Ganging Up on Russia
For the past several years, it has been clear to anybody that cares to pay attention that the world now has to deal with a very different Russia than the chaotic debt-riddled borderline basket case we all became accustomed to in the 1990s.
With a resurgent economy and flush with energy wealth, Moscow very much wants to return to its seat as one of the world’s great powers. At the same time, Putin’s Kremlin, seething with resentment after a decade of humiliation, appears hell-bent on using its new economic clout to punish those who dared to depart – or are trying to depart – from Russia’s orbit.
What they don’t appear to understand in Moscow is that these two goals are contradictory.
And the irony is sweet for Moscow’s former satellites. They now have the power to deny the Kremlin what it wants most – a seat at the world’s elite tables – unless it starts playing by a new set of rules. And at least for the time being, they are willing to wield that power.