Russian Defiance

Reagan, and his foreign policy team, brought the Soviet Union to its knees and splintered it into numerous independent states now circling in Russia’s orbit and dependent on its largess, oil and gas. The minute any state, or Russian oligarth with money, political opponent or critic questions or challenges Russia or its Oil Czar President Vladimir Putin, Russia instinctively resorts to cold war totalitarian bombastic rhetoric and tactics, that include assassination and embargo-like cut-offs of oil and gas, desperately belonging and needed by its European neighbors during sub-zero cold European winters. Western Europe imports 30 percent of its oil and 40 percent of its gas from Russia.

The new cold war Russia has launched, unlike the first one, is not a fight for military supremacy, but rather for gaining control of energy resources. President Vladimir Putin is transforming Russia into a new oil and gas superpower with vast gaining power over the European community. Russia is the world’s eight largest producer of crude oil and the largest of natural gas. Moscow is using its energy clout for geopolitical gains, especially in the regions that were once under Soviet control are now independent countries.

Assassinations in London including the high profile nuke assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KG spy who had accused Mr. Putin of leading an autocratic, murderous and corrupt government. Litvinenko was a figure in the struggle between the Putin government and Russian Oligarchs for the country’s most prized possessions ─ the oil and gas fields controlled by the Russian oil companies, the state-controlled Gazprom, and the privately held Yukos. Harassment of the British ambassador in Moscow, silencing the BBC broadcasts in Russian, and cutting off oil and gas to the Ukraine, Belarus and all air, sea, rail and road transport as well as postal deliveries and money transfers through the Russian postal system to Georgia. To its credit, Russia has established and deepened Europe’s dependence on Russian energy sources, and elbowed the European Union into near silence in the face of threatened boycotts and Russia’s refusal to sign the charter of good conduct between energy suppliers’ and their clients. After all, Russia hold’s a veto and a gatekeepers prerogatives in relation to the West’s hopes to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Russia’s support of Iran is short-sighted. Russia backing Iran’s nuclearization is a short-sighted financial goal that only takes the world into dangerous potential nuclear conflict zones, but also puts Russia in harms way.

A nuclear armed Iran on Russia’s border is not in its national interest, especially with Russia’s own 20 million Muslim citizens becoming more radicalized. That Iran is seen as a principle backer of the Chechen separatists is also testimony to the truly short-sighted vision of Russian policy.