Professor
Stephen F. Cohen, a Nation contributing editor and professor emeritus of
Russian studies at NYU and Princeton, discusses with the host of The John
Batchelor Show the recent nuclear accident on a submarine in Northern Russia
and the unrelated political protests in Moscow.
Cohen puts both in the historical and
political context usually missing from media accounts. The first should be
understood in the context of the new US-Russian nuclear arms race triggered by
Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in
2002—and as further confirmation that the new Cold War is more dangerous than
was its predecessor.
Cohen noted to John
Batchelor, “Once [America] left [the ABM treaty] and we began deploying
missile systems around Russia, that was the turning point; that was in the
modern age the original sin…It was in developing these new hypersonic missiles
[to defend Russia and continue Mutual Assured Destruction] that this accident
occurred. The testing has taken place in [that historical context], the Russian
reaction to [Washington’s] decision to abrogate the missile defense [ABM]
treaty.”
Professor Cohen references Eric Schlosser’s book, Command and Control, Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident,
and the Illusion of Safety and states that it is inherent,
“rightly or wrongly, to have accidents and high degrees of state secrets about
those accidents.”
Regarding
the political protests, on the other hand, provoked by the authorities’ refusal
to register some opposition figures as candidates in upcoming Moscow city
elections, the protests are best viewed in the context of the struggle for the
democratization of Russia. This historic struggle began with the pro-democracy
reforms of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, in the late 1980s, and
has continued, not surprisingly, with “many zigs and zags,” as Gorbachev
himself has often remarked.
This commentary is based on
Stephen F. Cohen’s most recent weekly discussion with the host of The John
Batchelor Show. Now in their sixth year,
previous installments are at TheNation.com. A new expanded [not
revised] edition of War With Russia? From Putin & Ukraine to Trump &
Russiagate 2nd Edition will be published next
year.
Reprinted with the author’s
permission.
Stephen
F. Cohen is a professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York
University and Princeton University. His new book is War With Russia? From Putin & Ukraine to Trump &
Russiagate.
Copyright © 2019 Stephen F. Cohen
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/08/stephen-f-cohen/stephen-f-cohen-russias-nuclear-powered-fear-of-first-strike-and-political-protest-in-russia/
