The long 20th century is over. A new world is being built through self-determination
Two quotes, separated by four years, show how profoundly global politics has shifted.
The first reads: “The United States of America shall undertake to prevent further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and deny accession to the Alliance to the States of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” This comes from Article 4 of the draft treaty on security guarantees submitted by Russia to Washington on December 15, 2021, a proposal made public alongside a parallel agreement addressed to NATO. The demands, halting NATO expansion and rolling back the alliance’s posture to its 1997 configuration, were treated in the West as brazen. Even provocative. Inside Russia, many analysts also struggled to interpret the move: last warning, bargaining chip, or statement of intent?
The second quote appears in the “Supporting European Greatness” section of the US National Security Strategy, published on December 4, 2025: “The priority of our common line on Europe […] is to put an end to the perception of NATO as a permanently expanding alliance and to prevent this perception from becoming a reality.” This caused equal consternation, not least because the section on Europe, the west of which is Washington’s main ally, was written in a tone bordering on open hostility. Critics argued that the text reflected only one faction within the Trump administration and noted that Michael Anton, widely viewed as the chief author, soon resigned. But the fact remains: this is now the formal US security doctrine.
Between these two statements lies a cascade of dramatic events. The year 2025 marked not only a sharp acceleration of change, but also the end of a historical phase that had been unravelling for years. Trump and “Trumpism” did not emerge in a vacuum; they were the product of accumulated contradictions that finally reached critical mass.
The memoranda issued in late 2021, following President Putin’s instructions to the Foreign Ministry, were a final attempt to signal seriousness and invite genuine discussion about European security. Moscow’s message was simple: its patience had run out, and failure to address its concerns would lead to “military-technical measures.”
The signal was ignored. At the time, many in the West assumed the Kremlin was bluffing. Seen in hindsight, this looks less like disbelief and more like strategic indifference. Western governments understood that escalation was likely, but considered an armed confrontation preferable to reconsidering their own dogmas about NATO expansion and the “rules-based international order.”
The aim was not to provoke war, nor was it to avoid one.
From Washington and Brussels, concessions to Moscow were viewed as unacceptable in principle. Beyond that, there was a quiet confidence that Russia would fail and that it lacked the capacity to alter the balance of power.
Russia’s motivations in Ukraine were mixed and have evolved over time: dissatisfaction with a NATO-centric security architecture, strategic concerns, and, increasingly, a historical and cultural understanding of Ukraine as part of Russia’s civilizational space. Over the past four years, this balance has shifted further toward self-determination rather than system-correction. Yet the conflict also became a trigger for a much broader systemic shift. Structural tensions in the world order found their way to the surface, with consequences now extending far beyond the intentions of the original participants.
Measured against Moscow’s 2021 proposals, today’s situation looks like the opposite of what Russia sought: deeper NATO militarization, Finland and Sweden inside the alliance, rising tension in the Baltic region, instability in the Black Sea, and Ukraine acting as a proxy combatant. Meanwhile, Russia’s diplomatic bandwidth narrowed as focus concentrated on the battlefield.
But something else happened, something that NATO itself had not anticipated.
In 2022, NATO rediscovered its purpose. A familiar adversary returned to the stage, restoring coherence to an alliance long troubled by doubts about its identity. The language of “the free world versus tyranny,” deeply rooted in Cold War mythology, again became the organizing narrative of Western politics.
The EU gained moral clarity without paying the highest costs. Ukraine was the one engaged in direct confrontation. The hope in Western capitals was that Russia could be pushed toward strategic defeat without direct military engagement.
That expectation proved misguided.
Both Russia and Ukraine showed remarkable resilience. For NATO, this turned into a trap. The alliance, and especially Western Europe, was simply not prepared for a drawn-out confrontation, even an indirect one. Structural weaknesses in military production became impossible to conceal. Political unity also grew increasingly fragile: sustaining public support required permanent escalation of emotional rhetoric about Russia and constant reaffirmation of Kiev’s role as a symbolic frontline.
Gradually, Western Europe found itself hostage to a conflict it had helped frame but could not escape. Almost every policy decision became subordinate to the war.
The decisive shift came from Washington.
Even without Trump, a gradual disengagement trend was already forming, driven by reluctance to risk direct confrontation with a nuclear power and by the economic windfall of the EU’s decoupling from Russia. But Trump accelerated and formalized this change.
His presidency marks a historical break. The United States is stepping away from the grand project of “global leadership” that defined the 20th century. The Biden administration was, in many respects, the final attempt to preserve that world. A nostalgic reconstruction of an era whose foundations no longer exist.
Two processes, encouraged by American support for Ukraine, proved decisive.
First, economic benefits flowed from Europe to the United States through protectionism, energy pricing, and industrial relocation. Second, a loose coalition emerged across the non-Western world, which Moscow calls the “global majority,” made up of countries unwilling to subordinate themselves to US ideological pressure.
Trump completed the turn. Western Europe is now treated as a subordinate service partner, instructed to demonstrate autonomy, while never contradicting Washington. Elsewhere, the United States prefers transactional, bilateral pressure, assuming that its relative strength works best one-on-one. But this premise is proving questionable when dealing with China, Russia, and India.
Washington is dismantling the very institutional system it once built – the architecture that shaped the post-war world. NATO, the foundational structure of the late 20th century, is now being repositioned. The alliance’s expansion creates crises; crises distract from priorities; priorities now lie in the Western Hemisphere and the Asia-Pacific. Hence the unexpected phrase in the 2025 National Security Strategy, effectively acknowledging the need to halt NATO’s forward movement.
Over the past four years, the world order has changed, and the process is not finished. The European Union, once advertised as a model of progress, increasingly resembles a relic of a fading era, yet refuses to accept this reality. Dismantling the integration project would be politically and economically dangerous; preserving it unchanged is equally untenable.
In many respects, global dynamics have moved closer to Russia’s long-standing critique of the Western-centric system. This critique underpinned the decision to launch the military operation in Ukraine. The tasks of that operation are being completed more slowly than anticipated, but the broader shift in world affairs is unmistakable.
Russia is now engaged in a deeper process of self-determination. The Soviet legacy – political, territorial, psychological – is finally fading. Administrative borders once treated as sacrosanct are no longer viewed as immutable. The question of what is “ours” and “theirs” has returned as an existential issue, and this internal reckoning is now inseparable from Russia’s role in shaping the emerging world.
The new international system will not be built through external expansion. Instead it will be through the success, or failure, of national development models. The great powers are turning inward, prioritizing domestic resilience as the foundation of external influence.
That, in turn, raises the stakes. Foreign-policy mistakes can be corrected. Strategic errors in national development cannot. The 20th century, whose legacy is now finally ending, proved this many times.
This article was first published by the magazine Profile and was translated and edited by the RT team.
The key post has been vacant since Andrey Yermak resigned amid a scandal
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has announced that he has appointed the head of the country’s military intelligence (HUR), Kirill Budanov, as his new chief of staff.
The key post has been vacant since the previous head of the presidential office, Andrey Yermak, resigned amid a massive corruption scandal in late November.
Zelensky said on social media on Friday that he had held a meeting with Budanov in Kiev and offered him the job.
Ukraine currently needs “greater focus” on security, on the development of its armed forces and “on the diplomatic track of negotiations,” he said.
According to the Ukrainian leader, he selected Budanov as his chief of staff because the 39-year-old “has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results.”
Budanov said in a post on Telegram that he had accepted Zelensky’s offer to become the head of the presidential office. He called the appointment an “honor and a responsibility,” promising to work on improving the country’s strategic security and achieving what he described as a “just peace” with Russia.
Yermak, who had been viewed as one of the most influential political figures in the country, stepped down in late November after his house was raided by agents from anti-graft bodies.
A few weeks previously, investigators revealed a scheme allegedly involving Zelensky’s longtime associate Timur Mindich and high-ranking Ukrainian officials at nuclear operator Energoatom. They said Mindich ran a $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector, which heavily depends on Western aid.
Budanov, who is a former special forces soldier, has headed HUR since August 2020. In December 2023, a Moscow court ordered his arrest on terrorism charges after accusing the spy chief of masterminding over 100 “terrorist attacks” on Russian soil.
He reacted to being put on the wanted list by saying that “we’ve been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.”
Despite emerging as a hardliner in the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Budanov later adopted a more realistic approach. Last summer, he acknowledged that Kiev would not be able to turn the tide on the battlefield against Russia.
Earlier this week, the spy chief told the broadcaster Suspilne that Ukraine needed to swiftly enter talks with Moscow. “A negotiation process is definitely needed and cannot be avoided anyway,” he said.
Budanov enjoys high public support in Ukraine. A study by the pollster SOCIS in late December showed that he would beat Zelensky, 56.2% to 43.8%, if the two ran head-to-head in an election. The country’s former top general, Valery Zaluzhny, who now serves as Kiev’s ambassador to the UK, would do even better, getting 64.2% according to the poll.
The Democrats will “open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud” if the midterms go their way, the billionaire has warned
Elon Musk has indicated his intention to bankroll Republican candidates in the midterm elections later this year, saying that the US will cease to exist if the Democrats reclaim power in the Congress.
On Friday, Tesla and SpaceX CEO commented on a post on X by a conservative influencer, who claimed that “Musk is reportedly going all-in funding Republicans to help President [Donald] Trump take back full control in the November midterms.”
The world’s richest man responded to the message by warning that “America is toast if the radical left wins.”
The Democrats “will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won’t be America anymore,” Musk wrote.
Axios reported last month, citing informed sources, that Musk had recently written “big checks” to the Republicans to be used during congressional races, with plans to donate even more throughout 2026.
The Republicans have suffered a series of losses to Democrats in special elections last year, including in states traditionally considered their strongholds. Support for Trump has been on decline since he started his second term, with the Economist/YouGov’s poll earlier this week suggesting that the president has ended the year with 39% approval and 56% disapproval rating.
Musk used to be a close ally of Trump during the 2024 election race, cashing out $290 million and becoming the campaign’s top donor. After taking office, the president made him the head of the newly-created federal cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk’s relations with Trump ruptured in June over the president’s flagship “big, beautiful bill,” which significantly expanded federal spending. The billionaire, who stepped down as head of DOGE amid the rift, called the legislation a “disgusting abomination,” accused the president of ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and mulled the creation of his own party to undermine the Republicans. Trump labeled the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “crazy.”
They appeared to have mended ties in recent months, with Trump filmed patting Musk on the arm during a White House dinner in November. According to Axios, the two now speak on the phone “occasionally.”
The sanctioned country is reportedly turning to cryptocurrencies to keep trade flowing in the face of increased Western scrutiny
Iran’s Ministry of Defense Export Center, known as Mindex, is prepared to negotiate military contracts for payment in digital currencies, Financial Times has reported, citing promotional documents and and analysis of payment terms. Payments can also be made through barter arrangements or in Iranian rials.
In August, Britain, France, and Germany triggered a UN mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on Iran after diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations over its nuclear program with the US collapsed. Tehran is now under extensive sanctions targeting its nuclear and missile programs, oil sector, and access to international banking, forcing it to rely increasingly on barter trade and digital assets such as bitcoin.
The offer made last year marks one of the first known cases of a nation-state publicly indicating willingness to accept cryptocurrency as payment for weapons exports, the news outlet stated.
Mindex says it has clients in 35 countries and markets a range of weapons including ballistic missiles, drones, warships, and short-range air defense systems. Its multilingual website also lists small arms, rockets, and anti-ship cruise missiles.
The export center operates an online portal and virtual chatbot to guide prospective customers through the purchasing process. Despite extensive sanctions, Mindex says on its website that “there is no problem” in fulfilling contracts.
Iran ranked 18th in the world for major arms exports in 2024, behind Norway and Australia, according to the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research.
US authorities have previously accused Iran of using digital assets to facilitate oil sales and move funds outside the formal banking system.
In September, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on individuals for allegedly operating a “shadow banking” network that used cryptocurrency to process payments on behalf of Iran.
The Investigative Committee has said it is probing the attack in Kherson Region as a terrorist act
The death toll from the Ukrainian drone strike on civilians celebrating New Year’s Eve in Kherson Region has increased to 27, and 31 others are reported as wounded, Russia’s Investigative Committee has said. Initial reports spoke of 24 fatalities.
The attack occurred shortly before midnight on December 31 in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly. Multiple drones struck a crowded cafe and a hotel, triggering a massive blaze. At least one of the UAVs was carrying an incendiary mixture.
Two children were killed in the attack and five additional minors were among the injured, the Investigative Committee said in a statement on Friday.
At least 100 civilians, including guests and staff, had been inside the venue when the “terrorist act” took place, the statement read.
Fragments of several drones have been discovered by those investigating the scene of the attack, the agency said.
More than 26 forensic examinations, including medical, genetic, explosive and fire safety analysis, have been ordered as part of the investigation, it added.
“All members of the Ukrainian military involved in this crime will be identified and brought to justice,” the agency stressed.
Kherson Region, together with Zaporozhye Region and the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, joined Russia in the fall of 2022 as a result of local referendums. The territories have been frequent targets of indiscriminate Ukrainian attacks during the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
Russian officials have said that the drone strike in Khorly was intentionally timed to maximize casualties and represents a war crime.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, suggested on Thursday that the attack was intended to “distract attention from the failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and disrupt any attempts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
Gatilov also condemned the Western nations for failing to react to the drone strike, warning that remaining silent was tantamount to “open complicity and involvement in the bloody crimes of neo-Nazis.”
The US president earlier appointed a special envoy, insisting Washington “needs” the world’s largest island for “national security”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has delivered a defiant speech, promising to resist renewed efforts by the United States to acquire Greenland. King Frederik X echoed the sentiment in his own New Year’s Eve address.
The statements come weeks after US President Donald Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland – an island under Danish sovereignty that the American leader had previously suggested should become part of the United States.
Speaking from her official residence on Thursday, Frederiksen rebuked what she called “threats, pressure, and condescending talk” from the kingdom’s “closest ally.” Without mentioning the US directly, she criticized the notion of acquiring another nation as an outdated and unacceptable worldview.
“About wanting to take over another country, another people – as if it were something one could buy and own,” Frederiksen stated. “We are not the ones seeking conflict. But let no one be in doubt: No matter what happens, we will stand firm on what is right and wrong.”
King Frederik X mentioned “turbulent times” in his own New Year’s Eve address, praising Greenlanders’ “strength and pride” and highlighting increased military training programs in the Arctic. Denmark has been bolstering its military presence in the region in response to the escalating tensions.
The renewed push for Greenland follows Trump’s repeated expressions of interest in gaining control of the strategically located island, citing “national security” concerns.
At a press conference in December, Trump argued the US “needs” Greenland, pointing to its Arctic location and potential mineral resources, while acknowledging historical claims by Denmark.
The appointment of Landry, who has publicly stated he will work to “make Greenland a part of the US,” has sparked outrage in Copenhagen. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has called the move “completely unacceptable” and summoned the US ambassador for an explanation.
Denmark’s intelligence service recently identified the US as a potential threat to its national security, saying that Washington “uses economic power, including in the form of threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will and no longer excludes the use of military force even against allies.”
At least 26 UAVs were downed en route to the Russian capital on Thursday night
More than two dozen long-range drones were intercepted as they headed toward Moscow overnight, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has announced.
Russian air defense forces destroyed 26 UAVs between 7pm on Thursday and 1am Friday morning, according to a series of messages posted by Sobyanin on Telegram. The mayor reported that there had been no casualties or damage from the incidents, adding that emergency services specialists are working at the crash sites.
As a precaution, Moscow’s Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports temporarily suspended flights on several occasions during the period.
The incident follows another attempted attack on Moscow that took place the previous night, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s traditional New Year’s Eve address was being delivered.
New Year’s celebrations in Russia were marred by a horrific attack on a crowded cafe and hotel in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly in Kherson Region. The strike caused a major fire which left at least 27 people dead and over 30 more wounded.
Moscow insists the strike was intentionally timed to maximize casualties and represents a “terrorist act,” if not a war crime. Russian officials have drawn parallels to the atrocities committed by Nazi forces during World War II, accusing Ukraine of deliberate brutality and dehumanization.
Kiev has routinely launched drone attacks deep into Russia in recent months, targeting critical infrastructure and residential buildings.
Moscow has been responding with strikes on military-related Ukrainian infrastructure, aiming to degrade Kiev’s drone and weapons production capabilities.
Ignoring Ukrainian acts of “terrorism” is tantamount to “open complicity,” Russia’s UN mission in Geneva has said
Russia has condemned Western countries for failing to react to the deadly Ukrainian drone strike on a civilian New Year’s Eve celebration in Kherson Region, calling their silence a sign of “complicity” in Kiev’s “bloody crimes.”
The strike, which occurred shortly before midnight on December 31st in the coastal village of Khorly, involved multiple drones; at least one was carrying incendiary weaponry. Russian officials have reported that at least 27 people were killed, including a five-year-old boy.
“We resolutely condemn this outrageous act of barbarity by Zelensky and his clique, who have long since transformed into bloodthirsty monsters,” Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said in a statement.
“The main goal of this regime is to cling to power by any means, distract attention from the failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and disrupt any attempts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” he added.
Gatilov demanded that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the relevant UN agencies publicly condemn the attack “without delay.” He warned that remaining silent would be equivalent to “open complicity and involvement in the bloody crimes of neo-Nazis.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of employing “strategic silence” and “turning a blind eye” to Kiev’s “terrorist acts” for years. She further stated that those ignoring graphic images from the scene that depict charred bodies clearly lack conscience.
Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo described the attack as comparable to the May 2014 Odessa massacre, when dozens of pro-Russian activists were killed in a fire.
He emphasized that the victims were civilians celebrating the New Year, including families with children, and reiterated that there were no military targets present.
Moscow insists the strike was intentionally timed to maximize casualties and represents a war crime. Russian officials have drawn parallels to the atrocities committed by Nazi forces during World War II, accusing Ukraine of deliberate brutality and dehumanization.
Kherson Region, together with Zaporozhye Region and the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, joined Russia in the fall of 2022 as a result of local referendums.
The region has become a prime target for indiscriminate Ukrainian attacks. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the latest incident, classifying it as a “terrorist act.”
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Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old politician of Indian descent, has become the Big Apple’s first Muslim leader
Zohran Mamdani has been sworn in as New York City’s 110th mayor, the first Muslim and African-born person of Indian descent to hold the position.
The 34‑year‑old took his midnight oath on a centuries-old Quran in a long‑closed subway station beneath City Hall on Thursday.
At a public inauguration speech outside City Hall later in the day, Mamdani leaned heavily into his democratic socialist ideology, vowing to “govern expansively and audaciously.”
“My fellow New Yorkers – today begins a new era!” he declared in a nearly 25‑minute address before a crowd of about 4,000 people.
“I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist,” he said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
Mamdani, previously a little-known state lawmaker, pledged to provide universal childcare, freeze rents, offer free buses and tax the city’s wealthiest residents to fund his agenda.
He explicitly rejected the influence of wealth and power in city governance, vowing to answer to the people, not to “any billionaire or oligarch who thinks they can buy our democracy.”
The ceremony was attended by progressive allies including Sen. Bernie Sanders, who administered the public oath, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, who hailed the election as a response to “untenable and unprecedented times.”
Mamdani’s radical political stance has been a focal point of controversy and criticism both from conservatives and fellow Democrats. The Muslim socialist has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which he has characterized as “genocide,” and has promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant if he visits New York.
In response, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams issued executive orders opposing divestment from Israel and banning protests near houses of worship.
President Donald Trump, who during the campaign branded Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and threatened to strip federal funding from the city, struck a notably different tone after a White House meeting in November.
“I can tell you, some of my views have changed… I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said. Mamdani, for his part, said the meeting was “productive” but later reaffirmed that he still considers Trump a “fascist.”
Mamdani struck a unifying note in his inaugural speech, promising to represent all New Yorkers. “Regardless of our differences, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never hide from you,” he said.
