An aspect of this war has not received much notice. This is that what used to be the Left is now behaving like the Right, while the Right is behaving like the Left. What is more, this is not just in this country but around the world…writes Mihir Bose
There are moments when the world changes. Ukraine’s war with Russia may prove to be one of those seminal moments in history. How America may no longer be the military guarantor of NATO countries, as it has been since the Second World War, has been well publicised. However, another aspect of this war has not received much notice. This is that what used to be the Left is now behaving like the Right, while the Right is behaving like the Left. What is more, this is not just in this country but around the world.
I was made aware of this when a friend sent me a video. For just under six minutes, this man spouted about how it is all about the West wanting the riches of Ukraine. Ukraine has vast natural resources, which is what the West wants, not, as it claims, to protect Ukraine’s freedom. For good measure, the large Western corporations will profit from the war.
He also talked about how the West was trying to encircle Russia with NATO countries. In other words, it is the West that has caused this war. He did not actually say that NATO troops invaded Russia. Yet that was the implication of his remarks. He never mentions that Russia invaded Ukraine. It is as if that event never happened. He also mentions that Zelensky has been polishing his yacht for good measure. Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard about Zelensky having a yacht. Now I keep hearing about it, which is an attempt to portray him as another money-grubbing politician far removed from the patriot he has been presented in the Western media.
Now I knew there were people who felt Putin was justified in what he did — even refusing to accept that Putin invaded Ukraine. But I must confess that I had never heard the arguments that the West was responsible for the Ukraine war because it wanted to help itself to Ukraine’s riches.
And here we come to politics being turned on its head. Traditionally, people on the Left tend to be anti-American, and those on the Right are pro-American. But from this video and other views in support of Russia that I have heard, it is clear that many on the Right, if not the hard Right, are now pro-Russian. Yet, they would not vote for left-wing parties in their domestic politics.
India provides a good example of this. I grew up when America was fighting the Vietnam War. My generation was opposed to the war and saw it as another colonial war presented as a fight for democracy, just as the colonial powers presented their rule as civilising the “primitive natives” and bringing them all the wonders of Western learning and technology. But for us, the way America fought the war, its use of napalm, whose aftereffects are still causing problems for the Vietnamese half a century later, invading Cambodia, a neutral country, and supporting dictatorial rule in South Vietnam, convinced us that America did not stand for freedom and democracy. They had proclaimed that it was the American century, and this war was to establish American hegemony over the world.
Some accepted the American argument that it was a fight against the communist evil and necessary to prevent its spread across Asia. However, they were few and could never produce a convincing argument to support their views. They were also believers in the free market and against the socialism of the Nehru era, of which we were firm supporters.
Now, in India, such people, while believing in the free market all the more, have turned anti-Western and are firmly opposed to any support for the Ukrainians.
Look at how things have changed in this country. When Labour was led by Jeremy Corbyn, we had the Salisbury poisoning, which was the work of Russian agents. Sergei and Yulia Skripal and former police officer Nick Bailey were all poisoned by the nerve agent in the Wiltshire city in March 2018. More than 80 people suffered symptoms, and mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess died in July 2018 after exposure to Novichok, which had been left in a discarded perfume bottle in nearby Amesbury. Jeremy Corbyn was accused of “appeasement” towards Russia as MPs – including his own backbenchers – voiced anger at the Labour leader’s apparent reluctance to directly blame Moscow for the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Corbyn was heckled in the House of Commons as he responded to Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement, which set out a range of retaliatory measures the UK would take against Russia.
The Labour leader described the Salisbury attack as an “appalling act of violence”, but urged the Government to ensure its response is “decisive, proportionate and based on clear evidence”.
Corbyn also called on Theresa May to maintain “robust dialogue” with Russia, despite her announcement that high-level bilateral contacts are to be suspended.
Then, in an article in The Guardian, Corbyn defied critics in his own party and warned the Prime Minister against “rushing way ahead of the evidence” over the Salisbury poisoning in what he called the “fevered” atmosphere of Westminster.
He asked the Government to take a “calm, measured” approach – and warn against the drift towards a “new cold war” with Russia.
“This horrific event demands, first of all, the most thorough and painstaking criminal investigation conducted by our police and security services,” he said.
“To rush way ahead of the evidence being gathered by the police, in a fevered parliamentary atmosphere, serves neither justice nor our national security.”
Corbyn warned against a “McCarthyite intolerance of dissent” over Russia. “Labour is, of course, no supporter of the Putin regime, its conservative authoritarianism, abuse of human rights or political and economic corruption,” he said.
“However, that does not mean we should resign ourselves to a ‘new cold war’ of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent.”
Contrast this with how his successor, Keir Starmer, behaved after Zelensky, lectured by Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance and ejected from the White House, arrived in this country. As Zelensky exited his car and walked towards Downing Street, Starmer came out and publicly embraced him. It was pretty clear this was meant for the cameras. Then, in the Commons, he made it clear Russia had invaded Ukraine and emphasised Britain’s support for Ukraine. It emphasised Labour, the historic party of the Left, did not support Russia.
With Trump in power, we do not know what will happen to Ukraine. However, the fact that the war has changed politics cannot be denied.
Mihir Bose is the author of Thank You Mr Crombie Lessons in Guilt and Gratitude to the British.
