Today's Cold War and The Media

Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, mastermind behind the Virgin Group, published a statement on the company's website signed by " [16] Russian, Ukrainian and international business leaders, calling for an end to the on-going conflict in Ukraine." On the statement, he mentions the fall of the Berlin Wall as: "One of the greatest moments in our lives. Nobody wants to see a return of those dark days."

Indeed, the events of Kiev earlier this year and the on-going Ukrainian Crisis has certainly put a stir to East and West politics. Despite the current 'cold-shoulder' foreign policy being played by Washington (the West's Sphere of Influence) and the 'so be it' demeanour played by Moscow, perhaps the most interesting display of aggression is the Media Warfare between the two superpowers.

Both countries continue to accuse one another of misinformation. The American mainstream media, channels like C.N.N., often demonized Russian President Vladimir Putin for his rightful stance against NATO Expansion and the Ukrainian Army's war crimes in East Ukraine. The Western media goes as far as to blame the current crisis in the East, as well as the deaths of innocent civilians on Russian-backed Separatists. However, sources in the shelled city of Donetsk state that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are to blame for the murders of civilians in the area. Despite the evidence, American mainstream media refuses to cover both sides of the story. Take, for instance, the events of 17 July 2014 when Malaysian flight M.H.17 was shot-down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile. Western politicians were quick to direct blame towards Putin and were willing to wage immediate war with Russia. This is before a formal investigation had even been initiated. Like adding fuel to the smallest flame, the Western media pushed headlines such as: "Putin's Missile" - The Sun (U.K.); "Putin's War" - The Daily News (U.S.). The outcome of the investigation was declared 'classified' by U.S. allies heading the investigation and the media simply stopped covering it.

On the other side of the world, Russian media has been generating a lot of attention, because they follow up on the stories rejected by American mainstream media and this has got a lot of people thinking about the motives of the U.S. On Russia Today, when asked about a statistic made by the United Nations earlier this year, claiming that over 110 000 refugees had fled to Russia, U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said: "The statistics does not match the intelligence from our sources on the ground.” Russian media has taken the approach of asking the questions which people are apprehensive to answer. Over 14 Russian media journalists have been killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine since the start of the coup in Kiev in December 2013 – the most controversial being, the abduction of Russian photojournalist Andrey Stenin on August 5th. Rallies across the world are demanding that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) release the abducted journalist with a #FreeAndrew hashtag. RIA Novosti news agency's sources from the war torn city of Donetsk report that he was abducted by "Right-Sector militants" and taken to the headquarters of the Ukrainian Security Service in Zaporozhye. An SBU representative, however, claimed that they had not detained any Russian journalists.

What concerns most people analysing the situation in the Ukraine, is the United States' unnecessary "support" of President Poroshenko, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the Yatsenyuk Government. This American backing was made public in a leaked phone call between Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland (who met with the Coalition Party prior to their establishment in office) and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, when they could clearly be heard discussing who to place as Prime Minister in Kiev. This, in effect, has triggered Moscow's concerns and has led the world to question America's foreign policy. Concerns have also been raised about the United States' goal to expand NATO closer and closer to the Russian border. This is after an agreement between the two superpowers during the reunification of Germany on the 12 September 1990 (Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany), when U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock said that the West gave a "clear commitment" not to expand. According to the Soviets, NATO membership was off the table for countries such as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, or Poland. Come twenty four years later, the U.S. is not only in major violation of the Treaty, but is also in talks to make the Ukraine an active NATO member. This has been utterly neglected by Western mainstream media.

Amidst the media wars, comes the economic and political battle between Russia and the European Union (encouraged by the United States). The U.S. and E.U. imposed sanctions on Russia, targeting state-owned banks, imposing an arms embargo, restricting sales of [sensitive] technology and the export of equipment for the oil industry in the country. Russia saw it fit to add sanctions of their own against the West, the most recent (yesterday) were visa sanctions on Japanese citizens after the Japanese cabinet approved sanctions targeting 40 Russian individuals and 2 Russian companies. These sanctions are quickly leading the European Union to total economic collapse and it will affect the entire planet. Russia, is expected to break-away from the U.S. economy, after it signed an agreement (another treaty similar to the Warsaw Pact if you were to think about it) with Brazil, India, South Africa and economic superpower, China. This was known as the: BRICS. The BRICS is designed to form a "fresh" economy amongst its members and move away from the Dollar-dominated world economy.

Some criticize whether President Vladimir Putin is attempting to "reinvent" the Soviet Union, but some argue that the only reason for Putin to rebuild the Soviet Union would be to defend himself against President Obama's newly formed policy of Containment.

People around the world are referring back to the days when the Iron Curtain hung between East and West Germany, fearing that history may be repeating itself. Despite the Unites States and the European Union assuring its citizens that the world is not at the brink of yet, another Cold War, many believe that the Cold War never ended in the eyes of the United States.

Stay lifted

- Nick Ndaba