The New Cold War
According to a persistent myth, not only is there friendship between all democratic countries, but those countries also do their best to help countries that are not democratic enough.
Unfortunately, this is just a myth; great power politics have not gone away. If it becomes more beneficial for a democratic country to harm rather than help, they will harm. And if it becomes more beneficial for a democratic country to switch to direct military aggression they will do so, as we have recently seen in the cases of Iraq and Libya.
U.S. and Russian interests on many issues are directly opposed. Hence, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States did not even think about stopping the Cold War against Russia. Its politicians openly declare that America should stop Russia’s attempts to increase its influence on the world stage.
Causes for Hostility Between Russia and the U.S.
We often hear from our emigrants or even U.S. citizens that “in America, nobody cares about Russia. Ordinary Americans are more concerned with the results of a baseball game than they are with Russia.”
They are partly right. Ordinary Americans really do not think about Russia. The problem, however, is that political decisions are not made by ordinary Americans.
Nuclear Weapons
For several decades, Russia has been the only country in the world that could destroy the United States with nuclear weapons, or at least cause irreparable damage to the U.S.
U.S. military interests necessitate solving this problem in one of three ways: destroying nuclear weapons in Russia, subjugating Russia or fostering some kind of protection from Russian missiles. This is a matter of U.S. national security.
Russia's interests, on the other hand, require the preservation of its nuclear shield. For if the Russians were to lose it, they would lose a significant part of their political influence and the U.S. would become a military threat to Russia.
Energy Resources
The economy of our planet is based on energy and most of the goods and services are produced by means of electricity. Power generation is tied to hydrocarbons and, to a lesser extent, nuclear power plants.
Russia ranks first in the world in oil and natural gas production, thus having a huge impact not only on the global economy but also on world politics. U.S. trade interests require control over Russian oil but Russia, of course, wants to retain control over its hydrocarbons.
The same conflict can be seen on a smaller scale in the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants.
Ideology
Russia does not take part in the modern Western culture of tolerance. At the same time, unlike with China and the Arab countries, Russian culture is sufficiently close to that of the West that we can compare the two — the traditional Russian “Orthodox” culture and the new Western culture of “tolerance.”
Such a comparison is highly unfavorable to the West, because it shows an alternative to the path that was chosen by Western elites. Therefore, the West tries to force Russia to adopt its tolerant ideals.
If the West succeeds in making Russia a tolerant culture, it will receive an additional prize: After conforming, Russia’s spiritual leaders will become Western ideologists, living in the West and controlled by the West.
Politics
Nuclear weapons, control over vast reserves of hydrocarbons and other factors provide Russia a colossal political weight in the world. Russia uses this weight to promote its interests, which often conflict with the interests of the United States.
For example, in 2013 Russia did not allow the United States to invade Syria or to make Ukraine an associate member of the EU.
Of course, the United States would prefer if Russia did not have any opportunity (or desire) to put spokes in [the United States’] wheels.
America has several options to neutralize Russia: conquer it or draw it into problems not related to the U.S., thus weakening it by draining its resources.
The Dollar
All the financial strength of the U.S. is based on the dollar and all of U.S. military power is based on its financial strength. For the U.S., it is critical nobody even thinks of encroaching on the hegemony of its currency. The whole planet does international trade in U.S. dollars and keeps gold reserves in dollars.
For Russia, it would be more beneficial to use its own currency, the ruble, which is firmly secured by hydrocarbons. However, in the U.S. point of view rejection of the dollar means theft of its money because then the United States will cease to profit from Russian trade.
Moreover, if a country as powerful as Russia ceases to use the dollar, this might start a chain reaction of countries transitioning to their national currencies. The dollar zone will become smaller, the dollar exchange rate will fall, and the U.S. economy will fall into a deep crisis for a couple of years.
Unfortunately, this is just a myth; great power politics have not gone away. If it becomes more beneficial for a democratic country to harm rather than help, they will harm. And if it becomes more beneficial for a democratic country to switch to direct military aggression they will do so, as we have recently seen in the cases of Iraq and Libya.
U.S. and Russian interests on many issues are directly opposed. Hence, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States did not even think about stopping the Cold War against Russia. Its politicians openly declare that America should stop Russia’s attempts to increase its influence on the world stage.
Causes for Hostility Between Russia and the U.S.
We often hear from our emigrants or even U.S. citizens that “in America, nobody cares about Russia. Ordinary Americans are more concerned with the results of a baseball game than they are with Russia.”
They are partly right. Ordinary Americans really do not think about Russia. The problem, however, is that political decisions are not made by ordinary Americans.
Nuclear Weapons
For several decades, Russia has been the only country in the world that could destroy the United States with nuclear weapons, or at least cause irreparable damage to the U.S.
U.S. military interests necessitate solving this problem in one of three ways: destroying nuclear weapons in Russia, subjugating Russia or fostering some kind of protection from Russian missiles. This is a matter of U.S. national security.
Russia's interests, on the other hand, require the preservation of its nuclear shield. For if the Russians were to lose it, they would lose a significant part of their political influence and the U.S. would become a military threat to Russia.
Energy Resources
The economy of our planet is based on energy and most of the goods and services are produced by means of electricity. Power generation is tied to hydrocarbons and, to a lesser extent, nuclear power plants.
Russia ranks first in the world in oil and natural gas production, thus having a huge impact not only on the global economy but also on world politics. U.S. trade interests require control over Russian oil but Russia, of course, wants to retain control over its hydrocarbons.
The same conflict can be seen on a smaller scale in the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants.
Ideology
Russia does not take part in the modern Western culture of tolerance. At the same time, unlike with China and the Arab countries, Russian culture is sufficiently close to that of the West that we can compare the two — the traditional Russian “Orthodox” culture and the new Western culture of “tolerance.”
Such a comparison is highly unfavorable to the West, because it shows an alternative to the path that was chosen by Western elites. Therefore, the West tries to force Russia to adopt its tolerant ideals.
If the West succeeds in making Russia a tolerant culture, it will receive an additional prize: After conforming, Russia’s spiritual leaders will become Western ideologists, living in the West and controlled by the West.
Politics
Nuclear weapons, control over vast reserves of hydrocarbons and other factors provide Russia a colossal political weight in the world. Russia uses this weight to promote its interests, which often conflict with the interests of the United States.
For example, in 2013 Russia did not allow the United States to invade Syria or to make Ukraine an associate member of the EU.
Of course, the United States would prefer if Russia did not have any opportunity (or desire) to put spokes in [the United States’] wheels.
America has several options to neutralize Russia: conquer it or draw it into problems not related to the U.S., thus weakening it by draining its resources.
The Dollar
All the financial strength of the U.S. is based on the dollar and all of U.S. military power is based on its financial strength. For the U.S., it is critical nobody even thinks of encroaching on the hegemony of its currency. The whole planet does international trade in U.S. dollars and keeps gold reserves in dollars.
For Russia, it would be more beneficial to use its own currency, the ruble, which is firmly secured by hydrocarbons. However, in the U.S. point of view rejection of the dollar means theft of its money because then the United States will cease to profit from Russian trade.
Moreover, if a country as powerful as Russia ceases to use the dollar, this might start a chain reaction of countries transitioning to their national currencies. The dollar zone will become smaller, the dollar exchange rate will fall, and the U.S. economy will fall into a deep crisis for a couple of years.
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