Kremlin confused

The Kremlin8217;s vision of global affairs after Moscow8217;s victory in the war with Georgia is rife with contradictions. On one hand, President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin justify Russia8217;s actions by claiming that the West 8212; and primarily the United States 8212; violated international law in Iraq and Kosovo. They further explain that Moscow had no other option but to repel Georgia8217;s invasion of South Ossetia. But they apparently forgot that Russia8217;s foreign policy guidelines adopted just one month prior to the war clearly assert that 8220;only the United Nations Security Council is authorised to sanction the use of force in order to enforce peace.8221; It appears that the moment Moscow concludes that international relations have broken down, it has no choice but to resort to force. The Kremlin persistently harps about the need to replace the crumbling world order with a new and more equitable one. In recent remarks, Medvedev said, 8220;The current security system has broken down8230; If this is the case, humanity has two options: either act without rules based on the idea that a small number of countries with the greatest military power will dictate the rules8230; or try to build a modern new structure for international cooperation.8221;

But it is unclear what the president means when he speaks of these new rules. Equally uncertain is the status of a proposal Medvedev made a few months ago for a security pact between Russia and the European Union. Aside from declaring once again the need for a multipolar world that can counter the United States8217; unilateral approach to resolving the world8217;s problems, Russia8217;s leaders have been unable to explain exactly how the new structure for international relations will operate. When Washington sent a warship into the Black Sea with humanitarian aid for Georgia, Moscow considered it a flagrant violation of its zone of 8220;exclusive interests.8221; Shortly thereafter, the Kremlin sent two Tu-160 strategic bombers for training flights in Venezuela, although there was absolutely no military rationale for these exercises. Major General Pavel Androsov, trying to keep a straight face, claimed that these bombers were sent to Venezuela to train Russian pilots to fly in the tropics8230;

Excerpted from a comment by Alexander Golts in 8216;The Moscow Times8217;