In his e-book publication titled Russian Rubicon, W. Joseph Stroupe likens modern Russia to Julius Caesar. And like Caesar, Russia must cross the Rubicon if only to save itself from the "unreasonable" Anglo-American hegemony. But more than seeking its own salvation, Russia follows the path of a great power that knows how to adapt and improvise. The Americans, on their side, are not so fortunate. According to Stroupe, "the U.S. has failed utterly to conduct itself in a fashion that recommends its particular brand of leadership to the world at large." He argues that America has "poisoned the international order with significant and justifiable fear, apprehension and resentment over the instability and inequitableness resulting from its global dominance."
Stroupe suggests that Russia has prepared a "noble" response to America's insensitive blundering, just as Caesar enacted a "noble" response to the corrupt Roman Senate of the first century B.C. Far from ruined as a geopolitical power, Russia is in the process of rising from its own ashes. "It has become quite fashionable to say that the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. on one side and Russia on the other ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union," Stroupe explains. "The naïve proponents of such a shallow and idealistic view of American-Russian relations attempt to prop up their 'house of cards' analysis by pointing out that the bitter ideological rivalry ... dissolved ... when communism was pronounced dead." But the so-called "death of communism" wasn't decisive at all. The rivalry of the two powers was geopolitical rather than ideological. There has always been basic incompatibility between Russia and America. "The Cold war was merely Round I," says Stroupe. Russia has become a thinking power while an "unreasoning" and "iron-like" neo-conservative element has taken charge of Anglo-American affairs. A new Cold War has begun.
The neo-conservatives, he argues, see the international system with America at the center, "destined to rule a new, born-again ... unipolar age." But this is sheer fantasy, warns Stroupe. Anglo-America "has become seduced by its own power. As such, it now believes fully in the very image of invincibility which it previously knew and understood was mostly an image." Setting aside the everyday realities of the shopping mall regime, Stroupe insists that America is in "the throes of fervent nationalism and the unreasoning brand of patriotism, married to religious fundamentalism and ... apocalyptic adventurism...."
We ought to pause and reflect, at this juncture, and acknowledge an exaggeration in Mr. Stroupe's account; especially his idea that fervent nationalism flourishes in the United States (aside from the waving of Mexican flags in support of ten to twenty million "undocumented workers"). We may also question the authenticity of an American patriotism that imports countless items marked with the apocalyptic assignation "MADE IN CHINA." Be that as it may, Stroupe deserves high praise for deconstructing America's myth of invincibility. This myth hides the troubling, even terrifying suspicion that America is inherently weak and divided; that liberals and conservatives counteract each other in a way that negates the whole. Russian policy, on its side, is unencumbered by domestic political opposition. The only uprising one might expect in Russia is the sight of 100,000 Chechen corpses floating up from shallow graves.
We should also doubt Stroupe's claim that America's leaders are attempting to employ an age-old formula by using fundamentalist religion to "harden the government's grip over the people" and to "indoctrinate and propagandize the minds of pliable persons...." Anyone who lives in America may consult his neighbors to see if any have been lured to God through government-inspired evangelism. If the president prays, if he occasionally invokes God, he merely follows in the footsteps of other American presidents. There is no indoctrination here. One ought to be reminded that School prayer was normal fifty years ago. But today prayer is forbidden in the public schools and the White House isn't going to bring it back. Let us take care to identify what is really happening out there. The fundamentalists in the United States haven't stopped abortion, pornography or drugs. They are helpless before the steady advance of a profane, secular culture. In fact, they regularly succumb to sex and drugs themselves. Nonetheless, Stroupe warns of a Bible-thumping wolf in Washington. He calls up the image of Cotton Mather rolling up the Constitution in place of our amiable Methodist president with an empty bag of political tricks.
Setting religion aside, Stroupe is best when he analyzes Russia as it prepares to thump American imperialism where it hurts (i.e., at the gas pump). And here is the crux of Russia's method according to Stroupe: "In virtually every relationship that Russia cultivates, energy ... and/or strategic minerals play the central role in one way or another." Because of this, "The U.S. has seen inroads into its influence and power in strategically important regions like the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia...."
As we all know, the United States advocates "regime change" and the "democratization" of hostile territory. This is Washington's apparent strategy for homogenizing the former Soviet Union. There is something fundamentally misbegotten in this strategy. In the case of Iraq the error is obvious. In the case of Georgia and Ukraine, we find ourselves bewildered by strange turns and alien attitudes. Stroupe says that regime change is not a workable strategy because "there now exists a great disillusionment with American style liberal democracy [in the former Soviet Union]." And so America follows a strategy that cannot work. Under this situation the U.S. is no longer the dominant power. Instead, Russia and China are positioned to dominate if they remain in league with key energy-exporting countries. Russia exports more energy (in terms of gas and oil) than any other country on earth. Russia has also aligned itself with Iran and Venezuela, among others. Furthermore, Stroupe argues, "The very real weakness and limitations of the U.S. military have been shown up by the current Iraq situation." The West now finds itself "economically encircled," and Russia holds the highest cards - the oil and gas cards. As Stroupe points out, "the rising global influence of both Russia and China give the pair almost irresistible influence on the world stage in nearly every sphere."
It seems that Russia has paved the way for American economic collapse. "The move off the dollar is ominous for the U.S.," says Stroupe, who claims that Russia and China are secretly getting out of the dollar. "Russia's economy is already virtually independent of that of the U.S. and therefore already enjoys a high degree of immunity to a U.S. economic collapse."
Over 20 years ago a KGB defector named Anatoliy Golitsyn warned that the Soviet Union was planning to fake its own demise in order to reposition itself to renew the Cold War on more advantageous terms. There is a passage in Golitsyn's book, New Lies for Old, which resonates with Stroupe's thesis. According to Golitsyn, "An alignment of [a revived] Soviet Union and Eastern Europe with a socialist Western Europe would exert a powerful influence over Third World socialist parties and trade unions. Some of the remaining conservative Third World countries would be strongly drawn toward a socialist orientation. Resistance to [Russia and China] ... would be replaced by a combined ... drive for Third World influence, backed by economic aid. It would have far-reaching consequences, especially if the U.S. aid should be curtailed in response to a severe economic depression. Soviet oil and grain could be used to good effect."
We should keep in mind the possibility that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a strategic maneuver, and that the reemergence of Russian power described by Stroupe is the result of this maneuver's success.
Disclaimer: Joseph Stroupe, the author of "Russian Rubicon," does not believe that the collapse of communism was prepared and organized in advance by the KGB or elements within the CPSU. His views are not to be confused with those of the reviewer.
