The other side of yesterday

"Many thought the fall of the Soviet Union was the single biggest accomplishment of Ronald Reagan. And he did it without firing a shot."

It does seem like it was just yesterday. The great and powerful, the menacing Soviet Union, fell. Or should I say fell apart. It was quite a scene, actually. This most truculent power caused many of us while young, to practice hiding under our desks in case we were bombed. Or practice hiding in a fallout shelter. Many thought it was not a matter of if, but when the United States (NATO) and the Soviet Union would mix it up. And both sides had enough nuclear throw weight to burn up and poison the world many times over.

So what really killed the Soviet Union? Was it the iron clad working relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher? Was it the terrible economy the Russian's lived with for decades under a Communist power? Or was it the threat of Star Wars? Many historians believe it was all of the above and much more. And what was the "much more"? Freedom. The people living behind the "iron curtain" just wanted to be free. Like us.

So on a gray and overcast day in early November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Shortly thereafter, the entire Soviet Union dissolved. A young Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB, watched in horror as his beloved Soviet Union drifted into the ash heap of history. Years later, this former KGB officer became the President of the Russian state. In 2005, Vladimir Putin told the Russian people the fall of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century". The Soviet Union may have ended up in the ash heap of history, but Putin did not. It was a harbinger of things to come.

So what has changed over the years? Between the old style Soviet Union and the new Russia? Not much really. A relative who lives on the left side of the street keeps reminding me that Russian shenanigans really started in August of 2008. Even for the short period while Putin was not president. 

Russia used its mighty muscle to go into Georgia to quell separatists. They were Georgian people who just wanted freedom. You know, like the Russian people wanted it in 1989. But that was then and this was now. Russia, now using its military might, squashed the uprising. And once again, the world started to smell the stench of Russian storm troopers.

Well Putin replaced Medvedev as President of Russia. Obama replaced Bush as President of the United States. And it became "game on" for real. And why is the Russian genie out of the bottle once again? My opinion is simply this - Bush did not want to mess with the Russians towards the end of his Presidency. He was focused on the Islamic threat. Obama on the other hand, does not want to mess with either the Russians or the Islamic threat. Consequently, Obama has left the playing field wide open for a very opportunistic Vladimir Putin.

Somebody said our problem today is the Russians are playing chess as we play checkers. I disagree. I think we are playing tidley winks or something like that. We will watch the world become redefined from the comfort of our living room sofas. And for freedom loving people, what is their future? Not much really. The "City on the Hill", the "Beacon of freedom" is not doing much these days. Not interested. Seems we have retired.

So where is the other side of yesterday? Right here. The other side of yesterday is today. And tomorrow. Our kids and grand kids will ask us where we were when Russia made its return to world domination. We will respond to them, "We were right here - watching". I just hope we don't have to respond to our kids and grand kids using Cyrillic instead of English.