Arguably, a new element of tension appeared by a conscious strategy by the Obama administration to insert a wedge between Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and create a rift within the Kremlin. To quote noted Russia-watcher Peter Lavelle, “Either Obama believes he has already mastered Russian politics … or he is being given some very bad advice … In Russia today, it is simply impossible to play Medvedev off against Putin. Both represent the same policy approaches, including foreign policies, but in different ways.”
“Biden’s remarks didn’t actually warrant a Russian rebuttal. But Moscow probably decided to put Obama’s hawkish deputy on the mat while the boss was in town to balance to some extent the mischievous briefings given by White House officials, touting a growing US-Russia convergence over Iran, which of course was exaggerated hype.”
So Obama tried to put a wedge between Putin and Medvedev and between Russia and Iran: both failed miserably as anyone with any grasp of Russia diplomacy at all could have predicted. As with the interventions in Iran and Honduras, the old box of tricks is still being used, but they just don’t work anymore.
11th July, 2009
The Cold War may or may not be lurking in the shade, but the mystique of Russian-American summitry lingers. In an event packed with animated passions in the run-up to it, and loaded with history, as the summit in Moscow on July 6-7 indeed was, what ultimately matters is the morning after. Read the rest of this entry »
Petras is one of the very few on the left to view Obama’s strategy objectively. He is right to stress that global conditions are no longer favourable for US intervention: we are witnessing, before our very eyes, the end of empire.
The recent events in Honduras and Iran, which pit democratically elected regimes against pro-US military and civilian actors intent on overthrowing them can best be understood as part of a larger White House strategy designed to rollback the gains achieved by opposition government and movements during the Bush years.
Washington, D.C., June 30, 2009; Today The National Institute for Science, Law, and Public Policy (”NISLAPP”) mailed a report on the health hazards of wireless technologies to Governors, Members of Congress, President Obama and his Administration, as well as to thousands of health and environmental journalists.
Legislators and journalists are being urged to learn about the health consequences of microwave radiation exposure from cell phones, neighborhood antennas, wireless networks, wireless routers, DECT portable phones, and the potential health consequences of further chronic exposures from wireless broadband and new wireless utility technologies. The National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy is encouraging all to become engaged with this important public health issue impacting adults and children, as well as animals and nature.
The government has received the Bioinitiative Report and therefore knows that the statement by the HPA that there is ‘no scientific evidence of any health risks’ is a barefaced lie.
In response to a petition calling on wireless technology to be removed from schools, the Government has pronounced itself happy with WiFi safety guidelines its critics have labelled ‘dangerously out of date’
A number of days ago we heard that the AU has declared that they will not cooperate with the ICC indictment of Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir. This is a very positive development, and I would like to submit my own testimony on behalf of Sudan and its president Omar al Bashir, in a spirit of defiant resistance, and for the cause of truth. Read the rest of this entry »
The meaning of Biden’s sabre-rattling now becomes clear: it’s part of a fiendishly clever scheme to put a wedge between Russia and Iran. It’s becoming an amusing spectator sport watching the cretinous US leadership trying to cope with the reality of their ebbing power.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said the recent remarks by US Vice President Joe Biden, who said Israel has the right to attack Iran, have surprised Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »
We have had weeks of government and army propaganda selling the “good war” in Afghanistan as being for the benefit of the Afghan people and as necessary to Britain’s interests.
London,June 14 (Pal Telegraph) -There has been significant publicity about the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, its ability to travel very long distances and the consequences to our health.
Celente is a bit hard on Mussolini who would , of course, have been appalled at government backing for purely parasitic financial wheeling and dealing. The problem is not state intervention per se but the fact that it is not orientated to rebuilding infrastructure, productive capacity and the general welfare.
