The analytical program "However," with Mikhail Leontyev 22 January 2014
A peace conference on Syria opened in Geneva, the first task of which is to stop the violence. A provocation is unfolding in Kiev, the first goal of which is to provoke large-scale violence. It would seem - what is common?
And the common thing is that both are products of Russian-American relations, as they have been developing over the past 30 years. More precisely, the US-Russian. And this is how Robert Gates, one of the pillars of American politics, rated this product. The former head of the Pentagon believes that all these thirty years, this policy, as he put it, "suffered from bad management."
"The arrogance of Americans who told Russians how to conduct their affairs led to deep rejection and bitterness," says Robert Gates, a councilor, former head of the CIA and Pentagon, who worked with four presidents in his new book.
The hasty inclusion of the former Soviet satellites - the Baltic countries, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and then Romania and Bulgaria - in NATO, he considers a mistake.
“Attempting to invite Georgia and Ukraine to NATO was an exaggeration. The roots of the Russian empire come from Kiev, so it was a colossal provocation. Were the Europeans, not to mention Americans, ready to send their sons and daughters to defend Georgia or Ukraine? Hardly.
So the expansion of NATO was not a carefully considered military commitment, but a political act that undermined the goals of the alliance and irresponsibly ignored what the Russians considered their vital national interests, writes the recent head of the Pentagon.
What should be noted? Gates is definitely the enemy. More precisely, politically correct, "potential adversary." He just thinks that it was necessary to be slower and more thorough. And that America should adequately pursue its interests, and not entertain inappropriate ambitions.
That is why he articulates his full support for Obama as regards restraint, realism and willingness to negotiate. To which, McCain, the Republican senator, party member of Gates, who is no longer adequate, responded: "I could keep silent until at least the next election."
“If the trigger is cocked, you need to be ready to shoot. I was against military intervention, describing it as an attempt to put out a fire using a gasoline canister. Syria is too close for Russia and Iran, our military intervention could have caused them to intervene,” said Robert Gates from their interviews.
America is tired. America does not pull in conflicts around the world. Russian America, not a threat. With Russia it is necessary to negotiate rather than to provoke. On the question of the Air Force, they say that America has lost the ability to project power in the whole world, as before, Gates replied:
“An interesting addition is“ as before. ”She did this all the time from the 50's, while other nations grew stronger, rebuilt after the war, with the rise of China, and with a decrease in our share in global GDP in the last 50 years, how other countries became richer. Our unilateral influence in the world between, say, the end of World War II and Vietnam is obviously in the past. "
It is worth a lot: according to Gates, America is now weaker in the world than after Vietnam. When the USSR is still quite alive ?! Moreover, the agreement with Russia is no alternative. And the current administration seems to understand this. Only Ukraine for us, I'm sorry, is an order of magnitude closer and more important than Syria. And who keeps the Ukrainian opposition on a short leash, everyone knows. So hold on!
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