The strained relationship between the U.S. and Russia does not appear to be improving any time soon. The escalating crisis in Syria and the chance of military intervention only adds to the list of disputes between the two superpowers.
In the past, Russia has supported Iran with various forms of nuclear aid, completely disregarding the US government’s fear of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Obama canceled a summit with Putin in August after Moscow gave aslum to Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is wanted on espionage charges for leaking highly classified documents about U.S. surveillance
programs.
During a time of insufficient
communication between world leaders,
Vladimir Putin decided to address the
American people himself.
On Sept. 12, Putin publised an article in the New York Times, proclaiming that military intervention in Syria is “ineffective and pointless.” This article, titled “A plea for caution from
Russia,” received large amounts of attention from both the media and the US
government.
Most importantly, it helped Putin rekindle his love for op-ed writing.
The article raises many questions,
not only about the conflict in Syria but
also the future of foreign relations. Will
political leaders of other countries begin to use the press as a means of
communication with US citizens?
And if so, should the US do the
same? Mr. Maverick himself, John
McCain, seems to think so.
On Sept. 19, McCain published an article on the website of a Russian newspaper, Pravda.ru, titled: “Vladimir Putin: a tyrant at home, a friend of tyrants abroad.” In case you could not tell, McCain and Putin are not the best of friends.
McCain’s scathing editorial accuses
Putin of destroying Russia’s global
reputation. He accuses the Russian
government of “[throwing] the members of a punk rock band in jail for the
crime of being provocative and vulgar
and [having] the audacity to protest
President Putin’s rule.” From the get-go
that John MCain seems like a huge fan of
punk rock music.
In all the confusion of the events in
Syria, I quite enjoy seeing political leaders attack each other passive-aggressively
by publishing articles in the adversary’s
home country.
I think it could offer insight on foreign perspectives that Americans and the US government can’t see.
Unfortunately, the American people will have to wait for the next basketball season to read Kim Jong Un’s sports column, “Un and Off the Court.”