Commentary

Growing Tension Between Russia
and the U.S.

Despite claims of an agreement on nuclear weapons between U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the close of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Genoa, Italy on July 22, there are numerous sign that tensions between the two imperialist powers are growing, not diminishing. The widely divergent interpretations issued by Bush and Putin in the days following their "historic agreement" tend to confirm this.

On arriving home, Putin hailed the agreement as a victory for Russia in blocking U.S. plans for a National Missile Defence (NMD) system. Bush, on the other hand, claimed that Putin had agreed to the NMD program in exchange for overall bilateral reductions in nuclear warheads. Some observers are claiming that Bush simply doesn't understand what he agreed to, but that explanation seems somewhat incredulous because, while Bush may not understand the agreement, surely some of his advisors do.

In the days leading up to the G8 summit, Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a friendship treaty. While both leaders claimed that the treaty was not a military treaty and was not aimed at any other country, the general consensus was that it was meant to serve as a warning to the United States. Besides the proposed U.S. NMD initiative, Russia is vehemently opposed to the eastward expansion of NATO. It also is wary of U.S. covert support for separatist movements in the oil-rich Caucasus region and its expanding military occupation of the Balkans, both of which threaten Russian strategic interests. Tensions have also been mounting between China and the U.S. over the future of Taiwan and the constant incursions of U.S. spy planes over Chinese territory.

Immediately prior to leaving for Genoa, Putin issued a call for the disbanding of NATO and the establishment of a new European security group that would include Russia. This demand echoes similar suggestions issued last year by Germany and Britain. Those earlier suggestions were quickly withdrawn in the face of strenuous U.S. objections, however silence on the issue from Germany and Britain does not necessarily mean that they have given up on those plans, and Putin's call may have been issued to encourage a renewed pursuit of an independent European security agency in those quarters, as well.

What we are witnessing is a geo-political chess game in which all of the imperialist powers are manoeuvring for position and staking out possible alliances in preparation for another inter-imperialist war. What form those alliances will eventually take is impossible to tell at this stage, but it is clear from recent events that Russia is attempting to shore up its rear area in Asia in the face of U.S. advances in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.