No doubt McInsane will point to a distorted view of the recent events regarding South Ossetia in Georgia as justiffication for a new Cold War with himself as an American Napoleon leading the charge. Here is the Left's counter-argument regarding the situation in the Georgia and the Caucasus region, and by Left I mean the Marxist Left (the folks that warned you about attacking Iraq way back in 2002).
The following statement by the Communist Party of Greece pulls no punches, and has no illusions as to American hegemony and Russian oligarchs:
Statement of the PB on the international developments and the crisis in Caucasus1. The bloody war in South Ossetia was launched at the request of the US and NATO by the government of Georgia that they control, taking advantage of the well known contradictions between Georgia and Russia. It was one more episode in the “series” of terror caused by the intensification of the contradictions between the imperialist powers in a wide region, extending from North Africa to the Arctic and from the Balkans to the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.
The competitions between USA, EU, Russia as well as other regional powers in the imperialist “pyramid “ are unfolding with the goal of increasing the superprofits of the monopolies through the control of wealth resources, energy pipelines, markets and spheres of influence.
Thus, a dangerous conflict over the so Called “Big Middle East” is being escalating. These developments are related to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan , but also to the preparations of war against Iran, and may result in domino effects affecting our region, even our country.
EU and most of its member-states, which are also members of NATO, on the one hand cooperate with the US , and on the other they compete for the sharing of the loot. They even try to hold the “reins” in a series of regions as it was demonstrated by the active interference of France and Germany in the Caucasus crisis At the same time, the contradictions within the EU concerning the stance towards Russia grow stronger.
2. The other political forces of our country, which celebrated the overthrow of socialism in Europe and the dissolution of the USSR, have been proven false. That development caused only pain, blood and suffering for tens of millions of workers living in the territories of the former USSR. It has also brought a general setback in the life and the rights of millions of workers all over the world. The road to the restoration of capitalism, to the integration of these countries in the global capitalist economy, was paved by the corpses of the international conflicts, caused by the imperialist powers which compete for the control of the region’s wealth and the increase of the exploitation of workers.
The uneven development of capitalism has led, over the last years, to the emergence and strengthening of new global economic forces, with high economic growth rates, such as Russia , China , India and Brazil . These forces claim a share of the world market and they cause serious reshufflings at the global imperialist “chessboard”. Their economic growth is inevitably followed by the increase of their political and military power. It leads to the intensification of the competition with the currently leading powers such as the US and EU and to the formation of new “axes” and “anti-axes”.
3. The US tries to maintain its hegemonic position, both generally and in relation to Russia specifically. Through the deployment of the so-called “antimissile shield” in Poland and Czech Republic they aim at overturning the current nuclear balance of forces with Russia. This move will inevitably bring an answer by Russia. It will escalate the armaments race with negative consequences for the people. At the same time the USA promotes the militarization of space, the further expansion of NATO towards the Balkans and countries of the former USSR and the installation of a new network of military bases in order to surround and weaken Russia.
The workers in our country should not have any illusions about the role of today’s Russia as it has a distinctly different class and social content from the USSR. Today’s capitalist Russia, as well as the EU, can neither become a “counterweight” to the USA nor a factor of international balance and security as they are both made of the same “material”, the “material” of the harsh class exploitation and injustice, of the dominance of capital and of the oppression of workers. The ruling class of Russia collides with the US and EU imperialists only in order to defend the interests of its own monopolies. At the same time is willing to accommodate with the USA and the EU for the further exploitation of the workers, the deprivation of their gains and the restriction of their social and political rights.
http://inter.kke.gr/News/2008news/2008-08-caucase/