Cold War-Like Tensions Re-emerge

Published in El Comercio
(Ecuador) on 3 February 2019
by Gonzalo Ruiz Álvarez (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Charlotte Holmes. Edited by Denile Doyle.
The announcement made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came as an utter shock. The U.S. is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which has been in existence since the Cold War itself.

The United States' stance provoked an immediate reaction: Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was doing the same. According to BBC World News, experts are warning of a nuclear race, although the Russian supreme leader made a point of stating that the scale of weapon development in Russia will only match that of the U.S.

For years, the Cold War kept the member states of NATO and those of the Warsaw Pact on tenterhooks. The treaty that is now at risk of being overturned was signed in Washington by former President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Today, the U.S., or rather its president, is showing little amenability toward his NATO partners or willingness to comply with the arms reduction quota. Europe is also mistrustful of Moscow, especially since the invasion of Crimea. It is hoped that we do not return to the “balance of terror,” which was thought to have been overcome.

For the U.S., the issue of nuclear arms has been pivotal. Several of the countries with whom it has strained relations are nuclear powers. There is dissension between the U.S. and Russia, despite increasing evidence of the deal made with Trump’s campaign team to politically sabotage Hillary Clinton.

As for the relationship with Iran, despite attempts to resolve the nuclear threat, tensions have shifted to the issue of oil. The embargo did not stop Russia and China from buying crude oil from the land of the ayatollahs.

Regarding North Korea, even though tensions between the two countries have eased and the threat to South Korea is apparently no longer imminent, its nuclear power is still intact. The nuclear tests carried out a year and a half ago made the world tremble over the prospect of a third world war being unleashed. Trump considers the expensive defense of his ally a burden.

The renewed tensions between Washington and Moscow come just as Trump and Putin have adopted different stances with respect to the tyrant Nicolás Maduro. The matter of oil, who controls it, and each country’s interests are, once again, in dispute.


El anuncio del Secretario de Estado de los Estados Unidos, Mike Pompeocayó como un balde de agua fría. EE.UU. abandona el Tratado de Fuerzas Nucleares de Alcance Intermedio, vigente desde la mismísima Guerra Fría.

La postura de EE.UU. trajo la inmediata reacción: Vladimir Putin anunció que Rusia hace lo propio. BBC Mundo dice que los expertos advierten de una carrera nuclear si bien el máximo dirigente ruso se cuidó en decir que solamente construirán armas en la medida que lo haga Estados Unidos.

La Guerra Fría tuvo en tensión durante años a los países de la OTAN y del Pacto de Varsovia. El tratado ahora en riesgo de sucumbir lo firmaron en Washington Ronald Reagan y Mijaíl Gorbachov. Hoy EE.UU. – su Presidente – no se muestra muy condescendiente con sus socios de la OTAN y no es afecto a cumplir la cuota de reducción de armas. Europa tampoco se fía de Moscú, especialmente tras la invasión de Crimea. Se espera que no se retorne al equilibrio del terror que se creía superado.

Para EE.UU. el tema nuclear ha sido clave. Varios de los países con los que tiene tensiones son potencias nucleares. Con Rusia hay diferencias pese al cada vez más evidente pacto con la candidatura de Trump para lesionar políticamente a Hillary Clinton.


Vuelve una tensión propia de la Guerra Fría

Con Irán, pese a los esfuerzos por destrabar la amenaza, la tensión pasa por el petróleo. El bloqueo no fue óbice para que Rusia y China sigan comprando crudo al país de los ayatolas.

Aunque las tensiones parecen haber bajado entre EE.UU. y Corea del Norte, su poder nuclear está intacto y aunque la amenaza a Corea del Sur no parezca estar hoy en primer plano. Las pruebas nucleares de hace un año y medio pusieron al mundo a temblar sobre el desate de una tercera Guerra Mundial. A Trump le molesta la costosa defensa de su aliado.

La nueva tensión entre Washington y Moscú llega justo cuando Trump y Putin han tomado posturas distintas en cuanto al tirano Maduro. El petróleo y su control, los intereses otra vez, en disputa.
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