The Russian bear is back - and this time it's gas-powered

[cal04]

Petrodollars give Putin weight on world stage
America is 'nervous and angry', say observers


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After 20 years of decline combined with the festival of liberty ushered in by Mikhail Gorbachev's revolution in 1985, the bear is back. Helped by a tide of petrodollars, his "national champion" gas and oil titans projecting Russia's power abroad, and his authority unassailable at home in contrast to Bush, Blair and Chirac, Mr Putin is walking tall on the global stage. The climax comes in July in his hometown, the old imperial capital of St Petersburg, when Mr Putin hosts the leaders of the world's richest seven countries. The rest of the world is worried. The US has concluded that Mr Putin represents a clever return to traditional Russian authoritarianism. Central and east Europeans, all too familiar with Russian domination, are quaking.

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Alexander Rahr, a biographer of Mr Putin and Germany's leading analyst of Russia, said years of western cooperation with Russia were giving way to rivalry. "Putin is starting to set the international agenda. The Americans are getting nervous and angry. The US wants to prevent this but has very limited means to do it."

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Mr Kuchins(Russia expert at Washington's Carnegie Endowment) says the Kremlin is enraged by the American lectures but Mr Putin's speech showed his contempt. "Putin lumped together the US, Africa and Latin America and that is new. That is part of the response: 'You Americans no longer are important to us, so piss off'."

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Russia's new wealth is utterly dependent on the markets and the price of oil, which can fall as well as rise. And Gazprom's power is umbilically linked to Europe, which provides two-thirds of its revenue. "They need Europe as much as Europe needs Russia," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. Nonetheless, Russia's new clout is making itself felt on the biggest problems on the international agenda - Iran's nuclear ambition is number one. Russia is the biggest block to the US and Europeans punishing Tehran and Mr Cheney's attack looks unlikely to change Moscow's policy. Quite the contrary; there is talk in Washington that Mr Cheney timed his speech to dash any chance of a diplomatic breakthrough on Iran since, as a hawk, he favours confrontation with the mullahs.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1774031,00.html

[bemildred]

1. It was clear what Pooty-Poot was up to when he took down Khordovsky.

He even said his agenda was essentially nationalist, to assert sovereignty over Russian resources. The real point is that the Bushites have failed utterly to thwart Pooty-Poot, in fact they have helped him unintentionally far more than they have done him any harm. Pooty-Poot's contempt is well deserved.