Arms and influence

Russia bails out Iceland

The latest example of how the high per-barrel price of oil plays mischief with US national security: Russia offers to bail out Iceland:

More likely, this act of benevolence is being viewed as a way of helping Russia secure a bridgehead for an advance into the Arctic regions to claim the vast hydrocarbon and other mineral deposits there. Iceland happens to possess a once vital NATO base, which has been in mothballs since 2006, and the Russians may be eyeing that as well.

Last month's example was the Russian fleet's planned visit to Venezuela. And no, I'm not a Russophobe. I also worry about how high oil prices have complicated US national security on other fronts. On the other hand, Vladimir Putin has been playing a new form of brinksmanship with the West, not with nuclear weapons, but other sources of national power and leverage. The big pile of petrodollars makes it easier to afford risky, confrontational foreign policy ventures, such as the recent war with Georgia.

Russia's one-fingered gesture

Russian president Vladimir Putin has revived a Cold War practice: keeping long-range bombers patrolling outside the borders of the country, ready to strike at...Oh, you know who. With...Well, do we have to tell you what?

No, the Cold War is not back. Putin may be a cynical SOB, but he's not deranged. The Putin government is clearly trying to demonstrate the independent course on which it wants to keep Russia, beholden to no one in the United States, Europe, or China. Reviving these patrols is a gesture, not preparation for nuclear war.

Still, it's worth pondering exactly what the Russia government plans to do with this independent power, and why it feels free to exercise it. High oil prices help the Russian economy, which helps Putin stay in power. Therefore, the Iraq war--not the only cause of high oil prices, but a significant one--helps Putin--maybe not an enemy of the United States, but no friend, either.