Disclosure: I wrote a few articles for Southfront back in the day. The people there are quite knowledgeable about Russia, I found.
By Anatoly Koshkin
[REGNUM] "Walking" on the Internet, I accidentally found a comment on my interview with the newspaper of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Krasnaya Zvezda" in the publication "South Front" - SouthFront - Analysis & Intelligence (Analysis and intelligence), which was previously unknown to me.
I still am blocked from redstar.ru
The title intrigued me, and I decided to find out what kind of publication showed interest in my opinion about the policy and strategy of the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily Japan.
According to Wikipedia, SouthFront is a Russian-registered, multilingual fake news website (?!) that “combines Kremlin talking points with detailed knowledge of military systems and current conflicts, and attempts to reach out to military enthusiasts, veterans and conspiracy theorists."
According to the European Union's EU vs Disinfo, SouthFront publishes news covering "security issues, foreign policy, military analysis and reports on military equipment," "loyally conveying whatever suits the Kremlin".
And further: “In 2020, the US State Department described SouthFront as part of Russia’s "disinformation and propaganda ecosystem," where Russian statesmen team up with others whose links to Russia have been less obvious to bring their ideas to the forefront.
In 2021 and again in 2022, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against SouthFront, calling it in 2021:
"an online disinformation site registered in Russia that… attempts to reach out to military enthusiasts, veterans and conspiracy theorists while going to great lengths to hide its ties to Russian intelligence."
A 2022 Treasury report alleged that SouthFront was sanctioned in part because it "owned or controlled, or acted or had the intent to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the FSB, which is the successor to the KGB in Russia."
I also happened to learn that "in 2017, researchers from the Internet Institute of Oxford University studied SouthFront’s collaboration with two sites in the United States, Veterans Today and its sister site Veterans News Now."
Veterans Today is a "fake news site actively promoting the Kremlin's party line," according to University of Washington professor Kate Starbird...
SouthFront officials responded to a Politico article about the Oxford study with an email saying they had nothing to do with the Russian government, adding that describing them as part of the Kremlin network "contradicts the principles of free speech and ... discriminates against Russians."
The editors of SouthFront, commenting on my interview with the respected Krasnaya Zvezda, did not contact me and did not inform me about their publication. For my part, I can say that I "have nothing to do with the Russian government" and even more so with the "Kremlin network."
Although I deeply understand and support the forced decision to conduct a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of demilitarizing and denazifying the territory and population of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic currently controlled by the neo-Nazi regime.
Naturally, there can be nothing “conspiracy theoretical and disinformation” in my speeches, articles and comments, because I am first and foremost a historian, and then a political scientist. This also applies to the mentioned interview, which was analyzed by SouthFront under the heading "US joins forces for a second front in the Far East."
Since I generally agree with the content of the SouthFront material, I present it to the readers:
"The Japanese authorities have again started talking about the “occupied” territories and the need to upgrade the country's military power. This development of events is dictated by several aspects.
History is a good place to start. Japan's quest for revenge runs through the 20th and 21st centuries. At the moment, Japan does not feel that its interests are fully realized in strategic, economic and military terms.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida continued the rhetoric of his predecessors, defending the Kuril Islands and wanting to increase his influence in the region. After a tour of Asia and Europe, he had a conversation with the leaders of the United States and Australia, who were not satisfied with his attempts to get India to condemn Russia for its military operation.
Subsequently, Kishida put pressure on Indonesia as well, but taking into account the interests of the United States. This cooperation can be described as barter: the US will create an "Eastern NATO" copy of QUAD and AUKUS, and Japan will lead this hierarchy.
Political scientist and doctor of historical sciences Anatoly Koshkin explained why Japan has become so active in foreign policy.
Koshkin believes that the United States is in no hurry to open a "Second Front" in the East. Even White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that US President Joe Biden will travel to Tokyo and Seoul to negotiate with countries to support Ukraine. Most likely, this will affect China's attempts to return Taiwan to the country.
As a second argument, the expert noted the unwillingness of the US ground forces to participate in hostilities against large countries. The maximum that can be counted on is the continuation of arms supplies to Taiwan and an increase in the military contingent in Japan.
Anatoly Koshkin also doubts that the Japanese forces will provide any assistance other than logistical or food assistance, since Japan objectively does not have an army (in fact, the Japanese armed forces, recreated in violation of the country's Constitution, are included by analysts in terms of combat capabilities among the ten most powerful armies and fleets of the world - A.K.), and Japanese society has a negative attitude towards entering into any conflicts.
The next assumption, which the expert noted, is the unwillingness of a large bloc of Japanese elites to worsen relations with Russia. This is primarily dictated by the possible negative consequences for the Japanese economy and contradictions in the interests of security. Although the first part of this argument can be disputed, since the trade turnover between Russia and Japan is not so significant.
Tokyo hoped that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government would make concessions on territorial demands in exchange for promises of investment, loans, and economic cooperation. But since the Russian position on territorial issues was firm, the Japanese political leadership resumed the former anti-Soviet, and now anti-Russian rhetoric.
As the last argument, the expert called the escalation of sanctions against Russia and the desire to involve the ASEAN countries in the American policy plan to paralyze Russia's economic activity in the region.
On the one hand, the arguments of Anatoly Koshkin look very weighty. On the other hand, the situation in the Asia-Pacific region can be looked at more broadly. The United States, at least, is already preparing a bridgehead for the Eastern Front with the help of Japan. It would seem that this bloc is directed against China. But some contradictions arise: the US declared a trade war on China back in 2018 and threatened to launch military operations in the South China Sea, but in fact five years have passed without any military action; China has stepped up military patrols in the Senkaku (Diaoyudao) Islands and in the Taiwan area, while the United States again limited itself to threats; The United States did not impose sanctions against China due to its neutral position towards Ukraine and gas purchases from Russia through private companies. All these aspects may indicate that the coalition created by the United States is not directed against China, but against the Russian Federation. The success of these US plans will depend on Russia's actions in the region, Japan's ability to influence the ASEAN countries and India's willingness to abandon its policy of non-alignment (which is unlikely).
The author of these lines could enter into a discussion with the compilers of the above commentary, but I believe that this is not necessary now. Moreover, the main points of my analysis are presented without distortion.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the accusations against SouthFront cited above by Wikipedia belong to US ministries and departments, for which any positions and statements close to the policy of the Russian leadership, even generally recognized independent scientists and political scientists, are perceived as allegedly directed by the Kremlin "the hand of Moscow", subject to ostracism and persecution.