Ukraine and Russia are at War, But that’s not the Real Story

March 24, 2022 

Philip C. Johnson 

The media, both mainstream and social, is filled with information about the current war between Russia and Ukraine. The media tells us that the entire world is against Russia, but that isn’t true. It is not even close to being true. In fact, the war itself, while tragic, is not the real story. The real story is that we are witnessing a global realignment of nations. A realignment where the United States of America is no longer the one calling all of the shots. A realignment where the U.S. will no longer be the world’s sole superpower. 

The Western Narrative

Each day that I listen to coverage of the biggest ground war Europe has seen in decades, I become more concerned. More concerned that I’m not being told the entire truth. The official Western narrative tells me that Russia is evil, that there is nothing about Ukraine and the West  that provoked the invasion and that Ukraine and her president are virtuous and above reproach. While it is true that Russia’s government is evil, this is not the full story.

What the narrative does not tell you is that Ukraine’s President Zelensky, in a move that is anything but democratic, has restricted eleven political opposition parties and transformed independent media into state controlled media. All Ukrainian TV news broadcasts are now under a “unified” message system. No one talks about Zelensky’s ties to corruption in Ukraine or big money oligarchs. So, we’re on the brink of a potential nuclear war to protect a fragile democracy and that “democracy’s” leader just banned democracy. Interesting. 

Few, if any, will criticize Zelenky’s series of speeches that he recently gave. In his speech to the U.S. Congress, he invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.  For Germany, he asked the listeners to “tear down this wall,” echoing Reagan’s Berlin Wall era speech. Most egregious of all, for Israel, he compared the troubles of Ukraine to the Jewish Holocaust. I don’t know who’s writing his speeches, and I certainly don’t know who is moved by these blatant attempts to manipulate international audiences,  but the intent from President Zelensky is to lure the West into a global war.  What’s happening in Ukraine is awful. Turning it into a global conflict will make things much worse. 

The Great Realignment

As I mentioned, the real and most important story of what’s going on is that a significant global realignment is occurring. After decades of the world cooperating with the U.S.(willingly or begrudgingly), we now see countries making their own choices for their own interests. And the changes that will results will last much longer than the conflict in Ukraine. 

Let’s take a look at the idea of a “united world” against Russia. In reality, more than a few countries that are supposed to be aligned with the U.S., like Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece and Hungary, are still buying oil and gas from Russia. In other words, they are still financing Russia’s invasion.

What about other sanctions against Russia? The media says that Russia is now the most sanctioned nation in history, even more than Iran. But is everyone sanctioning Russia? What about South America? They’re not sanctioning Russia. Neither is Mexico. Africa? Not one nation on the continent is sanctioning Russia. Pakistan and India? Not interested in sanctions. China? No, even with increased threats from the U.S. The majority of the world’s population is not turning their collective backs on Russia. Regardless as to what the media is telling us, the efforts to isolate Russia are not working. 

According to the New York Post, Putin is now demanding that unfriendly countries use rubles to buy Russian oil and gas. Putin is messaging that if you want his oil (and apparently countries do), you’ve got to buy Russian currency. Saudi Arabia has been in discussions to sell oil to China in Chinese yuan – not dollars. Russia is also selling oil to India at a huge discount, a move that is deeply upsetting the West. The UAE and Saudi Arabia won’t even take President Biden’s phone calls. The U.S. based petrol-dollar, the one thing that keeps our currency worth anything, is at risk. 

What Do I Think Will Happen?  

If left to play out, Russia will win their war with Ukraine. There will, eventually, be a diplomatic solution to Russia’s advantage.  I know that the Biden administration keeps suggesting that Russia is not up to the task and that Ukraine is fighting hard and will prevail. But let me remind you that this is the same administration that told us that the Taliban would never take over Afghanistan. 

As a part of the U.S. administration’s mishandling of this situation, I believe that the U.S. relationship with India will suffer – and India has been a key ally against China. China will leverage the global changes and eventually take Taiwan. And it goes without saying that Russia’s relationship with China, based on their mutual dislike and mistrust of the U.S. and the West, will grow closer. I also expect Russia and Iran to strengthen their relationship. And I think in the near future, Turkey will lean further away from Europe and NATO and side with Russia.  The bottom line is that the “old world order” is being replaced by a “realigned world order.” 

Recently, President Biden, at the tail end of a speech to the Business Roundtable, went off topic. He said that the current world order that grew out of two world wars is at an “inflection point.” He recognizes that the world is changing and says that America has to lead the new world order. Currently, it appears, that by “leading,” Biden means “leading from behind,” or perhaps not leading at all. And that leads me to my final question: How prepared are you for a world where the U.S. is not the dominant power? Trust me, you will notice the difference.

Dr. Phil Johnson is the founder and president of Global Next, an organization that provides international leadership training programs with a focus on geopolitics, cultural trends and a biblical worldview. You can find us at: www.globalnext.org.