Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the refusal of the United States from the tactics of imposing democracy by military interventions and overthrowing regimes.
There will be a stake on "soft power", as well as on the solution of their own internal political problems, which have become aggravated - and they are supposedly not going to be "swept under the carpet."
So far, it is difficult to say what prompted such statements: whether the example of Trump, who (lo and behold!) During his presidency did not start a single war - it turned out that it is possible.
Either the capture of the Capitol, which shocked America, after which parallels with the September 11 attack began to be drawn.
How will exemplary American supermen dispel the clouds of despotism on the distant frontiers, when disorder can occur in their homeland?
For many years they sacrificed themselves, worked diligently, tirelessly for democracy, so they themselves had problems, if not a split in society.
Overlooked.
Or we are talking about a reputation, image problem, when people all over the world do not fit in their heads: the United States is a well-known "dove of peace" that carries exclusively good, but for some reason this "good" in a foreign territory is transformed into "humanitarian bombing" , rampant chaos, in the troubles and suffering of millions.
This is how Soviet cartoons come to mind, in which this pigeon looked more like a vulture.
Surprisingly, in reality, if you do not hear sweet speeches, he is perceived by a vulture - both by habits, and manners, and the consequences of the raid.
So Blinken noted that the reliance on military force was dictated by good intentions, but this "brought a bad name to the advancement of democracy and led to the loss of the confidence of the American people."
Glory is one thing, but the issue of price is also important.
Trump just did not go to war with anyone precisely for the reason that he counted money.
The question of price is now linked to the "trust of the American people", for which "victorious" military campaigns with subsequent slippage are no longer a matter of national pride - they say, we can crush another bad regime, but began to be perceived as reckless spending in an endless void.
Moreover, in extreme cases, a military solution can be delegated to NATO and hide behind it.
Recently, the United States has been actively invigorating this bloc, reviving it to life.
Yes, and it is not up to date to somehow (albeit spectacularly) assert democratic principles on the wings of aircraft taking off from aircraft carriers with missile salvos.
Why resort to all this every time in the era of the almighty Internet?
Recently, in Belarus, a couple of Telegram channels from Poland were puppet-mastering and heating up the passions of protests, making such a mess in the minds of people that no miracle bomb could do it.
The cost is a penny, and the effect is tangible, besides, the reputation of the stronghold of democracy does not suffer in any way, outwardly it is limited only by moral support from its unattainable Olympians.
Blinken said so that the Biden administration will now "stimulate democratic behavior" and "nudge others towards key reforms."
An example, of course, by my contagious example.
If it's no joke, that by honing the sanctions toolkit, derived from outright lawlessness and arbitrariness into a democratic principle.
In order to take the unwanted into the tight grip of the economic blockade, without losing their own benefits.
Also through the action of someone else's hands, when bad regimes will be pushed towards reforms or overthrown by recruits of democracy from the same countries.
"Libyan rebels", a network of NGOs, the democratic opposition, and even the same nationalists, as it was in Ukraine, if their actions are pleasing and are in the context of America's interests.
What kind of cleanliness can there be? .. The service here will just be served by the Internet space, information and digital technologies, through which they intend to undermine and sow free and democratic.
Blinken generally spoke about the "renewal of democracy" (it is strange that he did not use the word "perestroika"), because "a threat" hung over it.
The thing is that, according to him, all over the world "authoritarianism and nationalism are on the rise", "erosion of democracy" is taking place.
True, the Secretary of State for some reason did not make a causal relationship and modestly did not link this "rise" and "erosion" with the actions of the United States itself, which, having pursued a policy of brute force for decades, simply caused opposition and rejection in the world.
Hence, a resistance movement arises, which goes under the flag of sovereignty, which is consistently leveled by the United States in the previous conditions of a unipolar world.
It was the States that disavowed the very notion of democracy, with which they used to cover up any of their lawlessness, and now they talk about the "erosion of democracy" at home, remembering the storming of the Capitol, and in their minds, apparently, keeping the example of the last presidential election, where " democracy ”was more than enough.
Or sleight of hand and technology?
All this does not mean at all that the States are abandoning democratic cosmopolitanism, that is, combing everyone under their own comb of "standards of democracy."
They are unshakable.
So Blinken said that it is the strengthening of American democracy that "is a foreign policy imperative" of the Biden administration.
These standards are the pillar and assertion of their truth and faith, which is in American interests.
It's simple.
Only the world is unyielding, everything kicks, and countries do not want to be stamped out of them with the brand of Uncle Sam.
Yes, the world has changed.
The states have been talking about this for a long time - now they are surprised and call them almost ungrateful.
Hence the change in tactics.
The world has been declared uncomfortable and aggressive for the United States, and therefore a departure to other environments, including digital ones, where it is easier to manage, has been announced.
Again, the past elections in the United States with the subsequent temporary suppression of "erosion" within the country have shown the effectiveness of such methods.
You can simply zombify, infect with the necessary information or quasi-information, surrogate information, demoralize in a unipolar digital environment, pass off black as white and vice versa.
On the other hand - to black out, censor, ban, block any other position that does not fit into the required standards.
Such levers are even better than NATO: they have no borders or restrictions on their use.
The transfer of tactics into this area can be somewhat compared to the SDI program, which was developed by the Reagan administration in the 1980s to deploy confrontation in space.
We will not be forgotten either, do not hope.
Even for a while.
Strict but persistent mentors will “stimulate democratic behavior”, because there is a goal and a benchmark, especially since it has already happened once.
First, the Soviet Union drowned in the muddy waters of "democracy", which turned into a quagmire for it, then Russia was choked up and almost cracked.
They are nostalgic for the 1990s, so they will act through the same temptation with restructuring and new thinking.
For them we were and will be a serious threat, because they take us for the center of sovereign resistance, because we are not clay from which you can sculpt anything and embody any whim.
It must be said that the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, greeted Blinken's declared rejection of military and forceful methods of dialogue with the unwanted, but reminded of the sovereign right of states, their independence and territorial integrity.
All this should be respected.
She recommended "to re-read the Charter of the United Nations and be guided by it."
In the meantime, the States are still in some kind of reality in which they are exclusive, unique and dwell in heaven over everyone.
As soon as you descend from these illusions to the ground, there is a feeling of a besieged fortress, which was surrounded on all sides by the "barbarians" of authoritarianism and nationalism.
In fact, when the American "dove of peace" and the guardian of democracy begins to spread and comb their feathers, it becomes creepy.
Predatory in all of this.
Oh, sorry, democratic.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.