Save us Uncle Sam!

...cry some politicians, majority of the thankfully former, from the 'New European' countries. Among them the high priest of the church of truth and love, Vaclav Havel, the gigolo, Alexandr Vondra and the sleepy prince Karl von Schwartzenberg. They seem to be afraid of the renewed assertiveness of Russia in its geostrategic pursuits and also about the apparent divisions within NATO and that waning receptiveness of the 'good America' slogan among their electorate. And of course they want that missile defence shield bad and are getting nightmares from Obama's administration not being so enthusiastic about it as Bush was.

Then there is the issue of how to deal with Russia. Our hopes that relations with Russia would improve and that Moscow would finally fully accept our complete sovereignty and independence after joining Nato and the EU have not been fulfilled. Instead, Russia is back as a revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and methods. At a global level, Russia has become, on most issues, a status-quo power. But at a regional level and vis-à-vis our nations, it increasingly acts as a revisionist one. It challenges our claims to our own historical experiences. It asserts a privileged position in determining our security choices. It uses overt and covert means of economic warfare, ranging from energy blockades and politically motivated investments to bribery and media manipulation in order to advance its interests and to challenge the transatlantic orientation of central and eastern Europe.

We welcome the "reset" of the American-Russian relations. As the countries living closest to Russia, obviously nobody has a greater interest in the development of the democracy in Russia and better relations between Moscow and the west than we do. But there is also nervousness in our capitals. We want to ensure that too narrow an understanding of western interests does not lead to the wrong concessions to Russia. Today the concern is, for example, that the United States and the major European powers might embrace the Medvedev plan for a "concert of powers" to replace the continent's existing, value-based security structure. The danger is that Russia's creeping intimidation and influence-peddling in the region could over time lead to a de facto neutralization of the region. There are differing views within the region when it comes to Moscow's new policies. But there is a shared view that the full engagement of the United States is needed.

Read the whole thing here, if you realy wish to kill time.