In the report of the Cypriot Minister of Defence, presented last week to the Parliamentary Committee on Finance in the framework of the state budget for 2020, special attention is paid to the prospects for the development of military cooperation between Nicosia and Washington. A special working group is envisaged that will promote such bilateral cooperation. Statements about ‘strategic partnership’ between Cyprus and the United States have also regularly been put out by the Cypriot Foreign Minister since the signing of the joint Declaration between David and Goliath (November 2018). But is the embrace of the Americans a worthy and lasting one?
The last striking
example of the consequences of
‘alliance’ with the United States is undoubtedly the plight of the Syrian
Kurds. Much ink has been shed about the American betrayal in the entire world’s
mass media. Why does the US destroy the self-confidence of its allies giving
rise to serious doubts? Nothing is strange: Washington pursues the policy
considered appropriate in each case and moment in time. In this regard,
Washington has increasingly abandoned its allies as soon as its goals are
achieved. This is the spirit of US policy.
Take for example the treatment afforded by the United States to Japan, its main Asian ally. Washington has persistently been engaged in Tokyo’s arms twisting, projecting the threat from China and North Korea. Thus forcing Japan to follow Washington’s quest for supremacy in East Asia. In this case, the US refer to the bilateral treaty on mutual cooperation and the 1960 security guarantees, according to which they have the right to station armed forces and establish military bases on Japanese territory. However, as Bloomberg recently reported, the White House is seriously considering withdrawing from the Treaty, leaving Tokyo alone to worry about Japan’s security.
Is the Treaty signed by the United States and Greece during Pompeo’s recent visit to Athens, not of a similar nature? The transfer of American troops to Greek territory continues in full swing.
The White House employs the same scenario in the development of relations with the countries of the Persian Gulf: the looming ‘threat’ in the Gulf scenario is Iran. Furthermore, in the case of the Baltic and Eastern European states, Russia is the projected ‘threat’. It is not a far-fetched scenario the leadership of these countries wakes up one day and find themselves in the position the Syrian Kurds are today: that is to say a bargaining chip in American foreign and domestic policy.
The US ‘friendship’ with Armenia, one of Cyprus’ main partners, is also indicative. The government of Armenia, which has made a bet on the development of relations with the West, is likely to be abandoned by its American patrons by direct analogy to the Kurdish case. It is possible that the Armenian friends of George Soros, who consistently put the fate of Armenia in the hands of the OSCE Minsk Group and NATO officials, will face a very sad fate. If the Armenians are led to believe that the United States are the guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence, they are seriously mistaken.
Oil Interests Guide US Foreign Policy
Last week
Washington threw off its mask openly stating the true purpose of stationing US
troops in Syria: oil! The war on terrorism on the territory of this unfortunate
country was only
a smokescreen. Washington cares only about Syrian oil. The United States in
order to maintain control over the oil fields in northeastern Syria, will
apparently, stop at nothing.
The US administration estimates revenues from Syrian oil smuggling to the tune of $45 million per month. At the same time, the Syrians will not have any profit at all from the production of their own oil by the Americans. What else than an outright robbery of Syria by the United States? Part of the money from oil is returned to Syria exclusively in the form of new armed terrorists, while, in fact, all this oil belongs to the Syrian people and no one else.
Moreover, the White House recently expressed interest in a deal with oil giant ExxonMobil to ‘use’ Syrian oil assets. Yes, it is ExxonMobil, on which so many hopes are pinned by the Cypriot government. We wonder how our government and public will react to the potential participation of this company in the plunder of the natural resources of a sovereign state. Silence and indifference have always been the easiest way out of difficult situations. But then all our reproaches of Ankara with illegal activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus would pale.
It is not easy to choose allies and partners. Even worse when “chosen” as ally, the US pursue their narrowly defined national interest. We can continue to pretend that nothing is happening, to entertain illusions and hopes about a happy future in the American embrace. However, common sense suggests that now it is necessary to wake up and seriously think about whether we are on the right path. A range of countries, including seemingly powerful blocs such as the European Union, are increasingly realizing how they have been used by the Americans and hastily trying to get rid of this dependence. Doing so whilst the neck is in the loop is not so easy. It is much easier not to get to this point at all …