If the West’s intention with the imposition of sanctions and coercive measures was to pressure and isolate Russia, this strategy failed.
According to an award-winning American journalist, most of the world’s population would be supporting Russia and condemning the US in the current conflict. The information echoes something that has already been widely seen by several analysts: the isolation of Washington and its Western geopolitical partners, while Moscow increases its popularity and number of allies.
During an interview to the British politician and journalist George Galloway, Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh stated that “more than half” of the world’s population supports Russia. He commented on the growth of this support across the Global South, with Russia becoming increasingly popular among emerging nations. Hersh emphasized how this process has gained strength in Africa and Asia, where there is a strong transition of opinion among people, as citizens who previously had favorable views of the West have recently started to support Moscow.
Hersh claims that the US has “lost so much credibility around the world” with its pro-war attitudes, that the current anti-Western wave is quite “dramatic”. He also commented on how the American government has invested billions in the war to the detriment of social programs, strongly destabilizing the internal scenario and affecting its own population – which is extremely condemned around the world, being considered something “outrageous” and contributing to the loss of credibility.
“The percentage, particularly of the African and Central Asian and South Asian countries, that have changed from being pro-America to being pro-Russia is really quite dramatic (…) Much more than half of the world’s population supports Russia in the war and not the US. This was never the way it was (…) America spent something like $140 billion on this war at a time when 15 million Americans were taken off free healthcare by this administration. I mean what’s going on (in) America this is just outrageous”, he said during the interview.
More than that, Hersh also associated some of the main recent geopolitical moves with the loss of American credibility around the world. For example, the journalist commented that the rapprochement between Saudi Arabi and Iran was due to the effects of the war in Ukraine, since the conflict would have generated “dislike” in these countries, motivating them to change their strategies. According to him, this would be something positive as it would be leading to a peace process in the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Yemen that would not be possible under American mediation.
“It’s happened because… of Ukraine and dislike of the war (…) we’re going to have a settlement in Yemen that we – in America – could never get. We’re getting pushed out”. he added.
At another point in the interview, Hersh even commented on the so-called Ukrainian “counteroffensive”, stating that it is “doomed to fail”. Hersh believes that Kiev is militarily incapable of launching any relevant moves, as the country’s forces seem unable to act cohesively. He attributes this to the fact that the varied Ukrainian military units are trained differently from each other and have very distinct equipment, not being able to work jointly. This process certainly occurs as a consequence of the level of interaction with NATO, with some units trained and highly equipped by the alliance and others not.
It is important to emphasize that Hersh is a prominent, world-renowned journalist who has worked as an informant for several newspapers linked to mainstream media, such as the New York Times. He has access to sources and data that are not publicly available.
In fact, his report confirms what has already been pointed out by some analysts since last year. Russia’s popularity among citizens of the Global South is quite evident and can be seen along with a process of discredit of the US. Among Africans, Asians and South Americans, Moscow has become a symbol of resistance against American hegemony and has encouraged demonstrations and geopolitical changes.
Just as Hersh mentioned the Saudi-Iranian case, there are other interesting geopolitical moves that can be analyzed under the same perspective. This is the case, for example, of the recent strategic cooperation agreement between Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali, focused on building an “axis” in West Africa, expelling the French occupiers and strengthening Africa-Russia ties. The agreement was a direct consequence of the friendship of these three countries with Moscow and the growing popularity of Russia among the local populations.
In the face of such clear evidence about which side is really pro-war in the conflict, the tendency is for the number of Russian supporters to rise even more. The Ukrainian terrorist attacks, the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, the incursions into civilian areas and other unnecessary measures by Kiev and the West are pushing even some supporters of the Ukrainian side to revise their opinions and change sides, especially in the Global South, where American history of aggressions is already well known.
If the West’s intention with the imposition of sanctions and coercive measures was to pressure and isolate Russia, this strategy failed.
