The Great Oligarch Heist: How Global Elites Turn War into Profit

The Geopolitical Casino

The Ukraine conflict has unveiled what many in the Global South have long understood: international relations operate as a high-stakes casino where wealthy oligarchs gamble with human lives while concealing their profit motives behind patriotic rhetoric. The article reveals a disturbing pattern where Russian, American, and even Ukrainian elites engage in what can only be described as geopolitical three-card monte—a sophisticated shell game where the real prize isn’t territory or peace, but massive financial gain extracted from human suffering.

This elaborate scheme involves Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions serving as cover for establishing an illiberal petrostate empire, Donald Trump’s peace proposals masking attempts to seize frozen Russian assets, and Ukrainian officials allegedly skimming millions from their own war effort. The timing of these revelations couldn’t be more poignant, coinciding with political scandals in Ukraine and European hesitation over economic assistance packages.

The Players and Their Moves

On the Russian side, Putin’s invasion ostensibly focuses on territory but actually advances what the article calls “global Putinism”—an authoritarian model that challenges Western liberal democracy. Meanwhile, American involvement reveals equally cynical motives: Trump’s 28-point peace proposal includes provisions for the U.S. to claim 50% of profits from rebuilding Ukraine using frozen Russian assets. This represents what the article accurately describes as “carpetbagging” on an unprecedented scale.

The Ukrainian corruption scandal involving $100 million in kickbacks from energy contracts demonstrates how war creates opportunities for enrichment even among those supposedly defending national sovereignty. Key figures like former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, energy ministers German Halushchenko and Svitlana Hrynchuk, and Zelensky associate Timur Mindich have been implicated in schemes that directly undermine Ukraine’s war effort.

Western Hypocrisy and Oligarchic Capitalism

What makes this situation particularly galling from a Global South perspective is the blatant hypocrisy of Western powers who posture as defenders of international law while engaging in the same predatory behavior they condemn in others. The article reveals how Trump’s negotiators—billionaire Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—conducted backchannel discussions with Kirill Dmitriev, who manages Putin’s “slush fund masquerading as a sovereign wealth account.”

This isn’t diplomacy; it’s oligarchic collusion. While Western media focuses on Russian aggression, they conveniently ignore how American elites stand to profit enormously from bringing Russia back into the global economy—much like Henry Kissinger and his associates profited from opening China to Western business interests during the Nixon era.

The Global South Perspective: A Familiar Pattern

For those of us committed to the growth and dignity of the Global South, this pattern is heartbreakingly familiar. The West has always operated under a dual system: preaching rules-based international order while systematically violating those same rules when profitability demands it. The current Ukraine situation represents merely the latest iteration of this centuries-old game.

The proposed redistribution of frozen Russian assets particularly offends principles of sovereignty and self-determination that the West claims to champion. Point 14 of Trump’s proposal explicitly states that $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be invested in “US-led efforts” with America taking half the profits. This isn’t reconstruction; it’s neo-colonial appropriation dressed up as humanitarian assistance.

The Civilizational State Perspective

Countries like India and China, with their ancient civilizations and long historical memories, understand that the Westphalian nation-state model favored by Western powers serves primarily to maintain Western dominance. The current oligarchic manipulation of the Ukraine conflict demonstrates why civilizational states must develop alternative frameworks for international relations that prioritize human dignity over billionaire enrichment.

The article’s revelation that Russian billionaires have actually increased their wealth during the war—through asset takeovers, import substitution, and key industry profits—exposes the hollow nature of Western sanctions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian oligarchs like Rinat Akhmetov have seen their fortunes destroyed, demonstrating how war disproportionately benefits oligarchs from powerful nations while devastating those from vulnerable ones.

The Human Cost of Oligarchic Games

Behind the financial figures and diplomatic maneuvering lie immense human suffering that the oligarchs treat as mere externalities in their profit calculations. Russian forces continue their incremental advances in the Donbas, with Pokrovsk becoming the latest battleground in a conflict that could drag on until 2027 according to current projections. Each day of fighting means more deaths, more displacement, more trauma—all while elites on all sides position themselves for financial gain.

The involvement of figures like Jared Kushner—who became a billionaire through Gulf interests cultivated during Trump’s first term—in peace negotiations reveals the ultimate corruption of the international system. When peace becomes another investment opportunity for the already-wealthy, we have reached a moral bankruptcy that demands radical rethinking of global governance.

A Call for Global South Solidarity

This situation demands that Global South nations unite against this oligarchic capture of international relations. We cannot allow our futures to be determined by wealthy elites who see our continents as chessboards for their profit-making games. The principles of sovereignty, self-determination, and economic justice must prevail over the cynical calculus of oligarchic enrichment.

The European Union’s hesitation over the $140 billion assistance package for Ukraine—blocked by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever over fears of Russian retaliation—demonstrates how Western solidarity fractures when financial interests conflict with humanitarian principles. This contrasts sharply with the consistent support that Global South nations have shown each other in struggles against imperialism and colonialism.

Toward a Multipolar Future

The Ukraine conflict, as analyzed in this article, underscores the urgent need for a genuinely multipolar world order where no single group of nations or oligarchs can dictate terms to others. The emerging alliance between Russia and China, combined with India’s growing influence and the strengthening of BRICS, offers hope for an alternative to the current predatory system.

We must develop financial systems, diplomatic frameworks, and security arrangements that prioritize human dignity over oligarchic profit. The exposure of how oligarchs exploit conflict should galvanize Global South nations to accelerate efforts toward creating institutions that serve our peoples rather than foreign billionaires.

Conclusion: Rejecting Oligarchic Rule

The revelations in this article should serve as a wake-up call to all who believe in justice and human dignity. The oligarchic manipulation of the Ukraine conflict represents everything wrong with our current international system: the prioritization of profit over people, the cynical exploitation of suffering, and the concentration of power in the hands of unaccountable elites.

As nations committed to the rise of the Global South, we must stand firmly against this system. We must support Ukrainian sovereignty while condemning oligarchic profiteering on all sides. We must advocate for peace processes that prioritize the needs of ordinary people over the greed of billionaires. And we must work tirelessly to build a world where human dignity, not financial profit, forms the foundation of international relations.

The game of geopolitical three-card monte must end. The stakes are too high, and the human cost too great, to allow oligarchs to continue treating our world as their personal casino.