Lavrov's "multilateralism" is pure sophistic propaganda

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's vision of "multilateralism" — which he has been voicing aloud not just since the uptick in the Russo-Ukrainian War in February 2022, but since at least October 2015 — doesn't turn the world into a western "saloon", the kind of bar that was historically particular to the Old West, Wild West, or the American frontier, where everyone dances only to the will of a US strongman.

No, but Lavrov's vision of "multilateralism" is lining up to effectively be a Wild West saloon nonetheless, but one where only the Good (US), the Bad (Russia), and the Ugly (China) have the guns, and the firepower, apparently still necessary in order to dominate in world affairs, despite all his rhetoric, over the years, supporting greater multilateralism.

Lavrov has in fact always stated, or implied, that everything should be done in accordance with the UN Charter, decisions of the UN Security Council, and international agreements (like the BWC mentioned below), leaving all other non-political actors with even less than falling food scraps, from the table of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Yes, while some powerful new political centres are emerging in Asia and Latin America, the truth is that the UN still reflects only the will of an Aristotelian, or political world, and three strongmen, instead of one, can hardly be defined a "multipolar world".

It should be noted that even among the political actors only, the UN largely treats members outside the permanent five of the UN Security Council as even less than junior adults.

Moreover, entities like Taiwan, which are de facto independent politically, yet still claimed as part of China's "sphere of influence", are treated as even less than minors, because in truth, even the most arrogant and controlling parents expect minors to fully grow up one day, and leave the parental nest, in order to establish a both socially and economically independent life, but China towards Taiwan; Russia towards Ukraine; and the US towards both Russia and China, act like only certain polities have the right to exist independently.

Complicating the less than idyllic picture, one of the articles listed below — "Russian FM Sergey Lavrov slams US, asserts it wants to establish 'American Village'" — shows that Russia's Defence Ministry presented evidence, in the form of documents, which confirm cooperation between US and Ukraine in the production of bioweapons.

The documents are dated 6 March 2015, or even earlier than when Lavrov's started his rhetoric about the need for multilateralism, and reveal the Pentagon's direct participation in financing military biological projects in Ukraine. The total US funding for military biological work carried out in Ukraine laboratories amounts to 32 million USD.

This is a clear violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which has been agreed to by the great majority of UN members. This violation has occurred with at least the participation of two countries, the US and Ukraine, but strong evidence also points to violations in China, and the US's participation there as well.

In 2021, the US Department of State assessed that Russia maintained an "offensive" biological weapons programme, in violation of its BWC treaty obligations, and that the issue of non-compliance by Russia had been "of concern" for many years.

All of this, by the way, on a planet where the media has clearly kept the public uninformed of these developments, especially after the WHO COVID-19 declaration, and in a political environment where Taiwan has been entirely excluded from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well.

Moreover, Article VII of the BWC states that parties to the Convention, are obliged to provide assistance only to other states that request it, and then only if the UN Security Council decides they have been exposed to danger as a result of a violation of the BWC. So the treaty is also entirely subject to the UN Security Council's "seal of approval", and non-political actors are completely without any rights or say whatsoever.

If this is the world Lavrov thinks is "multipolar", or beginning to look less unipolar, I believe he is a hypocrite, and a sophist, just like any lowbrow politician.

MT Kaisiris Tallini

News and reference articles

Lavrov: Unipolar World No Longer Exists

https://southfront.org/lavrov-unipolar-world-no-longer-exists/

Lavrov : The World Will No Longer Be Unipolar

https://thinis.net/lavrov-the-world-will-no-longer-be-unipola/

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov slams US, asserts it wants to establish 'American Village'

https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-crisis/russian-fm-sergey-lavrov-slams-us-asserts-it-wants-to-establish-american-village-articleshow.html

Lavrov: A unipolar world would be a US village

http://eu.eot.su/2022/03/19/lavrov-a-unipolar-world-would-be-a-us-village/

Lavrov: Attempts to isolate Russia, West seeking revival of unipolar world

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lavrov:-attempts-to-isolate-russia-west-seeking-revival-of-u

Lavrov: The goal of the West is to restore the unipolar world order and contain Russia and China

http://eu.eot.su/2022/03/23/lavrov-the-goal-of-the-west-is-to-restore-the-unipolar-world-order-and-contain-russia-and-china/

"The unipolar world has come to an end": Medvedev

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/the-unipolar-world-has-come-to-an-end:-medvedev

Lavrov: The unipolar world collapses into the past

https://newsrnd.com/news/2022-03-30-lavrov--the-unipolar-world-collapses-into-the-past.BJb7Ii-zXq.html

US discussing possible participation of Taiwan at WHO meeting

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-discussing-possible-participation-of-taiwan-at-who-meetin

Polarity (international relations) [Wikipedia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_(international_relations)

Global power barometer [Wikipedia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_power_barometer

Biological Weapons Convention [Wikipedia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention