The Ruble isn't doing too hot right now, and the Yuan is still pegged to the dollar, which it will be for some time.
Posted on 11/30/2008 5:32:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Bitter anti-U.S. rhetoric from the Kremlin has been seen as a symptom of Russia's return to its Soviet past. But while the words may be similar, the gist of today's anti-Americanism in Russia could not be more different. In the doddering years of communism, Soviet ideology grew hollow, and official predictions of the imminent demise of capitalism could not disguise popular fascination with the United States and its movies, clothes, music, cigarettes and general way of life.
Now there is genuine hatred of the United States among ordinary Russians. The Internet brims with harangues and complaints about pindosy, the dismissive slang term for Americans. In a recent New York Times op-ed aptly titled "From Russia with Loathing," Cathy Young noted that 43 percent of Russians believe that Washington's goal is to destroy Russia.
Early in the current financial crisis, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared that it marked the end of the United States as a global economic leader. President Dmitry Medvedev has called for a new financial system and even proposed the ruble as a "regional" reserve currency.
In their criticism of Washington, Russian leaders are actually far more restrained than a large portion of their people. Even on reputable Internet forums, participants' Schadenfreude can be summed up as follows: "The pindosy got what they deserved, and the sooner their economic bubble bursts and their dollar goes to hell the better."
The optimal scenario of a post-dollar world, it seems, would be a partnership between Russia and China. I'd be a rich man if I got a penny for every web posting I have read describing an idyllic world where Russia provides raw materials for humming Chinese factories and imports Chinese goods.
This, of course, is a pipe dream. The United States remains by far the world's largest economy, comprising a quarter of global GDP and an even larger share of demand. U.S. multinationals dominate their industries. The country's scientific prowess and technological innovation are unmatched; one indicator of this is the number of U.S. Nobel Prize laureates and pioneering high-tech businesses. Moreover, it has the world's strongest military. Despite the crisis, the United States will surely remain the leader of the global economic and political system for many decades.
To be sure, the presidency of George W. Bush has been very bad for the United States. Under Bush, the country has violated many of its own laws, but it remains one of the world's first democracies, its Constitution is a model for other nations and its republican form of government has spread worldwide over the past two centuries. Most of the world has welcomed the election of the first African-American as U.S. president, and there is a good chance that Barack Obama will be able to take advantage of this international goodwill to strengthen the United States as a global leader.
China's government, meanwhile, does not aspire to democracy or liberty. It is the same Communist Party that executed and starved tens of millions of its own citizens. The party maintains tight controls at home, but its nervous reaction to dissent raises doubt about long-term stability. It was not a wise economic leader until the 1990s, and the current crisis will test its competence.
Moreover, China's foreign policy is blatantly nationalistic. The Chinese drive a hard bargain. China has little concern for foreigners and no respect for Russia. A Beijing-dominated world would not be a pleasant place for its northern neighbor.
If they wish, Russia and China could easily abandon the U.S.-dominated economic and political system and set up shop on their own. They did so once, after the Communist victory in China in 1949. The period was marked by poverty and repression, and in the end the two partners nearly came to blows. Few Chinese want to see those days return.
I've always wondered if they are aware of their leading national characteristic.
The Sino-Soviet split is alive and well, even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Interesting.
Vodka and Abortion destroyed Russia.
All their women are fleeing in droves to foreign countries for that reason.
Always blame the winner for your own failure I guess.
Demographers estimate that Russia could lose 40 million people - almost a third of its current population - by the middle of the century.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6990802.stm
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Send treats to the troops...
Great because you did it!
www.AnySoldier.com
The author is right to the extent that the USA is and will remain the power to emulate and wrong in saying that Bush broke US laws.
The Ruble isn't doing too hot right now, and the Yuan is still pegged to the dollar, which it will be for some time.
How 'bout giving us a clue as to which ones were violated. I think Ivan has been watching to many CNN and PMSNBC broadcasts.
Aside from inferring Bush broke trhe Constitution and Obama is the Second Coming, a lot of it is correct.
The Bush administration, Clinton Administration and Bush I administration really ruined the victory of Ronald Reagan, Lech Walesa and the Pope.
Our treatment of Russia has been naive (I can see his soul in his eyes - statement by Bush II about Putin), idiotic (plaincg missiles on the Polish border, inane (Bush I preaching to the Ukrainians and Baltic States about maintaining a union with the Russians), and misguided (ignoring an opportunity to move the new Russia towards an effective capitalist system).
We should be making RATIONAL overtures to the Russians and other eastern European States. WE should be offering an economic and military union with them. WE need each other. Russia is INFESTED with Muslims - ticking time bombs in their midst.
We should be aware of ethnic hostilities in the East and avoid aggravating them.
There is great economic and defense potential in alliances with eastern European States including Russia if handled with intelligence, finesse, diplomacy and historical awareness.
You would have though Rice, as a student of Russian History, would have predicted Putin's reaction to the wacky missile idea. Perhaps she did, but was overruled by Bush II.
WE will never know.
In that time populace had their lives improved a bit, triumphalism was high and dismissive or even hateful emotions toward the West were commonplace.
Russia had rising living standards (at least in a few major cities) for several years. Government attributed it not to the oil bubble, but Putin's genius. In those years nationalistic triumphalism reached a fever level among some populace, which decided that American era is gone and Russian one has begun.
Now it's all crumbling. Again, it's not attributed to any reality, but to the conspiracy by the US to ruin Russia.
Remember 50+ years passed in the Soviet Union before people got disillusioned with their Government and stopped considering the West as “the past” or enemies. It will take time.
Good can’t happen soon enough for me.
Not surprising considering the massive death toll during the Soviet era. It is estimated that the Russians lost 5-9 million during the civil war, 20 million during the famine and Soviet terror in the late 20's and the 1930's, and another 20 million during the war. There is a story about when the great Soviet census was taken in the late 30's it actually showed a huge decrease the population. Stalin was so angry he had the members of the census bureau executed.
bump for later
“...43 percent of Russians believe that Washington’s goal is to destroy Russia”
Wow. I didn’t know that Russia had such a crack problem.
Sorry, but it was not Putin, but Yeltsyn with his US advisers, who destroyed Russian economy and lives of Russians, unleashed gangsterism and terrorism; and US media. www.inosmi.ru with articles from US and European newspapers is popular reading. Putin made life in Russia less disastrous, than Yeltsyn.
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