Baraka_Guru

The Poland deal was either idiotic or a provocation (or both) on the part of the U.S. The diplomatic thing to do would have been to delay the signing of it.

As far as cold wars go, yes there is a benefit to the powers involved. You have heightened economic activity, nationalist propaganda as thought control, and "simplified" relations with each other. You don't get the war weariness you tend to see in democratic countries engaged in hot wars.

Thinking about this more, it seems much like a Russian game—one that it has historically liked to play. Russia is trying to position itself as a power player in the mode it knows best. It can't conduct this business in the same mode as, say, the U.S., Japan, and China. It does what it can with what it has.

How else would we expect Russia to handle its concerns about security? That is, without being idealistic.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot