PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz
While it was obvious that Russian President Vladimir Putin is openly
supporting President Donald Trump in his re-election campaign, Chinese
President Xi Jinping’s support for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
is not evident, which is typical of China’s secretive ways.
With the U.S. presidential election just 80 days away,
the outcome of the election would determine the geopolitical direction of a
multipolar world order. Or should I say “world disorder”?
With three authoritarian leaders – Putin, Xi, and North
Korea’s Kim Jung-on --serving lifetime terms, the U.S. President’s role as a
world leader is limited to four or eight years. Every four years,
the Americans elect a new president with one shot at being
reelected. So come January 20, 2021, when either Trump or Biden
would assume the presidency, they have to deal with the three headstrong
dictators armed with nuclear weapons, ready to play ball with either Trump or
Biden in a nuke-laden field who’d walk around with their nuclear football,
which the president uses to authorize a nuclear attack while traveling.
Multipolar
world disorder
Presumably, if Biden wins in November, the nuclear
football would be passed from Trump to Biden with the secret pass code, ready
to operate in a moment’s notice in the event that Putin, Xi or Kim would decide
to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. at the precise moment of presidential
power turnover.
Does this sound ridiculously funny or
scary? Not in today’s multipolar world disorder. With
Putin and Xi positioning themselves to take advantage of the presidential
transition, I wouldn’t be surprised if Putin or Xi would call Trump or Biden to
congratulate – and warn – them of things to come. That
soon? Why not? That would be the most vulnerable time
particularly if Biden won the presidency. Test his mettle and
see how fast he reacts.
Just imagine, at 12:05 PM on January 20, 2021, the red
phone rings and Putin is on the line. “Hello,” Putin says,
“Congratulations Joe. This is Vlad. I just want to call and wish you
good luck on your assumption of the presidency.” “Oh, hello, Mr.
Putin. Thanks for your congratulatory call. What can I do
for you?” Biden said. “Well, first of all I want to meet with you to
discuss the geopolitical situation in the world. With what’s going
on in Southeast Asia, North Korea, Middle East, and Africa, I think we need to
meet, the sooner,
the better. How’s March 1 for our first
summit?” Putin said. “That might be too soon Mr. Putin…” “Call me Vlad,” Putin
interrupted. “Okay Vlad. First, I have to convene my
national security team, which I don't have right
now.” “Aha! That’s what I thought! Joe you’re not
prepared on Day One!” This caught Biden by
surprise. Biden said. “But what I’m prepared of right now is
to press the Doomsday Button on my nuclear football and that would send 5,000
nuclear warheads to targets in Russia.” Putin said, “Now, now, Joe, my
man. I was just kidding. I’ll call you in a few days and
we’ll talk geopolitics. Okay?” “Fine with me,” President Biden said
and hang up. Whew!
Which reminds me that Putin is supporting Trump against
Biden. And Xi is supporting Biden against Trump. And
whoever wins in November would greatly influence the White
House.
Of course, Putin wants Trump to win re-election in
November. Putin and Trump are like Siamese twins joined at the
head. They think like one. But more so in favor of
Putin who had taken advantage of Trump’s puppy dog adoration of Putin.
With the prospect of Biden winning the presidency, Trump
would lose a great deal of influence over Russia. But what else
would Putin wants from Trump? Why not? Consider that
since 2016, Putin has gotten much of what he wants from Trump: delegitimizing
of western democracies, disrupting NATO unity, a pass on bounties on U.S.
troops in Afghanistan, withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany, withdrawal of
U.S. forces from Syria, and cover for Putin’s interference in 2016 U.S.
elections.
So, why stop now? The ground is already laid
for Russia to stay on top of Trump in his next administration if he wins in
November. Certainly, there is a lot more than Putin could extract from Trump’s
puppetry to Putin. To put it bluntly, Putin has got Trump by his
cojones. A little squeeze here and there would keep his loyalty.
If Trump wins
Indeed, a second Trump term could lead to the
disintegration of NATO and Russian military expansion in Africa and the Middle
East. Citing a secret German Foreign Ministry report, Daily Bild
reported that Russia’s new Africa ambitions, which says Putin had made “Africa
a top priority.” According to the report, Russia’s strategy is to
build bases in six countries. "Since 2015, Russia has concluded
military cooperation agreements with 21 countries in Africa," according to
the leaked document.
Meanwhile, Russia is already a major arms supplier to the
African continent.
With a market share of 37.6%, Russia is the top weapons
supplier to Africa, followed by the US with 16%, France with 14%, and China
with 9%.
Algeria reportedly remains the biggest recipient of
Russian arms in Africa, followed by Egypt, Sudan, and Angola. The question is:
How is Trump going to react to Russia’s new African strategy?
China prefers
Biden
But while Russia is actively working to elect Trump,
China prefers Biden to Trump. However, in a recent interview with
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Newsmax TV, Pompeo said that reports that
China is trying to influence American elections by ousting Trump in favor of
Biden come as no surprise.Pompeo noted recent intelligence has shown Iran,
Russia, and China all appear to be engaged in influence operations in the
upcoming presidential elections.
Trump's actions against Chinese spying efforts, including
expelling diplomats from the Houston consulate and threatening to ban the
popular app TikTok have shown the communist leadership the United States is
"no longer tolerating their misbehavior and the risk they're creating to
the United States," Pompeo told Newsmax TV host Sean Spicer.
But while Putin is clearly supporting Trump, Xi, on the
other hand, is non-committal, which is typically how Chinese politics
work. The Chinese tend to show support on both sides of the
political divide. So, whoever wins, China wins.
At the end of the day, Russia-China rivalry is taking
center stage in the U.S. election. As Trump has said, "If I
don't win the election, China will own the United States. You're going to have
to learn to speak Chinese, you want to know the truth." Believe
it or not, when Trump says something, his cult followers believe him.
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