Trump is telling us straight – the US has always sought global domination
JVL Introduction
In this merciless analysis Jonathan Cooke demonstrates how Donald Trump represents the undisguised exercise of Western imperial power, destroying the lives of Ukrainians, Palestinians and any people unfortunate enough to stand in its way, as it has since the end of the Cold War.
He shows how, while posing as the leader of the Free World, enlightened and democratic, the United States has been “aggressively seeking ‘global full-spectrum domination’, as the Pentagon doctrine politely terms it.”
For further reading see also The Trump-Putin Axis and its impact on Global Politics, by Peter Hudis in New Politics.
NWI
This article was originally published by Jonathan-Cooke.net on Tue 4 Mar 2025. Read the original here.
Yes, Trump is vulgar. But the US global shakedown is the same one as ever
The US president looked like a gangster as he roughed up Zelensky. But he wasn’t the one who stoked a war that’s killed huge numbers of Ukrainians and Russians
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This is stupid BS. Nothing gives Putin the right to murder Russian opposition politicians. Nothing justifies Putin invading a neighboring country that voted to take a different trade deal. No Trump isn’t US foreign affairs as usual. He is shutting down whole departments of the US federal govt, including ones such as USAID that were crucial to US diplomatic power. He is attacking the US network of economic and military allies, in favor of the threat of fascist invasion by Putin. US is militarily and diplomatically weaker as a result of Trumps actions. His overreach in Israel is due to his family connections, and puts the entire Islamic world against him. That includes critical US allies such as Indonesia, who funded hospitals in Gaza, and whose peacekeepers in Lebanon were repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military. Now Indonesia has hosted naval exercises with Russia, which is a problem if US wants military cooperation with Indonesia against China.
I have so many times thanked you for your exquisite, informed analysis, I do so again.That those paid by us, the public , to sit in Parliament to serve our needs are, with tragically few exceptions flattered bribed or threatened to aquiese in the ongoing tragedies of the times , willing servants to the industrial miltary complex. To add to the outrage the fourth estate too has singularly failed in its function to questioni, inform and and challenge the future looks bleak indeed.
This crude ‘NATO war’ nonsense won’t wash anymore. Ukraine has a right to defend itself, and to acquire weapons to do that from whereever it can. The war was ‘stoked’ by growing Russian militarism and a nostalgia for empire. But US capital no longer sees Russian imperialism as the most significant threat, so the weapons are stopping and Ukrainians can go whistle. For the dominant wing of the US bourgoisie, China is now the threat, and to deal with that threat, both economically and militarily, the US needs those Ukrainian minerals. The pre-planned mugging of Zelensky by Trump and Vance Oval office meeting could be summed up in one Trump thought bubble: “Give us the minerals or you’re scr…ed.”
Cooke (like the Morning Star and the Stop the War Coalition) once gain peddles the story that the Biden administration, the EU and Britain sabotaged peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022.
It may be that the Morning Star and other Putin apologists genuinely believed this story when it first started circulating, but by now they surely know that it’s untrue.
The only credible source for the “sabotage” story was the Ukranian online newspaper Ukraniska Pravda, citing “sources close to Zelensky” stating that Johnson “appeared in the capital [Kiev] almost without warning” on 9 April 2022, and said “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they [the UK and US] are not.”
Voldymyr Artiukh (researcher at the University of Oxford) and Taras Fedirko (social anthropologist based in Edinburgh), responding to an article for Novara Media by Oliver Eagleton which repeated the “sabotage” claim, noted that the Ukraniska Pravda piece is routinely cited as “proof of nefarious western interference”, and so spoke to its author, the political journalist Roman Romaniuk. They described what he said and it’s worth quoting at some length:
“Romaniuk disagrees with Eagleton’s interpretation that Johnson halted the peace deal. “Johnson was one of the people whom Zalensky listened to – not because of a dependance on him, but because of relations of trust”, Romaniuk told us. Britain’s prime minister hadn’t come to Kiev to order a termination of the peace deal; this was advice at best, and as such his scepticism about Russia’s trustworthiness wasn’t unique. There were strong concerns within Zelensky’s closest entourage that the Kremlin wouldn’t stick to an agreement for any longer than it suited its interests. The risks of signing the Istanbul agreement were high for Ukraine: key provisions, to with the status of…
[cut to our limit of 300 words – admin]
Thank you for this excellent overview.
John, you’re in the wrong place and wasting your time, as such, dissembling the West’s falsehoods on here. Drop Site News posted the following along with the vid (8mins) in December, which is just further evidence that Biden and Co sabotaged the peace deal in the Spring of 2022, because that’s the LAST thing they wanted:
Switzerland’s former ambassador to Turkey, Jean-Daniel Ruch, states that Western powers, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, actively intervened to halt peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the early stages of the war. He claimed that talks were close to reaching an agreement, but the West chose to derail them, believing it was too soon for a resolution.
This corroborates earlier reports, such as former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s account, in which he alleged that Western leaders discouraged a ceasefire during his mediation efforts in March 2022. Additionally, a Ukrainska Pravda report revealed that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv in April 2022 to urge President Zelenskyy against pursuing negotiations, aligning with the broader Western strategy to weaken Russia through prolonged conflict.
https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1869278339661222389
The war – and all the death and destruction and devastation – could have been prevented and avoided in the first place if the Western Mafia elite had agreed to Russia’s entirely reasonable proposals, but that wasn’t the plan of course. And they have the blood of hundreds of thousands on their hands, as such, not that they give a FF of course, being the inhuman psychopathic monsters they are.
In an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity a couple of days ago, Marco Rubio said the following:
It’s been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted, stalemated conflict. And frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia – and it needs to come to an end.
https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-with-sean-hannity-of-fox-news/
The above passage is part of the answer to Sean Hannity’s first question, so you don’t need to read very far.
I agree with points made by John Davies.
The Ukrainians main objection to Russian influence and in
particular the object of the Demo in the Maidan was and is corruption –
some their own and some imported from Russia and the
Ukrainians feel they had a better chance of dealing with it if
they align with Europe. They have agency
and make their own decisions as to what is best for them and since
the Election of Zelensky have had some success so far in with dealing with
Oligarchy.
As for Putins “fear of NATO” as a reason to invade Ukraine – invading
a Non- NATO Country because of a threat from NATO does not make
sense. Up to the invasion there was a very low probability of Ukraine
joining – Germany and the UK were very much against it .. and now
there is a coming together of EU countries to support Ukraine and a rush
to join NATO of non-aligned countries ..
Chomsky – in one article made the same point – asking “Is
there no Statesmen in this?” He provided an ironic answer more
recently in nominating Trump as the Statesman ..
The real reason for Russian aggression is that Putin wants to be feted
as a leader who has acquired more land towards his ambition for Russia
to become “A Greater Russia”.
Andrey Kurkov in “Diary of an Invasion” makes the point that
Putin wants to leave a legacy – as he has sees it –
as he cannot take his own riches with him where he is going
after his death.
The truth is often out there if you know where to look. Sometimes it is ‘hidden in plain sight’.
Just the other day, the Guardian ran several pages of coverage on the war in the Ukraine. In this vast expanse of newsprint, I happened to see a column by the Defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh.
This statement is well worth quoting:
“Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 at least in part to prevent its neighbour from becoming part of the west, including joining NATO. Its overall objectives have not changed, including its aspiration to demilitarise the Ukraine, and it is likely to oppose the presence of European troops inside the country.”1
So, there we have it, without the prospect of NATO membership there might never have been an invasion. The second part of that statement is also significant because it says that European troops in Ukraine would probably mean no peace deal. That, I believe, is exactly why Starmer supports the idea.
Starmer, it should not be forgotten, has never allowed a free discussion on how the war started. Any Labour MP who repeated the statement above would probably have the whip withdrawn. We should also not forget that his government regards war, not just this war, as an engine for economic growth. Members of his government have been quite open about this. And he has always sought to escalate this conflict even lobbying the Biden administration to allow missile strikes into Russia itself, something that the Biden administration had previously regarded as too dangerous.
I do not see any reason to think that Starmer wants to end the war at all.
1: “Troops on the Ground: What might a military force in Ukraine look like?” by Dan Sabbagh, Defence and security editor.
(The Guardian, 18 February 2025).
Margaret (and John), I can only assume you haven’t listened to Noam Chomsky’s take on the subject. I just happened to come across this video the other day and, as such, listened to it again, and so because it was easy to find (in my youtube history), I’m gonna post that. As you will see/hear, he clearly spells out what was happening regards Ukraine joining Nato, and it was indeed an imminent threat. Someone posted it on youtube five days ago, but it was ‘Taken from the broadcast “In Depth with Noam Chomsky” (04/03/2022) on C-SPAN’:
What They Don’t Tell You about NATO Noam Chomsky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOHUJI0ivfk (11mins 21secs)
And in the process of going onto John Mearscheimer’s website to look for a passage at the end of a lengthy piece he wrote in 2015 (so as to copy it and post it here), I came across this much more recent piece (from August last year) in which he says the following:
The alternative argument, which I identify with, and which is clearly the minority view in the West, is that the United States and its allies provoked the war. This is not to deny, of course, that Russia invaded Ukraine and started the war. But the principal cause of the conflict is the NATO decision to bring Ukraine into the alliance, which virtually all Russian leaders see as an existential threat that must be eliminated. NATO expansion, however, is part of a broader strategy that is designed to make Ukraine a Western bulwark on Russia’s border. Bringing Kyiv into the European Union (EU) and promoting a color revolution in Ukraine – turning it into pro-Western liberal democracy – are the other two prongs of the policy. Russia leaders fear all three prongs, but they fear NATO expansion the most. To deal with this threat, Russia launched a preventive war on 24 February 2022.
Who Caused the Ukraine War?
https://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/who-caused-the-ukraine-war
Here’s the passage I was referring to (and make that 2014!) – ie the very last paragraph of a very long piece by JM:
The United States and its European allies now face a choice on
Ukraine. They can continue their current policy, which will exacer-
bate hostilities with Russia and devastate Ukraine in the process—a
scenario in which everyone would come out a loser. Or they can switch
gears and work to create a prosperous but neutral Ukraine, one that
does not threaten Russia and allows the West to repair its relations
with Moscow. With that approach, all sides would win.
Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault
https://www.mearsheimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Why-the-Ukraine-Crisis-Is.pdf
I have been depressed and disappointed that JVL published this piece, because up till now I’ve trusted this blog more than any other to produce a socialist non-Stalinist politics. After reading the Comments section I’m slightly reassured — at least we are debating! But why not read or publish despatches from the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, who are in contact with Ukrainian trade unionists on the ground?
Jonathan Cook may have been a great ally on Palestine (though I suspect he also supported untenable military alliances) , but anyone who thinks Yanukovych won the 2014 elections fair and square and the Maidan uprising was a US-funded coup is deceiving themselves. The situation is much more complex and there are valid fears that Ukraine is being driven rightwards in wartime, but all the more reason for socialists to show solidarity. May I remind everyone that Zelensky — a Jew from a Russian-speaking home — spent the first years of his presidency negotiating patiently and in good faith with the Russian speakers of Ukraine, even after they had broken away?
I’m also depressed by the pious citing of Chomsky et al. Please, JVLers, use your own minds. And editors, please try not to endorse such one-sided ‘campist’ thinking on the left in future.