Why the West is Anti-Western in the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

The current one-dimensional “groupthink” in the Western world, disguised as a well-celebrated “united” strategy against Russia (in the Russia-Ukraine crisis), is in fact anti-Western by being “self-destructive” in creating a “divisive” new world order which not only will accelerate its own decline but also will create more discord among nations and lower well-being in societies around the world.  To understand this, consider the following 3 major aspects of global affairs that the Western alliance has seriously miscalculated (in its extreme reaction to the Russia-Ukraine crisis), while Western mainstream mass media (e.g., CNN, BBC, FRANCE 24, DW, and others) is complicit in its daily coverage (as a disinformation cheerleader). 1st Western Miscalculation: the Fallacy of Freedom in Global Politics The first serious Western miscalculation in the Russia-Ukraine crisis is to self-gratifyingly assume that it stands for “freedom” in the world against “autocracy” in the East (like the Russian invasion of Ukraine), which then licenses the Western alliance to drag the rest of the world to its side with this Manichaean narrative of the world. But this Manichaean narrative backfires in 3 major ways and contributes to neither freedom nor world peace.In the first way, the rest of the world (especially in the Non-West) does not want to be part of this geopolitical rivalry between the U.S.-led world and the Russia-led one for hegemony (as they had already tasted the bitter dose of proxy wars in the first Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.). Many in the Non-West in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (except those few countries which are part of the Western alliance) resent the relentless pressure (or coercion) by the Western alliance to drag them to its orbit and thus have so far refused to side with it. Indeed, quite a number of them even show sympathy to Russia which has been put in a corner by the ruthless expansion of NATO into its backyard and has therefore threatened its national security; even Pope Francis on May 3, 2022 said that NATO “barking” at Russia’s door “provoked” Putin and “facilitated” the invasion of Ukraine; or differently put, consider how the U.S. would react if Canada and Mexico decided to become new members of the Russian military alliance. Not surprisingly, there is now a re-emergence of the “non-alignment” movement in the Non-West (which was once popular during the first Cold War when these roughly 120 countries refused to exclusively side with the American and Soviet power blocs), as they are now increasingly resentful towards, and tired of, being forced (with soft and hard power) into taking side with the West in the current Russia-Ukraine crisis. For instance, Mexico and Brazil, the 2 largest countries in Latin America, refuse to condemn Russia (in spite of Western pressure); India and China, the 2 largest countries in Asia, refuse to take side with the West (in spite of Western pressure), and OPEC (with many of its wealthy members in the Middle East) has stood firm on its oil deal with Russia and does not yield to Western pressure to punish Russia with more oil production (after sanctions). And many in Africa prefer to be left alone and mind their own business (as they already have plenty to worry about with their problem of underdevelopment at home), but Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni was blunt in his response to Western pressure: “Don’t threaten me, and I will not threaten you.”