Gaia

Title
The Russian Bear Roars

Link
Russian Bear Roars: Why Is Moscow Risking a New Cold War? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
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Excerpt

Why Is Moscow Risking a New Cold War?

By Christian Neef

Strategic bombers off the American coast, battleships in the Mediterranean -- the Russian military is displaying its might once again with Moscow pumping billions into new weapons. But where does the Kremlin see its enemies today, and why is it risking another nuclear arms race with Washington?

At eleven o'clock at night, when the moon is reflected in the slow-moving waters of the Volga River, when the steppes are exhaling the heat of the day, and when the last bars are closing in Yekaterinburg and Pokrovsk -- old provincial cities on the river's left bank that are now called Marx and Engels --, Gennady Stekachov is on his way into world politics. And everyone can hear it.

Russian military planes fly over Red Square and passing a Kremlin tower during a rehearsal for the May 9 victory parade in Moscow.
The shutters shake in the crooked old wooden houses German settlers built 250 years ago, and the windowpanes rattle in the prefabricated high-rise apartment buildings from Soviet days.

The cause of the commotion is Stekachov guiding his 150-ton, long-range bomber down a runway outside the city and, together with his crew of seven other men, taking off into the night sky.

He follows his usual route north, up to the Arctic Sea and the Barents Sea, and then turns sharply to the West to circle the polar ice cap. The first NATO fighters, now on high alert, have appeared by the time Stekachov reaches the Norwegian coast. From there on the jets -- French Mirages, British Tornados or Norwegian F-16s -- escort the Tupolev Tu-95 past the Shetland and Faeroe Islands to a point off the American coast.

Russian Bear Roars: Why Is Moscow Risking a New Cold War? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

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Comment:

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The present moment is a powerful goddess.
~ Goethe

Malkavian

Does it now? And yet it can be scared off with the cowbell....

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Woof!

Ptech

With the US invading Afghanistan and other parts of their neighborhood, installing missle sights as close to them as Cuba is to us, is it any fucking wonder that the Bear is feeling a bit threatened?

The Cowboy From Crawford, and his partner Deadeye Dick could unleash the US military at any given moment.

I would say the Russian agression is to be expected, given our behavior in recent years.

cheapseats

From Times Online
August 2, 2007
Russia plants flag in bid for Arctic riches


Russia staked an audacious claim to the vast mineral riches of the Arctic Ocean today when explorers planted their country's flag on the seabed below the North Pole.

In what Russian researchers had hailed as a symbolic mission to enlarge the country's territory "by more than one million square kilometres," two mini-submarines carried a total of six explorers to the ocean floor after a dive of 4,261 metres (13,980 feet) through a hole cut in the North Pole's icy surface.

After reaching their destination, the crew of one submarine left a one-metre Russian flag made of titanium and a capsule on the seabed.

The crew is the first to reach the seabed under the North Pole, and aims to strengthen Russia's claim to a swathe of ocean the size of western Europe that could contain billions of tons of oil and gas reserves.

The expedition plans to demonstrate that the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater shelf that runs through the Arctic, is really an extension of Russian territory. The North Pole is believed to hold vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas.

The Kremlin gave strong backing to the quest, which received huge coverage on state television. Vladimir Putin has also given Artur Chilingarov, who is leading the expedition and is Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament, the title of presidential envoy to the Arctic.

"Our mission is to remind the whole world that Russia is a great polar and research power," Mr Chilingarov said, as the submarines launched their expedition, which lasted almost nine hours.

Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute added: "Apart from the purely scientific goal of a comprehensive study of the climate and seabed at the North Pole, this expedition may help Russia to enlarge its territory by more than one million square kilometres."

However the mission of the two submarines, Mir-1 and Mir-2, was immediately mocked by Canada today, which described them as nothing more than a show.

"This isn’t the 15th century. You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We’re claiming this territory,'" Peter MacKay, Canada's Foreign Minister, told the country's CTV station.

Under international law, the five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle - Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States and Denmark via its control of Greenland - have a 200-mile economic zone around the north of their coastline.

Denmark and Canada have argued that the Lomonosov Ridge is connected to their territories and despatched a joint expedition last year to bolster their claims. Norway is also conducting a survey.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordered a new fleet of patrol vessels last month, saying they were needed to defend "our sovereignty over the Arctic". US politician have demanded action to defend its Arctic interests. Senator Richard Lugar warned in May that there would be no American presence at the negotiating table to challenge Moscow's claims unless the US ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that the success of the Arctic expedition would "supply additional scientific evidence for our aspirations", but that the issue would be resolved "in strict compliance with international law".

Mr Lavrov went on: "The expedition aims to prove that our shelf extends to the North Pole rather than at staking out Russia's claims."

Russia plants flag in bid for Arctic riches - Times Online

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Mr. Shaman

Aren't you forgetting someone??!!!