SSB GD Series: Is America and Russia on the verge of Another Cold War?

Critical Analysis of the changing relationship between the giant countries

  

Act 1 Scene 1:

 23^rd Feb 2014- 19^th March, 2014, Russia seizes control of Crimea. Republic of Crimea is declared with the intention of joining Russia. A vote out occurs with 96% in support of grouping with Russia.

Act 1 Scene 2:

 The Crimean Admiral defects to the Russian side, only followed by half of Ukranian military posted in the area.

Act 1 Scene 3:

 Russia seizes control of the Crimean Parliament

Act 2 Scene 1:

 Council of ministers in Crimea is dissolved; a new pro Russian Prime Minister replaces them.

Act 2 Scene 2:

 A treaty is signed between Crimea and Russia in kremlin to initiate Cremia’s accession to Russia

Act 2 Scene 3:

 The Ukranian forces are evicted from Crimea by the Crimean protesters and by the Russian troops.

All this while Russia had been stating that the reason of annexation is in the interests of the pro Russian speaking population in the Crimean region, the crimeans have welcomed it too, but things are not bound to go as smooth as Russia had originally planned.

  

The Sanction!

With the western powers showing a great opposition to the move made by Russia, Russia now faces a great deal of sanctions by the EU summit, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The EU has further directed the European investment bank and the European bank for Reconstruction and development to stop any business involving Russia. The sanctions first targeted the Russian decision making leadership, but seeing that not to work, sanctions were imposed on energy, banking, finance, defense and high technology. These sanctions have clearly put Russia in a difficult situation, with the various banks being the target of sanctions the bankers might put up a brave face but their business is surely getting hurt with each day. To add to that the economic sanctions have effected the Russian economy as well. Russia being the second largest biggest exporter of crude oil is facing great difficulty as the price of oil have slipped down to 50% of what it originally was. With the sanctions imposed the Russian economy is shrinking. Some of the effects on the Russian economy are as follows:

•     Currency Collapse
•     Higher interest rates to Support the rubble
•     Recession and inflation
•     Reduced consumer spending
•     Stock market crash
  

With Russia getting hit hard day by day, the world is on the verge of another cold war. Only this time the effects of this would be disastrous not only for EU, not only USA, Australia, UK and other countries actively imposing sanctions on Russia, but in fact the whole world. The world leaders must keep in mind that it is not the same era when the first cold war started , Russia though may be suffering is still very powerful and a Nuclear country. The Cold War if started again would soon boil down to a full scale Hot War. Where countries like India would have to choose sides.

Cornering Russia would only make the Country more determined to launch a full scale military strike against the countries that have imposed sanctions on it. What if instead of giving up on the sanctions imposed, Russia declares a war? Cleary the question needs to reason over by the world leaders. Yes, what Russia is doing at the moment is wrong, but poking it each day with new sanctions isn’t right either. The USA and Russia are already on the verge of a cold War, only this time Russia won’t be the loser, but instead the entire human race will pay the price for it.

In my point of view Russian President Vladimir Putin must understand that misusing its power to infiltrate a neighboring country is not only morally and ethically wrong, but also a sure way to weaken the Russian Federation. The sanctions imposed would only weaken them day by day, thereby affecting the life of a common citizen.  The Russian government must pull out the troops implanted in Crimea and as for the western powers; they too must understand that cornering Russia would only make the problem worse as it could trigger a war, only this time deadlier than any wars ever fought in the human race. Imposing sanctions on each other is not the solution because that would only create hostility for the years to come. Trade and global economy would get affected and in the end everyone would suffer. The world is not ready for another war; we must avoid it at any cost.
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About the Author: Shekhar Tanwar is a computer science engineer who is working with a renowned MNC and is a die heart defense aspirant. Guitar is his passion and he is very firm believer of physical fitness. This article is a way to help defense aspirants to present his critical views on the topic, on the forum so that collective exchange of thoughts can take place.