Tuesday, June 29, 2010

"Plus ça change... plus c'est la même chose":
Same old Ivan

For those who assume that the Russians are now our friends and partners in the war against terror, one must take into account the old adage that those who foget the past are condemned to repeat it.

Or at least something that resembles it.

The fact is that it has only been 20 years since the Soviets have rebranded themselves as Russians for the same reasons that the Russians have rebranded themselves as Soviets, in the same way that the porn industry has rebranded itself as the "adult entertainment" industry: it just looks good on paper.

Say what you will about W, at least he was standing his ground when he proposed an expansion of the SDI to the former Warsaw Pact nations. Sadly, he didn't have the guts to say to Vlad Putin that the US simply couldn't trust Russia enough at the very best of times. (All these years of Soviet subversion and destabilization still hurt. Find any Pole who could trust a Russian at his word.)

What we actually have here is the ongoing clash of 2 post-colonial behemoths. Needless to say, the US always have good PR, regardless of scandals, skullduggery and endless attempts at social re-engineering (thanks, Hollywood). Russia's PR, though, is an endless exercise of spin-doctoring, book-cooking and reckless chest-beating, chased with Potemkin villages of manipulated facts and state-sanctioned fiction.

Wanna know more... click here.

And yes kids... Jacques is back. Not quite in the black, but still primed to take up slack.

No comments: