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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Spengler on Turkey |
| 2010-06-10 |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #6 Well, lots of work that needs to done wrt overcoming Russian suspicion/greed/opportunism. Obviously they will ask a tall price of us. But if we're to have a replacement for Incirlik, and an end to Russian mischief with Iran, then we have to start thinking about what price we'll pay, in which areas. Price #1: we offer them military cooperation and maybe some technology sharing in exchange for an airbase in Azerbaijan, with some sharing of technology re. missile defense-- maybe the base would be jointly operated by us and the Russians. Price #2: we pull back on NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia in exchange for a Russian support on, and a united front against, Iran. Price #3: we offer to shift oil and energy purchases from OPEC to Russia, and offer potential market access in other areas as well. Bottom line, we need to recognize that NATO is worthless against the threats that really matter, all of which originate outside the European theatre, and that we and the Russians are better off making common cause against a) the islamists, including Turkey and Iran, and b) the Chinese. Different century. We need non-asian friends against asian threats. If we could drive toward an alliance with Russia from the north and India from the south, we'd be in an excellent geostrategic position. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-06-10 20:50 |
| #5 We've all been sleeping, and it's time to get serious about closer ties with Russia. But will Russia see it the same way, lex? They've been busily selling nuclear power plants and anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, and that anti-aircraft system to Syria that the Israelis so neatly crawled inside... not to mention they are in the process of building a pipeline to carry natural gas to Europe via Turkey. As I understand it, Russia still sees itself as fighting with America over the world, just less directly than when it was the USSR. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-06-10 18:52 |
| #4 I guess we have it all wrong: ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered reassurance on Thursday that his country is not turning away from the West, calling such charges "dirty propaganda". Somehow I'm not reassured one bit |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-06-10 17:25 |
| #3 He's done his homework. Turkish Islamism is a lot more dangerous than I thought: it has the potential to disrupt Central Asia and southern Russia as well as the middle east. We've all been sleeping, and it's time to get serious about closer ties with Russia. Let them have Ukraine, and let's get serious about joint US-Russian military exercises in the Black Sea + advanced missile installations in Azerbaijan. We should be making common cause with Russia against the neo-Ottoman and neo-Persian imperialists. And buy more of our oil from Russia instead of from Saudi while we're at it. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-06-10 15:58 |
| #2 First you'll be beheaded! Then hanged! Then spitted on hot stakes! Then bound, and burned, and drowned, and finally skinned! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart put all that in one of his operas. I have misunderestimated the fellow. O, the stuff I have learned on the 'Burg! |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-06-10 10:05 |
| #1 Oh. I thought Spengler was going to say something about Obama. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-06-10 02:09 |