The new advocacy of containment may stem from a substantial gap between Russian and U.S. aspirations. U.S. diplomacy seeks to transform what Washington considers “nondemocratic” governments around the world, reordering entire regions in the process. Russia, with its experience with revolution and extremism, cannot subscribe to any such ideologically driven project, especially one that comes from abroad. The Cold War represented a step away from the Westphalian standard of state sovereignty, which placed values beyond the scope of intergovernmental relations. A return to Cold War theories such as containment will only lead to confrontation. ~Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
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October 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
petefrance
“Russians do not suffer from a sense of exceptionalism,”
Hah.
“Both countries and both peoples share the memory of their joint victory over fascism and their joint exit from the Cold War, which unites them in its own right.”
Double Hah. Most Russians would rather tatoo the stars and stripes on their ass than admit that anyone else had a role in defeating the fashisti.
Otherwise, though, the comment was rather sober-minded and should be reckoned with seriously.