The aftermath of World War II allowed the US to become a global superpower from an intermediary global power. This led to the beginning of an ‘American era’ with its rapid industrialization and capitalism leading to significant economic benefits for America. With the U.S. dollar becoming the world’s official reserve currency in 1944, America enjoys lower exchange rate risks, reduced transactions costs, etc.
Nevertheless, it was not the only US that rose to power after World War II; the Soviet Union also experienced a similar rise to power, arguably less than America. Now, this rise was seen as a threat to America’s political ambitions to stay as a global superpower which further led to the cold war between the two, thereby, causing the disintegration of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in 1991. Since then, the US has been trying to keep Russia at its bay and seeking to thwart all attempts by Russia to become more powerful.
In 1949, the United States, Canada, and their western European allies formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to counter the Soviet Union in the name of collective security measures. The same organization has many times been used to confront Russia and challenge its sovereignty from time to time. America has not only used its military superiority, global superpower status, and alliance with western European countries to counter Russia but also to change the status quo in several nation-states and countries/regions as per its own definition of right and wrong.
The United States and NATO have installed thousands of troops in several countries (mostly baltic) across eastern Europe and many of them are bordering Russia. Some of them include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, etc. One big nation that borders Russia is Ukraine and the west is trying to append Ukraine to NATO so that it can install its troops in Ukraine too. This induction of troops will not only help the US and the west empower Russia in world politics but also will always threaten the integrity and sovereignty of Russia altogether. Consider it like, your foe from a different part of the city starts living in your neighborhood. Unacceptable.
Furthermore, post-annexation of Crimea in 2014 by Russia, the United States has devoted more than $5.6B in total assistance to Ukraine comprising both security and non-security assistance. This commitment of American funds has further bolstered Ukraine’s desire to be a part of NATO and join the west and obviously no matter what intimidated the Russian Federation very frequently.
The United States has been using its global superpower status to sanction various countries as per its own volition in order to maintain its status quo in world politics. It uses several types of sanctions including but not limited to Diplomatic sanctions, Economic sanctions, Military sanctions, Sports sanctions, sanctions on individuals, etc. to gain political benefits and perpetuate its military superiority. Evidently, sundry of these sanctions have been used upon the Kremlin every now and then.
In addition, several claims and reports depicting the pentagon’s sponsorship and collaboration with the Ukrainian government for the creation of biological laboratories for the purpose of development of biological weapons is a matter of grave concern, and this further menaces the Moscow. The concealed aggression by the United States over the several decades has fueled the Kremlin to take such big actions foiling world peace.
