"Why? Because this is the real world, a very bad world." Simon's tone also showed a bit of loneliness: "Vladimir, you know, my best fantasy for this world is that all countries give up their disputes, Everyone spends all the money spent on developing weapons and training the army, focusing on developing science and technology, continuously improving productivity, and continuously optimizing social distribution, so that everyone can live a better life. At the same time, any additional surplus will be invested in the sea of stars above us. , exploring a broader future for mankind. Unfortunately, these are destined to be only fantasies. But the reality is, hey, I just participated in the Cannes Film Festival before. One of the things filmmakers like to discuss the most is the so-called complex human nature. Human nature is Complex arrogance, jealousy, laziness, greed, etc., etc., are destined to make our world impossible to be so beautiful. In this case, if we are unwilling to escape, or unable to escape, we can only face reality."
The middle-aged man was silent again.
Simon continued: "The reality is that we must make trade-offs and choices. In recent years, I have been wandering between different choices, and gradually became clear about my final direction. My personal choice is, since I can't To make the whole world a better place, be a selfish person and make everything you can influence better. In addition, if I still have the energy left, I will do more for this world, because this It is also a reality that we are living on this planet after all, and even if we leave in the future, our children need to continue to live on this planet.”
The middle-aged man took the initiative to chat this time, and asked accurately: "3G plan?"
"That's right." Simon believed that the other party already understood a lot, so he didn't go into details. He turned to look at the middle-aged man again and said, "Next, regarding Russia, since this is not a beautiful world, we are destined to not win together. As long as If it can be zero-sum, someone needs to make sacrifices. The Federation is the foundation of the Westeros system, and I cannot let it be sacrificed. Russia is your motherland, and I think you are not willing to do this. So, Europe, to be precise, Western Europe , it’s a good choice.”
Sacrifice Western Europe? !
Because of what Simon just said, even if the middle-aged man had some premonition, he was still shocked.
It is conceivable that if today's conversation spreads, it will definitely cause an uproar in the Western world. Because the person who said these words was not an ignorant child, nor a cynical and rebellious teenager, but Simon Westeros, the richest man in the world, and no one can deny that with a huge amount of personal assets, It also means that the other party has as much power as any head of state in the world. So, when the other party said that he wanted to sacrifice Western Europe, he really had the ability to give it a try and even realize it in the end. And it's definitely not a joke.
Simon still looked at the middle-aged man next to him with a changing expression. When he saw that he was silent, he smiled again and said: "Actually, Vladimir, I have noticed that you are actively contacting Blair, as well as German Prime Minister Shi Rod, you hope to reach reconciliation with Western Europe as soon as possible after last year's war. This is indeed in Russia's current interests. Even if Russia can fully integrate into Europe and achieve true European integration, then with the economic foundation of Western Europe and Russia's military strength, the world will immediately shift from one superpower to a two-pole struggle for hegemony. The problem is that for hundreds of years, starting from Peter the Great, Russia has never given up trying to integrate into Europe. The reality is, Europe has never really accepted Russia. In this case, in the current more complex international environment, do you think you have even a 1% chance of success?"
Simon once again brought up a fact that the middle-aged man was unwilling to admit but had to admit. However, this time he quickly said: "Simon, Europe is not willing to accept Russia. Is the United States willing?"
Simon didn't make any excuses and shook his head directly: "It's also impossible."
The middle-aged man said: "In this case, Russia will become an enemy of Western Europe according to your wishes, and the United States will still be an ally of Western Europe on the surface. So, if I do this, my country will only gain two powerful enemies."
"There are no eternal enemies between countries, only eternal interests." Simon said, and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: "I can't tell who specifically said this, but this is the reality. Speaking of which, recently For a few days, I have been taking time to read Brzezinski's The Grand Chess Game. In his book, this geostrategic master elaborated on the worst geopolitical situation for the West. Russia, China and Iran. Forced by a series of wrong policies of the West, these geopolitical powers in their respective regions finally came together. Once this happens, it will pose a fundamental threat to the world structure that has been dominated by the West for hundreds of years. Vladimir, what do you think? Now that Brzezinski has given the warning, is this possible?"
The middle-aged man hesitated slightly and said in a relaxed tone: "Simon, since you have seen it, I think you will not allow this to happen, right?"
Simon shook his head and once again gave an answer that surprised the middle-aged man: "Brzezinski is considering how to maintain the federal hegemony from the standpoint of the United States for a longer period of time, but I don't care too much about this matter. History has already It has been proven countless times that no country can be strong forever, and my expectations for the future of the Federation are more pessimistic than all of you imagine. Therefore, regarding this question, I am considering another point: Why? The West wants to Under what premise would one continue to make mistakes and bring together three countries that should never be united? Vladimir, what do you think is the reason?"
The middle-aged man thought for a while and said: "Unless the West encounters a crisis that it cannot solve on its own, it has to pass it on to the outside world. Moreover, I think that if this thing really happens, the international situation should be very bad, even reaching the point of another world war. edge."
Deflecting a crisis is a natural skill for any politician, let alone a smart man like Vladimir.
"That's right," Simon also nodded: "However, there are many kinds of crises, political crises, or economic crises. It is difficult to achieve a certain effect with a political crisis, because it is impossible for Western countries to have a political crisis together. Then, there is only one option. It is an economic crisis, and it is the kind of global economic crisis that preceded the two world wars. In recent years, many people have said that the world structure has been set and that history has come to an end. I have never thought so. The natural flaws of the capitalist system have been exposed for a hundred years in the past. It has been proven repeatedly over the years. Not to mention, in this century alone, the two world wars were caused by the economic crises that broke out in major capital countries. In order to divert conflicts and provoke wars, they ultimately brought huge trauma to the human world. In the second half of the 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for hegemony. Although the world was shrouded in the cloud of nuclear war for a long time, it maintained relative peace for half a century. Everyone said that the birth of nuclear weapons had a huge impact on the world's large-scale The war has had a disincentive effect, do you think so too, Vladimir?”
ps: There will be a chapter later.