New Arms Race Is Not Our Fault
It is not our fault because we did not start it.
~~ Vladimir Putin ~~
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a farewell address, expressed strong concerns against NATO’s expansion into former Soviet bloc states of eastern Europe and said Moscow would respond by modernizing its military and weapons systems. He blamed the West for starting a new arms race and phrased the above quote.
Politicians almost never admit that ‘anything’ is their fault but I think, in this case, Putin has a point. It will be foolhardy for the West to think that they can install ‘defensive’ interceptors and radars next door to Russia and expect Russia to stand idly by. The West’s rationale that these defensive installations are for containing threats from Iran seem very far fetched. What exactly is the difference between a defensive weapon and an offensive weapon? I don’t think there is much difference; it’s more like splitting hair!
These developments have obviously made Russia very edgy. Putin has stated more than once that arms race has begun and blames the West for starting it. It also gives Russia an excuse to assert itself as a power to be reckoned with. Personally, I think it’s much better for World security to have several more or less equal Super Powers rather than just one or two. With Putin’s rhetoric to respond to this arms race, I guess we are back to ‘The More the Things Change, The More They Remain the Same.’ ;-)
