Political Discussions

Putin's Successor Wants Cold War II - Discuss

Posted by historytimes • 11/10/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: cold war, cold war ii, russia, south ossetia

Following Russia's recent crushing defeat of Georgian forces in South Ossetia do you think that they have malign intent towards the West? Their military is flexing it's muscle with Medvedev issuing veiled threats against US actions in the region - so is this the beginning of Cold War II?

User Comments

11/10/08

Wisco

No. Russia's invasion of Georgia had to do with Saakashvili's attempts to put down a separatist movement in S. Ossetia. While clearly illegal, it wasn't unprovoked and the west is only a secondary or even tertiary concern. Putin's a bad guy, Medvedev's a bad guy, Saakashvili's a bad guy. It's just a bunch of jerks being jerks together. None of this is really any concern of ours.

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11/10/08

Theresa111

NO.

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11/11/08

historytimes

Thanks Wisco, but it does seem that Russia is pretty twitchy about the Wests moves to put up their European missile defence shield in places like Poland etc.

I can see that "Putin's a bad guy, Medvedev's a bad guy, Saakashvili's a bad guy" etc as you say and that both sides are at fault to a certain extent but I think there's still time for the relationship to sour - for both sides sake in their battle against Islamic militants etc I hope it doesn't and they remain friends, because against Al Qaeda and the like they need to.

Medvedev seems to be positioning Russia as pretty bristly though - here's what Reuters report this morning...

"MIXED SIGNALS"

"Since Obama's election last week, Medvedev has sent mixed signals. The day after the election, he said Moscow would deploy short-range missiles near Poland's border in response to U.S. plans to station elements of an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic."

www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE4A97PN20081110

And the Moscow Times is debating the whole Doomsday Armageddon against the US right now. In fact, they are saying that there is the very real possibility that a new Cold War has been triggered by Medvedev himself...

"Without the slightest grounds, Medvedev has threatened the United States with a real Cold War. This is the first time in 20 years that the country's president has officially announced his intention to create a direct military threat to NATO states."

Here's the full very interesting article...

www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1016/42/372282.htm

One thing is for sure - it's going to be very interesting watching Obama deal with Russia from this side of the pond.

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11/11/08

wehireu

The Polish government like so many Eastern European governments likes to make statements about what its allies say to test them out. It is the classic statement of my friend believes this, then turning around and saying right friend.

The United States appropriately said we said nothing along these lines if you are paying attention.

The announcements on the world scene tend to drown out the truth. The United States is in a better position to set terms than Poland.

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11/11/08

clioandme

To understand Medvedev's public utterances about foreign policy, you have to pay attention to his domestic political and economic concerns. It is a mistake to think this is all about the US or even NATO. If it was, he would not have made such a public stink about the missile defense system. An Obama administration might have been happy to scrap this unproven technology. With the Russian quasi-ultimatum, it will be hard to do so.

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