A Structured North-South Axis Strategy?

The West and Russia are two cyclops who have never been able to see eye to eye.

- F S AIJAZUDDIN

Over centuries, they have grown into giants with ambitions beyond their borders and power beyond their dreams. For the rest of the world, they are a nightmare.

The present conflict in and over Ukraine is more than a test of nerves or a test of their weaponry. It is a puppet show with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (57 member countries including 32 NATO member states), each pulling the strings of a single marionette—the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskky.

Zelenskyy began his career as a comedian. That should not be held against him. President Ronald Reagan—arguably one of the most successful US presidents in modern times—started as a Hollywood actor. His antipathy towards Russia erupted when in 1947, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He outed colleagues who had closet links with the communist party.

As president, he dubbed the then Soviet Union an "evil empire." He spent more money—more than any other president—on strengthening US military prowess. In 1983, he defied the Soviets to compete with his Star Wars initiative—a space-based missile defense system—which would have bankrupted an already insolvent Soviet Union.