Rusko je najsilnejšie vo svojej novodobej histórii
V roku 2008 bude Rusko z geopolitického hľadiska najsilnejšie od doby skončenia studenej vojny.
A private U.S. intelligence agency, Stratfor, said Russia is now more powerful than it has been since the fall of Communism.
"Russia enters 2008 in the strongest geopolitical position it has known since the Cold War's end," Stratfor said in a report entitled Annual Forecast 2008: Beyond the Jihadist War - Former Soviet Union, published on January 8.
"The rampant decay of its military has largely been halted, new weapons systems are beginning to be brought on line, the country is flush with petrodollars, its debt has vanished, the Chechen insurgency has been suppressed, the central government has all but eliminated domestic opposition, the regime is popular at home, and the U.S. military is too locked down to make more than a token gesture to block any Russian advances," the report said.
But Stratfor analysts said Russia's extensive influence was being challenged on the energy and political front, including in Asia and Europe.
"Chinese pipelines to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (to be constructed in 2008) threaten to divert the energy that until now could only flow northward and serve Russian purposes," the report said, adding that the Kremlin has been ignoring the problem.
"China is stealing Central Asia, building a network of infrastructures that will make it more attractive for the Central Asian states to integrate with China than to use Soviet-era links to Russia."
On another front, Russia has to contend with NATO's eastward expansion, the think tank said.
"NATO and the European Union occupy Russia's entire western horizon and are flirting with expanding their memberships. Rising defense modernizations in Asia are forcing Russia to deal with two military fronts - something at which Moscow never really succeeded during Soviet times."
Celý článok: tinyurl.com/yw8rvw
12.01.2008