Former US presidential adviser on security issues Brzezinski gave an interview to Russian media journalists who came to visit him in Washington, in which he called on Russia to create a joint military pact with America against China.
He said in particular:
"We share common Christian history with you (calling Russia a Christian country is very amusing - KC). But we still have no common political values: the rule of law and constitutional democracy. But today, the situation is changing.
In Russian cities, there are these new groups: a younger generation and the middle class, which, according to its values, is genuinely international, open and truly committed to the values of the civil society. Moreover, I do not think that Putin's rule can prevent the advance of this new generation; whatever he does, he still won't be able to change the course of history.
The Cold War was the last phase of the struggle between the US and the Soviet Union for hegemony. The task of each of the parties was to establish control over Europe, thus ensuring the control over the world. But everything comes to an end. And the antagonism between the United States and the Soviet Union also came to an end, like any hegemony should do.
Today, Russia should be more concerned about the East than the West. We have a neighbor in the East, which is really gaining momentum, amazingly succeeds economically, and now allocates a huge budget for its military machine.
This is China.
Russian Far East ("the Russian Far East" is the Chinese province of External Manchuria, seized by force by the Russians in the colonial 19th century - KC) is sparsely populated by the Russians, and the Chinese population is steadily growing there exponentially. That is why Russian membership in the international community is indispensable for Russia.
A potential conflict against Russia may arise not only with China but also with Korea and Japan.
What is happening in the South of China is a cause for concern, including Russia. Extremist sentiments are growing fast there. That means that we, the United States, Europe and Russia, need to act together and to respond together to new global challenges. That is not only war, but also hunger, lack of resources and environment pollution.
Russia is not Libya, and Putin is not Gaddafi. Russia is a European country (for Europeans, such a talk causes only bitter laughter - KC). I have always considered it as such, in terms of culture and ideology. But Russia lacks commitment to the values of constitutional democracy, political rights and civil liberties.
Russia in its history is often much more like the Eastern despotic regimes than Europe. It was the same under Stolypin, under Lenin and Stalin. So far the political system of Russia hasn't shown any adherence to the principle of political pluralism, and the state's interests are above the interests of the individual.
But the situation will inevitably change. We clearly observe that from outside. A new generation of young Russians increasingly travels to the West, looks at it, adopts its culture and values, and becomes part of it.
It is hard to imagine that they return back home unchanged and remain the same as before. Note that this applies not only to opposition-minded citizens, it also applies to the children of officials and oligarchs. They are studying in America and England; and inevitably, they have another set of values than their parents. Even though you have now an authoritarian regime, you have access to quite diverse sources of information, thanks to the Internet.
I read your newspapers and see that many of them can not be distinguished from those that have in the West (this is a very dubious compliment - KC). I believe that Russia should join the family of West European countries (Russia already "joined" to the "family of East European nations" after the WWII, and they still can not get over this "joining" - KC) and become one of the leading countries in it.
At some point, Russia will find that it is useful to join the NATO. Russia was ready to join the NATO years ago, it needs now a democratic change for that to come true. When Russia is a working democracy, then NATO will be ready to accept Russia.
Russia today needs not to fear the NATO, it should fear China. In terms of global stability, we can not dismiss China off-hand at this peace time. If China becomes a war enemy, it will be a huge blow to global stability and, above all, a blow to Russia's stability".
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
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