As we have discussed before, Russia has made it very apparent that they are angered by the United States missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia has formidable threats from other nations in Asia and the Middle East. Yet they have decided to come out and protest against the United States building a defense system. Somehow we need to reach common ground with the Russian’s so that they can realize that we are not trying to attack them, we are only trying to protect our nation and our troops abroad.
Could it work to have a protective missile shield that is a joint venture with Russia? Earlier this year the US and Russia had talks about potentially sharing a missile shield. If we could establish something as this, we would certainly diffuse the situation with Russia and we would be able to share the costs of the development of this shield. The shield would then be used to protect both nations from Asia and the Middle East.
However this plan has not yet been enacted because both nations are failing to concede in this argument. One side needs to step foreword and say, “hey, I am willing to play ball.” However tensions from the cold war still run deep between both nations. I suspect a lingering resentment from Russia about our victory in the cold war. If it had not been for the United States, Russia would have been the dominant world superpower. It would certainly be difficult to let that go.
