It is as if we have returned to the days of Ronald Reagan and Leonid Brezhnev at the beginning of the 1980s; talk of a new cold war prevails over US-Russian relations these days. The president of the United States describes the Russian president as a "lazy kid," who is unconcerned over what is happening around him in the schoolroom. A boycott of the Winter Olympics in Sochi is now being discussed, which reminds us of how the Reagan administration and a number of western governments boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, as a response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. This was followed by a Soviet boycott of the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Is Russia's "hosting" of the American security specialist Edward Snowden behind all of this? Or is Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin in May behind the rising hostility in American rhetoric, as Obama indicated during his recent news conference? At the time, Obama did not hide his anger over Snowden, and rejected the idea that "patriotism" was behind the NSA contractor's decision to reveal intelligence information about the methods used by the agency to spy on Americans and foreigners, whether inside or outside the US. The crisis in US-Russian relations and the granting of asylum to Snowden coincided with Washington's announcement that it was closing most of its embassies in the Middle East and North Africa, after intelligence information about contacts between Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the successor to Osama bin Laden as the head of Al-Qaeda, and his local envoy Nasser al-Wuhayshi. This information indicated that there was an imminent threat to American interests and oil and strategic facilities in Yemen, which required an extraordinary decision. This is despite the fact that the US decided to re-open its embassies beginning on Sunday, while the Sanaa embassy will remain closed until further notice. This is an indication of the extent of the danger that Washington senses in Yemen. Experts are comparing it to the danger faced in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The revelation of information gave the American president an excuse to support his position about the importance of keeping secret the sources of intelligence information that are relied on by the NSA in protecting citizens and the country's interests abroad. The revelation also provided an excuse to the enemies of the improvement in US-Russian ties, which has taken place since Obama came to office. They believe that Moscow's granting of asylum to Snowden confirms its lack of seriousness about American security, and that it has no problem supporting anything that threatens American interests around the world. It is no secret that Putin is a child of the Cold War and one of the leading Soviet intelligence officials, who confronted the western policy and propaganda via the Berlin War. It is also no secret that during the Putin era, Russia is recovering much of the imperial and chauvinistic language that characterized Soviet-era propaganda. However, it is also true that the deterioration in American influence around the world is a result of the Obama administration's stumbling and inability to take decisive decisions on many key strategic issues; this has helped the Russian empire regain its footing and recover. Amid such a situation, is it right for Obama to describe his Russian counterpart as a "lazy kid" who is unconcerned with what is taking place around him? Or would it be more correct for Obama to describe himself as a failed president, whose inability to confront crises has led to talk of a new cold war, and the launch of a new "war on terror"?
