Russia Is Determined To Bring NATO’s Expansion Eastward to a Halt
Thursday, 18. September 2008, 03:59:23
Eric Walberg in Global Research Al Ahram Weekly article Russia Is Determined To Bring NATO’s Expansion Eastward to a Halt: The Ghost Of Stalingrad relates: In a provocative analogy, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev called Georgia’s 8 August attack on Ossetia Russia ’s 9/11, and said Russia would react the same even if Georgia is accepted as a prospective member of NATO. He announced to the Russian Information Agency 31 August “Five Points of Russian foreign policy” already dubbed the Medvedev Doctrine, as a response to what we might call the Bush I/ Clinton / Bush II Doctrine, i.e., the dismemberment of the USSR / Russia to ensure a US-dominated unipolar world. They include:
-a commitment to the principles of international law,
-a statement that “the world should be multipolar”,
-the wish to have peaceful friendly relations with all nations,
-the intent to protect its citizens “wherever they may be”, and
-the decisive fifth point: “as is the case of other countries, there are regions in which Russia has privileged interests. These regions are home to countries with which we share special historical relations and are bound together as friends and good neighbours. We will pay particular attention to our work in these regions and build friendly ties with these countries, our close neighbours.”
The Russian navy has resumed its (or rather its predecessor’s) presence in different regions of the world’s oceans. A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet conducted a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic from December 2007 to February 2008.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko insisted that Russia’s decision to send its armed forces to Venezuela was made before Russia’s war with Georgia. “This deployment had been planned in advance, and it’s unrelated to the current political situation and the developments in the Caucasus.” But the announcement was made just a week after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would mount an unspecified response to recent US aid shipments to Georgia.
Thankfully, the war is still at the level of hot air. “Go ahead and squeal, Yankees,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in a national broadcast in which he announced the exercises. The US mocked the announcement. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack poked fun at Russia’s navy, expressing surprise that “they found a few ships that can make it that far.”
Just in case Venezuela is too far from US shores for the outmoded Russian vessels, Russia has signaled it is keen to restore military and intelligence ties with Cuba. There are rumours it is seeking a naval base in Vietnam.
Not to be left out of the increasingly complex maritime equation, in June the US Navy announced it was re-establishing the Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, which would direct naval operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. It is also negotiating with Georgia and Turkey to establish a naval base at the Georgian port of Poti.
One of the responsibilities of US Special Forces in the region is to ensure the security of an oil pipeline passing through Georgia.
As US “aid” flows to the Black Sea in US warships, Russian military hardware flows to the Caribbean, as Venezuela recently bought 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, as well as submarines and missiles. Chavez has said that he would allow Venezuela to be a strategic base for Russian bombers should it be required. “In Venezuela they will always have a green light, they will be welcome, because Russia is an ally of Venezuela,” said Chavez. He proceeded to expel the US ambassador last week until after the November presidential elections.
Sergei Markov, a United Russia Duma member, sees this as posturing rather than the prelude to setting up a permanent base in the Americas. “We need bases on the territory of Iran and Syria where our strategic interests lie.” While it indeed looks like Russia will re-establish a permanent presence in the Mediterranean using a Soviet-era base in Tartus, Syria, this talk of bases in Iran is a new development. It is rumoured that Russia may set up bases there and supply Tehran with the cutting edge S-300 missile system to help protect its nuclear facilities from airstrikes.
-a commitment to the principles of international law,
-a statement that “the world should be multipolar”,
-the wish to have peaceful friendly relations with all nations,
-the intent to protect its citizens “wherever they may be”, and
-the decisive fifth point: “as is the case of other countries, there are regions in which Russia has privileged interests. These regions are home to countries with which we share special historical relations and are bound together as friends and good neighbours. We will pay particular attention to our work in these regions and build friendly ties with these countries, our close neighbours.”
The Russian navy has resumed its (or rather its predecessor’s) presence in different regions of the world’s oceans. A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet conducted a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic from December 2007 to February 2008.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko insisted that Russia’s decision to send its armed forces to Venezuela was made before Russia’s war with Georgia. “This deployment had been planned in advance, and it’s unrelated to the current political situation and the developments in the Caucasus.” But the announcement was made just a week after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would mount an unspecified response to recent US aid shipments to Georgia.
Thankfully, the war is still at the level of hot air. “Go ahead and squeal, Yankees,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in a national broadcast in which he announced the exercises. The US mocked the announcement. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack poked fun at Russia’s navy, expressing surprise that “they found a few ships that can make it that far.”
Just in case Venezuela is too far from US shores for the outmoded Russian vessels, Russia has signaled it is keen to restore military and intelligence ties with Cuba. There are rumours it is seeking a naval base in Vietnam.
Not to be left out of the increasingly complex maritime equation, in June the US Navy announced it was re-establishing the Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, which would direct naval operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. It is also negotiating with Georgia and Turkey to establish a naval base at the Georgian port of Poti.
One of the responsibilities of US Special Forces in the region is to ensure the security of an oil pipeline passing through Georgia.
As US “aid” flows to the Black Sea in US warships, Russian military hardware flows to the Caribbean, as Venezuela recently bought 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, as well as submarines and missiles. Chavez has said that he would allow Venezuela to be a strategic base for Russian bombers should it be required. “In Venezuela they will always have a green light, they will be welcome, because Russia is an ally of Venezuela,” said Chavez. He proceeded to expel the US ambassador last week until after the November presidential elections.
Sergei Markov, a United Russia Duma member, sees this as posturing rather than the prelude to setting up a permanent base in the Americas. “We need bases on the territory of Iran and Syria where our strategic interests lie.” While it indeed looks like Russia will re-establish a permanent presence in the Mediterranean using a Soviet-era base in Tartus, Syria, this talk of bases in Iran is a new development. It is rumoured that Russia may set up bases there and supply Tehran with the cutting edge S-300 missile system to help protect its nuclear facilities from airstrikes.
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