Tuesday, March 14, 2017
US Russia Relations Blog Post
Orlando Manfredi
POL 245
Professor Shirk
Article on US Russia Relations
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/russian-military-massive-weapons-upgrade-article-1.2979056
According to the article I found in the NY Daily News, over the course of 2016 the Russian military purchased 41 ICBMs in a widespread modernization project of the armed forces. This effort to modernize has lead to 905 new tanks, 17 new ships and 170 new aircraft. Despite the recent peaceful ties with the United States, Russia claims that it needs a more capable and modern military to deal with global threats and also contend with land disputes with Japan regarding various Pacific islands that were seized by Russia at the end of World War Two.
This article relates directly to the readings as each of those is in regards to Russian nuclear capabilities and how those capabilities relate to those of the United States. This article also touches on the philosophical differences between the US and Russian military that is also talked about in the given readings. Russia as a nation has always relied on overwhelming force of numbers to defeat enemies and these weapons have very rapid turnover rate. This is in stark contrast to the arms doctrine of the United States where the military equipment is built to last for decades and those few pieces of military hardware are destructive enough on their own to carry the day.
Overall as of right now the trend has seemingly reversed in US government where previously during the Obama administration, Democrats were very open and willing to do a "reset" of relations with Russia and Republicans were the ones to remind Americans that Russia is still a country not to be treated as a close friend or ally. But now with the Trump administration and the seemingly close ties Russia has with Trump and many of his appointees and cabinet members it is the Democrats who are against close friendly relations with Russia and some Trump allied Republicans are advocating for a turning of a new leaf with the country.
Despite the change of administration Russia-US ties are stronger and more cooperative than ever and unless some truly catastrophic even happens the US and Russia will likely continue to see greater cooperation despite many the many differences between the two.
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Nice post Orlando!
ReplyDeleteThis topic of nuclear weapons to me is interesting. I do not believe we will ever be able to come to a point in which the U.S. and Russia and every country for that matter has no nuclear weapons. I think like we discussed in class this would be dangerous. Then it could turn into just a nuclear arms race and who ever builds the next nuclear weapon first would have more power. I also think we need to never have zero in case a non-state actor builds one and we are not ready to retaliate with the same force therefore they would not be afraid of us using a nuclear weapon back. I think nuclear weapons ensure that neither side will ever use them because it would be the end to many people.
I think in an ideal world we would make a treaty with every country that states that no country can have more than 10 nuclear weapons at one time. This way protection would still be in place from non-state actors and there were be very few compared to the numbers now to make less waste, more cost appropriate, and safer to manage only ten within a country.
What are your thoughts?
Orlando,
ReplyDeleteI thought the article was very interesting, as was your analysis. Your points that the U.S.-Russia relations are seeming to improve, and the domestic change of opinion towards the state are trends I have noticed as well. It appears that both the U.S. and Russia will be engaged in an arms race that hopefully will not escalate. If relations between the two states continue to improve over the next few years, the increase in military spending might not become a problem, unless an increase in nuclear weapons is involved.
Orlando,
ReplyDeleteThis was well written and interesting to read. I thought the article was interesting and so was your analysis of it and about current trends. I agree with your point that the United States and Russia's relationship at the moment are good and cooperative and that they will likely stay this way even though they have some differences assuming gang nothing big and really bad happens between the United States and Russia. I liked how you pointed out that the democrats and republicans opinion are reversed in US government and what Trumps current view seems to be as well as how you talked about the difference between the United States and Russia. I agree with the differences you said.
Overall this was well written and interesting to read. Good job.