Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

The Geneva Talks: The cognitive dissonance of ‘Mass Formation Disorder’

  • Alastair Crooke Alastair Crooke
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 16 Jan 2022 23:30
  • 2 Shares
6 Min Read

The outbreak of Putin ‘derangement symptom’ occurring precisely in the lead-up to crucial talks in Geneva this week bodes a graver risk.

  • x
  • The Geneva Talks: The cognitive dissonance of ‘Mass Formation Disorder’
    The Geneva Talks: The cognitive dissonance of ‘Mass Formation Disorder’

Something strange seems to be overtaking Washington. First, on the 6 January anniversary of the public intrusion into the Capitol building, we have had Joe Biden’s speech excoriating Trump as a coupist. The latter followed on from a piece in the Financial Times (increasingly a messaging site for Washington to set down its narratives for European élites) by its leading US political commentator, Edward Luce, headlining that the ‘US system is no match for Trump’. US democracy in extreme peril (from any prospective Trump return) was the theme. In brief, it urged the Biden Administration to prosecute Trump over his claimed, but undefined, anti-democratic actions whilst noting that other states had removed and jailed leaders who had threatened democracy.

Perhaps the return of what is called ‘Trump derangement symptom’ is only to be expected as the GOP look set to take control of Congress in this November's mid-term elections. But the outbreak of Putin ‘derangement symptom’ occurring precisely in the lead-up to crucial talks in Geneva this week bodes a graver risk.

A Washington Post Board Editorial (representing the views of the Washington Post as an institution) starts thus:

"A brutal dictator, having staked a claim to power based on conspiracy theories and promises of imperial restoration, rebuilds his military. He begins threatening to seize his neighbours’ territory, blames democracies for the crisis and demands that, to solve it, they must rewrite the rules of international politics — and redraw the map — to suit him. The democracies agree to peace talks, hoping, as they must, to avoid war without unduly rewarding aggression.

[This Munich analogy] can be, and has been, overused and overstated. But given how closely the first paragraph of this editorial describes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s current bellicosity toward Ukraine, and given that the US … enters negotiations with Mr. Putin in the coming week, it’s [an analogy] worth reflecting on … What the United States cannot do is allow Mr. Putin to win concessions at the point of a gun. In the — all-too-likely — event that he is not bargaining in good faith, and does invade Ukraine, President Biden will have to help that country defend itself, rally NATO and ensure that Russia pays a heavy price."

That analogy clearly is deranged.

And on the eve of a briefing ahead of the talks, Blinken seemed to reflect this psychic mode: 

“The idea that Ukraine is the aggressor in this situation is absurd.

“It’s Russia that invaded Ukraine nearly eight years ago.

“It’s Russia that is the military occupier of part of Ukraine, in Crimea.

“It’s Russia that, to this day, is fuelling a war in eastern Ukraine.

Related News

Concentration camps and the road to exile: Gaza as a laboratory of privatized genocide

Understanding Yemen 2/2: Ansar Allah values

“It’s Russia that has failed to implement any of its Minsk commitments, indeed is actively violating many of them, and refuses to acknowledge it’s a party to the conflict.

“It’s Russia that’s taken aim repeatedly at Ukraine’s democracy.

“And it’s Russia that’s sending troops to Ukraine’s border, once again.

“NATO never promised not to admit new members.

“There was no promise that NATO wouldn’t expand.

“I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave”.

In a later interview with CNN on Sunday, Blinken was asked if he agreed that Putin was driven by a desire to restore the old USSR: “I think that’s right, I think that’s one of President Putin’s objectives, and it is to re-exert a sphere of influence over countries that previously were part of the Soviet Union”. He went on to say that the US considered such an objective “unacceptable” as a world of spheres of influence was a “recipe for instability, a recipe for conflict, a recipe that led to world wars”.

In an earlier briefing on 8 January, a senior (unnamed) official – probably Jake Sullivan – outlined what the US might discuss with Russia: First, the future of certain missile systems in Europe along the lines of the INF Treaty; and second, Russia’s conduct of a series of ever larger and more coercive military exercises along its border with NATO Allies.  Russia says its security is threatened by US and NATO exercises as well. “So, we are willing to explore the possibility of reciprocal restrictions on the size and scope of such exercises, including both strategic bombers close to each other’s territory and ground-based exercises as well”.

“However there are things in Russia’s drafts on which we are never going to agree. It is not up to Russia, for example, to decide for other countries who they can be allies with. Those are decisions only for those countries and for the alliance [i.e. NATO] itself”.

The gaps between the sides plainly are huge: Compare the above briefings with Deputy FM Ryabkov stating flatly: “NATO has to pack up its things, and move back to the borders of 1997”.

None of this heated language bodes well. But what is it that is driving these ‘mass formation psychoses’? US academic Michael Brenner has suggested that they lie with the “evident truth that Americans have become an insecure people. They grow increasingly anxious about who they are, what they are worth, and what life will be like down the road. This is an individual and collective phenomenon. They are related insofar as self-identity and self-esteem are bound up with the civic religion of Americanism".

Or, in other words, the insistence on one ‘Truth’, whether it is about Trump and his responsibility for the 6 January events; the prescription for dealing with Covid; or President Putin’s ‘Munich ultimatum’ -- all reflect the obverse facet to profound US insecurity.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • United States
  • Conservatives
  • Russia
  • Washington
  • Washington Post
  • CNN
  • Geneva
  • Democrats
  • Joe Biden
  • Donald Trump
  • Vladimir Putin
Alastair Crooke

Alastair Crooke

Director of Conflicts Forum; Former Senior British Diplomat; Author.

Most Read

All
How is it that the Western regimes, which claimed to support the fake revolutions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, waged constant war against the actual Ansar Allah-led revolution in Yemen? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

  • Opinion
  • 30 Jun 2025
Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025
Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
The Nakedness of EU ‘Geo-political’ Ambitions Will Be Revealed - As the Ukraine War Melts Away

The Nakedness of EU ‘Geo-political’ Ambitions Will Be Revealed - As the Ukraine War Melts Away

The Slow-Motion Advance to the Edge of the Abyss

The Slow-Motion Advance to the Edge of the Abyss

Already, "Israel" has the White House committed to support an Israeli military operation against Hezbollah. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Does 'Israel' want war?

The European Mutiny: The Consequences are Just Beginning

The European Mutiny: The Consequences are Just Beginning

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS