Posted on 11/23/2016 12:08:06 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
And even today most Russians still think highly of Reagan.
And that key is Russian National Interest.
As true today as it was then.
“And even today most Russians still think highly of Reagan.”
Funny story. I was the only Republican at work and all the rest were super liberal; mostly Jews from Israel. All had dual citizenship. One of the Russians said, loudly so everyone could hear, “One day, will be statue in Red Square of Ronald Reagan. He saved us all.”
The resulting argument was so loud and intolerant I quietly left.
I wish we could understand that concept. Of course that should change in 2 months.
I even know someone - a gorgeous Russian girl from a millionaire or billionaire oligarch daddy - who insists her impoverished German boyfriend buy her expensive things. She is pretty, I'll admit, but...
Read it. Dont understand it. What did we get wrong?
Were we too tough? Not tough enough?
Should have cooperated with them? Should have nuked them? Should have surrendered to them?
Long, LONG read of observations anout the Russians and yetbI could not find in her article what we got wrong.
Help, please.
I agree with everythng you wrote.
From another article
Over the past twenty five years I have observed a curious phenomenon in American policy. Somehow we always seem to be one leader behind: We treated Khrushchev as if he were Stalin, Brezhnev as if he were Khrushchev and now — Gorbachev as if he were Brezhnev. Because of this unfortunate predilection we have often missed opportunities in the past. I believe that this is the greatest opportunity we have had to try to forge a new relationship with the Soviet Union and it would be tragic if we were to muff this one now. We moan a lot about Gorbachev’s successful “peace” offensives. What are we suggesting that is better? We have clung to our model of a Soviet foreign policy so entrenched that it could never evolve, while at the same time remaining convinced that we, because of our more flexible and responsive system have a greater ability for change. Yet now, it is our leaders who seem curiously paralyzed. Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) may be on the front pages of our newspapers and passed into our language, but not into our policy or our actions. Instead, we have responded with a bureaucratic sounding phrase “status quo plus” which sounds suspiciously like an American translation of “Brezhnevian stagnation.”
Because we try to fit them into the mold of "The West".
They are not. There are four power blocks. The West, Russia, Asia and the mohammedans.
Who is the leader in the other three may change but Russia never does. It is always Russia. And while their interests and your may coincide for a bit they are not your friend. And if you stand in the way of something they want they will walk right over your bleeding back to get it. Even if you just help them out recently.
Russia is an isolate, uniquely themselves and if you always keep that in mind you might be able to rub along with them.
well thanks
Got to the bottom where they talked about the “new” Bush administration before I saw it’s 15 years old. Some useful stuff, but not earth shattering. I’ve been lately adding RT (Russia Today) to my TV news mix. A lot of very interesting stories from around the world you don’t see anywhere else. They are supported by the Russian government, though they say they are not a government agency and compare themselves to BBC and PBS. I consider it balance against the US MSM. Take it with a grain of salt, but it’s worth watching.
Her ex-husband wrote Dreadnought, Castles of Steel,
and Nicholas and Alexandria (made into a well known movie).
I have not read the article yet but she coined the phrase “Trust but Verify.”
So what we are doing wrong is not cooperating with Russia? Is that the bottom line?
For 85 years, close to a century, successive American administrations have been dominated by basic premises about Russia based on selective and often narrowly focused views of an establishment that have led to a succession of wrong assessments and wrong policies. This has been true whether these policies came from left or the right. Strangely, despite increased communication and contact this process has been most particularly marked during the 20th century -- a time when one can say that we have often been almost as mistaken about the state of affairs in Russia as Europeans were in the 16th century when it was confidently believed that Russia had plants that grew lambs and that Russians worshipped an image of a giant Golden Goddess.
John Kerry says you’ll go blind if you watch RT...
12 and 13 outstanding posts!
That article is from 2001. Little before GWB gazed into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul. Bush of course was fooled as Putin’s job in KGB used to be lying to people. He lied then because Russia was poor. After the oil boom he got the oil revenue windfall and showed his true colors by trying to convince the Chinese to help in crashing the US economy in 2008.
Well thanks....
You’re very welcome
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