By Dr. Sawraj Singh

            The way President Vladimir Putin has handled the situation arising from the Wagner rebellion, once again proves that he is one of the greatest leaders of the century. He not only outsmarted western leaders, but he also turned the tables on them. The western leaders were thinking that the rebellion will weaken Putin and Russia, and the situation will help Ukraine’s counter offensive. However, exactly the opposite seems to be happening. Putin has emerged victorious and he has again shown that he is a very capable leader who is able to handle the most difficult and challenging situations. It seems that Putin had to take a very difficult test and he passed with flying colors, and emerged even stronger than before.

            Russia has become more united and cohesive under Putin’s leadership. The western countries tried to impose crippling economic sanctions on Russia. However, Russia has emerged economically stronger whereas the countries that imposed sanctions are suffering tremendously. Western media tried to isolate Russia. However, the West stands more isolated than ever before. Putin’s stature as a leader, as compared to western leaders, looks like a giant among pygmies.

            What happened is exactly the opposite of what western media was predicting. The western media was saying that Putin has been considerably weakened, and Russia will be embroiled in a bloody civil war that will weaken Russia to a point where it will cease to be an important player in world affairs. However, exactly the opposite seems to be happening. Putin has received support from the leaders of many countries, including India, South Africa and Venezuela.

            Just a few days after the Wagner coup attempt, France seems to be in a lot worse shape than Russia looked at that time. Capitalist greed has led to large-scale immigration from third world countries. This is leading to sharpening of contradictions between immigrants and the local population that fears losing their way of life. Anti-immigrant sentiment is rising in many capitalist countries. What we are seeing in France is just a film trailer. Much more violence can erupt in western capitalist countries. They are going to look a lot more unstable than Russia. Not only the racial factor is playing a role, but the religious factor is also making things worse. Many immigrants are from Africa and the Arab countries, and happen to be Muslim. There is a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in many European countries. The burning of the Koran in Sweden can be a manifestation of that. Whereas the Islamic countries are very unhappy with the western countries because of this, many of them see Putin as having genuine respect for their religion and belief system. This is going to make Putin even more popular among the third world countries as many of them are Islamic countries.

            Not only in the Islamic countries, Putin is becoming popular in a Hindu-majority country, India, and among African and Latin American countries that are Christian. Even in western capitalist countries, many people have started admiring Putin as they are getting more and more frustrated with their own leaders. They can see hypocrisy and double standards of their leaders. They are blaming Putin for crimes against humanity in Ukraine. However, their own record is much worse in this field. The western countries looted and subjected the people of the countries which they colonized to the most cruel and barbaric treatment. Millions of people were slaughtered or died of starvation. Even in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, these western countries massacred millions of people and brought the most horrible destruction to the countries that became victims of their aggression, yet none of these western leaders was made to appear before the International Criminal Court.

            It looks as if the western capitalist countries are fighting their last battle in Ukraine. Russia is not just fighting Ukraine; it is fighting against all western capitalist countries. So far, it looks like Russia is winning against all of them. The counter offensive started by Ukraine about a month ago seems to be fizzling out. Ukraine is suffering very heavy losses in both manpower and equipment. The more desperate Ukraine becomes, the more it loses. Ukraine seems to be caught in this vicious cycle. The western countries are pushing Ukraine to this counter offensive even when Ukraine knows that it has very little chance of success. The western countries are sacrificing Ukraine and its people for their own survival. However, the war is likely to end in a defeat not only for Ukraine, but western capitalist countries themselves. Defeat in the war will lead to a new world order, a multipolar world.

            We are seeing that the institutions which represent a unipolar world order are in a state of decline while the institutions that represent a multipolar world order are on the rise. BRICS has overtaken the G7 countries as far as the percentage of world population, share in world economy (GDP) and share in world trade. We see a de-dollarization trend emerging. The countries are lining up to join BRICS and SCO. In fact, Iran has just joined the SCO.

            To my knowledge, I am the first person who used the term multipolar world in my writings both in English as well as in Punjabi (Bahu Dhruvi Sansar). However, I have always explained that a multipolar world is a concept based upon the teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs, and who was a great advocate of pluralism and diversity. Putin is the world leader who has played the most important role in implementing the concept of a multipolar world. History will remember President Vladimir Putin as the leader who played the biggest role in transforming a unipolar world to a multipolar world.  

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at sawrajsingh@hotmail.com.