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
Information Minister in Pakistani-administered Kashmir: Five civilians killed and at least 29 others injured in shelling across the border with India
Israeli Army Radio's diplomatic correspondent quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: So he [Trump] decided to cut off contact. That might still change, but that’s the situation right now
Israeli Army Radio's diplomatic correspondent quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: Trump’s circle told him [Dermer] that Netanyahu was manipulating him, and there’s nothing Trump hates more than being portrayed as someone being played
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: Meetings between the Israelis, Egyptians, and Qataris are all centered around the Israeli proposal, which does not guarantee an end to the war [on Gaza]
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: “Israel” is threatening to expand the ground offensive if Hamas rejects the proposal
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: Hamas rejects the Israeli proposal, viewing it as failing to guarantee an end to the war
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: “Israel” is sticking to its proposal, and insists there is no alternative offer on the table for negotiation
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: The meetings between the Israelis and the Egyptians and Qataris all revolve around the Israeli proposal
The administration was clearly looking for an off-ramp for this campaign against Ansar Allah, NBC News reports, citing US official
Trump's operation against Ansar Allah cost more than $1 billion, NBC News reports, citing US official

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

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Ansar Allah triumphant: US facing Red Sea defeat again

“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 opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
  • 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
Throughout Operation Prosperity Guardian, current and former US military and intelligence officials expressed disquiet at the enormous “cost offset” involved in battling Ansar Allah. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Ansar Allah triumphant: US facing Red Sea defeat again

  • Opinion
  • 3 May 2025
While Salams is intended to be for Muslims seeking marriage, the other companies owned by Match Group are seen as encouraging casual relationships like OK Cupid and Tinder. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Selling Muslim marriage app Salams to the Zionist pornography complex

  • Opinion
  • 27 Apr 2025
"Israel" appears to be the only place in the world where there are actual demonstrations defending rapists as national heroes precisely because of their crimes. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

'Israeli pride' - Celebrating rape in the Zionist entity

  • Opinion
  • 4 May 2025
Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

  • Opinion
  • 7 May 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

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