During the first half of my lengthy Army career, the Cold War was still raging. After the Berlin Wall was brought down by the tenacity of American policy under President Reagan, and the Soviet empire crumbled, I thought: Not only is it going to be a tough transition from hardline Communist doctrine to freedom, but if they cannot adjust, we will see a return to Soviet-style aggression. We witnessed the first of it in Georgia, then in Putin’s saber-rattling, and now with Medvedev’s plan to revamp the Russian arsenal.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011.
Mr Medvedev said the primary task would be to “increase the combat readiness of [Russia’s] forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces”.
Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia’s borders and regional conflicts.
There’s the problem. With the former Soviet sattelites’ new-found freedom comes the choice of whether to stick with Russia, or join NATO for a better shot at security.
Last year, the Kremlin set out plans to increase spending on Russia’s armed forces over the next two years.
Russia will spend nearly $140bn (£94.5bn) on buying arms up until 2011.
Higher oil revenues in recent years have allowed the Kremlin to increase the military budget, analysts say. But prices have averaged $40 a barrel in 2009 compared with $100 last year.
In his first address to a defence ministry meeting in his capacity as supreme commander, Mr Medvedev said considerable sums are being channelled towards developing and purchasing modern military equipment.
……President Medvedev’s remarks also appear significant for what they say about the diplomatic game between Moscow and the new administration in the United States, says the BBC’s James Rodgers in Moscow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7947824.stm
The Cold War is not over. The Russians are pissed at the thought of losing status as a superpower.
They don’t like the fact that the Evil Empire has dwindled down to something that resembles a frustrated has-been. They’re getting real chummy with some of America’s worst enemies like China, Syria, Iran, and Venezuela.
What does Obama do? Shit like reneging on a promise to install a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Asking Medvedev for help in stopping Iran from getting the bomb. ‘Reaching out’ to the Taliban and North Korea.
While he’s distracted over his inability to handle the Democrat-created economic crisis, the embarrassment over his atrocious administration nominees, opposition to his socialist policies, and teleprompter glitches, the threats beyond our borders have not abated; in fact they are multiplying.
He’s handling foreign policy about as well as domestic policy.
False Hope and Loose Change.