Moscow, January 1 While the attention of the world media is riveted on the Ukrainian crisis, conflict situations that are no less important, but not so noticeable to the Western gaze, are unfolding in other regions, which may develop in the coming year, Simon Tisdall, a columnist for the British The Guardian, believes.
The author of the article named several potential hot spots in 2023, drawing attention to the Asian region, relations between Europe, and the United States, as well as the Middle East.
“In Myanmar, Yemen, Mali, Nicaragua, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Afghanistan, to name a few crisis zones, egregious abuses and ongoing suffering have attracted relatively thin and shallow international attention. The main reason for the blinded outlook for 2022, of course, was Ukraine, the biggest conflict in Europe since 1945. That doesn’t mean that war-torn Tigray or Guatemala, slowly choking on corruption, would otherwise make world headlines. “, Tisdall is sure.
One of the signs of growing tensions, the author called Japan’s desire to almost double defense spending. This, in the author’s opinion, reflects Tokyo’s concern about the development of the crisis around Taiwan.
At the same time, the West’s concern about the situation in Asia may affect the Ukrainian crisis. Tisdall stressed that external developments and shifting US and European priorities could undermine the flow of financial and military aid to the Zelensky regime. He noted that in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Taiwan, the United States may find itself in a position of indirect participation in conflicts on two fronts. The author recalled that General Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested that Ukraine consider the option of a diplomatic settlement of the crisis precisely for this reason.
Tisdall called Israel and Iran the next danger zones. According to him, as a result of the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to transfer the powers of the Minister of Defense in the West Bank of the Jordan River to his partners in the anti-Arab coalition, the region may face a serious escalation.
“Direct (as opposed to covert) military confrontation between Israel and Iran may be one of the results of the final break of the West with Tehran. This, in turn, may attract Iraq and Syria – another unfinished business of the United States, as well as Russia,” the author wrote. .
Tisdall considers the aggravation of relations between Washington and Brussels to be the third problem. The author recalled Biden’s unpopular decision in Europe to pursue a policy to combat inflation, which would seriously hit European production, making it unpopular with investors.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin called its goal “the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” For this, as the head of state stated, it is planned to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for “bloody crimes against civilians” in the DPR and LPR.