--- Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote: There is another aspect of it as well - US unilateralism may act as a stick for countries like China or even EU to closely cooperate with Russia to counterbalance that unilateralism. When the French ambassador to the US spoke at JHU just after the outbreak of the Iraq war - I asked him whether the US action meant a closer military cooperation between France (and EU) and Russia. The answer was "yes" - even though he tried to be very conciliatory toward the US.
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The Russian military is nothing to sneeze at.
I follow Western press converage of Russia pretty closely, and after a while you start to discern trends that are based on American self-obsession and self-congratulation. A case in point is the "declining Russian army" story, which used to appear every two or three weeks, about how the difficulties in Chechnya show how the once-mighty Soviet Army was now a basket case, forgetting that a) counterinsurgency is inherently difficult and b) the Russian Army is not designed for counterinsurgency, but for mass tank battles against NATO. Ever since the US Army started its reign of incompetence in Iraq, such stories have mysteriously vanished from American newspapers.
Another example if the once-popular "Russia's crumbling space program" story. Oddly enough, such stories disappeared immediately after the Russian space program saved the United States' after the shuttle explosion. In fact, NASA now owes Russia money for the use of its spacecraft and launching facilities, and Russia is sending a proble to Phobos. Ha ha.
To my question: In Poland, pre-1989, was homosexuality illegal, and, if so, was the law enforced? I ask because it was illegal here until 1993, but everybody I talk to says they never heard of anybody actually being arrested for it, which makes me think it probably was not enforced? Thanks!
===== Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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