Their Course is Clear
Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday I try and decide what I should write about. Some days it’s very clear, some days its not. Today is one of those days.
Should I write about the meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin? How will Stalin 2.0 perceive our President? Will he look at him like millions do, as a bumbling puppet of the left? Or will he see strength and resolve, knowing that this President is not one to be screwed with?
Or should I write about the FOMC meeting that will convene this afternoon? A meeting with little suspense. A meeting where the geniuses on Wall Street will spend countless hours of airtime going over each and every word. Coming up with nothing new and trying to make nothing into something.
It was a tossup but I decided since it’s Wednesday, I will go with the Summit meeting.
While the G-7 meeting in England was all about Climate change and getting countries on board to tackle the problem, President Biden and President Putin are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland to try and iron out some of the rough spots in a very course relationship.
I don’t think there are any high level expectations for this meeting, nor should there be. President Putin is not a man of his word as far as International diplomacy is concerned so why would we think that President Biden would be able to get any rock solid agreements with him?
I am not the biggest fan of Joe Biden but I do believe he will go into these discussions with America’s best interest at heart. Of course he will want to get Putin’s word on a number of things and of course Putin will dance around a few, ignore a few and completely deny a few. Thats his way of negotiating and in the end, the only thing that works with Putin is pain. However, it is not the pain that Putin feels, it is the Russian people that feel it and he could care less (hence my nickname, Stalin 2.0).
It is important for our President to have some connection to the Russian leader. To always have an open dialogue and when there are situations that need addressing, they get addressed directly. That’s diplomacy. It won’t work but taking the high road and going through proper protocols is how we operate and unfortunately Putin and his people operate differently.
The Geneva Summit will come and go. President Biden will present a strong case concerning Russian meddling and Russian cyberterrorism and Putin will deny, deny, deny. We will threaten a new round of sanctions and while they make things more difficult for a population that has multiple challenges each day, they won’t affect Putin or his Presidency.
Here is my hawk helmet gets put on.
Russia will push everything to a limit. They know what that limit is. They know that America has economic power and while American military power is nothing to ignore, American resolve is a bigger issue. Americans traditionally want to operate fairly. Follow the Geneva Convention, etc. Sure, we have done a multitude of dirty sins, just like our adversaries but by and large, these events have been exposed and embarrassment follows along with jail time. For the most part, we try and play by the rules.
I say,”to Hell with that!”. We are in World where no one plays by the rules. Or if they do, it’s a set of rules we cannot fathom. I think it’s time to create a new set of rules for battling a war most of us will never see until it is too late.
The Russian, Chinese and any other bad actors out there have discovered multiple vulnerabilities in our ecosystem and periodically they have attacked those vulnerabilities. I say it’s time for us to go and shut down Moscow’s electricity for an hour or two. Show them, our hackers are just as good as theirs. We have the talent in this country to dismantle pretty much any system that has been developed on this planet. Let’s use it.
I know that the leaders in these countries could care less about their people suffering and any cyberattack will cause more suffering. That suffering will most likely breed more contempt for the US but it will also plant the seed that we have the power to retaliate, at will. Stop messing with us, or else.
It goes without saying that the US has probably done some of this already, but it should be a full fledged part of our military arsenal. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Cyber.
If Vladimir Putin thinks he can get away with what he has gotten away now, no telling what he will do next. How about we shut down a few of Rosneft’s pipelines and ask for a few million Rubles. Oh wait, the Ruble is worthless.