John McCain's Comments

Senator John McCain recommended last month that "Washington needed to deal with Russia more as the modest power it is, not the great power it once was.”  This is not an accurate characterization of Russia or its importance in the world.  Russia has about 145 million people and has the most mineral wealth and energy resources in the world. Russia also covers 1/7 the land surface of the world and has a sizable nuclear weapons arsenal.  Like Russia and its policies or not, it is a power.

 

At any rate, the US ought to be applying principles of justice and fairness in its dealings with all nations.  And it certainly should not be using its leverage to give the Russian government and people a feeling of insecurity. This only plays into the hands of anti-Americans and xenophobes who wish to turn Russia away from the United States and the West.  Russia and the United States are not enemies.  There is no ideological divide in systems like the one that caused the Cold War.  American foreign policy should not demonize Russia or try to create an enemy where none exists.

The backdrop for McCain's comments is his support for Georgia.  But it is not Russian but Georgian aggression in the Caucasus has been the cause for instability in the region.