Mitt Romney, a senator and the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election, seems to have made himself known once again. This all revolves around his famous statement that “Russia is America's 'number one geopolitical foe”.
During the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama and the Democrats used this statement to prove Romney’s incompetence in terms of foreign policy. At that time it seemed that everyone was mocking at Romney and his Russophobia.
However, Michael Hirsh seems to have revived the importance of Romney’s words. He wrote an article called “Mitt Romney Was Right: Russia Is Our Biggest Geopolitical Foe”
Was Mitt Romney really right when saying that “Russia is America's 'number one geopolitical foe”? Let’s try to ponder on this question…
Hirsh’s Reasoning
Frankly speaking, His reasoning looks more like provocation. The major theses cited by him have recently been continuously repeated separately and together. The arsenal of factors is old and limited:
1. Russia violates human rights.
2. Russia banned Americans from adopt Russian orphans as a response to the Magnitsky List.
3. Putin is said to be trying to revive Stalin’s Cult.
4. Russia’s nuclear arsenal is a major threat to the USA by default.
5. Russia wants to control the USA’s foreign policy worldwide.
These few arguments seem to be enough for Mr. Hirsh to conclude that Putin’s Russia is a major power and a deterrent for the USA’s global domination.
Former members of Mitt Romney’s team are now using Hirsh’s worlds to rehabilitate themselves (They say there were right).
Why Do Americans Believe Hirsh?
The answer is simple: he says what most Americans want to hear. There will always be Americans who will be putting the blame on Russia for everything. Such a stance is very convenient.
At the time there are people who like dynamic geopolitics where major powers confront each other, look for allies and fight for springboards.
Now let’s look at the confrontation of the Russian Ruble and the US Dollar.
RUR vs USD
Since May 13th, the Russian Ruble has been under the pressure of negative news.
On the contrary, the US Dollar, started strengthening against other majors at the end of last week amid positive stats. In particular, the US budget surplus reached $112,9bn in April against last year’s $59bn.
The chart below, courtesy of Masterforex-V Academy, reflects the current state of affairs in the market of USDRUB:
