Russia is playing chess, while the Americans are playing monopoly!

David Goldman writes,

An unleashed Iran is a far greater danger to the United States than a neutral buffer zone on Russia’s border. As a nuclear power, Iran will be incalculable. Putting nuclear weapons into the hands of an unstable and fanatical regime greatly increases the probability that they will be used. In 2008, I argued that the United States should make Iran the strategic priority. We chose otherwise, and it will not end well.

On the night of November 22, 2004, then-Russian president – now premier – Vladimir Putin watched the television news in his dacha near Moscow. People who were with Putin that night report his anger and disbelief at the unfolding “Orange” revolution in Ukraine. “They lied to me,” Putin said bitterly of the United States. “I’ll never trust them again.” The Russians still can’t fathom why the West threw over a potential strategic alliance for Ukraine. They underestimate the stupidity of the West.

Think of it this way: Russia is playing chess, while the Americans are playing Monopoly. What Americans understand by “war games” is exactly what occurs on the board of the Parker Brothers’ pastime. The board game Monopoly is won by placing as many hotels as possible on squares of the playing board. Substitute military bases, and you have the sum of American strategic thinking.

If the UN demographers are correct, Russia’s adult population will fall from about 90 million today to only 20 million by the end of the century.

Russia is the only country where abortions are more numerous than live births, a devastating gauge of national despair.

No matter how much the birth rate improves, the sharp fall in the number of prospective mothers will depress the number of births. UN forecasts show the number of Russians aged 20-29 falling from 25 million today to only 10 million by 2040.

Russia has more to fear from a nuclear-armed Iran than the United States, for an aggressive Muslim state on its borders could ruin its attempt to Russify Central Asia. Russia’s strategic interests do not conflict with those of the United States, China or India in this matter. There is a certain degree of rivalry over energy resources, but commercial rivalry does not have to turn into strategic enmity.

One irony of the present crisis is that Washington’s neo-conservatives, by demanding a tough stance against Russia, may have harmed Israel’s security interests more profoundly than any of Israel’s detractors in American politics. The neo-conservatives are not as a rule Jewish, but many of them are Jews who have a deep concern for Israel’s security – as does this writer. If America turns Russia into a strategic adversary, the probability of Israel’s survival will drop by a big notch.

Read more here: https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2022/07/22/auto-draft-70-n1615005