“As Putin sinks into his own trap in Ukraine, Xi Jinping is bogged down in an anti-Covid war”

Grandstand. In a cruel and brutal way, the whole world – and in particular the Europeans – finds itself plunged into the cold and hot wars of the past century, with what is happening in Ukraine. The old political theory is reconfirmed: a ruler with unfettered power is always a threat to peace. The decisions he makes according to his own logic, irrational for many, can only lead to human catastrophes.

The bogging down of Russian troops in Ukraine, as in Afghanistan, was predictable, except in the eyes of Vladimir Putin. He can, today, turn against the generals, the ministers who had misinformed him and lied to him in the realization of his imperial project. Foreign observers share this analysis to explain the fiasco of the Russian military campaign.

But the reason for this setback, and even for Putin’s very likely ultimate failure, is to be sought elsewhere. It lies in his attempt to impose his totalitarian vision on the Ukrainian nation under construction. For years, he has been implementing a totalitarian policy in his own Russian society, and now applying it to Ukrainians.

This Putinian totalitarian vision consists in saying that there is no other possibility than accepting to be subjects subordinated to the new tsar of the XXIand century. There is no identity difference between Russians and Ukrainians. So, when the latter oppose each other, the solution is to carry out a “special operation” to bring them back to the pre-built box, like a surgical operation. Unlike similar coercive actions carried out by the former USSR against disobedient satellite countries, it is no longer done in the name of a future earthly paradise, but of a past empire.

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If this Putinian totalitarian attempt has had a certain success in Russia, with Stalinist and mafia methods of governance and false nationalist propaganda, it comes up against strong resistance from Ukrainians, who want to defend their culture and their individual and collective freedom. The image of the destruction of tanks, these symbolic machines of 20th century totalitarianismand century, attests to this perfectly.

almighty power

As Putin sinks into his own trap, his ally and friend Xi Jinping is bogged down in a war against Covid-19, according to the same logic.

For two years, Xi’s China has applied the zero Covid method at all costs. If, in France, the “whatever it takes” consists in saving jobs and human lives, and protecting from the damage caused by the pandemic, the zero Covid policy in China does not take into account its consequences. For example, the death of patients with other ailments is explained by the priority given to Covid-19. Despite the extreme control of information, many tragedies are reported, testifying to the gravity of the situation: thus, a pregnant woman, without a certificate proving that she was negative for Covid-19, lost her baby after waiting for care for hours; a nurse died of an asthma attack due to lack of carers.

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