Dmitry Mikheev
Russian Insider
"The simple truth is that Russia is on the move, while the United States is losing it's grip on the world. With such a distorted picture of reality, the American establishment thus produces equally distorted policies as regards to Russia..."
1980s consultant to the US Republican administrations believes that
today Russia is on the move, while America is losing its grip on the
world.
Dmitry Mikheev is a former Soviet dissident, imprisoned for 6 years in a Gulag in the 1970's for his 'anti-state activities'.
After emigrating to the United States in 1979, he soon joined the
Hudson Institute, an influential neoconservative think tank, working
there as a Senior Fellow from 1988 to 1996 . After the collapse of
communism and the USSR, he came to the conclusion that for the US foreign policy and security establishment Russia had remained the arch-rival. He returned to Russia and became a vocal critic of neocon ideologies and policies.
This article was written exclusively for RI. A personal interview
with Mr. Mikheev covering his life and experiences will be published on
RI in the near future.
Several geopolitical tremors have occurred recently that may be
signalling the approach of a major tectonic shift. Putin's speeches at
the UN, Valdai and Russia's recent actions in Syria might just represent
the beginning of a new page in history, not quite yet understood for
what it is. America's political elites should be paying very
close attention because this shift might just mark the beginning of the
end of their exceptionalism and leadership, even their very own raison
d'etre.
The American establishment appears to live in a fantasy world
believing that Putin's adventurism has damaged Russia's economy, now in
supposed free-fall and deteriorated his power necessitating a
tightening of political screws making the country ripe for a "color
revolution." This is a very naïve and blind sighted outlook indeed! The
economic decline in Russia can be mostly attributed to low oil prices
and to a lesser degree, western sanctions.
Putin's "little war" in Georgia, the dazzling Sochi Winter Olympics, the
reunification with Crimea and support given to Donbas in resisting
Kiev's murderous "anti-terrorist campaign"... all of this has resulted
in an unprecedented increase in his popularity at home with approval
ratings reaching 90%. Ironically, contrary to undermining it, American
policy toward Russia and Putin has strengthened their position, pushing
Russia to diversify and develop its domestic economy, reform its
military and substantially elevate Russia's standing in the world.
The simple truth is that Russia is on the move, while the United States is losing it's grip on the world.
With such a distorted picture of reality,
the American establishment thus produces equally distorted policies as
regards to Russia; that NATO should station additional ground
forces in Europe, that a no-fly zone should be established over Syria
etc. America's policy of "regime change" has led to the destabilization
of entire regions. Their actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and
Syria were brought about by supporting Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi sect, the
root inspiration for the majority of Jihadist movements thus spawning
powerful terrorist groups. For decades, the US has pursued a policy of
eroding Russia's sphere of influence by funding color revolutions,
systematically toppling the governments of all the countries within the
geopolitical orbit of the former Soviet Union.
