There is lots of talk about our relations with Russia these days…..especially during the election process…..there are lots of images being past around about the Lat Cold War…….and even some predictions that we are in or headed to a new confrontation with Russia…..

Murray Polner: Nowadays, Washington’s gung-ho cold warriors, few of whom have ever worn a military uniform, and our obsequious mass media, have convinced far too many Americans to dutifully accept the Grand Illusion that, America’s role is to right the wrongs of the world.

The older I become the more I realize that the movies I watched as a kid  somehow taught us how to deal with enemies, real and imagined, at home or abroad. In my beloved cowboy films everything boiled down to good guys/ bad guys, moral oversimplifications and victories delivered by six-shooters. It was clean, swift and uncomplicated, with no remorse.

A very smart, if cynical John LeCarre put it another way with his more realistic “Rule One of the Cold War,” which is just as true in today’s emerging new Cold War: “Nothing, absolutely nothing is what it seems. Everyone has a second motive, if not a third.” That’s certainly true in today’s Syria and everywhere else.

Source: Why the New Cold War Could Be Worse Than the Last Cold War – LA Progressive

Campaign rhetoric aside….does anyone think that we will return to the days of the Cold War hysteria?

There is a need to find a balance between sanctioning Russia for its recent transgressions of international norms and keeping the door open for better relations in the future.”

This year, the tragedies and outrages of the Ukraine crisis have dominated headlines and thinking about Western relations with Russia. There can be little doubt that the United States and its European allies and partners need a response to the Russian annexation of Crimea, to the destabilization of eastern Ukraine, to the separatists’ downing of a civilian airliner—and to the threat to global order that all of these actions represent.

Source: How to Avoid a New Cold War | Brookings Institution

After careful deliberation…..depending on the outcome of the election…..then we will return to “Cold War” footing.

But in case there is still any doubt out there is the blogoshere…..

The Russian Parliament on Wednesday approved the suspension of a cooperative weapons-grade plutonium disposal agreement with the United States, formalizing one of the sharpest downturns in relations between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014.

According to the Tass news agency, the measure was adopted virtually unanimously by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament. Of the deputies present, 445 supported its adoption, and only one member of parliament abstained.

Source: Russian Parliament Approves Suspension of Nuclear Cooperation with US | World Affairs Journal

Somewhere out there a smile is creeping across the face of a neocon……this made me think of the music of my youth…..

https://youtu.be/ntLsElbW9Xo