A+ to cedarford

F to Marc Malone

Get your intelligence people to gather the FACTS of these “red” countries and use your brains to make the right decisions. Several of the above comments have merit.

I hope Obama will manage this the way he managed his campaign.

We are far more cautious of offending China because it could “jeopardize” good relations. Thus we don’t have US special forces advising Tibetans and Muslim independence movements in China’s sphere. Nor are we meddling in any Taiwan breakaway movement because of our “one China” policy accepting spheres of interest, or attempting to shame China by way of official denunciations of its NORK patronage, waving China nuke bomb blueprints they gave to Pakistan at the UN, or sliming them publicly on their human rights record.

I am aware of Russia’s strange mix of great feats amidst continued backwardsness. Nations can nevertheless be formidable and to be reckoned with despite have in backwards regions like the US Appalachia & Rural South, Japan’s Hokkoido and Okinawa Prefectures, the Aussie Outback. Or whole “classes” of people excluded from the rise of past great and worthy nations or civilizations. We somehow can muster up proper respect for ancient Greece, Israel, feudal Japan, the Age of Enlightenment despite 90%+ of the masses living as bad or worse than the Russian masses.

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Marc Malone – Your whole argument is based on the premise that Russia has a legitimate sphere of influence. They don’t. No one around them wants their influence. The premise in diplomacy is that spheres of influence are natural, that they exist as a function of economic, military, cultural power of one nation exerting influence on neighbors and in spite of “no one around them wants their influence. (USA, English, Turk, Russian, Chinese, etc.) Realpolitik 101.

Marc – Russia is dying, literally. Corruption and criminality is complete. The people are not breeding sufficiently to replace themselves.

The old Neocon “dying Old Europe, Russia, Japan, China” meme.
In which the Neocons conveniently ignore the massive corruption of State and Fed Gov’t in the USA, and in touting our “birthrates and welcoming shores for plucky immigrants” ignores that the white American birthrate is 1.9, also below replacement level. And only positive due to less educated, fast-breeding minorities – before whites themselves become a minority around 2037-2040.

Marc – All industries will be manned by outsiders, and Russians will no longer be in charge. Russia is finished.

Nope. After the criminal gangs, plus jews and western corporatists had a pillaging spree under Yeltsin, today’s Russia is about reclaimation of Russia’s stolen wealth and a humbling of the Oligarchs and a reassertion of Russian control of its resources and industries. A reason why Putin’s and sucessor Medvedev’s approval ratings are the highest of any leader in a democracy (yes, Russia is still one, albeit with less free press than before)

Russia is dying, literally. Corruption and criminality is complete. The people are not breeding sufficiently to replace themselves. Atop that, disease and alcoholism is rampant. All the beautiful women are using their looks to get the heck out of the cesspool. Same with anyone with any skills. Moscow has to hire Ukrainians to do the work, because Russians no longer can.

People commonly think that it was all over when the USSR died, but there is still a vast decomposing corpse. It’ll be another generation until we see the last of that repugnant regime’s effects fade. By then, it’ll be too late for Russia. It’ll be a vast tract of lightly populated land. All industries will be manned by outsiders, and Russians will no longer be in charge. Russia is finished.

Also, Cedarford’s view of Russia is quite naive. Do you seriously think Russian cronyism, poverty and paranoia were caused by American triumphalism in the 1990’s? Read Tolstoy or Dostoevsky for crying out loud.

Finally, any help proffered by Russia was due to realpolitik and what they could gain from it. Nothing wrong with that, all nations do it, including the US.

You sound like an intelligent person, Cedarford. I suggest you broaden your reading a little. You will profit from it.

– Nietzsche is Dead

Latin Americans willfully forget all our acts of generosity while cataloging our every sin and carving them in stone never to be forgotten. It’s time we dropped all aid and assistance.

That is what is always happening in Russia, no matter the decade or century. It has nothing to do with US blundering, antagonism, or provocations; the US engages in these aggressive diplomatic efforts because it *knows* this about Russia’s character – and so do the countries with whom we partner. The Soviet reorganization was an opportune time to do this; it was only a matter of time before they returned to their usual habits.

The Venezuelan effort is a case in point. Anyone want to bet whether Russia and the KGB had anything to do with Chavez’s aggressively Socialist party’s victory, or have anything to do with how they maintain and increase their power there? Did they not discover Venezuelan support to FARC, who are Marxist? In fact, did not the Shining Path recently attack in Peru afters years of quiescence? Putin also recently renewed Russia’s special relationship with Cuba.

Whether the Marxism-Leninism is just aesthetic or operative is for the observer to decide, but Russia’s re-emergence will take place by re-animating its prior strategic appendages. Why not? The structures emplaced by the KGB to maintain their Soviet loyalty persist; even if they aren’t Leninists anymore the buildings and tactics and personalities are all there to use.

O by the way – I think history demonstrates that the relative misery of the Russian population is rarely or never a curb on the plans and ambitions of the Russian autocrat or junta. It just isn’t. The Soviets were immiserated for their entire history; prior to that, Russia was a vast Asiatic barbarity with a Christian Pharaoh. Today, Russia is still “17th century” outside the few large cities. And yet they have the KGB, the vast nuclear and bio-chemical weapons industries. They have the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. They supply Iran with nuclear energy and Venezuela nuclear energy technology – prizes too good to refuse for the natives, even though they know such presents also come with KGB subversion and ultimately Russian control.

Russia is not stupid – not at all. Russia is evil. Believe it.

Uhn… As if Russia hadn’t been meddling in Latin America since the 60’s or even earlier… Where do you think the money for the guerrillas and propaganda came from?