Issue 14

 Babak Layeghi

“In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments.” Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor (1769-1821).

Have you ever wondered what the ‘War on Terror’ is really all about? Some argue that it’s about the United States conquering the Middle East for its oil.  While others maintain that it’s about giving Israel a free hand in the Middle East, hence allowing for the proclamations in the Bible to come true.  One set of scholars have even managed to put forward the theory that the ‘War on Terror’ is really a clash of civilizations.  Nevertheless, for a moment take a closer look of the world around us post 9/11, surely one can see American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, but what about all the American forces stationed in nine of the fifteen post-Soviet states?

Using 9/11 as a pretext, the United States has managed to strategically surround Russia, its Cold-War enemy.  Why Russia? Throughout history, scholars have noted that Russia was always behind in terms of politics and economics compared to its European counterparts, but no European power has ever doubted the potential of Russia as a great power.  After all, Russia is the world’s biggest country, and it is filled with enormous amounts of natural resources, thus giving it the potential of becoming a great power at any moment in time.  One can see this example repeat itself many times throughout history: in recent times the Cold War was a good example, as was the time when Russia came to the aid of Europe, when Napoleon was on the path of conquering the continent.

Hence, it should not come as a surprise, for one to recognize the fact that the US today, has over a hundred military bases and installations scattered throughout the world, yet more importantly there are more American bases in the former Soviet states than Russia has itself.

For example, in the Baltic States, American planes are patrolling the airspaces’ of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.  All these states are geographically found on the Russian border.

More over, one has to wonder what American troops are doing stationed in Azerbaijan.  Perhaps in this particular case, the vast amounts of oil deposits in the Caspian Sea cannot be so easily ignored by the United States.

Interesting to note, is the fact that until two years ago Georgia did not even have a real army.  But throw in the mention of al-Qaida, and the Bush administration has dispatched a group of Green Berets to train the Georgian army.  However, today the US military mandate in Georgia, has been expanded to include guarding the BTC Pipeline, thus the length of American troops staying on Georgian soil has been extended indefinitely.

The US can also be found in the former Soviet states located in Central Asia.  In Kyrgyzstan, American troops were initially stationed to be deployed to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.  However, after the fall of the Taliban, and the United States having left its troops in Afghanistan for post-war peacekeeping missions, one still sees American troops in Kyrgyzstan.

Furthermore, although Tajikistan has few natural resources, it does not mean the US is not interested in the country, as it strategically borders China.  When President Misha Pozhininisky of Tajikistan, not too long ago suggested that Russian troops who patrolled the border of Tajikistan with Afghanistan, in order to maintain peace between the warlords residing in the area, would no longer be doing so, it did not take the Americans long to send in their troops to patrol the region and to also set up a permanent base in the country.

Kazakhstan in addition has also been brought into the American camp, as it is being bribed with officer training and military hardware, in order to bring the country out of the Russian orbit.  

Lastly, the Bush administration has also sent an $18 million dollar aid package to Uzbekistan, and just like Kyrgyzstan, there still remains 1000 American troops stationed on the ground in Uzbekistan, from the invasion of Afghanistan back in November 2001.

In the end, could it possibly be that the United States understands that although the Soviet Union has collapsed, it does not mean that Russia will not once again rise to become a world power, and threaten the sheer strength of the United States? Perhaps, the US is sure of the fact that Russia will become a global power once again, thus explaining why American troops have been strategically placed in nine of the fifteen post-Soviet states, within only three years of 9/11.