to make excuses about how $1 million to the NED was nothing and be prepared to be fed an awful lot of lies about how we need to start being more proactive in Russia’s sphere of influence. Be prepared for an awful lot of talk about implanting democracy in not only Ukraine, but now Kazakhstan.
The seeming end of the 20-year War on Terror has left Americans disenchanted with long wars and needless sacrifice. This attitude was so prevalent in the 70s/80s it had a name, the “Vietnam Syndrome.” When the U.S. defeated Iraq in five minutes in 1991, we didn’t just defeat them, we, according to George H.W. Bush, “kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all!” Confidence was restored in our military strength, but we’ve been involved in needless strife ever since. In 2021, the U.S. war machine is once again running around aimlessly, looking for new dragons to slay, and looking to reinspire American confidence. Keep that in mind when the same people who have lied to us for 20 years start popping up on TV over the next few weeks, telling us what we need to do about the Russia situation.
I have a feeling that 2022 is going to be the beginning of the next phase of American foreign policy. My only hope is that this time, Americans will not let it look like the last phase.