Jayfor to The Reverenr

The relationship between the US and Russia since the collapse of Communism has been confusing to far more people than just you and me, Reverend. And I think that this is a complex a policy as any that has been made in relation to this over the last couple of decades. But is the prevention of one cold war the catalyst for another? Russia may be lauding the US President with unreserved vigour, but Barak Obama’s specific reference to Iran’s ‘ballistic missile programme’ is unlikely to do anything to douse the fires of animosity between Iran and the US (or indeed much of the Western World - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s verbal attacks on the UK during the election protests certainly didn’t go unnoticed). The Iranian President’s answer of ‘without such [nuclear] weapons, we are very much able to defend ourselves’ when questioned about said nuclear programme undoubtedly contains considerable venom. Granted, Iran holds nowhere near the power and influence Russia did in those Cold War years, but the fear and paranoia is still likely to hold considerable sway in international politics whether the Iran threat is real or not. Many outbursts from senior Republican Party figures have confirmed this.

So maybe this is a lot to risk in return for political favours on the Latin America front, which as you suggest will probably be used more for ill than for good. But other consequences, such as removing potential US military targets from European soil and improving relations with the old enemy, Russia, makes fine sense. We’ll just have to wait and see.