Putin, like China does not pose some immediate military or even economic threat (which China does) - this is true.
But the desire for empire restoration and Soviet revivalism points to a major clash of visions with Russia. For the long term.
This clash in thinking is an existential threat to a US-led world order. And by that, I do not mean a world-order where the U.S. intervenes where it shouldn’t, or is the police where it shouldn’t be.
Russia fundamentally resents an America-led, America-friendly world order for no other reason except that its America at the helm and not them. Russia is also an authoritarian regime. It rejects the rule of Law as it applies to them and the world. It rejects democratic values and principles. That is what Nikki Haley is referring to.
It’s a country dissatisfied with the postwar order, embittered by the strong cohesion of Western powers in NATO, and disturbed by the Westward and NATO-ward shift of neighboring countries and former empire holdings.
Russia will do everything in its power to obstruct the sovereignty of its former Soviet satellite states and empire holdings.
Russia seeks to prevent such countries from developing into Western-friendly, democratic countries which observe the rule of law.
In the meantime Russia helps prop up rogue regimes like Iran, Cuba, Venuezeula. They have a vested interest in Assad moreso than Syria as a whole, and they also help North Korea stay afloat. Thereby sabotaging our most basic foreign interests.
Thanks for your interesting Comments.
Re: “embittered by the strong cohesion of Western powers in NATO”
I don’t see the cohesion.
The UK just voted itself out of the EU. France has always been a tepid ally of the USA, except for its vital friendship from 1776 to 1782, and the Statue of Liberty. Germany wants to destroy every last vestige of nationalism in Europe, and the EU wants to terminate individual liberty and free enterprise capitalism.
For many years I have made the slightly sarcastic claim that the only two countries in the world that Europe is willing to fight are Israel and the USA!
In my opinion, the USA needs to turn totally inward for several decades. We have trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities that we must pay. If the USA is bankrupt, we will be a completely useless friend or military ally.
We need to focus on being the most productive country in the world, and on having the highest standard of living in the world.
And we need to make it absolutely clear to every country in the world that we will kill anyone who threatens to harm the USA, or tries to disrupt our international commerce with other countries.