Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
I’ve always been intrigued by modern US/Russian relations. Here is an article from the UK Guardian regarding recent (as in the past 15+ years) diplomatic and military moves by the Western powers and the reaction by Russia. Ever since the Cold War has ended, Russia has attempted to solidify and even ‘grow’ it’s democracy. It’s done a lot of good and a lot of bad things along the way, but overall, they are making very solid progress. I think Putin stepping down along with a peaceful transfer of power will go a long way towards establishing confidence in their system.
However, it’s no wonder they feel threatened - despite NATO’s promises to not expand into former Eastern Bloc countries, we have admitted nearly a half dozen new countries into the Alliance - all eastward from the previous line in Germany. Their question, of course, is, who is NATO establishing these missile bases against? Who are we trying to contain? Russia, after losing their influence on former Soviet states, had to establish some regional ally. After being rebuffed by NATO, they have since made other moves to gain support in Asia.
When Russian diplomats then seek out Chinese and Iranian support, we cannot be outraged. We cannot even question why they would make such a decision. We (and by we, I mean the Western powers as a whole) have forced them to ally with other ‘threatened’ countries. If we really want to see GW’s vision of ‘democracy’ spread to every corner of the globe, we should be helping emerging democratic nations, not provoking them. We should be preaching patience, not demonizing them. My favorite quote from the article is this:
When there is backsliding, as in former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Russia and parts of Africa, let alone the Arab world, the west behaves like a peevish car salesman whose client has not obeyed the repair manual. If the west can do fair elections, market capitalism, press freedom and regional secession - after a mere two centuries of trial and error - why can newly free states not do them overnight?
If you continue to treat a nation as a 2nd class citizen in global politics, they will seek out countries who respect them more. Hence, the beginnings of the China/Russia/Iran pseudo-alliance.
Our current leaders talk a big game about their approach to foreign relations, but have done quite the opposite. The world is not only drastically more dangerous than it was 8 years ago, we have done nothing to steer the ship in the correct direction. Rather than forging strong ties with very powerful countries with essentially the same desires as we have, we have managed to maintain the Cold War mentality, and tried containment. The Russian government’s interests, especially in this War on Terror, are quite similar to ours. However, apparently a strong Russia is a dangerous Russia to us, so we refuse to aid their progress in any substantial way.
When it’s all said and done, I believe this will prove to be a major mistake on our part.
Posted on February 22nd, 2007 | No Comments »
