Remilitarizing the Whineland

The Russians have spent a lot of time complaining that they are being surrounded by a hostile West. Truth be told, we're barely aware of them.

But Russia acted on their paranoia and attacked Georgia. Or they justified hard power politics by persuading their people that NATO is the threat. Either way, Georgia suffered.

Though the war seems over with Russia in control of the separatist regions of Georgia that Georgia had minimal presence in, this may well be the official end of the Inter-Cold War period between Cold War I and Cold War II (1989-2008).

Russia is militarily weak and America alone has an economy about 8 times the size of Russia's. And NATO is still expanding. Cold War II shouldn't be much of a problem to wage--even with our Western European allies in their own weakened state. The former Soviet satellites know all too well what Georgia means to them and can be counted on to resist Moscow.

I should think that it is obvious that Russia's ploy to replace NATO with EATO was just a joke. Russia doesn't want to join the West in a new alliance. Russia wants to wreck NATO before it expands more as vulnerable nations decide they'd rather be inside NATO like the Baltic States, Poland, and Romania, than outside like Georgia or Ukraine. Perhaps the Finns and Swedes will want in, too.

I also think that our proposed missile shield in eastern Europe is a done deal now. Russia may be weaker, but they've decided to be more aggressive anyway.

And when we beat Russia again, let's not allow the Russians to pretend they are anything but absolutely defeated. Or we'll be back at Cold War III--or worse--when a generation passes and Russians forget their history.