Sergey Karaghanov to “Al -Arabi Al -Jadeed”: Restore the role of nuclear weapons or the slipping of wars

In the middle of 2023, the theorist and political advisor close to the Kremlin, the honorary president of the Russian Foreign and Defense Policy Council, Sergey Karaghanov, sparked widespread controversy of his calls for the elevation of the escalation ladder with the West and the amendment of the Russian nuclear doctrine by expanding the list of cases where the nuclear weapon is used. In the following months, Karaghanov, nicknamed “The theoron of the Kremlin”, remained one of the most prominent arrivals to amend the nuclear doctrine that saw its modified edition in November, and explicitly stipulated the possibility of using nuclear weapons against a nuclear state if it launched an attack on Russia with the support of nuclear states.
In an interview with “Al -Arabi Al -Jadeed” from Moscow, Karaghanov defended the correctness of amending the Russian nuclear doctrine, denying “any official role” for him to happen. While he expressed his belief that US President Donald Trump wished to end the Ukrainian war, he considered that “the issue lies in whether the deep state in the United States and those surrounding it would allow him to” achieve this. While he acknowledged that Russia did not achieve all its goals in Ukraine, he considered that victory is summarized “in crushing the ruling regime currently and imposing completely disarmament on the rest of Ukraine.”

Last November, Russia has gone out to the world with its modified nuclear nuclear beliefs that expand the number of nuclear weapons use. How do you evaluate the amendments to the Russian nuclear doctrine?
The amendment of the nuclear doctrine is an important step on the right path, because it increases the seriousness of the threats using nuclear weapons and re -fear of it, and it is not only necessary to remove the West from continuing the war against Russia, but also to restore the role of a safety valve from preventing the outbreak of major wars that the nuclear weapon has performed over 60 years. But in recent years, the deterioration of Western elites, the media revolution, and the aggression of the life of peace, resulted in the disappearance of human fear of wars, so they began to enter it again. 15 or 20 years ago, the scenario was that the West would bring the situation in Ukraine to a war of the impossible. Today’s situation is very tense, and wars may erupt throughout the world unless we stop the West. It is time to restore the role of nuclear weapons in global politics, even if we can keep Europe away from the global scene with an agreement with the United States to withdraw without prejudice to its global position.

Do you not fear that activating the role of nuclear weapons will be a step towards the end of the world and the destruction of humanity?
I consider that the invention of nuclear weapons came as a divine message to humanity in the middle of the 20th century until it wakes up after it fought two world wars in less than half a century, but the Europeans today pushing the situation towards a third world war, forgetting the horrors of the first two wars (1914-1918), and the second (1939-1945). Therefore, we must re -introduce a nuclear safety valve into the system of international relations until the establishment of a new system of relations so that we do not slip into a series of wars similar to the Israeli attack on neighboring countries.

Today, the Europeans are pushing the situation towards a third world war, forgetting the horrors of the first and second wars

During your administration of the general session of the Petersburg International Economic Forum last June, Russian President Vladimir Putin described you as a bright political analyst, and acknowledged that he is a reader of your writings, and you also classify one of the most prominent “Kremlin theorists”. What is the truth of the role you played in modifying the Russian nuclear doctrine?
I am very pleased that the president and other leaders of my country read my writing. I do not acknowledge any official role for me, but I know that my writings are read, and two years ago, the positions of demands to amend the nuclear doctrine and restore the role of nuclear weapons in international relations, and criticized our military for their failure to employ the arsenal inherited from their ancestors with sufficient effectiveness. It is true that I also faced a wave of criticism from all sides abroad and even at home by liberal orientations, but the train of change started, and I am proud of that although this does not mean that I am behind it.

In one of your articles, you were associated with the fact that the United States will not respond to a Russian nuclear attack on a non -nuclear European country, but if it responds, will this not pose a threat to bets?
Be a historian of nuclear beliefs and the “Cold War”, I learned of certainty that the United States would not have waged a nuclear blow on the lands of the Soviet Union, whatever the circumstances, and the nuclear umbrella of its allies is a purely trick. She deepened the study of NATO beliefs (NATO), and confirmed that the use of nuclear weapons was only seen to strike the lands of East Germany loyal to the Soviet Union, but Washington has never intended to the Soviet Union itself realizing that the answer will be targeted specifically the territory of the United States. However, I pray to God not to use nuclear weapons at all, because this is a great moral sin due to the inability of such weapons from the distinction between the goals, which means that their use will first lead to a huge number of victims, and secondly to exceed the moral threshold that we put on our responsibility by promoting the legend of the lack of victors in a nuclear war. Then we were convinced that the presence of nuclear weapons in itself prevents the outbreak of any major war, but the situation is no longer so today, either we restore the role of nuclear weapons, or we slide into a series of wars followed by a global war, and there is no option third.

Do you have children and grandchildren? Do you accept to wake up one day in a world that witnesses nuclear wars if you apply your theory?
Yes, I have children and grandchildren, and I do not hope that they will wake up to the impact of a nuclear war, but I know the knowledge of certainty that my grandchildren will live in a world in which the nuclear will be used, and a series of wars will inevitably witness, and it will prevail in a state of terror unless we prepare the worker of the survival jacket represented by the nuclear weapon, and therefore I consider that what I promote it is not only a duty in front of my country, but also in front of my grandchildren, And I think that the holy mission of Russia is to save humanity from a world war that began to loom on the horizon.

The holy mission of Russia is to save humanity from a world war that began to loom on the horizon

Will US President Donald Trump from your point of view be able to end the war in Ukraine?
I think Trump wishes to end this war, but the issue lies in whether the deep state in the United States and those surrounding it will allow it, which means that we have to move forward on the way to upgrade the escalation ladder regardless of Trump to remove the United States from this war it is fighting against us at the expense of the Ukrainian people in order to cause the largest possible losses in Russia. On the other hand, we will provide them with an honorable exit that is different from the shameful American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and I hope that Europe will follow their example sooner or later. Trump appears to be a more national and realistic figure than others and less related to the ideology of global imperialism, but we do not know whether his will is sufficient to reach an agreement with Putin to gradually stop nourishing war and accepting Russia’s victory over Europe.

I think Trump wishes to end the war in Ukraine, but the issue lies in whether the deep state in the United States and those surrounding it will allow it

Three years after the start of the Russian -Ukrainian conflict on February 24, 2022, did Moscow achieve its goals?
It can be said that Russia has achieved part of its goals, but not all achieved it, due to our reluctance to use our military arsenal with its full power, but I hope this will happen sooner or later. The Ukrainian army is currently being grinded, but our Western opponents, especially Europeans, are looking forward to the continuation of the war. We will soon be forced or later to upgrade the level of strength. We confront the West in Ukraine, we are not only fighting for our security and sovereignty, but also for the global majority. The West fights fiercely after we broke the rule of hegemony and the Western military superiority that extended for five centuries. We are witnessing a sharp confrontation that is not of course limited to Ukraine, although it is currently taking place on its soil. Victory over Ukraine, in my opinion, is to crush the ruling regime, impose completely disarmament on the rest of Ukraine and exclude the new Nazis from Russian territory historically, although they enjoy European support.

Victory over Ukraine is to crush the ruling regime, impose completely disarmament on the rest of Ukraine, and the exclusion of the new Nazis.

How do you evaluate the role of Arab countries in mediation between Russia on the one hand, Ukraine and the West on the other hand?
I visit the countries of the Arab world from time to time and meet with his politicians, researchers and religious figures, and it is very happy that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are collecting the role of Switzerland, but with more effective comparison with Bern, which was unable to provide a truly independent platform for dialogue, which has increased the political independence of the Arab world in the last 10 or 15 years.

Sergey Karaghanov’s biography
Political scientist Sergey Karaghanov was born in 1952, and graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Moscow in 1974. In 1976 and 1977 he received training at the permanent Soviet mission to the United Nations. In 1979, he discussed a doctoral thesis entitled “The role of multinationals and their position in American foreign policy.” In 1984 and 1985 he received training at the Soviet embassy in the United States. Since 1978, he held prestigious positions in the leading Soviet and Russian research and educational institutions, and is currently the position of scientific supervisor at the College of World Economy and World Policy at the High School of Economics in Moscow. He has a set of studies and literature on issues of international relations and international security, the most recent of which is his participation in preparing the book “From Determination to intimidation”, which was published in Moscow last year, and presents a vision to improve the effectiveness of deterrence to prevent a catastrophic war.