On The Deteriorating US-Russia Relationship



(image via bbc)

This blog has been vigilant -- in vigil? -- in covering the deteriorating Russo-American relationship, which, like the economy, was in good shape at the end of Clinton's watch. That was then, this is now. The Russo-American relationship is immensely important geopolitically not just because of Russia's petrodollars, its muscular kleptocracy, its corrupt oligarchs running rampant over the norms of international laws (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detahcment), its holding the spigots to Europe's oil supply -- Russia is important as an ally mostly for the fact that it is a nuclear power, and regulating its nuclear weapons is of paramount importance from a national security standpoint. Something tells me that even sending over Henry Kissinger -- a man greatly admired by authoritarians everywhere -- will not salvage which may have been damaged for a generation by this administration.

It seems to The Corsair supremely illogical that President Bush should antagonize Russia to the point that they in turn feel it appropriate to restart the Cuban missile crisis in reciprocation. Further antagonizing of Russia could, it is not inconbceiveable, lead to a Russo-Venezuelan alliance (One that Chavez would cherish). And that would not be a good thing for the American interest. Three episodes come to mind under the watch of Bush that brought us to this sorry state: 1) The Orange and Rose revolutions in the Ukraine and Georgia, 2) The present Chech missile crisis, and 3) The expansion of NATO onto Russia's doorstep. From TheJohnBatchelorShow:

"Stephen F.Cohen of New York University reported on the New Cold War, Sunday 20, and the lines in the sand that Moscow has clearly drawn over the last year. Moscow relations with Washington and London are as bad as they have been since the end of the Soviet state. The major issue is that the West, and especially Washington, continues to treat Russia as a defeated state that is no longer central, capable or vital to other regions. The Americans treat Russians as a conquered and beggarly peoples. President Bush's peculiar remarks about Mr. Putin's soul do not sound respectful of a co-equal. In sum, America disdains Russia as a junior savage.

"... Another line in the sand, though less deep than Ukraine and missiles, is the tiny but famous state of Georgia. Georgia has the only pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the West that does not cross Russian territory. Russia does not want Georgia to join NATO; and to warn Tblisi off, Russia stokes the rebellion of two break-away provinces in Georgia who are under the protection of Russian soldiers. Steve Cohen points to the fact that there are only five million people in all Georgia, and modest industry, so that this is not a dispute over profits. It is about oil and gas."

We have a pet theory that Bush, who valued the Defense Department -- at least in his first administration -- over State, listened to people who were still trapped in a Cold Warrior state of mind. Instead of looking at Russia with fresh eyes, they regarded it as a vanquished nation and treated it as such. That was a profoundly unwise miscalculation, and speaks to our deep need for a new generation of leadership.