Back to the future

The world’s relations with Russia seem to be rapidly descending into the one step forward, two steps back formula of the Cold War. Russia may be a member of the world’s key political and economic international organisations (the latter, as a direct result of the Cold War coming to an end), but it seems very little else has changed.

This theme of no change is echoed in this week’s news that—

Russia are to give a multi-million dollar aid package to Kyrgyzstan (resulting in the Kyrgyzstani government announcing the closure of the US air base at Manas); and

A Russian-led security force between Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is to be established.

Both of these announcements have echoes of the power tug-of-war which so characterised the Cold War. Russia doesn't seem to realise that the world’s future rests not on military protectionism but on international partnership.