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ANTI-NATO PROTESTS & PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTS IN THE THIRD WORLD

Elizabeth P

Dec 3, 2022

The past several months have seen a significant geopolitical shift away from the West and towards the East. A recent Cambridge study revealed that among the 1.2 billion people who live in the world’s “liberal democracies” (the US, Western Europe, and the “more stable parts of the Americas and Australasia”), 75% of people have negative attitudes towards China and 87% view Russia negatively. The study also revealed that out of the 6.3 billion people living in the rest of the world, 70% and 66% have positive views of China and Russia, respectively. While the western chauvinism throughout the whole report is headache-inducing, it reveals much about the current geopolitical situation. The majority of the world clearly favors multipolarity, despite the best efforts of the imperialists.

 

Many factors play a role in support for Russia in various African countries, including the military rivalry between France and Russia on the African continent, French neocolonialism (especially in West Africa), and the fact that the Soviet Union played a decisive role in supporting African national liberation struggles in the 1960s.



After Russia announced its special military operation in Ukraine, supporters of Russia in the Central African Republic (CAR) gathered in the city of Bangui at the “Russian monument.” There, people waved Russian and CAR flags, brought signs and banners expressing support for Russia and solidarity with Donbass, and thanked Russian troops for helping their country fight back against the armed rebels who had attempted to overthrow their country’s government. With assistance from both Russian paramilitaries and Rwandan troops, the CAR’s military was able to take back the two-thirds of the country’s territory which had been occupied by rebels.

 

Following a military coup in which Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power after overthrowing Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, demonstrators gathered in the capital city of Ouagadougou near the presidential palace. At first, this demonstration consisted of a few dozen people who were expressing their support for Traoré. But hundreds more people ultimately joined, waving Russian flags and criticizing both France and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc.

 

Even within so-called “liberal democracies,” many people have expressed opposition to NATO expansionism and anti-Russia sanctions. Some of this opposition has come from the Left, some from the Right, but much has come from regular people who need to heat their homes and put food on the table. Especially in September and October, as the weather started getting colder and people needed more gas to stay warm, there were several protests against the bans on Russian energy in multiple European countries.

 

In the Czech Republic on September 3rd, about 70,000 people all across the political spectrum gathered in Prague to protest against the EU, NATO, and the Czech government. They demanded that their leaders continue to import Russian gas, maintain a neutral position on the military conflict in Ukraine, and bring record energy prices back under control. One week later in Austria, an estimated 3,000 people attended a protest in Vienna against the soaring costs of living. The protesters accused the Austrian government of serving the interests of globalists at the expense of the Austrian people. While protesters also denounced mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, the main focus of the protest was inflation and skyrocketing energy prices.

 

On September 4th in Germany, about 2,000 protesters held a demonstration in the city of Cologne against the German government’s sanctions on Russia and support for the Kiev regime. This rally was mainly organized by Russian diaspora groups in the city. About a month later, on October 8th, was yet another protest in Germany against the mounting inflation that has resulted from sanctions. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's involvement with these protests made it easier for western media to smear all anti-NATO sentiment as “far-right.” Protesters gathered in Paris on October 9th to call on France to leave NATO, pointing out the increase in energy prices. The protesters also demanded the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. Leading up to the presidential election, Marine Le Pen had promised that if she won the presidency, she would withdraw France from NATO. Regardless of the ultimate intentions of the AfD party in Germany or Le Pen in France, their criticisms of NATO have gained them considerable new support from common people. While the Right is gaining in popularity due to their opposition to a globalist military alliance, the Left mostly avoids taking any anti-NATO stance out of fear of sounding "far-right".

2022-2024

The Revolution Report

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