Not only is the cold war conclusively over, President Vladimir Putin stands poised to use the new climate to purge his country of its lingering Soviet foreign and defence policy mindset. Old fashioned imperialism and truculent sabotage of an imaginary US-dominated ‘single polar system’ is being swapped for an influential place in the real world. Instead of losing sleep about a US world domination conspiracy, Russia is joining a real-life US-led international community, which jointly manages global economic and political stability in the interests of all.
Since it is implicit in economic reforms, this change would have happened anyway. But recent dramatic events were a catalyst. After his initial condemnation of the outrage and the declaration of Russia’s support for the US anti-terrorist drive, Putin retreated with his advisers to the Black Sea to weigh the level of involvement.
