Washington Profile News Agency - www.washprofile.org
The US is ruining its relationship with Russia.
An interview with Stephen Cohen December 4, 2003
<snip>
==========================
I don't know what sort of *empire* Washington is running but from the available evidence it seems to be built to spill, not built to last.
Consider, for example, the tendency to demand endless concessions and cooperation from *allies* while offering little or nothing in return. This strategy seems based upon a belief that the world is composed of punk-asses who will never tire of saying yes with a minstrel's smile.
An excerpt from the Cohen interview, copied below, describes the situation neatly:
...
The main danger to the American-Russian relationship is not Khodorkosvsky. It’s two things. First, it’s the twelve year pattern of American policy toward Russia in which the US takes very large concessions from Russia and giving nothing in return. It began when Gorbachev agreed to the re-unification of Germany and Germany’s membership in NATO. He was promised by the first president Bush that NATO would not expand eastward. But of course, under Clinton NATO expanded first to the former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe, and now it’s expanded to the former Baltic republics. Russia caved in to the American bombing of Serbia. It went along with the abolition of the ABM treaty, which was the centerpiece of Russia’s nuclear security. It agreed to sign a fake nuclear reductions treaty according to this treaty, you put the missiles in a closet, and with a 90 days notice you say you don’t want to belong to the treaty anymore and get out. After September 11, Russia agreed to American use of its air space, its intelligence, it allowed bases in Central Asia. And what has Russia gotten in return? Not a single thing. The US has not even gotten rid of the meaningless but symbolic Jackson-Vanick amendment. Have they helped Russia with its national debt? No. Are they worried about Russia’s national security? No. Anybody who knows anything about international relations or human relations knows that a ferocious backlash is going to come from Russia.
...
I'd say the *ferocious backlash* Cohen foresees will not be coming from Russia alone.
DRM