Honour guards carry the national flag of Russian Federation (L) and a replica of the Victory Banner (R) during a military parade at the Dvortsovaya Square celebrating Victory Day in St.Petersburg, 09 May 2008 as Russia celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEVThe Third Cold War Has Begun, Karaganov Says -- Georgian Daily
Most commentators who talk about a new cold war emerging after the events in Georgia are referring only to the geopolitical contest between the Soviet bloc and the Western alliance after World War II, but one of Moscow's most interesting commentators says that any new cold war will not be the second but the third the two sides have engaged in.
By pointing out that there were two earlier such competitions – one prior to the second world war which the USSR ultimately won in the course of that military conflict and the second, better-known one, which Moscow lost decisively, Sergei Karaganov provides some important insights into what the new conflict is likely to look like from Moscow's perspective.
In a lengthy article in "Rossiiskaya gazeta," the head of Moscow's Council on Foreign and Defense Policy says that he is convinced that the world is once again being divided between "ours and theirs," in which "ours" will be defended regardless of what they do and "theirs" will be condemned no matter how they act.
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More News On Russian International Relations
Britain pushes for review of EU-Russia relations -- Reuters
The week that buried the new world order -- Guardian
This Isn’t the Return of History -- Newsweek
The New Energy Cold War: The Warsaw-Tehran Connection -- Seeking Alpha
West mulls few options in Georgia-Russia crisis -- Christian Science Monitor
Where’s next in Vladimir Putin’s sights? -- Times Online
West faces stark choice over Georgia -- AP
Target the Kremlin Pocketbooks -- Washington Post
How To Squeeze The Bear -- Newsweek
Realism about Russia -- Guardian
For those too young to remember the Cold War... -- BBC
Russia Is Brazen, Europe Weak -- Wall Street Journal
My Comment: I am one of those who is deeply skeptical of a return to the cold war. Today's Russia is not the Soviet Union with the Warsaw Pact of the past. It is a poor country with 150 million citizens that are trying their best to rise from the disaster that was Communism. Their infrastructure is in shambles, pensions are being paid but only so much, the economy is totally dependent on an oil and energy boom, the military is a fraction of what it once was, and the people themselves are facing a demographic collapse.
Russian nationalists are playing the cold war bluff .... but the reality of Russia today is quite different. Mother Russia has a lot on its hands .... and to be preoccupied with poking the West is on the bottom of its list.