THE REPUBLICANS AND THE REIGNITION OF THE COLD WAR

THE REPUBLICANS, AND THE REIGNITION OF THE COLD WAR
Content: When the Iraq war started I remember saying to a friend of mine that I was surprised the Russians didn't do more to either try and stop us, or really give us trouble once we went in. After all, they had a lot at stake. Contracts, large sums of money, and strategic concerns. But they were in tranistion, and couldn't really focus on the Iraq situation as much as they might have liked. The Russians stayed out of it.
Now we find ourselves 7 years down the road. Putin has picked Medvedev as his successor, and the price of oil has skyrocketed. Now Russia is an Oil power, and she wants to be taken seriously.

For John McCain and Sarah Palin, the reality of a future world with Russia extends to bringing its former satellites like Ukraine and Georgia into the NATO fold, and boxing the Russians in at every turn.

To me, what's so unsettling about Palin's response to the Georgia question from ABC last week, besides her obvious ignorance of the most basic of foreign policy ideas, was her readiness, without obviously knowing anything about world affairs to commit one of the worst errors in foreign policy. Don't arouse the sleeping bear. Napoleon and Hitler both learned this lesson in the most brutal of ways.

Everyone knows that Russia isn't going away, and as Tom Friedman so aptly put it today on GPS, we're going to have to live in a world where we need Russia to get anything done. From oil to Europe, to engaging the Iranians, to dealing with loose nuclear materials, to getting anything done at the UN, we are destined to live in a world with a more aware Russia, a bolder Kremlin, and a smarter and more savvy Russian population.

If the Republicans succeed this Fall, A reignition of the Cold War could ensue, something that at the least would be counterproductive, and at the most utterly insane. Kennedy stared down Russia at a time when the US was very confident and strong. Mr McCain and Mrs Palin would face a much richer Russia at a time when we are in financial crisis, when our military is stretched t it's limit, and our nation is split down the middle idealogically.

Mr McCain and Mrs Palin seem to have little regard for history. An engaged Russia is a happy Russia. Wave a trout in the face of the bear, and you will get it taken away. Try and provoke her, and she'll take your head off. Perhaps Mr McCain and Mrs Palin should stop their sabre rattling, because as we all know, the Russians are much better at Sabre's than we are.