RUSSIA INTERVENES IN MALI AS EUROPEAN COALITION EXITS.
Despite the ongoing Ukraine War, Russia has sent troops & military aid including warplanes to Mali. This comes in the backdrop of French & European coalition led withdrawal from Mali after 9 years of intervention. What are the strategic motives of Russia behind such a bold political move?
Russia wants to break the hegemony $ exercises over International Finance. This can be done by de-linking $ payment system from global energy trades. So, Russia is leading the initiative to launch a new global currency payment system with BRICS.
During the early part of the Ukraine War, when the West slammed harsh sanctions on Russia, Russians decided to honour the energy commitments with their European partners but in Rouble as well as offer cheap energy to Asian partners. This caused Energy Insecurity globally. This move saved the Rouble from collapsing even though Russia found it difficult to repay the sovereign debt a lot of times.
Russia then linked the Rouble to the Gold. Almost half of Russian Forex comprised of Gold. Thus, Gold reserves in the forex became immune to the sanctions. This is because in a world where sanctions are used as a geopolitical tool, the trust in Globalisation is low. To regain the trust, a sovereign currency backed by Gold is needed. US has already de-linked Gold to $ since early 1970s. That’s why US can print as much money as it wants which leads to inflation in the global markets. If more & more countries deal in an alternate currency to $, the process of revival of trust in Globalisation can be quickened keeping inflation under control.
Mali offers Russia the Gold Reserves it seeks to conquer this New Great Game. But Mali has problems of it’s own. Mali is infected with Islamic State’s extremism & growth. The Government in Mali has been in contact with Kremlin-linked ‘Wagner Group’, who is active in the region. This move can be seen in relation to what Russia did during Syrian intervention in 2015. Help the regime survive & train them to fight the extremist elements. By doing so, stability can be established which can lay the grounds for commercial ties.
