Putin puts the boot in
October 16, 2007
- Putin attending summit of Caspian Sea nations in Tehran
Two weeks ago I reported that President Putin’s visit to Iran would act as a significant blow to the Neocons and Bush’s war machine. Today, despite dubious reports of a potential assassination attempt, President Putin became the first major world leader to visit Iran. For the likes of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, this will represent a ringing endorsement of their Islamic Revolution. They will be hoping that they can now bank on Russian support at the next round of the Security Council sanctions vote later in the year. But such will be their pleasure at receiving this powerful guest that they may not dwell upon the real reasons behind Putin’s visit.
Russia has a significant interest in controlling the resources and access to markets in Central Asia and the Caspian. Russia has fought wars in Afghanistan and later Chechnya to ensure that it retains power in the region – even at the cost of decimation. With several countries in the region already hosting US military bases, Putin is determined, perhaps with the aid of Iran to limit US influence in these states as far as possible. That is why the five nations at the Caspian Sea summit have agreed not to allow their respective territories to be used for an attack on each other.
Although Russia partly fears expanding Persian influence in these Central Asian states, the move from Putin is primarily aimed limiting US expanding influence (demonstrated by the Eastern expansion of NATO, which has humiliated the Russians).
Perhaps the meeting seems to underscore the old maxim, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Who knows. Frankly, I’m surprised at Putin’s audicity.
In addition, by closing ranks with Iran over Central Asia, Putin may have just put the diplomatic route to a resolution of the Iran’s conflict with the West out of reach. For Bush, his promise to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue by the end of his presidency might just have to be broken; the presence of Putin in Iran is a massive snub and a humiliating failure on the part of Bush to read Putin’s intentions.
The very thought of a US attack on Russian-built nuclear reactors in Iran is now beyond all reckoning.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=27369§ionid=351020101
October 16, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Prepared just copying my reply to your comment. FYI, I don’t think that there are American bases in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan (there is one in Kyrgyzstan and used to be one in Uzbekistan). The U.S. wanted to start something called “Caspian Guard” – a navy in the Caspian based out of Azerbaijan. I think these plans are all but dead, but not exactly sure. Anyway, here was my reply (more like a rant, sorry):
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Russia has a history of stopping men who wanted to conquer the world. During W.W. II, Russia saved humanity from fascist tyranny and, arguably, undertook the greatest sacrifice mankind has ever made for freedom.
The contributions of Russians to the arts and sciences cannot be understated. And, in my opinion, Russia is the best example in the world that multiculturalism can in fact work. I remember Putin made a few inspiring comments on Russia’s multiculturalism recently, if you want to check that out.
What is Russia’s role in the world today? Well, many analysts agree that Russia is the key to a “multilateral world” where American imperialistic visions are held in check. Referencing Putin again, check his Munich speech, the speech he made during the W.W. II Victory parade this past summer, and his press conference with the Greek President a few days prior to that (all of Putin’s speeches are available at the Kremlin’s web site).
In my opinion, Putin understands that American Neo-Con ambitions (due to arrogance, greed, and/or fear) require a permanently weak Russia to allow the United States to remain as the “sole superpower” and basically have its way the world over politically, economically, and culturally. Suffice to say, the 1990’s almost made these ambitions come to fruition, but the 2000’s have been an entirely different story.
Russia’s role, in a sense, is to keep the world balanced, and the strong Russia that is being built will keep the world balanced and stable for generations to come (i.e. a strong Russia is not a “Putin thing,” it’s a “Russia thing” and we should become used to it). Putin understands this of course and is simply glad to see that he has played his part; simply, he knows it doesn’t matter if it’s Medvedev, or Ivanov, or Yakunin, or whoever: the chances of Russia reverting back to how it was in the 1990’s are simply zero.
Russia’s geopolitical narrative is complicated and everchanging. For example, Russia’s comments about the IMF and World Bank being obsolete and colonialist institutions took many by surprise. Simply, Russia’s playbook is enormous and it is willing to confront its enemies (a blanket term to describe the people who plundered Russia while it was down, want it to get back down or even better split apart, and become a non-factor in the world) in every fashion, in every way, in every border of the world.
Funny thing is, the Russian coalition is becoming stronger than the American coalition (I am convinced that Germany and France are now firmly on the Russian side).
Anyway, enough of the rant.
Sincerely,
Colleen