Provoking Russia
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/BUSINESS/12/23/russia.putin.gas/art.putin.gas.afp.gi.jpg]
Muammar Gaddafi
The Boston Globe
Once again, the West's policy toward Russia and its addiction to interfering in the affairs of other countries is having dangerous effects on the rest of the world. The seeds for the current danger were sown by NATO's expansion to Russia's borders after the fall of the Soviet Union. That deliberate, provocative, and continuing process echoes in Russia's long memory the painful experience of the Napoleonic and German armies storming across Europe into their motherland, hell-bent on conquest.
NATO's expansion was not merely an attempt to secure Russia's vast resources – the sole objective of those earlier adventures. Its other aim was to fill the political vacuum left by the dismantlement of the Soviet Union. It was "independence mania" being driven down the throats of the former Soviet republics. However, Russia perceives its encirclement – from Central Asia to the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea – to be a threat, the effects of which are now playing out on the regional stage, including the recent hostilities in Georgia.
|
|
Filed under: Global 360° • Vladimir Putin |
About this Show:
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
Questions or comments? Send an email
Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with AC361°
Subscribe to the podcast
On Twitter
Search the AC360 blog
Thank you for your insight, oh honorable Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi. I can't wait till the Boston Globe's other African correspondent, Robert Mugabe's column appears.
Why was there such outrage from America when Russia stepped into Georgia being accused of using unnecessary force but nothing but support from the Bush administration as Israel slaughters a people they have blockaded and hold captive against the wishes of the UN?
Russia is a thousand years old and reaches nearly halfway around the world, with an historical experience as rich, varied and tragic as any nation on Earth. They will continue to claim their rightful place, despite the chagrin it causes those who still cling to the disintegrating dream of a Pax Americana.
The U.S. doesn't have to do anything what so ever to provoke Russia. They will always look for any little thing to comment or act on to try to make themselves look important once again.
Cindy...Ga.