Posted on 10/18/2006 8:39:03 AM PDT by RusIvan
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's potential to regain genuine global power has been discounted by many as a conspiracy theory or a remnant of Cold War mentality. With world leaders transfixed on the rise of China, Russia has been relegated to the category of a spent force.
Strategic-forecasting expert and Asia Times Online contributor Joseph Stroupe's new book goes against the tide of Western smugness and makes a brilliant case for sitting up and taking notice of how the Russian bear is opportunistically wrestling to divest the United States of its world hegemony.
Notwithstanding disarming public proclamations, Russia is cutting into US interests around the planet, rolling back "color revolutions" in the post-Soviet space and allying with key powers in Asia, Europe and the Americas that are inimical to Washington. Using the "energy trump card", Moscow is constructing a dense network of like-minded states that is coalescing into a rival pole to counterbalance the US.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
Bill and ALGORE's money shot in the arm has brought them back as the enemy.
Ping
The SCO is the basis of a rising, reconstituted East Bloc. This is not a good thing for the world. I know you are in the East Bloc and will have a different view. But my own view is that the world will suffer from the fall of the West and the rise of the East.
But my own view is that the world will suffer from the fall of the West and the rise of the East.==
Accually I agree. I'm for the balance. Nor West nor East shouldn't get upper hand.
I'm sure that many in Russia think same as me.
And what will they do with an energy hungry China on their doorstep? What will they do with their falling birthrate? They are a danger, yes, but they have bigger problems than the US to worry about.
Well President Bush once said , you are either with us or against us. Russia's policies lately have pretty well shown they arent with us.
Russia trying to gather up allies with fuel,and strategic materials, is for a reason. Those who go along with this gag had better remember that the Russians are a bear and will devour them.
Russia should first do something about its rampant corruption, alcoholism, and falling birth rate.
Russia is a huge country with many resources. It would be nice if it had a government that had fewer pretensions on the world stage and paid more attention to internal development.
OK, the Russians vs us? Hmmmm - it's better than us vs nuts in the ME. Russians are civilized, able to produce their own technology and well, chess players. If there has to be a top player to oppose us, who's better?
We have more in common with the Russians and they with us, then either of us has with AlQaeda - etc...
God knows none of those problems exist in the Unites States.
What you have described is a classic balance of power situation, like what we had 1871 - 1913. Great if it works, very bad if not, especially just after the point of failure.
Obviously Putin's patterns of conduct over the past few years are bad for the U.S. Instead of allying with us against the Islamist threat, he is doing the opposite, encouraging Iran, Syria, and others to make trouble.
The question is, whether Putin's adventurism and expansionism, and what is clearly a dream of creating a new Soviet Union, is in the interests of Russia.
I think not. The basic threat to Russia is from China (longer range and only potential) and Islam (direct and actual). Added to that is the demographic factor. Russia is committing demographic suicide, which can only end in the same way as it is likely to end in Europe--with the Muslims moving in.
The first thing Russia needs to do is to put its house in order. They need a solid economy, solid and productive jobs for the people, a return to family values, and a reduction in mafia-style corruption. A rebirth of Christianity in the Orthodox Church and perhaps reasonable tolerance of other Christian churches would be most helpful, because Christianity provides a moral basis for people to behave themselves, instead of having to rely on the police to make them behave.
Obviously Russia wants to keep the US out of its neighborhood, and to exert some degree of control over its neighbors, but that would best be done through trade and friendship, not through force and subversion.
If Europe collapses into Eurabia, Russia will not be in a good position, and will certainly find the U.S. a more useful ally than China and Iran.
RE: We have more in common with the Russians and they with us, then either of us has with AlQaeda - etc...
It's easy to conclude that. Most Russians are Caucasian, and based on their appearance, can easily be mentally lumped in with Western European peoples (and those of that origin elsewhere). Of course, not all Russians are 100% Caucasian (but neither are many "white" Americans - things of course are a bit different vis a vis Western Europeans). Culturally is where things get a bit more interesting. Although the initial Muscovy and Kievan Rus were certainly offshoots of Nordic tribes, much intervening history has resulted in a quite different cultural outlook than one would find in the West. Whereas, at the margins of the West there were battles with and minor loss of territory to Mongols and Muslims during the period 700 - 1500, Russia became a de facto vassal state of the Mongol Empire. This is an issue most Russians do not care to confront. Furthermore, cultural interchanges with the Persian Empire, and the later Islamic Caliphate, had an undeniable cultural influence. From samovars filled with tea, to onion domed churches, Russians assimilated oriental cultural elements.
There is a contention, which some might actual consider constructive contention, within the Russian psyche, between oriental and western elements.
What else would we expect from the only country besides Turkey to straddle the boundary between Europe and Asia?
By the way, I've got a family tree that is extremely pertinent to this discussion. I technically have more in common, genetically, with RusIvan than I do with most of my fellow Americans ;)
I'm sure that many in Russia think same as me. <<<
What your hope doesn't account for is that the balance will probably only be momentary.
America's power, relative to Russia's, must decline to achieve balance. OR Russia's power must increase relative to America's.
There is nothing to say that once balance is achieved, that the direction of fall, or rise, of either country, will stop. As a matter of fact, real-politic demands that it doesn't.
What about objective view? Is it desirable or is it possible that the large countries of the East or of the West or of the South are independent and have their spheres of influence? Or is it better if the whole world is ruled from one center?
In other words, will the world and America be better off if the world power is concentrated in Washington? Or is it better if the world is polycentric?
Couldn't have said it better myself. It wasn't until they went after Georgia that I understood this, however.
Even the Chinese have trouble with their islamic insurgencies...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.