It’s not easy to listen to Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.

  
It’s not easy, because Lavrov has such poised, stable understanding of politics and international law. And he expressed this, not in his native Russian, but in English.  He also displayed a level of respect for international power relations, and for America itself, that may leave many wondering which current government is more “American.”

As a Russian speaker, and someone who worked in Russia, this is not surprising: The Russian people admire America, and they generally love, and have always yearned for, all things American.   

There’s no doubt that Russia’s current government puts Russia first. That is their job.  That stands in glaring contrast to the Biden administration which puts America last.

Moreover, Russia pursues its interests in a framework of Realpolitik.  That means with due regard for the realities of living functionally with China and the U.S.

That is the world’s new power axis.

Russia and China understand that.  The U.S. does not.

Fortunately, President-elect Trump does.

His view of America as a great nation, automatically solves the “identity crisis” that the Biden administration embodies. That identity crisis keeps a U.S.-China-Russia peace axis from forming on rational terms.

Russia anticipates Trump entering the White House because they know Trump respects and guards his own country, like China and Russia respect and guard theirs.

That creates an axis of equals.  That is what “balance of power” means. When that balance is missing, as it has been, the imbalance leads to global disorder.


Matthew G. Andersson is a former CEO and worked in Russia and the Former Soviet Union. He has testified to the US Senate, and studied with White House national security advisor W.W. Rostow at the Johnson School of Public Affairs. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago.

Image: Screen shot from Times of India video, via YouTube