New Big Three

The Belarusian multipolarity initiative is increasingly gaining support

In case you may have forgotten what the Big Three, or the Grand Alliance, is, let us look back at the years 1942-1945 to refresh the memory and recall that the Big Three was the key to Victory. The unwavering peace had been in place until 1991 — exactly 46 years — before the establishment of the US hegemony.

Balance of power

That long period of international stability seems to us today, amid the nervous turbulence of world events and through the acrid smoke of America’s 30-year era of unipolarity, almost like manna from heaven or at least like an implausible, unattainable dream... The realm of well-being! Those were the fat years, when the countries that always used to fight were peacefully engaged in creative work instead. We moved from the military competition to the economic one, and the world was free from the threat of the third and last world war, from the threat of self-destruction.
Under the shadow of nuclear missiles, that was the only reasonable behaviour. However, it was not the mind that was so important — after all, it often fails humanity. The secret turned out to be much simpler.

In fact, the USSR and the USA, as well as England that joined them, nurtured a new geopolitical space on the ruins of Hitler’s Third Reich like on a cleared plowed field, which included the whole of Europe. It was full of ideological, political and economic contradictions, yet it was firmly maintained within the bounds of decency by the fundamental bond — the balance of power. 

Henry A. Kissinger, who during his lifetime was called an architect of diplomacy, came up with a huge folio with an unambiguous title Diplomacy at the turn of the 1990s, immediately after the collapse of the USSR. Throughout nearly 900 pages, he tried to prove one simple idea by the sweat of his brow — allegedly, the balance of power between countries is always bad since it invariably leads to rivalry, and therefore to endless wars. The imbalance, in contrast, is good because one country in that case has an unconditional preponderance of force, which allows it to bring the rest, weak countries to order and eternal peace. 
In a word, may there be one pole over the world accompanied with the notorious unipolarity — both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages… 

Long-range forecast

As for the question if countries actually want to be weak and subordinated to the United States ‘now and ever’, Henry A. Kissinger left it unanswered. One thing was clear:  he did not want to obey anybody, and therefore demanded that the United States, of which he was a citizen, be the only pole and global dictator.  
By that time, no trace had been left of the Big Three. In fact, it fulfilled its function back in 1945 and broke up almost at the same time. Yet, the Grand Alliance made a big difference — just as Joseph Stalin had hoped, it ensured peace for the next 50 years! Hopefully the meticulous reader will not reproach the Big Three that the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations did not last until the due date for some little bit, only 4 years…
Today, at the time when politicians cannot guarantee what will happen in the world within a month or even two days, that half a century of stability seems to be some kind of amazing, fabulous political efficiency. This is also considering the fact that both Roosevelt and Churchill left politics in 1945, Stalin a little later, and the system they had created continued to work for a long time without them.
This is what a refreshing balance of power is capable of, if only it can be established! 

Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference. The meeting of the leaders of the USSR,
Great Britain and the USA, that played a decisive role in shaping the post-war world order.

Therefore, Henry A. Kissinger was wrong — the whole trouble comes not from the balance of power but, vice versa, from its absence. All global wars have taken place precisely due to some country’s dreams of world domination, with super empires built under such crowning ambitions — from sea to sea, from sunrise to sunset… Super empires have been built with sword and fire — first the Roman Empire, then Charlemagne’s Empire, the French Empire, the British Empire, the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, the German Empire of Otto von Bismarck, then Hitler’s Empire, and now Joe Biden’s Empire…

Wreaking havoc

In Soviet diplomatic circles, Kissinger was given the nickname Kissya, a short form of his surname. But he is actually not a Kissya but a real Kisa — like Kisa Vorobyaninov [character from a satirical novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov]. A giant of thought and the father of American democracy, Henry A. Kissinger, similar to the famous Russian literary character, chased after his mother-in-law’s treasures while the treasures no longer existed [figuratively speaking].

The peoples of the world no longer want, and the United States is no longer able — the whole revolutionary situation is simple as that. The international system of the US domination and subordination of other countries, which arose after the collapse of the USSR, is now collapsing too, for it only leads to bloody wars and self-destruction of civilisation. A new balance of power is now needed like air. A new Big Three is needed!

It is possible to write another thousand pages about the ‘benefit’ of the global monopoly and the US hegemony and even receive a fee for that, but no matter how many times you say ‘halva’, your mouth will not get any sweeter. The US monopoly will not return.
Therefore, a practical question arises: what will happen after monopolarity?
The United States would surely like to see chaos. Many people do not understand why the White House ignites wars in all parts of the world. Meanwhile, the answer is clear — for chaos and havoc. The White House acts according to the logic of a rejected lover: ‘May you belong to no one!’ 
‘No one’ refers to us. In order to avoid abrupt chaos, to prevent it from taking human civilisation to nowhere and to guard the latter from the whip and yoke, it is crucial to propose an alternative global project and begin to put it into practice, so that all countries follow us.

In the mirror image

The new world should be truly radiant and at the same time completely real, because it is high time to turn fiction into reality. The new world’s parameters should be diametrically opposed to the US globalism. Its features include parameters of monopolarity that are mirror-inverted, with a plus sign — there used to be monopolarity, so now there should be multipolarity. There used to be an imbalance, now there should be a balance of power. Also, there should be mutually beneficial and equitable co-operation now instead of robbery and collaboration to the detriment of national interests.
We must replace neo-globalism with pro-globalism — after all, the prefix ‘pro’ means ‘forward, for, in place of’. We must completely reshape the system of international relations based on the Unity in Diversity principle.
It is time for the original Belarusian multi-vector concept to be re-introduced on a global scale, with new significance attached — it should become the concept of practical multipolarity, a guide to action. 
Belarus has already started developing the foundations of the named concept, with the full support of the Russian side. “We support the initiative of our Belarusian friends to develop a programme document — the charter of multipolarity and diversity in the 21st century,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “It can formulate < … > a broader strategic vision of the essence of the nature of multipolarity and multilateralism as a new system of international relations that will replace the West-centric world.” 
In order for this transition to take place in an organised manner, the Big Three is needed again, this time in a different composition — Russia, China and Belarus.
Why Belarus? Because it is the initiator. Because we are already developing a programme of action. Because Belarus and Russia are jointly the engine of Eurasian integration, which means they will also act as a driving force in the New Big Three.
In the New Big Three, that will make a breakthrough towards a multipolar and stable world order.  

By Vadim Yelfimov, political scientist, Candidate of Historical Sciences