Russia’s New Muscle Puts US In Tangle
IN RECENT YEARS, the Russians have been renowned as masters of chess. President Vladimir Putin seems a good student of the game from his days in the Russian secret service and is playing his hand deftly against the United States. Recently, he was hosted by United States President George W. Bush at his family estate in Maine. From all reports their relationship seemed to have warmed up again after Putin’s outburst when Bush announced America’s intention to station missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic in Europe.
The visit was Bush’s diplomatic attempt to soothe the ruffled feathers and to assure Putin that United States was well-intentioned. It came as a complete surprise therefore that within weeks Russia would suspend its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. To the Caribbean countries this development might have little significance but it could have some consequence in international affairs. It shows the nascent hubris by Russia which was quick to point out that it was not a withdrawal, only a suspension.
Full Nation Editorial
BU quite enjoyed the captioned editorial which was a departure from the same old, same old. With the collapse of the cold war period and the dismantling of communism, the world has seen the consolidation of power in the hands of the United States of America. Diplomats seemed to earn their way back then, and when it failed there was the reliable gun boat diplomacy which was used to good effect to balance the forces of the East and West. We had numerous SALT agreements (weapons agreements) and the world had to live with cold war rhetoric. In retrospect it seems unbelievable to write that the world appeared to be a safer place compared to now.
Recently Putin, the Russian President directed some harsh words towards the United Kingdom (UK). A quote attributed to him:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed a UK request for Andrei Lugovoi’s extradition as the remnant of a “colonial mindset”.“They have long forgotten that it is a long time since Britain was a colonial power,” he told Russian TV.
The re-emergence of Russia and more importantly Putin’s assertive and crafty approach to developing a foreign policy, has presented an issue for the world to think about. Within the last week Russia and China have teamed up to have a military exercise in China and five more are planned for the rest of the year. Although the motive behind the military exercise has been given as:
Russia will hold a counterterrorism military exercise with China and other members of the “Shanghai Six” in August, the Ground Forces commander said Friday.”The main [of the six international counterterrorism exercises planned for the year] will be a joint exercise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in August,” a regional grouping dominated by Russia and China, Army General Alexei Maslov said.
There is no doubt that the collaboration between China and Russia must be creating sleepless nights in the West. Both countries practice communism and despite overtures to westernize their economies many would admit that a communist system of government seems the better approach to managing their respective economies where both have large populations to manage in underdeveloped economies. The distribution of wealth in China and Russia continues to be an issue for them.
BU readers may ask what does this have to do with Barbados. At this point we are not sure, what we know is the infestation of Chinese labor throughout the Caribbean region and China using its economic power to entrench itself permanently in our small countries could lead to some interesting outcomes. The reemergence of communism will lead to the old tensions of the past. No doubt pressure will be brought to bear from China on our small countries to support their various agendas in the global forums. Prime Minister Arthur’s and the other Caribbean leaders overtures to China has the potential to create an awkward position if the interest of China and USA collide in the future.
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