The second cold war is already here

 Peace and freedom in our time will only come if we stop the powers that would rather see war and dictatorship.

 The second cold war is already here. China, Russia and Iran act in a coordinated, long-term and purposeful manner to threaten the interests of Sweden and our allies, the position of democracy and the rules-based world order. To win this second Cold War, we in the West must learn from the first.

 It took too long before we acted on the realization that the adversary, the Soviet Union, was already waging a war against us. It is time for the democratic world to wake up again. China's aggression against Taiwan, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and Iran's proxy warfare through terrorist organizations such as Hamas are all examples of how the Second Cold War takes a warm form.

 Russia's warfare is made possible, among other things, by both Iran and China assisting with weapons and financial means. These three countries are cooperating ever more closely, but not on the basis of any shared positive conviction. Russia is fascist, China is communist and Iran is Islamist.

 The cooperation derives its energy from a common object of hatred: free people in free societies. The liberal democratic world order, where people's freedoms and rights are protected and where there is no room for such dictators. Russia, China and Iran are the evil axis powers of our time.

 Putin's war in Ukraine is not primarily about oil or gas. It is about revanchism and fever dreams of a resurrected tsarism. Xi Jinping's threats and aggression against Taiwan are not primarily about the island's strategic position, but rather about a historical delusion that Taiwan should belong to China, to succeed where Mao failed.

 In Tehran, the mullahs are motivated by religious fanaticism that finds even more extreme expression in the proxy armies of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi regime. Against dictators driven by revanchist delusions, ordinary diplomacy does not work as a countermeasure. Concessions only encourage the dominance behavior. When Britain's Chamberlain let Nazi Germany annex parts of what was then Czechoslovakia and proclaimed "peace in our time", he did so in good faith. The hope was that the Führer would calm down. The result, we know, was the opposite: Hitler took the concessions as proof of the weakness of the Western powers and Chamberlain's naivety paved the way for the Second World War.

 The policy that was supposed to be tapering turned out to lead to escalation.

 When Russia attacked Georgia and began its occupation, the West acted with similar weakness. Instead of responding, drawing a line in the sand and confronting the dictatorship we let it happen. In the naive hope that this would be enough and in fear of escalating the conflict. The result was again the opposite, Russia continued its war against the West by attacking and occupying Crimea. The absence of adequate responses then again led to escalation when Russia launched its full-scale war of invasion of Ukraine.

 We can still avoid a third world war, but then it requires us to end the policy of appeasement and instead arm up, respond and hold our red lines. From the point of view of China, Iran and Russia, the war against us is already in full swing.

 During the first Cold War, it also took time for the US and its allies to understand what was going on. A now classic historical anecdote claims that Stalin was asked by his underlings if they could ask to buy a turbojet engine from the British to develop their new fighter aircraft. Stalin is said to have replied that the British could not be so stupid as to sell their technology to them.

 Stalin was wrong. The Soviets were allowed to buy blueprints and engines, developed the MiG 15 fighter and used it against the West and its allies during, the Korean War. When we trade with and allow investment from these countries in the hope of economic growth, the invisible cost to us is very high.

 Or as Lenin put it: the capitalist will sells us the rope we will hang him with.

 Russia regularly sabotages critical infrastructure in Europe, be it IT systems, power lines or transport routes. China carries out targeted hacker attacks against democratically elected parliamentarians. Iran plans assassinations of citizens in our countries recruiting gang leaders to carry out acts of terrorism on commission. For the leaders of these countries, the confrontation is already a fact and they are doing everything in their power to emerge victorious from it.

 China's front policy makes a trusting exchange with China impossible. If all Chinese citizens and businesses must obey the Communist Party, then they could potentially pose a threat. We must understand that there are no private companies from China. In a market economy, entrepreneurship rests on private ownership, companies are separate from the state. In China, all companies must subsidize the state, inconvenient business owners can "disappear" and all information must be shared with the Communist Party. The threats from Russia, China and Iran must be met as they are coordinated – collectively.

 The conflicts cannot be understood or dealt with in isolation and appeasement policies only lead to escalation. Therefore, a broad palette of offensive political measures is now required which Sweden, together with other like-minded countries in the world, should push through.

 Against Russia, the EU and our allies must ensure that Ukraine has all the support necessary to win and that Russia loses the war. In relation to China, it is required that we fully support the democracy of Taiwan and ensure a broad understanding of the concrete threat China poses.

 Against Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, IRGC, must be listed as a terrorist and the popular resistance in Iran must be supported in every way possible. We can regain the initiative, move from an obviously failed and laid-back concession policy, to a realistic and value-driven democracy offensive. The costs may be significant, but the alternative is war after war and, in the long run, much higher costs. Peace and freedom in our time will only come if we stop the powers that would rather see war and dictatorship.

Todde

Also check: https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-earths-nature-is-being-ravaged-by.html