Nuclear Follies

Vladimir Putin is at it again, and turns out to be a very old-fashioned and obsessive young man.  Still going on about the threat of the US and the imbalance created by its missile shield, even with Russia itself under it, and apparently insisting to upgrade, not reduce, its own nuclear arsenal and matching IBMs.

I’ve said it here before, this is not really about Russian security, even though some of its nostalgic military and political heads like to think so. This is about prominence. Rival China is shooting past a Slavic State in grave decline peddling and manipulating its natural resources, but not its people. Unable to manufacture anything but nineteenth century Vanderbilts, not a single useful consumer product in the international market place.

And of course Russia is capable of so much more, but it has an attitude problem in a more sophisticated and  competitive surround environment. A marvellous place unfortunately unforgiving to unproductive, still socially brutalized lay-abouts. Domestic freedom and transparency the motivation and stimulus its people aching for, not guns. 

Mr Putin should be looking South, not West. Russia’s threat is neither America, nor the EU of course. Russia’s future problems not even with Islam as such, but with trigger-happy, ambitious, crazy Islamist clerics, carelessly considering them ‘partners’ today.  

Russia  should join the US and Europe and find pride and enjoyment in its people’s potential achievements, not in artificial big power positioning that have always caused it more misery than happiness and a declining, morally defeated citizenry.

There isn’t anybody here not wishing Russia well, but it could begin by educating its leaders properly.

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