The conflict in Ukraine is expanding, and in 2023 the West intends to supply Kiev with tanks, as well as long-range weapons. Increasingly, the issue of the possible dispatch of fighters pops up on the agenda. GEOFOR turned to Paul Craig Roberts, Chairman of the Institute for Political Economy, US economist and ex-Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, to find out what the world can expect from 2023.
GEOFOR: Dear sir! The year 2022 turned out to be a serious test of the world's strength. 2023 begins with a new escalation of the conflict and the start of the supply of tanks to the Ukraine. And delivery of F-16 fighters is increasingly being discussed. Will Europe slide into a big military conflict?
Paul Craig Roberts: The problem in the Ukraine conflict is not tanks and F-16s. The problem is the unwillingness of the Kremlin to use sufficient force to bring the conflict to a quick Russians victory before the West adds provocation upon proocation and widens the war into a general war between the West and Russia. It is the inability after one year of the Kremlin to act decisively that is turning the conflict into a world war.
The longer the conflict continues, the more involved the West will become. At some point a Russian victory will become unacceptable to the West, and then a general war will unfold. The inability of the Kremlin to understand this is leading to nuclear war.
GEOFOR: Europe has relied on Russia for its energy, but now it is increasingly dependent on the supply of energy resources from the United States. Has Washington planned this? What will such a policy of Brussels lead to?
Paul Craig Roberts: It is not mainly money but control that is Washington's motivation. Washington's worry is that its hold on its European Empire would be weakened by Europe's dependency on Russian energy.
GEOFOR: If we turn to the American issues. Biden is still the president, but the Republicans showed good results in the midterm elections. What can we expect in the new year from the confrontation of «donkeys» and «elephants», as there are only two years left before the presidential elections?
Paul Craig Roberts: The Senate Democrats can block whatever the House Republicans do and vice versa. Should any Republican measure get through, Biden can veto it.
The House will do a number of investigations of the Russiagate hoax, the January 6 insurrection hoax, etc., and show that these were politically-driven propaganda shows devoid of a shred of real evidence. The media will either not report the findings or accuse the Republicans of «misinformation».
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts – Chairman of the Institute for Political Economy, US economist and ex-Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, a member of the Cold War Committee on the Present Danger.
Serge Duhanov is a journalist, specializing in international relations and national security issues. Не worked as the NOVOSTI Press Agency's own correspondent in Canada (Ottawa, 1990-1992) and the US Bureau Chief (Washington, 1996-2001) of the newspapers Business MN, Delovoy Mir and Interfax-AiF.