Thoughts for the Day

19 November 2017. Russia is a country of extremes. If a Russian finds someone in aid of assistance, they will go out of their way to do everything that they can for that person. However, if someone comes to them with bad intentions, they will likewise go to extremities to deal with that person. Similarly, those in power will go to great extremes to enrich themselves, while acting with great cruelty towards the rest of the country. So if the West really wanted to “contain” or “punish” Russia, the best policy would be to leave Russia entirely on its own to stew in its own juice. But certainly never, ever to invade, attack or otherwise directly confront this country in battle.

Two things to remember about the current “Cold War” between Russia and the West. The current secretary-general of NATO had the KGB handler name of “Steklov”. And the daughter of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov continued to work for British auction house Christie’s throughout the whole Crimea, Syria and Libya hoo-hah (even though her pa could have found her work in any bank in Moscow or, indeed, made sure she never needed to work at all). Today they are at each other’s throats. Tomorrow they will be hugging each other and signing deals – especially if the price is right. In fact, right now, they probably are signing deals...