I was born in 1983, the tail-end of the "Cold War." Because of my youth, I grew up in a Soviet-free world. A world where the United States of America is the top-dog with few enemies of equal size and power. As I grow older, I see my country deteriorating. It's sad, but I'm confident that by the time I'm dead (hopefully at a ripe old age)--this country will no longer be number one.
Maybe number two if we're lucky. But definitely in the top three "most powerful" nations. Call me an optimist.
They say that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it--well guess what, we're all fucking morons because it's happening again. The "Cold War" is starting up all over again. Last month our old frienemies, the Russians, invaded Georgia. I'm not sure you follow international news/politics, but I try to keep up with the goings on in the world as best I can. Putin has been a scary guy for years, ironically enough he's scarier now that he's no longer running Russia. That guy is still pulling the strings, and he's has one goal: return Russia to it's former glory. It's former Soviet glory.
I'm not sure if we're going to see Communism return to Russia (I dobut it), but I do know that the "good old days" of Red/White/Blue vs. Red are returning. I just read an article on Reuters about Venezuela hosting the Russian Navy in some naval exercises...in the Caribbean later this year. What does that remind you of???
*cough* Cuban Missle Crisis *cough*
I'm not saying it's THAT bad...but I see the writing on the wall. The days where America only had to fear camel-riding fundamentalists are pretty much over. Now we have China to deal with (who I bet will be the number one, most powerful nation on Earth when I sadly pass away a few decades from now). We have Russia to worry about.
I grew up without the fear of the "Reds." Until 9/11 (which I'll talk about later this week), I lived without the fear of some horrible, vicious attack hanging over my head.
It was nice.
Sadly, I don't think this is going to be the case for my children. Or my children's children.
An excerpt from XTC's song, "Living Through Another Cuba":
Living through another Cuba
it's 1961 again and we are piggy in the middle
while war is polishing his drum and peace plays second fiddle
Russia and America are at each other's throats
but don't you cry
just on your knees and pray, and while you're
down there, kiss your arse goodbye
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Even today with a resurgent Russia powered by petrodollars, the Russian Navy is, well, not in good shape. It looks impressive on paper but most of the ships currently afloat are Soviet era surplus to include their ONE carrier. They have trouble getting their subs out to sea on a regular basis and it isn't uncommon for their missile subs (the ones with the nukes) to sit in port a lot.
Needless to say, I wouldn't panic. The Russians, as the Soviets before them, are often very much about symbolism. They understand our fear of the Cold War and they use that very skillfully to their advantage.
Further, if the Russians tried to emplace nukes in Chavez's patch of the world, we'd invoke the Monroe Doctrine and make them regret it.
Dealing with the Russians is often very much a "my balls are bigger than your balls" game. Or to put it another way, their bark is worse than their bite.
Anyhow, the Russians wouldn't want to fuck with the US Navy. Our Army and Marine Corps may be worn down from regular deployments, but the Navy? They are still in pretty good shape.
More than a match for any other naval power save perhaps Britain.
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
What sort of fear should we have of a joint Chinese-Russian alliance? I keep hearing that might happen, too.
Also, did you hear about Kim Jong Ill(sp?) possibly being dead??? Do you think his people in N. Korea would try to pretend he was still alive?
I'm glad I know people with military knowledge...because I honestly don't know anything about Russia's army and I was starting to take some talking-heads at their word on this stuff.
Russia's Army is not something to sneeze at. Their Navy is but I wouldn't want to get into a land conflict with them. Especially on their own soil. No one has fared well against them on that score.
Kim Jong Il is reported to be fine after surgery according to the NPR report I heard. Be interesting to see how things shake out when he finally goes. I don't know if he has a successor picked out.
China and Russia, historically, have been at odds over a number of things. It isn't quite my field of expertise though.
That said, considering that we are tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, there isn't much we could do with our undersized Army to counter anyone else.
Why it is undersized is a political issue. Some blame the current president and certainly, there are things to take him to task for, but they keep forgetting what the previous one did with the Army.
I didn't forget. I was wearing the uniform when he was doing it.
Anyhow. Thing to remember about China is that they have historically been very insularly focused. That could change and there have been instances when they have cast their eyes outward but over their 4000 years of history, most of it is spent looking inward.
The Russians would be that way too if they hadn't been invaded so many times by our wonderful European friends.
Respects,
Murph
Northtown, Missouri
Post a Comment