Russia Creates 'Relations Based on Justice': Analyst on Lavrov's Visit to Maghreb

Lavrov's recent visit to Morocco and Tunisia showed that Russia is creating momentum in its contacts with the southern regions, in the face of the failures of Western diplomacy in Africa, Dr. Abdeljelil Dhahri, international lawyer and director of Think Thank International Dignity and Hope, told Sputnik Africa.

"Russia has understood Africa's need to create other logics in diplomatic relations, and for this, Russia is investing in the creation of relations based on justice, equal treatment and respect, as well as internal sovereignty," he said.

According to Dhahri, this approach will allow Moscow to avoid the mistakes made by the French and American diplomacy in relations with Africa. These relations were characterized by "inequality, interference in internal affairs and contempt," he recalled.

Towards New Global Order

According to the expert, the global order established several decades ago and governed by the United States has failed to ensure security in the world. Many crises that are currently hitting it are proof of this, he underlined.

"The world order [...] that was conceived and directed by the United States has failed. The US has created nothing but misfortune for humanity, it has created nothing but wars, internal destabilization, economic and social failures. And the United States is the only one responsible," he argued.

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Dhahri emphasized that in order to create a different order, it is necessary to establish a different dynamic in international diplomatic relations.

"Humanity is facing the challenge of creating a more equitable world order, more respectful for humanity, based on equality between nations to end the world order of slavery," the lawyer underscored.

He added that Washington and the countries that it has exploited, such as France, are also responsible for the current situation.

Very Restrictive Conditions

Tunisia risks suffering for a long time from the consequences of this distribution of power in the world, which is reflected in the diktat of certain financial institutions, the expert highlighted.

Tunisia's debt to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently weighing very heavily on the economy, this debt will even impact future generations, who will always have to repay it, Dhahri stressed.

"The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, these are the instruments of American world order [...]. It is normal that these instruments try to direct countries, peoples, the destiny of these peoples with contempt, with selfishness, with savagery without taking into account social and economic priorities," the lawyer explained.

Tunis is in the process of negotiating with the International Monetary Fund, but the conditions of this institution are not acceptable for the country, the expert revealed.

"The negotiations with these institutions [WB, IMF] are based [...] on coercion and non-compliance. This is normal, because it is the mentality of these savage institutions that never take into account the conditions of the countries. These institutions are forcing Tunisia to withdraw subsidies for raw materials, which will, for example, create riots, another revolution. But it would be a revolution of the anarchists because it will be a revolution of famine and the absence of human dignity," Dhahri elaborated.

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According to him, the global financial system needs to be reformed.

"It is a system that is governed by the only currency, the dollar, which has served and is currently serving the interests of a single nation, those of the United States on behalf of the other nations of the world. The United States has imposed the dollar as an international monetary value [...]. It is a logic based on coercion, the absence of negotiation, supremacy and the absence of consideration of the socio-economic needs of nations," he concluded.

BRICS, an alternative to international financial organizations

In this context, the accession to the BRICS, mentioned as "possible" by Tunis in an interview with Sputnik before the meeting with Lavrov, could become a "rescue relay" for the economy and finances, the expert noted.

"Belonging to the BRICS [...] will be for Tunisia a source of financial, budgetary and economic breathing space. Cooperation with the BRICS will make it possible to move away from this domination, this control, this abusive supervision of the International Monetary Fund. The BRICS will be a relay for revitalization, investments and resuscitation," Dhahri said.

A similar opinion was echoed by the South African development finance consultant Paul Terna Gbahabo, who earlier told Sputnik Africa that the BRICS bloc is viewed by emerging economies "as a counterweight to Western-backed multilateral institutions."

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Moscow's Role in Settlement of Conflict in Gaza

One of the topics discussed by Lavrov in Morocco and Tunisia was the Palestinian issue. In the lawyer's opinion, it is in particular Moscow which, by virtue of its relations with all the parties, would be able to accompany the dialogue between the belligerents.

"Russia is the only international force capable of mediating and the only force at the international level that will be able to ensure negotiations and guarantee dialogue between the various parties," he said.

Russia will initiate contacts on the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict during its upcoming BRICS presidency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the situation in the Middle East in Gaza in November.