A new USSR?
October 6th, 2011 at 3:00 pm by David FarrarThe Herald reports:
In what is sure to be seen as a bid to rebuild the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of a “Eurasion Union”.
Putin, who recently announced he will be running for president, said the union – made up of former Soviet states – would be similar to the European Union.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were already going ahead with economic integration and will introduce unified market rules and regulations at the start of 2012, according to the Russian Prime Minister.
But Putin quickly deflected suggestions the union would be an attempt to rebuild the USSR.
“There is no talk about rebuilding the USSR in one way or another,” he told a Russian newspaper.
“It would be naive to try to restore or copy something that belongs to the past, but a close integration based on new values and economic and political foundation is a demand of the present time.”
I’m all for economic co-operation but I do wonder how Putin’s Eurasian Union would cope with, for example, a Greece whose failure to pay their own way means all the other countries have to bail them out?
I’m guessing he’d send in the tanks and take over the country. Maybe this is what Germany should do with Greece – demand that Merkel be placed in charge until the Greek Government is running a surplus. If they say no, then kick them out of the Euro.
October 6th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Putin scares the pants off western liberal journalists, maybe it is because he threatened to cut the dick off a French moron who asked him a dumb question a few years back or maybe it is because he is the only ballsy leader in the world today.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I think memories of the last time Germans came to Greece in tanks is part of the present-day Greek resistance to German demands for reform.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Andrei, you got the right name to judge Putin!
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
The “Stan” countries are an area twice the size of Europe and their civilization is twice as old, yet most people in the West know little or nothing about them. The considerable mineral wealth of Siberia, and the vacuum created by the collapse of the US and Western European economies will create an interesting opportunity for Putin, who does indeed have some balls.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Putin has also been playing bump the other peoples air space with a bear game for a while now. Pure cold war BS.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Coincidentally I saw this on FB today:
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
It’s been going on since the 19th century at least when the Tsar contended with Queen Victoria in “the Great Game” which got kind of messy for the Brits in the Crimea and to a lesser extent the Caucasus. The Tsar tricked the Brits into going into Afghanistan which didn’t work out too well for the Brits either. The Brits did end up with India though they lost it effectively in WW2 – which despite being at the victors table they actually lost.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Isn’t that how the USSR ended?
No one could pay their bills, they sent in the tanks and kicked everyone out.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Nothing new here. Think Australia-New Zealand, USA-Canada.
Vote:Although Putin would make up more of the rules.
October 6th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
All I know is that we are and have always been, or are not and have never been, at war with Eurasia.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
I’m going to over-react and announce that I find what I see as DPF comparing modern Germany to Germany under Hitler, offensive.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Does Putin realise how gay he looks? All that running around without a shirt makes him look like a Village Person.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
@ Bed Rater,
I’m not sure if you’re kidding but DPF isn’t making that comparison. He’s suggesting that is what Putin might do if a country in the proposed Eurasion Union needed bailing out, and perhaps what Merkel should do with Greece (maybe somewhat tongue in cheek).
Heh @ davidp
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Germany sends in the tanks… Oh you can just see how the world’s media would report that.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Perhaps the Germans could say that Greece attacked first.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
If I were the leader of (say) Kahzakstan, I would be on the phone to Putin within 2 minutes to say “Sorry, customs union cancelled.”.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
***Germany sends in the tanks… Oh you can just see how the world’s media would report that.***
Germany really does need to grow some balls.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
If you were President of Kahzakstan you’ld be leader of a large landlocked country with majority access to the outside world through Russia with limited access through China and perhaps even more limited access through Iran and Azerbaijan.
You would rule over an ethnically diverse population of whom more than 25% would be Russian, some of who have retained Russian citizenship.
You therefore would be almost entirely dependent on Russia’s good will for all your exports and imports.
And if Russian Tanks rolled into Astana to protect Russian citizens there would be diddly anybody could do about it except for posture.
Vote:October 6th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Farrar’s tongue in cheek piece about Merkell sending in the tanks brought to mind my chat with a brother in law in Moschato, just two stops on the metro from Piraeus;
Vote:“This is the most serious situation in our country’s history since April 1941 when the Wehrmacht were marching south from Bulgaria.”
It is chilling!
As a 61 year old I have no idea what will happen to my retirement savings.
Kostas was born in Roumania; his parents being part of the pedomosama; refugees from the Civil War of 1946 – 49. He did not know that Roumania were playing in the world’s third biggest sporting festival.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Putin’s use of the term Eurasia is interesting. The influence of ultra-far right nationalist/fascist Aleksandr Dugin on Putin’s foerign policy is obvious.
Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ге́льевич Ду́гин, born 7 January 1962) is a politologist and one of the most popular ideologists of Russian expansionism, nationalism, and fascism with close ties to the Kremlin and Russian military. He was the leading organizer of National Bolshevik Party, National Bolshevik Front, and Eurasia Party. His political activities are directed toward restoration of the Russian Empire through partitioning of the former Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Ukraine, and unification with Russian-speaking territories, especially Eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin
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