Since the end of the Cold War I have been arguing and writing for a more inclusive approach to Russia. The reasons are well rehearsed and need not be repeated here. I have also said that however you wish to describe her and however sniffy you are about her interpretation of democracy, Mother Russia is one of the most powerful countries on earth and was critical in the defeat of Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler.
It is also interesting to recall that although Russian weapons have never appeared in the same variety as those in the West, enemies have found them to be conspicuously effective. In WWII the Nazis discovered that the T34 was the better tank by far, that the sub-machine gun carried by street fighting troops was deadly in close urban combat, that the Soviet field howitzer was more destructive, and the rocket launched artillery, known as the Stalin organ, was in a class of its own. Not only did they all work, but they were more reliable and in the event of breakdown or battle damage easier to repair in the field.
It is also worth noting that the Russian shooting down Gary Powers’ U2 stunned America, which had no idea the Soviets had developed a missile of such accuracy which could reach such a height. It was Russia that launched the first orbiting satellite, put the first animal, a dog, then the first man, then the first woman, then the first group of three men, into space. Indeed America, continuously trying to catch up, only did so by putting Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist who had masterminded the Nazi V2 rockets which killed over 7000 Brits (as a child I was lucky to escape with near misses) in charge of getting the US to the moon.
So it should come as no surprise to discover that Russia, alarmed by America’s abandonment of the Anti Ballistic Missile treaty and its development of a system which offers a degree of protection from missile attack, has now taken a quantum leap forward with new weapons for which the West has no means of defence at all. The questions to be asked are, do these weapons actually exist and do they work reliably? Most Americans will hunker down convinced that the answers are no to both. But within the Pentagon there will be the recognition than even if the answers are no for now, one day the answers will likely be yes.
Meanwhile engaging with Trump’s doctrine of three rival powers, Putin’s message is simple. Russia is once again a rival to be reckoned with.