Requiem for Unipolarity at SPIEF

by Stephen Lendman

In stark contrast to hegemon USA's rage to dominate other nations by intimidation and brute force, Russia's annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) represents how multi-world polarity is replacing US/Western unipolar decadence and depravity.

First held in 1997, SPIEF is Russia's most important annual economic forum.

It's where heads of state and senior officials from scores of nations, along with business executives, meet to discuss cutting-edge economic issues and challenges of the times.

The event is worlds apart different from how the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland plots ways to exploit nations and ordinary people worldwide to serve predatory Western interests.

Key government, business and other figures from 127 nations (two-thirds of the world total) are attending this year's SPIEF — the event and their presence sending a powerful message to the empire of lies and its Western vassals.

Russia's upper house Federation Council Speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, explained it, saying:

SPIEF (from June 15 - 18) "show(ed) that those who imposed sanctions and who exerted pressure must be disappointed," adding: 

The plot by hegemon USA and its Western vassals to "isolat(e) (Russia) has not worked."

"We can see a growing interest of Asian, African and Latin American countries in developing and expanding cooperation with" the Russian Federation.

SPIEF is "an opportunity to demonstrate a new model of Russia's openness" and cooperative relations with the world community of nations.

"New Opportunities in a New World" is this year's underlying theme — in contrast to forever war on humanity by the US-dominated West.

Addressing over 10,000 attendees at this year's forum on Saturday, Vladimir Putin stressed the following:

Unlike nations and attendees at SPIEF, US/Western regimes pursue diabolical interests "for the sake of their ambitions and in order to preserve obsolete geopolitical illusions."

"(A) unipolar world order has come to an end…despite all the attempts to maintain and preserve it at all costs."

At WW II's end in 1945, hegemon USA "proclaimed itself to be God's messenger on earth, without any obligations and only interests which were declared sacred."

Decades later, the empire of lies and its Western vassals still harbor "illusions…clinging to shadows of the past" — blind to today's reality.

"(P)owerful centers formed" worldwide.

They "develop(ed) their own political system and public institutions, implement(ed) their own models of economic growth…" 

They "ha(ve) the right to protect themselves, to ensure national sovereignty."

"We are talking about real processes, about truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, global economy, the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations."

Yet US/Western regimes treat other nations "like colonies" and their people like serfs.

They "punish (and) economically crush" nations unwilling to sacrifice their sovereign rights to a higher power in Washington — with satellites in London, Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv and elsewhere.

They wage forever wars on invented enemies by hot and/or other means.

Their harebrained plot to "violently crush the Russian economy, to hit (its) industry, finance, and people's living standards by destroying business chains, forcibly recalling Western companies from the (its) market, and freezing (its) assets…did not work."

Russia is largely self-sufficient and doesn't need the decadent, depraved West.

There's no ambiguity about how its ruling authorities "normali(zed) (and) stabili(ed) (Russia's) econom(y) (and) financial markets."

Western forecasts of a collapsing Russian economy and ruble never "materialized" for good reason.

The Russian Federation prepared years in advance to effectively counter US/Western war on the nation and its people by sanctions and other dirty tricks.

Russia's 2022 federal budget through May has a 1.5 trillion ruble surplus, Putin explained — a 3.3 trillion surplus for its consolidated budget.

Made-in-the-USA "blitzkrieg against Russia was doomed to fail" straightaway.

Sanctions by the empire of lies and its Western vassals on Russia largely shot blanks.

They boomeranged by sanctioning their own economies and people.

It's evident from deepening economic, financial and social decay in the West — from soaring inflation, disrupted supply chains, as well as shortages of food and other essential goods.

Decadent European societies lost their "political sovereignty" to a higher/exploitive power in Washington.

Today's economic and financial reality throughout the West and elsewhere has nothing to do with Russia's liberating SMO in Ukraine and Donbass.

Falsely claiming otherwise by the fake/detached from reality Biden, the empire of lies overall, subservient Western regimes and puppet Zelensky represents a "deliberate distortion of the facts" to bash Russia for the made-in-the-USA/West mess — by money printing madness and sanctions war.

"(W)hat does our (SMO) have to do with this? Nothing whatsoever," Putin stressed.

Hegemon USA and its UK/EU vassals bear full responsibility for what their regimes call "Putin inflation" in the West.

Everyone paying attention and "literate enough to read" knows the reality of what's going on.

For time immemorial, US/Western regimes falsely blamed invented enemies like Russia, China, Iran and other nations for their own failed policies and criminality.

The world today is undergoing major change, Putin stressed, adding:

"International institutions are breaking down and faltering."

"Security guarantees are being devalued."

"The West…refus(ed) to honor its earlier commitments."

It's "impossible to reach new agreements with them."

As for Nazi-infested Ukraine, the US/West doesn't give a damn about its people — only its territory for use as a platform for proxy hot war on Russia.

Liberating goals of Russia's SMO in Ukraine will be accomplished, Putin stressed.

Russia's security will be protected and Donbass liberated entirely from the scourge of Nazified occupation.

Putin minced no words in explaining Russia's good faith outreach for peace, equity, justice and cooperative relations with other nations.

Its worldview and way are in stark contrast to US/Western-sought dominance through the barrel of a gun, exploitation and other dirty tricks — to benefit their privileged few at the expense of most others worldwide and peace.