A Cold War II ?

The Russian president Dmitri Medvedev ordered the deployment of missiles in Europe, in the Baltic exclave of kaliningrad (see map) as a response to US plans for a missile defence shield (cf. below). He didn't say if they would carry nuclear warheads. Russia also said it was ready to deploy its navy and install electronic jamming devices to interfere US missiles. George Bush said that the missile shield was aimed at rogue states (especially Iran). However, Russia remained saying that it threatens Russia's security.


Critics from Russia to the United States :

1. US took egoistical, dangerous and mistaken decisions.
2. The West wants to encircle Russia
3. US encouraged the Georgian attack
4. US is blamed for it brought a mondial financial crisis
5. Russia wants cooperation between the USA and itself to fight common threat, but the US doesn't listen to them.

In his speech, Medvedev said that Russia would not back don in the Caucasus and that Russia proved they are strong enough to defend their citizens and their national interests. Russia has the impression that it's tested to the limit. He hopes that the new administration would repair and improve US/RUSSIA relationships.

Russia's president also claimed that the era of American domination after the collapse of the Soviet Union is now over.

Another point, which has no relation with the international policy of Russia, but which is important : Dimitri Medvedev told that he wanted to extend the presidential term from 4 to 6 years.

US missile shield, 2007
It is the set up of an antiballistic missile shield in Europe (Poland and Czech Republic) in order to protect the USA and Europe from an Iran's attack. It would be operational by 2011.
This plan had risen many criticisms. Amid them, one from German commentators : Washington is using Europe to protect the US and the plan would lead to a new arms race.
When the plan came out (2007), Russia has already reacted to it. And Mrs Merkel has told that this plan was provoking Russia. The US responded what George Bush told to Dimitri Medvedev this week.
For more information about this, see here.


This event brings us three "thinking pists" :
It shows another problem let by Bush to Obama. Relationships with Russia would be another issue that Obama would have to solve. How and when ? Where will it be put in his list of priorities to solve all the Americans' problems ?
From this article we can meet the German commentators fears about a new arms race. Will this lead to another "Cold War". How would it be about alliancesbetween countries, now that almost every estern countries are not under Russia's control anymore ? Will countries from the far east such as China be involved in it ? Or because other countries are bored to serve these "two powers" will they be alone, just both, "fighting" as they did before ?
I think that a new arms race is not the aim of the new administration and that it will try to positively solve the problem, but before the new administration comes to real power, things can happen.
The third issue the article can rise is the East expansion and domination. From a few years we can note that Eastern countries such as China are developing themselves in a very important way. With Medvedev's sentence about the US domination, we can wonder if Eastern countries such as China and Russia would not enter in a domination era while Western countries such as the USA enter in the opposite era. The domination power seems to be swaping from West hands to East hands. What is going to happen ?