This week the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, warned against Russia's use of energy as an instrument of foreign policy. Speaking before his ambassadors, the French President said: "Russia is imposing its return [as a great power] on the world scene by employing its assets, notably oil and gas, with a certain brutality." A great power ought to be gentle in its economic or political superiority. The Russians, however, are accustomed to a more cynical use of their advantages. The language of the Russian president includes mockery, condescension and threats. The West cringes, the East advances. Who cares what the weak countries think? Their feelings are without consequence.
Russia is not only engaged in a military buildup. Russia wants to use its economic muscles. You might ask what economic muscles Russia could have? It is bankrupt, backward, hobbled, demoralized and generally dismissed as an effective economic actor. We must remember, however, that positions in the world economy can change, that tables can be turned. Last June, at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, the Russians called for a "new international financial architecture." Here is Russia's "Final Phase" economic strategy. The financial vulnerability of capitalism is growing. Keep pushing oil prices higher. Weaken the dollar. Precipitate the inevitable "crisis of capitalism." Let the have-not nations rise up. Let them throw off their dollar shackles. Let them unite with Russia and China in "one clenched fist."
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes the United States is vulnerable. The emerging economies of Brazil, India and China - combined with Russia - can shove the hollowed-out American economy aside. After all, American economic ascendancy is "archaic, undemocratic and unwieldy," according to Putin. As for Europe, its dependence on Russian energy exports will assure a smooth process of "Finlandization." Such a process begins with gentle warnings from Russia's ambassadors in Europe and ends with self-censorship. Russia's economic penetration of Europe gives special leverage to Moscow. In other words, the Kremlin has entered into the Fabric of European political life - through agent networks, influence operations and business pressure. These relationships can be used to influence powerful people, to adversely affect the careers of anyone who opposes Russian interests.
Economic influence means political influence. As America is humiliated, as America retreats, Russia advances. The day might come when Europe pays for its energy in rubles. If this occurs, Europe would have to acquire a large store of Russian currency. Russia's economic position would grow, and so would Russia's hold on Europe. Moscow wants to build a global oil exchange on Russian territory, knocking big financial players to one side. The Russians want to stun the American economy. They want to weaken an already weakened dollar.
In 1984 a Russian defector named Anatoliy Golitsyn wrote of the period following the collapse of communism. He warned of a renewed attack on the West, engineered by KGB strategists. He said that this attack had an economic dimension. In his 1984 book, New Lies for Old, he wrote: "'Liberalization' in Eastern Europe on the scale suggested could have a social and political impact on the United States itself, especially if it coincided with a severe economic depression. The communist strategists are on the lookout for such an opportunity." According to Golitsyn, the communist bloc tracks Western economic developments. They watch for developing weaknesses. "The communist bloc will not repeat its error of failing to exploit a slump as it did in 1929-32." The smartest political observers know that a financial slump resurrects Marxism and its critique of economic freedom.
Referring to a deceptive phase of self-advertised Russian weakness, Golitsyn warned: "Information from communist sources that the bloc is short of oil and grain should be treated with particular reserve, since it could well be intended to conceal preparation for the final phase of the policy and to induce the West to underestimate the potency of the bloc's economic weapons." The economic weakness of Russia led Europe to feel safe about their growing dependence on Russian oil and gas. And now it is too late. Now we see how Russia and China have formed a military bloc. We see them supporting the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the paranoid buildup of Syria and Venezuela - the seduction of Latin America and the bloody unraveling of sub-Saharan Africa.
The U.S. financial situation worsens as the old communist bloc gathers its economic, political and military forces. Look at the new Russian weapons - nuclear missiles, tanks, jet fighters and more. Look at Latin America and notice what is happening in Venezuela, Bolivia and Colombia. The communists are advancing under various false flags. They seek the destruction of the United States. It doesn't matter who is in the White House. It doesn't matter what policy the U.S. is following. They want to destroy America, because America stands in the way of their plans.
If you live in America and want your children to be free, you'd better wake up. The actions of Russia are not in reaction to American "aggression" or "imperialism." They are part of a long-established pattern of deception and exploitation. This is how the Russians behave. This is how they've always behaved. Most political pundits and "experts" will scoff at this statement. But let me ask them: Is it a coincidence that a KGB-regime has emerged in "democratic" Russia? Is it happenstance that this regime has formed a military alliance with communist China?
Shortly before her death, the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya asked whether the rise of Putin's Russia was mere happenstance. In answer to this question she took a bullet in the back of the head. The silencing of those who ask the right questions is part of the old communist pattern. According to Mark Riebling, KGB defector Golitsyn's 1984 book contains 148 falsifiable predictions. Of these predictions, 139 were "fulfilled by the end of 1993 - an accuracy rate of nearly 94 percent." Today, Golitsyn's accuracy rate is higher. Having predicted Russia's use of oil as a weapon, having predicted a future alliance between Russia and China, it might be said that 141 out 148 of Golitsyn's predictions have come to pass.
In recent months Russia tried to provoke a war between Israel and Syria. It turns out that the paranoia in Damascus was fueled from Moscow. The conventional analyst thinks the Russians are motivated by the prospect of further arms sales to Syria. But this is not the whole answer. Russia seeks to foment a greater military crisis with which to intensify the economic and energy crisis. The Russians and their allies are making trouble where they can. The hour is ripe. The U.S. president is weak. The American economy is troubled. One great push, one more straw upon the camel's back, and capitalism might be overthrown - once and for all.
