Russia lost the original Cold War, but the United States is now weaker than it was 20 years ago

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:



Rupert Cornwell: The return of the great powers
Russia lost the original Cold War, but the United States is now weaker than it was 20 years ago

Saturday, 16 August 2008



What would George Kennan, peerless diplomat and father of the "containment" doctrine that guided America in the Cold War have said? Russian troops strut about Georgia as if they own the place; an American President lambastes the Kremlin, while Russia's foreign minister sneeringly comments that "you can forget about ... Georgia's territorial integrity", hinting at de facto annexation of the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Would not Kennan, were he still alive, conclude that history has gone on a 60-year fast rewind, and that the Cold War is back?

The answer is an unequivocal no. Vladimir Putin's Russia is a most unlovable power. But it is no longer the world-wide ideological adversary of the West, using proxy wars on four continents to advance its cause. In some respects it is not adversary but ally (albeit an often fickle one) of the US on issues such as Iran, North Korea and the Middle East.

Putin has partially rebuilt Russia's armed forces from their rusty nadir under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, but today's Russia cannot project military power around the world on a scale that remotely matches America. Economically, Russia has chosen a blend of statism and jungle, gun-law, Western capitalism, but its consumer-oriented "soft power" is minimal. There is no Russian Google, no Russian challenger to Coca-Cola.

Events in Georgia have underscored how Moscow is an increasingly assertive rival of the US. But it is not Washington's mortal adversary in a 21st century reincarnation of the Cold War. And why should it be? Russia, after all, lost the original Cold War. Right now it is flourishing under existing arrangements – which reflect less a new bellicosity on the part of the Kremlin, but a new set of global realities.

First, the US is relatively weaker than it was when the Cold War ended almost 20 years ago – in economic, military and not least moral terms. The recession almost certainly now upon it will be the most painful since that of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and conceivably the worst since the Great Depression. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-the-return-of-the-great-powers-898997.html

[fascisthunter]

1. Neo-Cons=Sociopath Idiots with Power

[ribrepin]

2. Putin's a smart man...he wouldn't try this if the US wasn't weaker

Two wars and tax breaks for the wealthy will do that.

[GOPBasher]

3. Very good point. n/t

[sourmilk]

4. "no Russian challenger to Coca-Cola?"

It JUST AIN'T SO:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10521125
"In Moscow, cola's share of the soft drink market dropped from 37 to 32 per cent between 2005 and 2007, while kvas' market share, 16 per cent in 2007, more than doubled over the same period."

"No Russian Google?"

http://www.philb.com/cse/russia.htm
Actually, there are 85 "Russian Googles."

For the most part, Russians are fiercly patriotic and would MUCH rather use their own products than ours. The problem arises when they cannot export this patriotism with their products...

The USA is getting poorer, however, while Russia and China are getting richer. USA global hegemony is a pipe dream and they will find themselves increasingly challenged for future geopolitical dominance in key regions by up and comers like Russia and China...