Get Vlad! ... How Putin Blocked the U.S. Pivot to Asia

"What is a unipolar world? However one might embellish this term, it refers to a type of situation where there is one center of authority, one center of force, one center of decision-making. It is world in which there is one master, one sovereign. At the end of the day, this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within...

"I consider that the unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible in today's world... the model itself is flawed because at its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern civilization..." (Munich, 2007)

What sort of man talks like this? What sort of man talks about "the moral foundations for modern civilization" or invokes FDR in his address?

Putin: "'Security for one is security for all.' As Franklin D. Roosevelt said during the first few days that the Second World War was breaking out: 'When peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger.' These words remain topical today."

I urge everyone to watch at least the first 10 minutes of Putin's speech and decide for themselves whether they think the characterization (and demonization) of Putin in the media is fair or not. And pay special attention to Minute 6 where Putin says this:

"We are seeing a greater and greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. And independent legal norms are, as a matter of fact, coming increasingly closer to one state's legal system. One state and, of course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations. Well, who likes this? Who is happy about this?" ("Vladimir Putin's legendary speech at Munich Security Conference.")

While Putin is making this statement, the camera pans to John McCain and Joe Lieberman who are sitting stone-faced in the front row seething at every word uttered by the Russian president. If you look close enough, you can see the steam emerging from McCain's ears.

This is why Washington wants regime change in Moscow. It's because Putin refuses to be pushed around by the United States. It's because he wants a world that is governed by international laws that are impartially administered by the United Nations. It's because he rejects a "unipolar" world order where one nation dictates policy to everyone else and where military confrontation becomes the preferred way for the powerful to impose their will on the weak.

Putin:

"Today we are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts...The United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way...And of course this is extremely dangerous. It results in the fact that no one feels safe. I want to emphasize this -- no one feels safe." Vladimir Putin, Munich 2007

Putin isn't a perfect man. He has his shortcomings and flaws like everyone else. But he appears to be a decent person who has made great strides in restoring Russia's economy after it was looted by agents of the US following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He has lifted living standards, increased pensions, reduced poverty, and improved education and health care which is why his public approval ratings are currently hovering at an eye-watering 86 percent. Even so, Putin is most admired for standing up to the United States and blocking its strategy to pivot to Asia. The proxy war in Ukraine is actually a struggle to thwart Washington's plan to break up the Russian Federation, encircle China, control the flow of resources from Asia to Europe, and rule the world. Vladimir Putin is at the forefront of that conflagration which is why he has gained the respect and admiration of people around the world.

As for "democracy," Putin said it best himself:

"Am I a 'pure democrat'? (laughs) Of course I am. Absolutely. The problem is that I'm all alone, the only one of my kind in the whole world. Just look at what's happening in America, it's terrible -- torture, homeless people, Guantanamo, people detained without trial or investigation. And look at Europe -- harsh treatment of demonstrators, rubber bullets and tear gas used in one capital after another, demonstrators killed on the streets... I have no one to talk to since Gandhi died."

Well said, Vladimir.