On Ukraine, the World Majority Sides With Russia Over U.S.
BY JOHN V. WALSH
2014 saw two pivotal events that led to the current conflict in Ukraine.
The first, familiar to all, was the coup in Ukraine in which a democratically
elected government was overthrown at the direction of the United States and
with the assistance of neo-Nazi elements which Ukraine has long harbored.
Shortly thereafter the first shots in the present war were fired on the Russian-
sympathetic Donbass region by the newly installed Ukrainian government.
The shelling of the Donbass which claimed 14,000 lives has continued for 8
years, despite attempts at a cease-fire under the Minsk accords which Russia,
France and Germany agreed upon but Ukraine backed by the US refused to
implement. On February 24, 2022, Russia finally responded to the slaughter
in Donbass and the threat of NATO on its doorstep.
・pivotal
形容詞として「中枢の、極めて重要な」。
pivotal event 《a 〜》〔歴史を左右する〕重要な出来事［事件］
pivotal figure 中心人物
pivotal moment in history 《a 〜》歴史上の転機、新たな時代の幕開けとなる瞬間
（以上は英辞郎より）
・element は原義の「要素」から派生して「 〜 分子」、「 〜 勢力」の意で時事問題
では頻出である。なぜか英辞郎にはこの意味が載っていない。珍しい遺漏である。
anti-social element 反社会勢力、反社会的分子
・harbor （英辞郎より）
名詞として
1. 港湾、港、入り江
2.〔船・人のための〕避難所
3.〔犯罪者の〕隠れ場所
他動詞として
1.〔悪意・考え・邪念・計画などを〕心に抱く
I cannot help but harbor such doubts. そんな疑問を感じざるを得ない。
2.〔〜に〕隠れ場所を提供する、〔〜を〕かくまう
・ここでの claim は原義の「要求する」から派生した「（事故などが）（命を）奪う」
の意。
The earthquake claimed so many lives.
その地震はかなり多くの人々の命を奪いました。（英辞郎の例文）
Russia Turns to the East – China Provides an Alternative Economic Powerhouse.
The second pivotal event of 2014 was less noticed and in fact rarely mentioned
in the Western mainstream media. In November of that year according to the
IMF, China’s GDP surpassed that of the U.S. in purchasing power parity terms
(PPP GDP). (This measure of GDP is calculated and published by the IMF, World
Bank and even the CIA. Students of international relations like economics Nobel
Laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, Graham Allison and many others consider this metric
the best measure of a nation’s comparative economic power.) One person who
took note and who often mentions China’s standing in the PPP-GDP ranking is
none other than Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
From one point of view, the Russian action in Ukraine represents a decisive turn
away from the hostile West to the more dynamic East and the Global South.
This follows decades of importuning the West for a peaceful relationship since
the Cold War’s end. As Russia makes its Pivot to the East, it is doing its best to
ensure that its Western border with Ukraine is secured.
Following the Russian action in Ukraine, the inevitable U.S. sanctions poured onto
Russia. China refused to join them and refused to condemn Russia. This was
no surprise; after all Putin’s Russia and Xi’s China had been drawing ever closer
for years, most notably with trade denominated in ruble-renminbi exchange,
thus moving toward independence from the West’s dollar dominated trade regime.
But then a big surprise. India joined China in refusing to honor the US sanctions
regime. And India kept to its resolve despite enormous pressure including calls
from Biden to Modi and a train of high level US, UK and EU officials trekking off
to India to bully, threaten and otherwise attempting to intimidate India. India
would face “consequences,” the tired US threat went up. India did not budge.
India’s close military and diplomatic ties with Russia were forged during the
anti-colonial struggles of the Soviet era. India’s economic interests in Russian
exports could not be countermanded by U.S. threats. Now India and Russia are now
working on trade via ruble-rupee exchange. In fact, Russia has turned out to
be a factor that put India and China on the same side, pursuing their own
interests and independence in the face of U.S. diktat. Moreover with trade in
ruble-renminbi exchange already a reality and with ruble-rupee exchange in the
offing, are we about to witness a Renminbi-Ruble-Rupee world of trade – a “3R”
alternative to the Dollar-Euro monopoly? Is the world’s second most important
political relationship, that between India and China, about to take a more
peaceful direction? What’s the world’s first most important relationship?
・via
1. 〜を通って、〜を経由して ◆【語源】ラテン語via（＝way＝道）
From New York, I'm flying to Osaka via Tokyo.
ニューヨークから、東京経由で大阪に飛ぶことになっています。
2. 〜によって、〜を用いて
Did you sell your car by yourself or via an agent?
あなたは、車を自分で売りましたか、それとも仲介者を通してですか？
You can apply over the phone or via e-mail.
電話、またはメールでお申し込みいただけます。
・in the face of
1. 〜の面前で、〜に直面して、〜を前にして
2.〔悪い状況・出来事など〕にもかかわらず
3.〔批判・圧力など〕にさらされて
・in the offing
1.〔船が〕沖合に来て、もうすぐ港に入って来そうで
2. やがてやってきそうで、そろそろ現れそうで
3. もうすぐ［やがて・近い将来に］起こりそうで
The new plan will be in the offing in July.新しい計画は近々、7月に実施される。
India is but one example of the shift in power. Out of 195 countries, only
30 have honored the US sanctions on Russia. That means about 165 countries
in the world have refused to join the sanctions. Those countries represent
by far the majority of the world’s population. Most of Africa, Latin America
(including Mexico and Brazil), East Asia (excepting Japan, South Korea, both
occupied by U.S. troops and hence not sovereign, Singapore and the renegade
Chinese Province of Taiwan) have refused. (India and China alone represent
35% of humanity.)
Add to that fact that 40 different countries are now the targets of US
sanctions and there is a powerful constituency to oppose the thuggish
economic tactics of the U.S.
Finally, at the recent G-20 Summit a walkout led by the US when the Russia
delegate spoke was joined by the representatives of only 3 other G-20
countries, with 80% of these leading financial nations refusing to join!
Similarly, a US attempt to bar a Russian delegate from a G-20 meeting later
in the year in Bali was rebuffed by Indonesia which currently holds the
G-20 Presidency.
Nations Taking Russia’s side are no longer poor as in Cold War 1.0.
These dissenting countries of the Global South are no longer as poor as they were
during the Cold War. Of the top 10 countries in PPP-GDP, 5 do not support the
sanctions. And these include China (number one) and India (number 3). So the
first and third most powerful economies stand against the US on this matter.
(Russia is number 6 on that list about equal to Germany, number 5, the two
being close to equal, belying the idea that Russia’s economy is negligible.)
> 〜 , the two being close to equal, belying the idea that Russia’s economy
>is negligible
being も belying もどちらも分詞構文である。この2つの分詞構文をつなぐ接続詞が
ないので、これは文法的破格と言い得る。
the two （countries）are close to equal.
及び
it （the fact）belies the idea that Russia's economy is negligible.
という2つの文章が、付帯状況を表す分詞構文となって、前の文章につながっていると
読み解くことができる。
These stands are vastly more significant than any UN vote. Such votes can be
coerced by a great power and little attention is paid to them in the world.
But the economic interests of a nation and its view of the main danger in the
world are important determinants of how it reacts economically – for example
to sanctions. A “no” to US sanctions is putting one’s money where one’s
mouth is.
We in the West hear that Russia is “isolated in the world” as a result of
the crisis in Ukraine. If one is speaking about the Eurovassal states and the
Anglosphere, that is true. But considering humanity as a whole and among the
rising economie of the world, it is the US that stands isolated. And even in
Europe, cracks are emerging. Hungary and Serbia have not joined the sanctions
regime and of course most European countries will not and indeed cannot turn
away from Russian energy imports crucial to their economies. It appears that
the grand scheme of U.S. global hegemony to be brought about by the US move
to WWII Redux, both Cold and Hot, has hit a mighty snag.
・both Cold and Hot はもちろん 「cold war であろうと hot war であろうと」の意。
・snag は多義語であるが、ここの場合は hit a snag で熟語。
英辞郎から引用すると、
hit a snag 切り株にぶつかる、思わぬ困難な問題にぶつかる
We hit a snag in our plans when Barbie crashed our car into Ken's.
バービーが私たちの車をケンの車にぶつけ、私たちの計画は暗礁に乗り上げた。
come upon a snag 思わぬ障害にぶつかる
hit a big snag 大きな問題にぶち当たる
など。
For those who look forward to a multipolar world, this is a welcome turn of
events emerging out of the cruel tragedy of the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine.
The possibility of a saner, more prosperous multipolar world lies ahead – if
we can get there.
・turn of event は頻出表現である。
英辞郎から一部引用すると、
unfortunate turn of event《an 〜》事態の残念な展開
turn of events 事態［情勢］の変化、出来事の節目
bizarre turn of events《a 〜》事態の奇妙な展開
など。
・lie ahead も頻出表現。やはり英辞郎から引用すると、
lie ahead 目の前に〜がある、前途に横たわる、行く手に控えている
Even if they changed their CEO, so many other tasks lie ahead of them.
CEOを変えたとしても、他にも多くの課題が彼らの目の前に残っている。
I already know what lies ahead. その先は言わなくても分かるよ。
