jujuman13

You really need to not only read this article but also the comments made after the article.
Russians are far and away some of the sneakiest people on the face of the planet.
If it is possible to misconstrue any agreement, they will do so.
Link
BBC NEWS | Europe | New Russian world order: the five principles
Unlike the US which although it also does invade other nations, Russia rarely if ever actually allows a form of Democracy where there is freedom of whom is to be permitted to assume office.
This has been evidenced with the recent Presidential elections within Russia itself, where any opposition while being ostensibly permitted to exist, was not permitted to hold meetings within any major town or city nor was it permitted air time.
Putin is if not President certainly the one who pulls Medvedev's strings.
Putin has no intention of ever ceding power.

American

World Order, hardy har har. They're just a bit ahead of themselves.

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It's Obama's fault!

jujuman13

Slapping Putin on the back and claiming he is my friend as President Bush did was extremely patronizing.
Putin must have been laughing in his shoes at putting one over this idiotic President.
I would not laugh too loud nor too long.
Russia is dangerous.
You may not recognize this but almost certainly the EU does, any time Russia wants it can choke off any EU opposition by shutting in the Valves on it's Oil and Gas lines.
EU response will be all talk, no action
They have already done this with Ukraine and Belarus, even when Belarus is part of their Soviet Union. Whoops I should have said Russian Federation.
Try to remember Russia outputs 40% of Oil for world.
They choke in the Oil lines, what do you think will happen to the price you pay for gas?

American

And what makes you think that Bush didn't know what was going on? Gladhanding on camera means nothing.

jujuman13

Quote
(And what makes you think that Bush didn't know what was going on? Gladhanding on camera means nothing.)

I am not certain that Mr. Bush has any sense of what is happening in the World today.
Certainly he appears to have his own agenda and seems to have not been changeable ever since the Americans were stupid enough to actually elect him in 2000.

However what he does on Camera DOES have an effect on those who see him acting as a buffoon.

new coup for you

I thought that was the weirdest foreign policy move to come out of Russia in awhile.

I think maybe Russia is trying to regain some kind of ideological position to give a little more credence to their regaining the mantle of Eastern leadership.

But "anti-American" is hardly an ideology.

Or maybe in our current ****ed up world it is.

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And why does your tone suggest that you do not care about children?

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

American

Juju, I suppose you think that Putin's actions are a stroke of genius, rather than the actions of a buffoon?

donsutherland1

Russia has rejected the Krauthaummer thesis of a unipolar world for some time. President Medvedev's spelling out principles along those lines is par for the course.

Previously, Charles Krauthammer proclaimed:

It has been assumed that the old bipolar world would beget a multipolar world with power dispersed to new centers in Japan, Germany (and/or “Europe”), China and a diminished Soviet Union/Russia… The immediate post-Cold War world is not multipolar. It is unipolar. The center of world power is the unchallenged superpower, the United States, attended by its Western allies… Perhaps it is more accurate to say the United States and behind it the West, because where the United States does not tread, the alliance does not follow.

Aside from the fact that Russia rejected that thinking and the recent events showed just how flimsy the Krauthammer idea was, the problem with such a perspective is that unilateralism can only lead to overextension, inattention to one's critical interests, not to mention other nations’ interests in calculating policy decisions, and ultimately give rise to efforts by other states to “balance” the preeminent power. Such assertions of U.S. power and unilateral freedom of action renewed Russia’s historic fear of encirclement and fed increasing Russian efforts to counterbalance the U.S.

In the end, in laying out its foreign policy principles, Russia merely reaffirmed the existence of the kind of world that is wholly familiar to the Realist school of foreign policy. In that world, the balance of power is seen as a necessary foundation for reducing the risk of major international conflict. Moral principles are helpful, but they are not a substitute for the balance of power. Collective security, by itself, is a flawed instrument for promoting international peace and stability, as nations’ interests are not universal and the world’s nations’ desire to run risks is not equal. Effective foreign policy is anchored in national interests. Such policy recognizes the differences in national interests that exist among nations and seeks a balancing of such interests so as to accommodate the needs (though not maximum demands) of the world’s nations. Such a policy recognizes that spheres of influence still matter and must be taken into consideration in policy decisions, as no single nation can outlaw that reality by itself.

Vader

WHich is exactly why he needs to be removed from power and banned from politics.

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jujuman13

question by AMERICAN
(Juju, I suppose you think that Putin's actions are a stroke of genius, rather than the actions of a buffoon?)

No, absolutely no, he is not a genius.
I think that Putin is a thief as in stealing the riches that the Russian people have slaved for years to obtain.
I believe that Putin is horrified by the break up of the Soviet Union and is going to do everything he possibly can to assume overall Kremlin control over as many (pre Soviet Nations) as he is able to achieve.
Not a genius, sneaky as hell, devious as hell, someone to never be trusted.
He will eventually turn Russia and other Nations within Russian Federation into his own personal fiefdom.
However, with regard to Bush, that man is IMHO also no genius, he has caused almost irrepairable harm to the US.
From his cowardice after 911 to same after Katrina to Iraq he will go down as worst president US has ever had.