With the recent news release that Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, has accused the US of instigating a "new arms race." Why is he saying that this is anything new, and why are we doing it in the first place? Our people say that it is because of a possible Iranian missile threat. So we create a missile defense and radar system in the Czech Republic and Poland.
It is true that Iran has continued its attempt to create nuclear energy for its country, and through this, is coming closer to gaining nuclear warhead capabilities. We, as the imperialistic United States ought, have condemned this and employed sanctions against Iran. From the realist perspective of national interests, our chief aim should be to maximize our relative power in the region. While it would be harshly condemned by the world at large if we were to enter Iran militarily at this point, I think it is wise to plant potential shields in the vicinity of Iran and Europe if such a cause were to become necessity. However, Poland and the Czech Republic are also within Russia's realm of influence, and our system is viewed by Putin as an aggressive and imperialistic act. Perhaps he is right, but with Iran being anti-Western, it stands to reason that we should protect our interests.
Now that I have established that it seems to be within the US' best interest to instate this missile defense and radar system, I have to ask why Putin would view it as an arms race. Why should he not simply increase his own country's capabilities, as he seems to be currently doing?
Why does he make so blatant a statement rather than keeping this under wraps? It is a diplomatic, not a militaristic move that he has made by making Russia's ballistic missile testing public and condemning US actions as antagonistic. Does Putin have a particular interest in Iran's nuclear system? Consider this: Russia is Iran’s chief supplier of nuclear equipment and weapons.
Meanwhile, Russia and the United States have been engaging in half-hearted diplomacy that has been nothing more than mostly-hyped meetings between leaders. (Consider President Bush's meeting with Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine or his ridiculous statement in 2005 that he "looked in Putin's eyes and got a sense of his soul." The quasi-friendly atmosphere between the two countries does not suffice for a reassurance that we are on good diplomatic terms.
Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister, goes so far as to claim that cooperation between Iran, Russia, India and China is “very significant to confront the hegemonic policy of the United States.”
Let's face it, we suck at diplomacy. We treat Russia as an ally despite the fact that they are outwardly hostile to us. We try to downplay that fact by being condescending. No wonder most of the world views America as being stuck up and the now cliché term, "imperialistic."
How about if we honestly look at the real shared interests of our two states and work from there? We don't have to agree on everything. We are separate entities, with separate interests.
Still, how do we deter war from breaking out over our potential defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland and attacks on those countries in which we have installments? I don't know. Russia's got its ballistic missiles, we've got our defense system; everyone should be happy, right? This is obviously based on more information than I have access to. That's why we need someone in the White House who will take international affairs seriously. We need someone experienced enough to weigh the various factors and who knows how to employ diplomacy. None of this, "eyes are the windows to the soul.”
Tak nam dopomóż Bóg
(Polish: So help us God)
