Two global superpowers, the United States of America and Russia, may be on the brink of potential military conflict in the small landlocked Eastern European nation of Belarus. Since the assassination of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko a few days ago, a U.S.-backed democratic opposition government has come to power led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, but the state is still very much unstable. Russia has been conspicuously quiet on the matter in recent days but it believed to be preparing for war, albeit much more covertly. The U.S. is believed to be directly supplying the new government, and are also believed to be using modern tactics involving social media and internet memes to influence public opinion amongst the Belarusian people.
Reports early this morning suggest that the Department of Defense has acted in Belarus without the approval of the White House and Commander-in-Chief. A CIA insider reported that “the DOD lied about the presidential approval” which raises serious concerns regarding co-operation within the government. In a CIA memo revealed yesterday, the Agency called the Department of Defense “dysfunctional” and questioned their decision-making. Though the Department of Defense is yet to make any sort of public response to the allegations, sources in the Department described the CIA as “a tough batch”.
Will internal struggles between different institutions in the U.S. government prevent America from coordinating a viable and consistent response to a conflict on NATO’s doorstep? If the trends of recent hours continue, that may well be the case.
