Volodymyr Zelenskiy with Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, at the summit in Kyiv. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service Handout/EPA.
By Ben Norton – Jul 19, 2024
European Union foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell admitted the West has hypocritical ādouble standardsā on international law, the Russia-Ukraine-NATO war, Israelās bombing of Gaza, the US-led invasion of Iraq, and climate change.
The European Unionās high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, has acknowledged that the West has hypocritical ādouble standardsā.
Borrell argued that ādiplomacy is the art of managing double standardsā.
As examples of Western hypocrisy, the top EU diplomat cited international law, the Russia-Ukraine-NATO war, Israelās bombing of Gaza, the US-led invasion of Iraq, and climate change.
āWherever I go, I find myself confronted with the accusation of double standardsā, Borrell recalled. āI used to say to my ambassadors that diplomacy is the art of managing double standards. Certainly, something difficult, but it is about [that]: to manage double standardsā.
The EU foreign-policy chief made these remarks in a talk at Oxford University in May. TheĀ EUās diplomatic service published a transcriptĀ of his speech. (Some of the exact wording is slightly different in the transcript, as the website edited Borrellās comments to correct grammatical errors.)
EU ādouble standardsā on international law, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Iraq
International humanitarian law āshould be the best safeguard against the normalisation of the use of force that we see all over the worldā, Borrell argued.
He acknowledged that Europe has been hypocritical on this: āI know, however, that to be able to rally the world around those principles, we need to show that we, Europeans, respect them always and everywhere. Is that what we are doing? Well, not to the extent we should. And for Europe, this is a problemā.
āThe world have not forgotten the war in Iraqā, Borrell continued, noting that some European countries joined in the US-led invasion, whichĀ UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said clearly violated international law.
The EU has also been deeply critical on Israel-Palestine, the foreign-policy chief conceded.
āWhat is now happening in Gaza has portrayed Europe in a way that many people simply do not understandā, Borrell said. āThey saw our quick engagement and decisiveness in supporting Ukraine and wonder about the way we approach what is happening in Palestineā.
When foreign countries look at Europe, he acknowledged, āThe perception is that the value of civilian lives in Ukraine is not the same than in Gaza, where more than 34,000 are dead, most others displaced, [where] children are starving, and the humanitarian support [is] obstructedā.
āAnd the perception is that we care less if United Nations Security Council resolutions are violated, as it is the case by Israel with respect to the settlements, [as opposed to] when it is violated by Russiaā, Borrell added.
āIf we call something a āwar crimeā in one place, we need to call it by the same name when it happens anywhere elseā, implored the top EU diplomat. āOne horror cannot justify anotherā.
Western hypocrisy on climate change
Borrell likewise addressed Western hypocrisy on climate change, given that rich capitalist countries in the Global North are responsible for the majority of historical carbon emissions, but are now putting the burden of the green energy transition onto the Global South, which contributed the least, but already suffers from the worst consequences of global warming.
āWe have to have a look at why the world is feeling some resentment about usā, stated the EU foreign-policy chief.
āYes, there is a feeling of resentment because people believe that there are different responsibilitiesā, he added.
āWe, Europeans, have produced about 25% of all cumulated global CO2 emissions since the beginning of the Industrial Revolutionā, Borrell said.
He noted that Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America have each only contributed 3% of historical carbon emissions.
āSub-Saharan Africa and South Americans [have] almost nothing of the responsibility, and they share the most important and damaging consequencesā, Borrell stated.
āSo, when we talk about fighting climate change, we have to understand their views and the feeling that this is a problem that someone has created, and others pay the consequencesā, Borrell said.
āAnd the only possible answer is to provide more resources in order to face this problem. More resources ā but it has not been the caseā, he added, admitting that the rich colonizing nations of the Global North have not honored their promises to provide funding and technology transfer to help the formerly colonized nations of the Global South transition away from fossil fuels.
USA is losing hegemony; āthe world is much more multipolarā
In his speech at Oxford University, Borrell conceded that āAmerica has lost its status of a hegemonā, and the Western-dominated order created after World War Two āis losing groundā.
Today, āthe world is much more multipolarā, he said, pointing to āmiddle powersā like India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and TĆ¼rkiye.
These āmiddle powersā are ābecoming important actorsā, Borrell continued. āWhether they are BRICS or not BRICS, they have very few common features, except the desire for getting more status and a stronger voice in the world, as well as greater benefits for their own developmentā.
āIn order to achieve this, they are maximising their autonomy, not willing to take sides, hedging one side or the other depending on the moment, depending on the questionā, he added.
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Rise of China changes global economic landscape
The top EU diplomat stated that āChina is becoming a rival for us and for the United Statesā.
Borrell cited āChina rising to the super-power statusā as the main reason for the decline of US hegemony.
āWhat China has done in the last 40 years is unique in the history of humankindā, he confessed. āIn the last 30 years, Chinaās share of the worldās GDP, at PPP, has gone from 6% to almost 20%, while we, Europeans, went from 21% to 14% and the United States from 20% to 15%ā.
āThis is a dramatic change of the economic landscapeā, Borrell said.
The statistics he cited are based onĀ data from the International Monetary Fund.
European exceptionalism and fearmongering about Russia
Borrell, whose five-year term as the EUās top diplomat ends in December, is known for sometimes āsaying the quiet part loudā ā that is, bluntly stating truths that are widely known in elite circles, but typically left unsaid.
In a shockingly straightforward article in February 2024, Borrell acknowledged thatĀ the āera of Western dominance has indeed definitively endedā, as Geopolitical Economy Report notedĀ at the time. The EU foreign-policy chief warned that Europe should not divide the world into āthe West against the Restā, as āmany in the āGlobal Southā accuse us of ādouble standardsāā.
In a blunt moment in 2022, he admitted that the Westās new cold war on China and Russia is not a battle of ādemocracies vs. authoritariansā, because, as Borrell put it,Ā āOn our side, there are a lot of authoritarian regimesā.
In a separate speech in 2022, the top EU diplomat discussed how theĀ Westās āprosperity was based on China and Russiaā, including ācheap energy coming from Russiaā, āaccess to the big China marketā for exports, and āChinese workers with their low salaries, [who] have done much better and much more to contain inflation than all the central banks togetherā.
Despite the fact that Borrell makes these kinds of frank admissions from time to time, he is by no means a dove. In fact, as the EUās high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, he has often been quite hawkish.
This is especially the case on Russia. In his May 2024 speech at Oxford University, Borrell claimed that Russia is āthe most existential threat to Europeā.
He referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as āan existential threat to all of usā, and called for Western governments to send even more weapons to Ukraine.
Borrell has also at times displayed a very racist, condescending view of the majority of the world population in the Global South.
In an infamous rant in 2022, the EUās top diplomat argued that āthe world needs Europeā as a ābeaconā and beautiful āgardenā toĀ civilize the barbarous ājungleā in the Global South, as Geopolitical Economy Report highlighted.
This notorious āgarden versus the jungleā speech led to global backlash, and Borrell was forced to apologize. But his worldview has not changed since.
In his remarks two years later at Oxford, Borrell again demonstrated a kind of arrogant European exceptionalism.
āThe way of living of the Europeans, this best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that the humanity has never been able to invent, is certainly in dangerā, he said.
Borrell concluded the talk referring to Europeās system as āthe best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that humanity has never been able to inventā.
Ben Norton
Benjamin Norton is the founder and editor of the independent news website Multipolarista, where he does original reporting in both English and Spanish. Benjamin has reported from numerous countries, including Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, and more. His journalistic work has been published in dozens of media outlets, and he has done interviews on Sky News, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, El Financiero Bloomberg, Al Mayadeen teleSUR, RT, TRT World, CGTN, Press TV, HispanTV, Sin Censura, and various TV channels in Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Benjamin writes a regular column for Al Mayadeen (in English and Spanish). He was formerly a reporter with the investigative journalism website The Grayzone, and previously produced the political podcast and video show Moderate Rebels. His personal website is BenNorton.com, and he tweets at @BenjaminNorton.
