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Kassioun Editorial 1072: An Energy Crisis in the West, and Food Crisis in the South
In the context of talking about crises that affect the entire world, the bulk of it is directed towards the energy crisis with its two main factors: oil and gas. However, the crisis that is more profound, dangerous, and catastrophic is the food crisis, the first signs of which have started to become clearer, though it still is not clear to what extent and depth it can extend.
The five largest grain exporters in the world are respectively (in million tons): Russia 30, US 26, Canada 26, France 19, and Ukraine 14.
That is, Russia and Ukraine together export 44M tons of grain. In 2021, Russia and Ukraine provided 75% of sunflower oil, 28% of wheat, and 15% of corn to the global market. There are nearly 50 countries that depend on Russia and Ukraine for at least 30% of their need of wheat; 26 of those countries depend on them for more than 50% of their need.
Furthermore, many countries with significant grain production, have started implementing protective policies through which they can reduce or prevent the export of their production, in anticipation of the undoubtedly imminent crisis.
If we explore the main cause of the two crises together in their current phase, it is primarily Western sanctions against Russia and the overall American-led Western policies. Using the Ukrainian issue as a pretext cannot conceal the truth of this matter. Additionally, despite Russia’s demands to lift the sanctions, particularly based on the global crises these sanctions cause, nevertheless, the Americans turn a blind eye and deaf ear to all the consequences of their sanctions. This prompts one to think seriously about the following question: Weren’t the effects of these measures and sanctions expected from the Americans themselves? What are their goals therefrom?
It would not be difficult to say now that they knew and were pushing towards these results, and towards the catastrophic consequences that will appear even more in the short term. As for the goals, they are many, the main ones of which are:
First: With each new capitalist crisis, there is a higher degree of concentration, in power and wealth. Within the current deep capitalist crisis, of which the astronomical dollar inflation has become one of the most important headlines, it is not surprising that the American center would push towards a new concentration at the expense of the European “speculative partner”, by crushing it not only with the energy crisis, but also with the subsequent flood of migration across the Mediterranean during the upcoming months and years with the exacerbation of the food crisis. In addition to what comes after these two matters, including the profound changes in all Western political structures and the breeding of a new Nazism, as was the case of the Anglo-Saxon West in particular with the breeding of the first Nazism.
Second: The food crisis will hit primarily the poor global south, mainly Africa, which opens the door to thinking that the creators of this crisis are looking for a new “creative”-criminal application of neo-malthusianism / the great reset / the golden billion, and this time by reducing the world’s population through starvation as the main tool, along with diseases, wars, and other tools.
As for us in Syria, historically we have sufficient wheat production for our needs, with significant surpluses for export. In the near future, this same equation should be achieved, not only as an economy booster, but as a protector of the people, and even further than that, as a tool of uniting Syrians.
This task, like other major patriotic tasks, requires real political will that cannot be achieved without the full implementation of a comprehensive political solution according to UNSC Resolution 2254.
