Snowden will keep making headlines, but unlikely to create real change

English>>World

Editor's Pick

Snowden will keep making headlines, but unlikely to create real change

(Global Times) 14:28, August 22, 2013

Email|Print|Comments

twitter

facebook

Sina Microblog

NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden has been granted a temporary asylum for one year by the Russian government. Uncle Sam is of course not happy with the bear's choice. Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the G20 summit in September.

Obama slammed Russia that "played into some of the old stereotypes about the Cold War contest" in a White House news conference on August 9. And he also described his Russian counterpart as looking like "a bored kid sitting in the back of the classroom."

Obama's snub can be treated as Washington's retaliation. As the only superpower, it cannot do nothing after a slap in the face.

But that's it. The US will be stuck in an embarrassing position where neither can it resort to any solid or aggressive countermeasures to fight back, nor will it just let it go.

Right on the same day when Obama snapped at Russia, both countries resumed the long-paused "2+2" meetings between US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and their Russian counterparts, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. After a five-year suspension, the importance of this meeting has become elevated.

This meeting could hardly be productive under the circumstances. But it means Washington tries to compromise on this matter. Communications between both sides have never stopped since Snowden landed in Russia on June 23, but he will still be a haunting problem between both powers.

Snowden's influence is far from over, but he is unlikely to become any more influential either. In the following year, Washington will not stop babbling about it. As long as Snowden stays in Russia, the US will drag him up repeatedly.

Political analysts are trying to figure out who is the "winner" and "loser" in handling the Snowden case, which has intertwined three major powers: China, Russia and the US.

In the general vision of the relations among the three nations, Snowden's actions are only an interlude. He will not have a definitive impact on or even overturn the current US-China-Russia triangle.

Before Snowden made a name for himself, Russia and the US already had a contentious relationship.

When Putin reassumed the presidency last year, divisions between Russia and the US have been sharpened over a range of issues including Syria, human rights and the missile defense system of the NATO.

In fact, neither side is satisfied with such an ambiguous relationship, which has bottlenecked both nations' efforts to seek a more productive future. But considering the two countries' current tit-for-tat stance over these issues, they will have to maintain this state for years. Real solutions to the deadlock are still at large.

It is probably the US that has the power to improve this rigid relationship. Washington has long been discounting Russia's legitimate needs, and has made no constructive compromises in the face of confrontation. But based on its recent acts, the US seems to have started to reconsider its basic strategy toward Russia.

Washington's current policy wavers, but this is not enough to produce a peaceful and reciprocal US-Russia relationship. Washington must realize that an improved relationship between the two powers will only be accomplished at the cost of the US reinventing its global strategy, especially in the areas where their interests overlap.

Before that day comes, Snowden will still make headlines from time to time at least for the next year.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Liu Zhun based on an interview with Jiang Yi, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. liuzhun@globaltimes.com.cn