Posted on 09/14/2009 1:49:04 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday criticized US dominance and asserted countries had a right to weigh in even on the domestic policy of a state whose actions affected the world.
"We see more and more often how problems on the territory of one state acquire a global character," Medvedev said in an address to a conference in the central Russian city of Yaroslavl.
"This happens immediately and incompetence and reluctance to solve one's own problems inflict a damage not only to your country but to a huge number of other countries."
The Russian president lashed out at the "ill-thought out financial policies of one country" that led to the global financial crisis and though he did not refer to the United States by name the object of his comments was clear.
Medvedev spoke shortly before US President Barack Obama delivered a key speech in New York where he described the global economic crisis as a "collective failure" of Washington and Wall Street.
Medvedev and Obama were both to attend a G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh later this month and the Russian leader has made it clear he will continue to push for a sweeping overhaul of world financial regulation.
"States," Medvedev said, "have the right to know as much as possible about each other and have the right to critically evaluate not only each others' foreign but also domestic policies."
Countries have both a right and obligation "even to point out the failings of such policies if they can lead to problems of international scale or if they ignore ethical norms and principles of humanism," he said.
The Yaroslavl conference was attended by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and French counterpart Francois Fillon, both of whom Medvedev met privately.
Fillon said afterwards that France and Russia had "identical views" on issues ranging from bonuses for bankers and accounting rules to tax havens and the role of the International Monetary Fund in ensuring global economic stability.
Medvedev's comments further developed ideas published in March in which the Kremlin suggested that the international community should have a say when the world's richest countries make decisions with global implications.
In a more general sense, the Russian leader attacked efforts by any party to advance "utopian projects of global supremacy ... whatever they are called: 'Global Califate' or 'Benevolent Hegemony'."
There can be no "high-flown justification for military adventures, suppression of rights and freedoms -- of any illegal activities," he said.
Without explicitly naming the United States, the Russian president spoke out against a global hegemony, wherein the policies of a single state could have a detrimental economic and environmental affect on the world.
"Climate change is taking place on the planet and it is taking place not through the fault of all the states in equal measure. And it's the states that are in fact enlightened and environmentally educated that first and foremost carry the blame for these changes," he added.
The Russian leader also took aim at US criticism of Russia's domestic political situation, insisting that Russia was committed to democracy but would not necessarily pursue its development in ways prescribed by other states.
"We are all different," he said, reprising an argument frequently advanced in the past by his predecessor and mentor, Vladimir Putin, who was harshly criticized in the West for rolling back democracy in Russia.
Hegemony is such a kool word. Just wanted to say it again.
Hegemony.
“In a more general sense, the Russian leader attacked efforts by any party to advance “utopian projects of global supremacy ... whatever they are called: ‘Global Califate’ or ‘Benevolent Hegemony’.””
I can’t disagree with him. These stupid ‘green projects’ are getting too out of control. Politicians should not be getting involved in the latest trendy causes.
You mean like the Soviet Union "had a say" with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary....
The Russians, Chinese, Hugo the Clown, AndhMiniJihadd, are all going to push our POTUS around (and us included since we’re stuck in the same boat with our POS-POTUS).
They are going to encroach into areas that affect our present and future national security, and our POS-POTUS is not gonna giva a SHT about it. God Help Us.
It’s like bizarro-world. We’re being lectured by Russia??? And people are so ignorant of history they’ll buy into it hook like and sinker.
We sooooo need another Reagan.
Peace through superior firepower.
So the world has the right to stick their atheist noses into our country’s culture of individual freedom if we “...ignore ethical norms and principles of humanism.”
The banksters ARE humanists and they were acting by the non-ethics and amorality of humanism. This Russian communist is stoooopid if he has not yet been able to figure out half of the equation that resulted in the failure of the Soviet Union. Now humanism is bringing America down. It will bring down the world.
Yeah, we are being lectured by a country that is advocating a return to at least a fractional gold currency, drilling all the oil they can find, has a flat national income tax that is currently 12%.
They are negatively affected by our fiscal policy. Play cold war games all you want, they are basically telling us the Dollar will soon no longer be a reserve currency, and they do not intend a repeat of the late 90s depression they suffered at the hands of western financiers.
In this case, we need to listen. China is telling us the same thing. Our government is intent on destroying the USA as a world leader. The two biggest communist nations have turned capitalist, and are practically begging us not to become a socialist nation.
Oh, and currently Russian Federation runs an annual budget surplus of bout 6%. See, they drill their abundant oil and gas. We don’t, so we we borrow money.
Pot, meet kettle.
Solve your own problems, Ivan. At least we've got flush toilets.
Yeah, but they are lecturing us. And it’s like bizarro world. As I said, we soooo need another Reagan.
I agree that it seems as though our economy is being deliberately destroyed, but it also seems like they want a nose under the tent of US policy.
I don’t trust Russians. I just don’t.
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