First there’s Georgia, where Russia pushes back US efforts to muscle further NATO expansion. Then in our own hemisphere, Bolivia and Venezuela expel their US ambassadors, as Russian long range bombers land in South America in advance of joint naval maneuvers in the Caribbean. It’s not a resumption of the Cold War with the USSR, Russia is advancing no Communist Iron Curtain. But could a rival super power, in league with the unaligned nations, be a challenge to US hegemony? We could hope so. |