Foreign Policy

You can't blame US tension with Russia on Snowden's asylum. Those tensions existed long before Snowden showed up. Snowden is just the latest in a long line of tensions, and petulant Obama took it personally.

"For all the bloviating about Russian "authoritarianism" and "ultra-nationalism," the irony is that Putin did not dare turn over Snowden to the US because, for the Russian people, the young whistle-blower had become a symbol of freedom from government surveillance and authority."

Another example of how our government has turned the world upside-down.

"When Snowden first came to Russia, his presence was treated as an annoyance by Putin rather than an opportunity to snub the Americans. They just wanted him to go away. It was only later, when Snowden became a hero to the Russian people – for reasons any supposedly "authoritarian" regime would do well to fear – that US efforts to get him back were denied and asylum was granted. In short, the popular Russian reaction to Snowden’s presence was the same as that of the Chinese: the Russians consider him a hero, just as the people of Hong Kong did when he arrived. While Putin is hardly the Russian equivalent of Thomas Jefferson, even a tyrant must make some concessions to public opinion."

The people always have the power to withdraw consent.

"All the cold war mythology comes flooding right back once Moscow looks at Washington cross-eyed: and Snowden, of course, was the tipping point. "

It is fair to say Snowden was the tipping point or the straw that broke the camel's back, but it isn't all about Snowden.

"This administration’s reaction to the granting of asylum to Snowden could charitably be called juvenile, a public display of foot-stamping unworthy of the world’s last remaining superpower. With such issues as the reduction of nuclear stockpiles – not to mention the vitally important question of how to contain those "loose nukes" floating around the former Soviet Union – still unresolved, the Obamaites are willing to throw all that overboard in favor of pursuing their purely domestic political interests – i.e. quelling the civil libertarian revolt now taking place in Congress against the Surveillance State."

I don't think it's juvenile at all. I think they're overriding concern is always maintaining and expanding their power so they can loot more wealth. It's self-interest, not juvenile.

"The above demonstrates, once again, how my theory of international relations – "libertarian realism" – works in practice. Like any good theory, it can be summed up in a few sentences: a nation’s foreign policy is entirely determined by the single overriding interest of any and all ruling elites, whether they got into a position of power democratically or otherwise: the retention and expansion their own power. "

This is pretty much what I just said and seems to contradict the characterization of the administration's response as juvenile.

"Foreign policy? No such thing: all politics is local, and all policy is domestic, i.e. aimed at the home front. This is especially true here in America at a time like this, when the authority, and, indeed, the very legitimacy of the State is being challenged by an insurgency of dissidents on both sides of the left/right spectrum."

Exactly.

Pat Buchanan fears a new Cold War with Russia. And to think I used to believe China and Russia were starting this. It's all about who the aggressor is, and it's the US.