By Wang Yusheng
At the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy last Saturday,
Russian President Vladimir Putin harshly criticized US foreign
policy and unilateralism. He warned that "almost uncontained use of
military force" was extremely dangerous and unacceptable.
He said more countries would be stimulated to develop weapons of
mass destruction because no one felt secure.
Furthermore, Putin railed against US plans to build anti-missile
defenses in eastern Europe and the eastward expansion of NATO.
Putin's speech seemed to throw a bomb into US-Russian relations.
Some US politicians and media considered it Russia's "most
provocative" "Cold-War tone" attack, even making a fuss over a
possible second Cold War. Such reaction was obviously a pro-US
impulse of media and politicians.
In contrast, US President George W. Bush and other officials
played down the speech.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates deflected Putin's stinging
broadside, emphasizing that Russia and the United States "should
establish partnerships" to deal with global challenges including
terrorism.
Gates' rebuttal
Gates declared "one Cold War was quite enough", indicating that
the United States had no Cold War intentions and neither should
Russia.
Since the end of Cold War, the US government is accustomed to
handling US-Russian bilateral relations with "two hands vs two
hands" meaning both sides are gambling on their relations.
Bush and Putin both claim they've been friends for years. They
never forget to speak well of each other.
Back in June 2001, Bush sang Putin's praises when they met for
the first time in Slovenia. Bush said he was "able to get a sense
of his soul" and described Putin as "a man deeply committed to his
country."
Swapping praise, Putin confirmed the establishment of a good
personal relationship with Bush, extolling Bush as a lettered,
straight-out and experienced man.
At the press conference two days ago, Bush said, "I think the
person who I was referring to in 2001 is the same strong-willed
person."
While slamming the US as a "threat to peace", Putin also
remembered to compliment Bush, saying "Bush is an honest man and a
friend". Putin has made similar remarks many times before, learning
from his US counterpart.
In fact, both Bush and Putin are aware that it is very hard to
reconcile the two countries' core interests and orientation.
However, the two powers need to cooperate on significant
international security issues.
Putin in his speech at the Munich security conference pointed
out that "Russia and the US are objectively and equally interested
in strengthening the regime of the non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and their deployment.
Shared concerns
"It is precisely our countries, with leading nuclear and missile
capabilities, that must act as leaders in developing new, stricter
non-proliferation measures," Putin said.
On Wednesday, Bush said that there is a lot that he and Putin
can work on together, for instance, on nuclear issues involving
Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and on
their shared concerns over proliferation of technologies that could
cause worldwide harm.
"In other words, where we have common interests, and we work
together on those common interests, we can accomplish important
things for the security of our own people, as well as the security
of the world," Bush said.
Therefore, "two hands vs two hands" is logical.
It was US aggressiveness that led to Putin's strong attack on US
foreign policy. From the Color Revolution in former Soviet
republics to US Vice-President Dick Cheney's "democracy potatoes",
from establishing a US anti-missile system at the gates of Russia
to citing Russia's potential threat, the events greatly impacted
Russia's strategic space and interests.
Russia cannot be expected to remain silent. "Two hands vs two
hands", in the words of some US politicians, continues to describe
the two countries' ongoing gambles with their relationship. Not
even asking who would win, we just hope a new Cold War will never
occur.
(The author is a senior diplomat and a Beijing-based
researcher in international relations)
(China Daily February 16, 2007)
