“Hard Choices” (3): a view of Russia
This week, we had the utterly appalling experience of a Malaysian Airlines aircraft being shot down over Eastern Ukraine with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew. Most observers – myself included – believe that the airliner was shot down by Russian-speaking Ukrainian rebels with equipment and probably expertise provided by Russia. Coincidentally I have just been reading the chapter on Russia in “Hard Choices”, the memoir of Hillary Clinton’s four years as US Secretary of State. She writes:
“Hard men present hard choices – none more so than Valdimir Putin, the President of Russia. Putin’s worldview is shaped by his admiration for the powerful czars of Russia’s history, Russia’s long-standing interest in controlling the nations on its borders, and his personal determination that his country never again appear weak or at the mercy of the West, as he believes it was after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He wants top reassert Russia’s power by dominating its neighbours and controlling their access to energy. He also wants to play a larger role in the Middle East to increase Moscow’s influence in that region and reduce the threat from the restive Muslims within and beyond Russia’s southern borders.
To achieve these gaols, he seeks to reduce the influence of the United States in Central and Eastern Europe and other areas that he considers part of Russia’s sphere, and to counter or at least mute our efforts in the countries roiled by the Arab Spring.”
President Obama and Secretary Clinton attempted to “reset” relations with Russia and Clinton even presented a mocked-up reset button to Russia’s Foreign Secretary Lavrov. However, the button was labelled ‘peregruzka’ (overcharged) rather than ‘perezagruzka’ (reset). Either way, the reset scenario did not last long.