COLD WAR AGAIN?

After a decade of somewhat peaceful relations with the Russian Government, things look like the Cold War is coming back. I want to argue that the Cold War never really went away, but that it warmed up after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I will point to recent events that have lead me to this conclusion. During the summer of this year the Russian military stormed its way into the country of Georgia. They went in, by their words, to support the oppression of peoples living on the boarder by the Georgia government. This was not true, I would argue that they went in to gain control over oil pipe lines as well as see what the world reaction would be. Talks of adding Georgia and other boarder nations with Russia to NATO brought harsh reaction from the Russian government. Also this year the largest military exercise was conducted by Russia with Venezuela. Steaming ships from Russia to the South American Coast was a show of power and projection of their abilities to make war if they have to. Another incident this year that shows that the Cold War might be cooling down again is the US wanting to develop a missile defense system in Europe. The Russian government took this action as a hostile act against them and it would mean another arms race to happen. This action by the US was clear in purpose, it was to defend the countries of Europe form missile launches from rouge nations and enemies, clearly not intending for an arms race to begin. With these few incidents and the oppressive government, saber rattling talk, and a new wealth because of oil, Russia is beginning to look a lot like the old USSR. What do you expect when you have former KGB running the government. Getting Colder, I would say yes.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/russia/index.html