Russian News Sources
I frequent the top Russian online newspapers to get a perspective on the news that the Russian people consume directly. The four newspapers I frequent are Pravda, Pravda Newspaper, Tass, and Arguments and Facts. This article is based on a Russian news article in Pravda Online.
Pravda (pravda.ru http://www.pravda.ru is a Russian online newspaper that was once associated with the print newspaper Pravda. The two parted ways, and are no longer affiliated. It is also proclaimed to be independent.
Pravda Newspaper ( Правда http://www.gazeta-pravda.ru) is a Russian print newspaper with an online presence. It is what everyone thinks about when they think “Pravda”.
Tass (TACC http://www.tass.ru) is the official Russian news agency owned by the Government of Russia, and is portrayed as the equivalent of our Associated Press or Reuters. However being owned by the Russian government, the comparison with our news agencies falls way short.
Arguments and Facts (Аргументы и факты http://www.aif.ru) is an independent newspaper, at least as independent as a newspaper can be in Russia.
Thes these websites have English versions but don’t depend on them for accuracy. The English versions are sanitized for markets outside of Russia. Instead, use a translator plugin on your browser that does real-time translation page by page, as you navigate through the Russian versions of the websites. I use Google Chrome with the Google Translate plugin. Some of the idioms and sentence structures can be a bit confusing and also entertaining, but you’ll get the gist of it and you’ll get a more accurate picture. Use the links provided above to get to the Russian versions.
Today, May 15th, 2020, I ran across a particularly bothersome article in Pravda:
Pravda, May 15th, 2020
The Pravda article explains the opinions and predictions of a group led by Fedor Lukyanov, of the Valdai Club Foundation, which is a Russian think tank associated with Vladimir Putin. Think of the Valdai Club Foundation as the Russian equivalent of The Heritage Foundation.
They believe that following the pandemic, a new world order will be developing and the world will be in turmoil. The United States and China will be involved in a cold war that could result in a “truly terrible war”.
“Experts are sure that the world is on the verge of another cold or truly terrible war. And the situation with coronavirus revealed a number of absolutely unsolvable problems.”
Lukyanov and his team believe that the ongoing conflict between China and the US will supersede the intensity of the last century’s Cold War between the US and the USSR.
“Moreover, the potential for escalation of the conflict between the USA and China is much higher than once between the USA and the USSR.”
The article references an opinion by Former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, that “both China and the United States are likely to come out of this crisis greatly exhausted”. Rudd has his degree in Chinese Relations and speaks fluent Mandarin. Currently, he is President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York City. Bloomberg has a video interview of Kevin Rudd explaining some of his thoughts from a month ago:
U.S.-China Relations at Point of Fundamental Disrepair: Kevin Rudd
— Bloomberg, April 21st, 2020
“I think the fair thing to say, Andy, is that the best we can hope for is a tactical pause in the hostilities while the strategic dimensions of the relationship continue to unravel. What I mean by that is before the COVID 19 crisis began we had the beginnings of a strategic, of a tactical cause in hostilities with the Phase 1 trade deal. Then Kogut [an unruly rooster; a metaphor for chaos?] arrived and then frankly everything degenerated rapidly and at virtually every level of the US-China relationship…
But let's be very plain. Strategically the relationship is now in fundamental disrepair…
On top of that, the other concrete elements of the relationship continue to head south rather than north. So the challenge right now, however, is for something to be salvaged out of the ashes... “
The Pravda article clearly states that Russia believes it is well-positioned to take advantage of the coming Chaos. And, it isn’t just Russian opinion. “Experts talked about how a pandemic will help China win the geopolitical confrontation with the United States.” The “experts” are Thomas Graham, a Distinguished Fellow with Council on Foreign Relations and a Special Advisor at Kissinger Associates; and, Samir Saran, President of one of India’s largest think tanks, Observer Research Foundation. According to the article, both men state Russia’s importance in a new world order:
“Russia, in its current state, experts Thomas Graham and Samir Saran are sure, will play an important role ‘in outlining the contour of the new world order’, where its position will be important along with the positions of other world powers.”
Even if we avoid a fighting war, The U.S. isn’t in a great position if coronavirus continues to disrupt the world community. Trump has enabled Putin by siding with him over our Intelligence Community. For no good reason, Trump has without cause embarrassed and created American and global distrust in American Institutions that made our country great. Trump has alienated the leaders of century-old alliances while admiring and fawning over authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Rodrigo Duterte, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and others.
Trump has set-up China as an enemy and scapegoat to fuel his base for the 2020 election. It’s an age-old protofascist strategy to create a scapegoat and enemy for followers to rally around. Trump has disparaged the UN, the WHO, and other international organizations that helped the U.S. create strong bonds with our allies.
The bottom line is the only way to mitigate the damage caused by the coronavirus and exacerbated by Trump’s clumsy failures in dealing with it, is to vote him out in November, and keep a close watch during the transition period.