Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, deserves credit for his hard and soft efforts to re-architect the global order—an attempt initially opposed by West-centric globalists but increasingly emerging as the dominant theme.
On November 7, 2024, in Valdai, President Putin famously stated: “There should be no situation where the model of one country or a relatively small part of humanity is taken as something universal and imposed on everyone else. No conditional, even democratically developed code, can be taken once and for all as a directive or an indisputable truth for others.”
Less than a year later, in a speech in Riyadh—a blend of prepared text and his own improvisations—President Trump declared: “It is crucial for the wider world to note this great transformation has not come from Western interventionists or people flying into beautiful places to lecture you on how to live and govern your own affairs. No. The so-called nation builders, neocons, or liberal nonprofits—those who spent trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, and many other cities—wreck, actually, they wrecked far more nations than they built. The interventionists meddled in complex societies they didn’t even understand.”
The message couldn’t be clearer or louder: the United States and the wider West is retreating, both geographically and thematically. While the geographical retreat is widely noticed, the thematic retreat receives far less attention.
Afghanistan is moving beyond the war of ideologies and has entered into a war of ideas and identity. However, Trump’s words cannot be taken at face value, as they contradict the actions of the deep state he currently leads. His administration sends $40 to $60 million weekly to the Taliban for reasons that remain unexplained. His Doha deal with the Taliban was tantamount to a military coup against the Afghan people.
If Trump truly believes his own words, he must stop funding the Taliban, whose ethos and deeds undermine Afghanistan’s social-political fabric and structure.
After the start of the Ukraine war, which Russia calls a “special military operation,” the West predicted the imminent collapse of Russia’s economy, the diplomatic and political isolation of its leadership, the fragmentation of national cohesion, and Russia’s strategic defeat on the battlefield. None of these predictions came true. Despite Western sanctions, Russia’s economy is growing and ranks as the fourth largest in purchasing power parity. Far from isolated, Russia hosts heads of state and high-level delegations daily. Instead of collapsing, Russia’s economy requires millions of migrant workers to sustain its growth, while Europe and the United States have turned migration into a negative national discourse and closed their doors.
Russia under Gorbachev was a case of extreme destitution; under Yeltsin, the “catastrophic ’90s” brought disorder, chaos, and national humiliation. But under Vladimir Putin, Russia has emerged as a rising power, restoring its historical pride and influence in the Euro-Asia region. This illustrates how smart leaders leave their mark on history’s horizon. Putin will be remembered as the architect of a new world order, either mobilizing the six billion people or has effectively made the theme being heard by them against the unfair domination of the “golden billion”—a term he uses to describe Europeans and North Americans who view themselves as superior in status, importance, and beliefs, dictating terms to the rest of the world.
Western governments, which deceptively championed human rights and democratic values in Afghanistan for over two decades, ultimately struck a deal with the most repressive clerical group in history to safeguard their interests by other means. The majority of the Taliban cabinet members are on the sanctions list of the United Nations, yet this shameful record doesn’t stop or embarrass Washington from silently supporting them.
Afghanistan is in an era characterized by national identity and national interest. Both these features align with themes that President Putin has laid as the central pillar of his message to the world. While the Western narrative for Afghanistan’s future remains vague and conspiratorial, Russia has advocated clarity, calling for all Afghan peoples to have a system of their own choosing.
It will be both bitter and difficult for the Western elite to admit, but Putin’s narrative—centered on themes like the Global South, the way of life of nations, rejection of Western dictates (be it makeshift democracy or deals with radical fanatics), and the need to discard the 1945 global security structure—is gaining traction and becoming the dominant theme in the war of narratives.
