Medvedev (left) and Rogozin (right). (Photo Credit: Kremlin.ru)
Russian Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted that he would give $1 million to anyone who could prove that NATO is not "pursuing military planning" against Russia. Rogozin, as the New York Times wrote last month, has taken to Twitter to trash talk the West in 140 characters or less.
If blunt denials to the contrary from NATO's secretary-general weren't enough, just look at NATO today--the alliance has its hands full in Afghanistan. It has 50,000 troops fighting there this year, and even turned to Russia for helicopters because European nations have demilitarized. This trend isn't surprising--European nations still have the American defense umbrella to protect them, and after the end of the Cold War they lost their one external threat. In addition, public opinion in European countries is against having troops in Afghanistan. The Dutch are withdrawing their 2,000 troops by the end of year because of public opinion.
Though Rogozin's tweet is all the more misplaced since he is Ambassador to NATO (kind of like John Bolton as ambassador to the UN), NATO is actually really quite weak. With NATO so weakened, can anyone with a straight face really imagine it deciding to attack Russia? (Never mind that it is a defensive alliance.)
So, Ambassador Rogozin, can I have my $1 million dollars now? But RIA-Novosti reports, "[Rogozin] did not say, however, how he would hand the money to the winner, or even if he possessed such a sum."
Guess I'll have to wait.
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Rogozin wrote a book called Enemies of the People (in Russian), a kind of nationalist screed. Questions, comments errors, and instructions for receiving the $1 million can all be e-mailed to me at foreignpolicyexaminer@gmail.com. I, like Ambassador Rogozin, have taken to Twitter, and you can follow all of my columns and links I find interesting in between stories. Or you can subscribe via e-mail at the top of the page.
Comments
Problem is, in strictest terms, he's almost certainly 'correct.' Like any major military command, NATO always has contingency plans on the shelf and periodically updates them.
A plan for conflict with Russia is virtually guaranteed to exist.
If a Nato plan for a conflict with Russia does indeed exist, it would be to pretend the threat is not there and Run if pretending fails.
You should get the $million just for calling his bluff in a serious tone. Everyone else is laughing, and that is not a good thing to do when a rapist enters the room.
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