Russia fights for Hegemony

Russia under Putin is a country under a virulent warrior. While this is known that he drives her like his personal fiefdom, he also tries to lord over her neighbours, like even the mighty Czars would not have. 

The Syrian war theatre and the IS unified command, both have fuelled Russia’s immense need to one, make the brute military power that she was always known for felt again and two, even revive the hegemony that she had long lost in international matters. And this under the leadership of a man who seems to have reclaimed her for himself, as though she was always his a ominous development. 

While Putin is known to flaunt his rippling though ageing biceps, that he would do the same for his country was something that I had not imagined. Will this herald the revival of the cold war era is something that we have to wait and watch. I am certain, had it been Bush at the helm of American decision making, the Cold war would have by now been escalated to a Hot war, with the American forces standing face to face with Russians in Syria. 

What both countries - Russia and USA - have very intelligently managed is, their fight for hegemony has always been offshore - Vietnam first, then Afghanistan and now Syria. They have diligently managed to keep the war off their own grounds. Putin may well have been itching for an opportunity of this sort. He had strolled into Crimea and Ukraine and stays on unchallenged. But both these shameless incursions were localised affairs. Now he is taking USA head on under the ruse of helping the Bashar regime on invitation. 

With the annexation of Crimea, Putin added more than 2 mn Russians in one stroke to a country, demographically de-growing and reeling under a death rate of 14.7 double that of the United States. 

But there is a lesson to learn from this. When in peace, his army was sweating. And that is why he took just hours to mobilize jets into the Syrian sky, and Navy into the Caspian sea. India should also use her time of peace to rally its strength and conserve it to use later as a deterrent for border ingressions and skirmishes. I would not recommend Indian army marching into Tibet or annexing Pakistan, even though I personally believe them to be natural corollaries of acquired power, and the only way to ensure lasting peace. But the bloodshed and loss of lives that will bring this about is something that I will never be willing to swallow.