Russia in Global Affairs

Even if Russia sets a goal of rejoining in the European balance of power once again, the conflict that will follow as a result of such behavior will not be of central importance to the fate of the world. The European era of international politics is over.

Current Cool War and other similar conflicts are not a new Cold War or a relapse of the old Cold War, but phenomena of a new era that have their own causes, logic, dynamics, and inertia. Accordingly, they require completely different responses and solutions. Recipes of the 20th century will not work in a new era.

The world has been changing so dramatically lately that even the Russian approach to strategic stability, characteristic of the period after the collapse of the USSR, and its understanding adopted in 1990 are rapidly becoming obsolete. As non-nuclear weapons acquire strategic properties and the line between war and peace becomes increasingly vague, the very nature of the threat of nuclear war is changing fundamentally: its outbreak becomes much more likely due to the escalation of a non-nuclear conflict than to an unexpected nuclear attack.

We should gradually free foreign policy of rigid subordination to geopolitics and related super-involvement. Geopolitics won’t disappear, but becoming less engulfed in it is an important task for Russia to tackle.

Very different ideas of how the world should be governed constitute one of the misunderstandings which underlie current East-West tensions. If Russia and the West wish to improve relations, they must reach a common interpretation of the rules.

Stephen F. Cohen ‘s book War with Russia? is controversial and debatable. Any of the author’s arguments should create applause by his supporters and fierce opposition from his critics as they could be the starting point for a much-needed debate.

It is not nuclear weapons that help maintain stability; rather, a gradual decay of the “long peace” will raise the need for the transformation of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons already act not so much as a guarantee against war as a guarantee that your enemy will not use them against you?like chemical weapons in World War II.

The rearmament program, now underway in the U.S., may lead to a new round of “militarization of international relations” and a new arms race between Russia, the United States, and probably China at a time when the strategic arms limitation regime is crumbling.

Hypothetically, Russia and the U.S. may stop escalating their war of ideas if their material interests do not cross. This would be possible if they divide their zones of influence and respect them.