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NATO Besieges Russia. Exxon-Mobil Breaks the Siege
Stephen
F. Cohen, NYU, Princeton University. EastWestAccord.com.
Listen to podcast HERE
06-14-2016
(Photo:
Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp, attends the 12th St.
Petersburg International )
NATO
Besieges Russia. Exxon-Mobil Breaks the Siege. Stephen F. Cohen, NYU,
Princeton University. EastWestAccord.com.
“…We
will agree to deploy by rotation four robust multinational battalions
in the Baltic states and in Poland,” said the Secretary General. He
underlined that these battalions are part of a much bigger shift in
NATO’s defence and deterrence posture, including a larger NATO
Response Force, a new Spearhead Force and 8 new small headquarters in
the eastern part of the Alliance. “All together this strikes the
right balance between a greater ability to reinforce, and boost our
forward presence,” he dded.
NATO
has also taken action to ensure that Allied troops can move faster
across Europe, for exercises or reinforcements, if needed. “Last
month, the Spearhead Force conducted an exercise which showed how far
we have come. One thousand troops and four hundred military vehicles
moved from Spain to Poland within four days,” said Mr. Stoltenberg.
He stressed that NATO will continue to work to improve freedom of
movement for Allied troops and equipment, because speed can make the
difference when a crisis emerges.
The
Secretary General underscored that Allies must spend more on defence
to sustain this shift in NATO’s defence posture. He highlighted
that, following a long decline in defence spending, 2015 was the
first year after many when the Alliance registered a small increase
in defence spending. “Our estimates for 2016 show a further
increase,” said Mr. Stoltenberg. The annual real change stands at
around 1.5 percent, an increase of over 3 billion dollars, with
twenty Allies planning to spend more on defence in real terms this
year. “So this is real progress. After many years of going in the
wrong direction, we are starting to go into the right direction,”
he said.
_______________
“…Tillerson's
presence is particularly significant because he will be the most
high-profile representative of U.S. business at a time when
Washington is taking a harder line than Europe on the need to keep
sanctions in place.
Tillerson
is among other oil major chief executives on the forum agenda,
including Robert Dudley of BP, Claudio Descalzi from ENI,
Schlumberger’s Paal Kibsgaard and Patrick Pouyanne of Total.
Other stories from today -
***Together against NATO: Russia moves forces to Belarusian-Ukrainian border***
And
one of them, the mother of all drones, the massive Northrop Grumman
RQ-4 Global Hawk, was apparently commandeered by Russian electronic
warfare and landed in Simferopol
This is the article mentioned by Stephen Cohen
On ‘Russian Assertiveness’ in Foreign Policy (Vladimir Brovkin)
June
14, 2016
Most
Russians today, as demonstrated by numerous public opinion polls,
believe that the West has encroached on their traditional territory
and in the case of Ukraine that the West usurped what many believe is
a part of the nation, one nation. Yes many including Lavrov said that
Ukraine and Russian are one nation. Western oriented, democracy
loving intelligentsia types, who in 1989 chanted For Your Freedom and
Ours, hailing independence of Baltic states from the Soviet Union,
let alone common folks believe that the West took advantage of them,
they feel betrayed, that instead of embracing Russia is one European
democratic community after 1991, the West took what was Russia’s by
right and history and included in into its sphere of influence
economically and militarily. To an Russian intellectual who had
always regarded Russia as a part of Europe, the idea that Ukraine can
be a part of Europe and Russia is not is a preposterous insult.
Moreover, after WWII the idea that Berlin and Washington make
decisions for the Ukrainian government causes rage, anger, and desire
to put an end to it now.
President
Putin’s foreign policy is still a desperate attempt to hold on to
the spirit of 2003- 2005 when Russia, France and Germany together
opposed the US war in Iraq. He still nostalgically remembers when
Russia and major powers of Western Europe charted a course of
creating one Europe from Portugal to Vladivostok in 2005. Putin still
does not want to let go of this dream. Hence the Minsk accords and
very feeble reaction to NATO arrogance.
That
is why he has been reacting to Western offensive, as Stephen Cohen
has pointed out numerous times. Putin was reacting to Western
takeover of Ukraine by very feeble response of safeguarding Crimea
and Russian military base there and providing lukewarm support to
Donbass, always seeking a way to restore normal relations with
Western Europe.
This
course, this feeble assertiveness has encountered a growing
opposition lately. In public debates on channel One one can hear open
criticism of Lavrov for the lack of defense of Donbas. Some openly
argue for a march sterner approach.
Let
me tell you what an assertive Russian policy would have looked like.
On Georgia, Russia would not have stopped after liberating South
Ossetia and would have marched into Tbilisi and installed a friendly
regime actually as the US had done numerous times in what it called
its backyard in Central America.
On
Ukraine, Russia could have refused to recognize a Maidan government
as illegitimate, a product of a coup d’etat and sent in the troops
to support legitimate government of duly elected President
Yanukovych. Some participants in the numerous channel one debates
advocated creating a Ukrainian Liberation Army, that would have been
openly not secretly supported by the Russian army.
That
army they argued should have driven the Maidan Bandera scum out of
Kiev, allowed them to secede in Western Ukraine, their hub and
declared to the West that West Ukraine its protectorate, a no fly
zone for NATO.
This
is just for starters. You want to continue OK Here is some more
assertive policy.
In
response to missiles in Romania Russia should install medium range
missiles in Transnistria region targeting American missiles.
That,
my dear friends, would have been an assertive foreign policy.
Moreover if you listen to debates on channel one of Russia TV you
will learn that that kind of policy including possible stern action
in regard to Poland,Lithuania and others whom they call taitors,
would have looked like.
So
President Putin is a Westernizer, a Petersburg Europe friendly
leader. If you think he is aggressive, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Vladimir
Brovkin taught at Harvard University for 9 years and at Urals
University in Russia for 5 years. He holds a PhD in History from
Princeton.
I think this is the report John Batchelor makes reference when talking about Brexit
EU referendum: Is Putin betting on a Brexit? BBC News
Unlike
many other world leaders, Russia's president Vladimir Putin has kept
quiet about Britain's upcoming referendum on its membership of the
EU. The BBC's Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been finding
out more.
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