Alexandr Buzgalin and Paul Jay discuss the antagonism between Russia and US despite the former adopting ‘Jurassic Park capitalism’ since the demise of the USSR
Capitalism is all about infighting and the anarchy of the markets. I really don't see how anyone would expect anything else; Russia is becoming a competitor for influence and power on the world stage, and the US is trying to keep their influence from spreading. There's never any real cooperation in a purely capitalistic system, just competition and conflict.
i see Russian fan boys are out!! Fun Fact: the ENTIRE russian stock market has the equivalent value of Apple Corp. (1 american corporation) where is the influence and power on the world stage exactly?
zOgOs yes, that's what it's supposed to be according to those who preach the ideology. That's not what it is though, and in some fields a monopoly is simply the natural result of a free market. Take railroads for a historical example.
Can someone (Paul Jay) explain to me why a referendum with over 95% voting yes (Crimea) does not adhere somehow to international law, but a vote just over 50% (Brexit) is completely acceptable???
1. A province seceding from a country is not same as country seceding from a union. 2. Legitimacy of the Crimean vote is highly questionable as there were foreign (Russian) troops in an active conflict zone. It's as if, Nigeria invades New York and calls a referendum whether or not it wants to join Nigeria. It's so preposterous to even think about.
It was not a UN sanctioned election. Anyone can point a gun and tell people how to vote. In North Korea 100% of people voted for little kim. The guy must be perfect. Democratic elections tend to have some vote for one side, and some vote for the other side.
Do some research and you will find the election was fair and overseen and subsequent polls show similar results - Russia is not the same electoral system as North Korea and quite likely Crimea was more fair than the recent US democratic nominee - we will see where those lawsuits go!!
Russia is not really capitalist, but even if it was, what makes you think that all capitalist countries are the same or have the same agenda or can get along? Russia and the US increasingly diverge from the civilized principles of Western democratic tradition. Russia has never really been about Western society or economics, it has been about building a military structure to hold all its lands together ... that is more the same kind of thing the US has been doing, but in a different way. The US began to go off the rails after WWII when FDR had more or less the same agenda as the Western democracies. The rest of the West held the course with a partial socialist, partial capitalist democracy, while the US diverged into a military superpower, slowly corrupted by the secrecy, money and power inherent in the need for the military industrial complex. The US put all its energy into defense, offense, empire, and played a game of competition with Russia, and Russia at the same time. The US took on more than it ever could have done, and so bankrupted itself, as it claimed happened to Russia, only instead of going broken it just sold off its internal system, taking from its people, as China has done, but in a different way, while the same with Russia. All 3 systems have been on the edge of war because the military industrial complex in each system has taken over each system, but in slightly different ways, and they have all different mechanics of expansionism. This is complete idiocy, except that the US clings to its freedom to point to its superiority even as it is now the least free country in the West. The US relies now more on propaganda and coercion to keep people inline and working and paying their taxes, while it has no intention of balancing its budget by taxing the people with the money or the stake in its power.
He gets this wrong Russia did not back action in Libya then opposed action in Syria for that the US/EU instigated the Ukraine events to frame Putin as payback.
Putin was very angry about Libya he said who gave them the right to attack Libya he was pissed about Libya which probably helped in his decision about helping Syria but Syria and Iran both have always been close to Russia.
The reason why I think capitalist west and east can't get along is because of resources. Russia has a lot of oil and own 30% of the oil market in Europe. At the same time the USA wants compliance and have no interest in partner. Russia on the other hand also shares the same idea, but have made cooperation with China key in their pivot to Asia. Both sides would rather one would eat out of their hands and there isn't an understanding of how to coexist. Russia and the USA want to dominate each other and no one is giving in. Hence, why tension lingers to this day.
Patrick Burnett In any case this current dynamic doesn't bode well in the future. World powers need to learn to work in partnership, as opposed to try to out gun the other. The clouds are looking very dark and I don't see a way out.
+Leibo07 Saying you want to be buddies with the Syrians is not the same as objecting the bombing of the unarmed civilian Syrian population by Forgien countries which include Russia .
+Leibo07 the Syrian Government is slaughtering the civilian population ! That's why the revolution started in the first place!! Syria or 'the Syrian Regime' to be more accurate has been in power for more than forty years .Its is a harsh military regime that remaind in power by force and and an iron fist . It tortured and assainated any one that dared oppose it's authoritarian rule .There was no freedom of speach no free press ,nothing !!! During the days of Hafiz Assad's rule Bashar Saad 's father, he crushed a revoult in the city Hamma with his tanks . The whole world knew about this and did nothing !! Of course many Syrians fled to europe seeking political asylum for fear of persecution .. The irony is that The Assad's are Russain Alleys and when the revolution started a few years ago The Syrian Regime refused to addmit it was a revoult for more than a year. When it finaly gave in, it called the protesters 'terrorists' and called for the restoration of democracy by bombing and sending death squads to the places where their were demonstrations !! Now , it is important for Russaia that the people remain under a the Assad dectatorship !! That's why it's bombing the people .It's not doing it for the Syrian government but for it's own interests which is sick and inhuman to say the least . Of course other countries are participating in this genocide but since the discussion is about Russia ....
+Leibo07 the Syrian Government is slaughtering the civilian population ! That's why the revolution started in the first place!! Syria or 'the Syrian Regime' to be more accurate has been in power for more than forty years .Its is a harsh military regime that remaind in power by force and and an iron fist . It tortured and assainated any one that dared oppose it's authoritarian rule .There was no freedom of speach no free press ,nothing !!! During the days of Hafiz Assad's rule Bashar Saad 's father, he crushed a revoult in the city Hamma with his tanks . The whole world knew about this and did nothing !! Of course many Syrians fled to europe seeking political asylum for fear of persecution .. The irony is that The Assad's are Russain Alleys and when the revolution started a few years ago The Syrian Regime refused to addmit it was a revoult for more than a year. When it finaly gave in, it called the protesters 'terrorists' and called for the restoration of democracy by bombing and sending death squads to the places where their were demonstrations !! Now , it is important for Russaia that the people remain under a the Assad dectatorship !! That's why it's bombing the people .It's not doing it for the Syrian government but for it's own interests which is sick and inhuman to say the least . Of course other countries are participating in this genocide but since the discussion is about Russia ....
Why can' t Russia be integrated into the world capitalist order is a question that presupposes culture, history, sociology, politics, of a country are not deciding factors for integration. Second, the contention is about competition. The same question can be posed about socialism that its appearance in one country is not the same as its appearance in another country for the same reasons. Denial of this proposition was the basis of the ideological fight against socialism in the US. A "One Size Fits All' mentality is asking this question. We get nowhere toward a real understanding of the dynamics of either economic order when the premise is a generic premise. Capitalism has a generic aspect but socialism does not because that system produces for use not for exchange value. Use-values have different qualities that would make socialism completely different from country to country. Capitalism produces values and as such anything is a commodity, a generic category in itself, that things produced by human labor take this form generally. So the contention between Russia and America is not capitalism it has in common but exactly capitalism as a system of competition that it has in common that both Russia and the US remain rivals in the world economy.
What a stupid question. Capitalists always fight each other. WWI was capitalist states' war against each other. And WWI led to WWII. It's logic of capitalism.
interesting insightful discussion. if you were to ask me why is capitalist US disputing with capitalist Russia, I would describe the two states as mobsters fighting over turfs. so Ukraine-Crimea was the US and Russia fighting over turf, and much of the Cold War was two distinct ideologies, two very different gangsters fighting over turfs. as someone else mentioned its never been out ideology because kings used to war with other kings.Also important to remember that Putin was part of the new oligarchs, he did serve as vice president under Yeltsin, its just when he got into power as Mark Ames the brilliant independent journalist who used to be based in Moscow with Matt Taibbi running the Exile later Exiled which is still online he said that the reason the US and UK elites and governments despite Putin was he wasn't their Pinochet, wasn't someone they could easily control but Putin is still a capitalist scumfuck despite what many of his apologist and well meaning people like John Pilger say. Sames goes for the guy kicked out of Ukraine, he was an ultra capitalist just one tied more with Russia as opposed to the new people who overthrew him who are under the thumb for the moment to the US.
Why is the capitalist West fighting with capitalist Russia? 1. Because war and Wall St are the only nationalised industries the US hegemon has. 2. Russia has natural resources the corporate plutocracy would like to have handed to them and the war industry is very good at delivering other countries to them.
Agreed. Oil and Russia wanting to sell in in something other than petro dollars. The US attacks any country that tries to do that. The "Axis of evil" George Bush outlines after 9/11 were all trying to get off the petro dollar, all got attacked (except North Korea) and all got put back on the petro dollar the moment the US had finished invading.
The West sees Russia as a second rate power that really has no right to be exerting its interests in Ukrainia; Georgia, Latvia and Syria etc. And I think there's a general perception that the rise of Russia was more down to luck than judgement. A vast territory opened up to the East in the 1700s, and Russia just happened to be in right place at the right time - the only European country contiguous to the rotting carcass of the Mongol horde. And even though Russia inherited this great prize - one of the greatest in history - it didn't achieve much with it. Like Spain and the Ottoman Empire, it blew a massive opportunity Moreover, Russia's great victories over Napoleon and Hitler are judged to be a product of freezing weather rather than brilliant strategy. So the West will continue to bait the Russian Bear because it sees its Great Power ambitions as pretentious A view I don't share, I think the US is underestimating Russia, Russia should be given its due respect in Syria, Ukraine and Central Asia, It is a great power and not the Latin America of Europe as America would like it to become.
Name one country that invaded Russia in winter? Your references to "General Moroz" are just an excuse for their own cowardice and belittling the Russian army. Russia did not pursue a colonial policy and had no slaves. Russia has integrated other peoples into itself. You with your slave-owning brains, you cannot understand this, and therefore you are afraid ...
I do not agree with this professor's naive criticism of Russia investing more in military technology. Russia has no choice. Russia would not be concentrating on military investment were it not for Washington and NATO's blatant animosity towards Russia! Russia expenditure on the military is the result of NATO nuclear missiles being put on Russia's borders and with Washington having refused to renew its anti-ballistic missile treaty with Russia! In other words, Washington, by refusing to renew and sign the ABM treaty was a signal to Russia of America's plan for a nuclear race.
