Where did I see this before? A large number of countries, including some UN Security Council (UNSC) permanent members, delivered a statement on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence in New York at the UN headquarters. They boldly pronounced that
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked and must come to an immediate end; that Russia must respect the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and must withdraw unconditionally.
As I listened to this statement, I was wondering when we might see a similar enthusiastic gathering of responsible states at the UN who supposedly are upholding international laws, releasing such a passionate statement against the US and Israel’s illegal and unprovoked war against Iran.
The dualism in our international system, of which I have written much about previously, continues unabated from the West. You want the global South to take your words and empathy towards Ukraine seriously? Nah, been there, done that and every time ended up with egg on our faces. Let’s cry for Ukraine, but to hell with Palestinians in Gaza. Is that your compassion? Save us your crocodile tears.
Lose the dualism prism and apply international law equally and without fear or favour, and perhaps then we will take your cries seriously. The world is tired of being lied to, the propaganda must end, perhaps then we can solve the many challenges in our world today. The narrative that the axis of evil is China, Russia and Iran – and any other countries associated with them – is simply not going to fly anymore. Not given our very real evil experiences at the hand of European colonialism and racism.
Not when Ta-Nehisi Coates, an African American author whom I respect immensely, just wrote in his latest article “Did Kamala Harris’s Silence on Gaza Cost Her the White House?” In which he describes in detail how the imperial project of the US has been an unending strategy of that country, from the time of taking it from the native people and decimating them. He writes, “the portrait of America as an imperial power cuts against its self-image as a righteous cradle of democracy. But from its inception, the country has been aggressive and expansionist, seizing land from its indigenous population, paying off some European powers while menacing others”.
He goes further with regards to Gaza, “the arsenal for this war against children, against ‘human animals’, was the United States of America. According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, America supplied 69% of Israel’s major conventional arms imports between 2019 and 2023 and approved some $20 billion in arms sales to Israel in the weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention. And the man who held the keys to that arsenal just happened to be one of the most progressive presidents Black America has ever known.”
So what are we talking about? Axis of evil? Give me a break. “A Black presidency is a contradiction – it owes its power to a movement against racist state violence at home but seeks an office which has always practised racist state violence abroad,” he continues.
He goes on, describing in great detail numerous imperial and colonial conquests by the White House across different terms of office with different US presidents at the helm. Whether it was the various theatres in Latin America, Cuba, coups in Brazil, John F Kennedy helping Apartheid SA to locate and arrest Mandela, even now Donald Trump wanting to take Greenland. It’s in the USA’s DNA.
Then he states this, so profound, when describing the depravity of the colonialists in the US: “The very American imperialism that so endangered Muslim life had its roots in genocide and enslavement, the latter of which always took particular interest in black women. At its root, it was a system of rape, industrial in both scale and effect. Enslavement or freedom was passed down to the child through the mother, meaning white men could augment a workforce trafficked from Africa by raping with impunity and enslaving their offspring.
“She alone could give birth to a slave,” the historian Paula Giddings writes in her book When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. “Blacks constituted a permanent labour force and metaphor that were perpetuated through the Black woman’s womb.”
The US continues with this imperialist agenda to this day. I guess what Coates is saying to us all, beware the dualism that exists in our international system. And most importantly, don’t believe in this good versus evil narrative. The world, I’m afraid, is much more complex than that.
• Dr Van Heerden is a senior research fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at UJ
- On the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, multiple countries, including some UNSC permanent members, called for an immediate end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal to respect Ukraine's sovereignty.
- The article criticizes the international community's dual standards, highlighting the lack of similar condemnation for the US and Israel's actions against Iran and Palestinians in Gaza.
- African American author Ta-Nehisi Coates is cited describing America's imperial history involving land seizure, colonial conquests, and ongoing military support to Israel, including supplying 69% of Israel’s major conventional arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
- The piece references Coates' argument that the US presidency represents a contradiction, as it stems from a movement against racist violence but practices racist state violence abroad through imperialism.
- Dr Van Heerden emphasizes the complexity of international relations and warns against simplistic good versus evil narratives, urging the international system to apply laws equally and without bias.
Where did I see this before? A large number of countries, including some UN Security Council (UNSC) permanent members, delivered a statement on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence in New York at the UN headquarters.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked and must come to an immediate end; that Russia must respect the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and must withdraw unconditionally.
As I ed to this statement, I was wondering when we might see a similar enthusiastic gathering of responsible states at the UN who supposedly are upholding international laws, releasing such a passionate statement against the US and Israel’s illegal and unprovoked war against Iran.
Lose the dualism prism and apply international law equally and without fear or favour, and perhaps then we will take your cries seriously.
Not when Ta-Nehisi Coates, an African American author whom I respect immensely, just wrote in his latest article “Did Kamala Harris’s Silence on Gaza Cost Her the White House?” In which he describes in detail how the imperial project of the US has been an unending strategy of that country, from the time of taking it from the native people and decimating them. He writes, “the portrait of America as an imperial power cuts against its self-image as a righteous cradle of democracy. But from its inception, the country has been aggressive and expansionist, seizing land from its indigenous population, paying off some European powers while menacing others”.
He goes further with regards to Gaza, “the arsenal for this war against children, against ‘human animals’, was the United States of America.
So what are we talking about? Axis of evil? Give me a break. “A Black presidency is a contradiction - it owes its power to a movement against racist state violence at home but seeks an office which has always practised racist state violence abroad,” he continues.
He goes on, describing in great detail numerous imperial and colonial conquests by the White House across different terms of office with different US presidents at the helm.
“
• Dr Van Heerden is a senior research fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and
