Monday, February 12, 2007

How far would 'new' Russia go?

February 12, 2007


How far would 'new' Russia go?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to have surprised the West on Saturday when he accused the US of destabilising the world by launching conflicts but being unable to solve them. The reason for the surprise was not that Putin had levelled fabricated or unfounded charges against the US — the reality is there for the world to see how US actions have indeed made the world a more dangerous place than it was before George W Bush became the president of the United States in 2001. Putin surprised the West because it was not expected of him to criticise the US in so blunt terms because Russia is deemed to depend on the US for support on many fronts.
According to Russian analysts, domestic political considerations and US military moves near Russia's borders could be behind Putin's outburst, which came after a series of US-led events that undermined Russia's status as one of the big powers.
Putin has watched how the US ignored Russian protests against military action in former Yugoslavia and again in Iraq.
He was forced to swallow Russia's pride when the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) expanded into Eastern Europe and took in former Soviet republics in the Baltic as members in 2004.
Mosow has sharp differences with Washington in the Middle East. Putin advoates constructive engagement with Iran and Syria to help solve the Iraqi crisis and Palestinian problem, and he had indeed been speaking out in recent months, although in relatively mild tones.
It is argued that record earnings from Russia's oil, gas and metal exports in the last three years have made Putin confident enough to say that Russia reserves the right to say "yes" and "no" on issues of international concern.
A combination of these factors might have prompted Putin to hit out at the US. However, that has little bearing on the reality that Putin spoke for a majority of the international community when he accused
Washington of fuelling world instability by pursuing unilateralist
policies.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates tried to put up up a brave front against the stinging broadside, but he could not come up with any defendable argument. The reason: He knew that he could not respond with a logical and factual rebuttal since the charge levelled by Putin was based on strong grounds.
Gates could only counter that the US did not want another "cold war" with Russia. All other points he made at the Munich security conference were rehashed versions of the Bush administration's policy statements that are seen to have lost credibility with the American people themselves not to speak of a foreign audience.
In any even, it is time for the Middle East to watch Putin more closely and figure out whether he could be a strong counterbalance to the US weight behind Israel.
Putin's ongoing visit to the Middle East offers an excellent opportunity for regional leaders to sound him out further with a view to determining how far the "new" Russia could be of help for the Arab causes, including the quest for a fair and just settlement of the Palestinian problem and Israel's conflict with Syria and Lebanon.
As far as Iraq is concerned, the Bush administration is determined to learn its lessons only the hard way and there does not seem to be any room for anyone to manouvre.