Condi's Cold War Denial

There's an old adage attributed to Otto Von Bismarck, "Never believe a rumor until it has been officially denied." Following on that wisdom, as per Condoleeza Rice's public statement that despite a few niggling differences, relations between the erstwhile implacable enemies is fine, one can now assert that the U.S. is, in fact, in the midst of a revived Cold War with Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Strictly speaking, to say that we aren't in a new era of hostile relations with Russia is balderdash, as the evidence shows the two nations are on the opposite side of just about every major issue one can name. What's more worrying, for those inclined to be worried by such things, is the reality that Russian hostility is but one branch on a tree with Chinese, Venezuelan, and Iranian appendages. These nations are easily as hostile to the U.S. as Russia. What's more, according to Gary Dorsch, 77% of the world's 1.15 trillion barrels of oil reserves now reside in the hands of government owned oil companies in nations like the aforementioned.

As this data suggests, at least to me, our new Cold War, which is neither all that cold nor neccessarily centered on one primary adversary whose word for no is nyet, isn't a conflict that has much to do with ideology, but rather, resources, primarily oil and mineral wealth. So, thanks, Condi, for perhaps unwittingly pulling the mask off our crummy relations with the Russian bear, and giving us a big fat warning to buckle up in preparation for a rough ride.