Is the Cold War back ?
Nato leaders approved plans to create a rapid response force with headquarters in Eastern Europe in order to send a clear mesage to Russia: stop agression and the use of force in Ukraine! The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 with the aim of deterring the conventional and nuclear forces gathered under the umbrella of the Soviet- led Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union has disappeared but tensions remain.The 28 Nato allies (The Alliance) underlined their determination to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Moscow responded by claiming that Nato was using this crisis as a pretext to move its infrastructure closer to Russia's borders. Against this background Alliance leaders pressed Nato's countries to spend at least 2% of their GDP in defense. Nato's own military budget for 2014 is € 1.4 billion. European leaders after dragging their feet as long as possible, imposed tough economic and financial sanctions against Russia.The Russian Federation fired back with the ban on imports of agricultural products from several Western countries. In short, everyone stands to lose. But despite the cooling of relations between the West and Russia, we believe that Cold War is not back. First, the rapidly growing trade and the financial integration between Western and Eastern countries will stimulate the efforts of both parties to reach an agreement. Furthermore, Russia wants to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence but that does not mean that Mr Putin is preparing World War III. And Moscow has long ago given up its global mission to change the world. In addition, Western countries must heed public opinion which is becoming increasingly reticent about armed interventions overseas. It is true that Russia's military incursion into Ukraine gives off a slight Cold War smell. But the declaration by the Ukrainian authorities that Kiev will not join the Nato should help to ease tensions between "West and East". In fact, things have changed and "Cold War" belongs to the past.
Comments :
- No comments
Post a comment