Russia and CFE
published in B&E 9 September 2007
Cold War deja vu!
Maintain primacy of peace
One wonders, why did the world undergo the trial & tribulations associated with the Cold War nuclear politics? The question gains added salience especially when one sees the West & Russia walking the beaten tracks & once again entering into a dangerous missile race.The recent withdrawal of Russia from its obligations under the conventional forces in Europe (CFE) treaty certainly doesn’t portend well, either for global peace or for the continent (Europe), which has presumably bid good bye to war as an instrument of state policy. The treaty came into being in 1992 (the collapse of Communism saw a revised treaty, CFE II enacted in 1999) as a confidence building measure between NATO & former Warsaw pact nations to reduce the deployment of conventional forces between the Atlantic Ocean and the Urals. The Russian reaction against the CFE results from the NATO’s obduracy to ratify the treaty – citing Russian refusal to remove troops from Georgia & Moldova. Realising the import of the treaty for European stability, the NATO spokesman James Appathurai said, “The Russian position is not fully clear to me, both in terms of suspension or in terms of what they want as a next step. That is exactly why the allies wish to discuss with the Russian Federation in more depth what it is exactly they mean.” Undeniably, a complete abrogation of the treaty may lead to further arms race in the region. The EU is worried that if this trend of whimsical withdrawal from treaties continues (the US had withdrawn from ABM treaty in 2005), next to follow could be the death of the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty, leading to a fresh wave of missile race. The EU simply cannot afford to let its soil become the battleground for this new wave of chill blowing between the erstwhile Cold War foes.
One wonders, why did the world undergo the trial & tribulations associated with the Cold War nuclear politics? The question gains added salience especially when one sees the West & Russia walking the beaten tracks & once again entering into a dangerous missile race.The recent withdrawal of Russia from its obligations under the conventional forces in Europe (CFE) treaty certainly doesn’t portend well, either for global peace or for the continent (Europe), which has presumably bid good bye to war as an instrument of state policy. The treaty came into being in 1992 (the collapse of Communism saw a revised treaty, CFE II enacted in 1999) as a confidence building measure between NATO & former Warsaw pact nations to reduce the deployment of conventional forces between the Atlantic Ocean and the Urals. The Russian reaction against the CFE results from the NATO’s obduracy to ratify the treaty – citing Russian refusal to remove troops from Georgia & Moldova. Realising the import of the treaty for European stability, the NATO spokesman James Appathurai said, “The Russian position is not fully clear to me, both in terms of suspension or in terms of what they want as a next step. That is exactly why the allies wish to discuss with the Russian Federation in more depth what it is exactly they mean.” Undeniably, a complete abrogation of the treaty may lead to further arms race in the region. The EU is worried that if this trend of whimsical withdrawal from treaties continues (the US had withdrawn from ABM treaty in 2005), next to follow could be the death of the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty, leading to a fresh wave of missile race. The EU simply cannot afford to let its soil become the battleground for this new wave of chill blowing between the erstwhile Cold War foes.
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