The US Vs Russia World Cup was one of the most intriguing games of the round robin stage. It featured two tournament favorites. One team was bound to come out flying.
For many years, the Soviets saw the West as an enemy. They thought that the US would never cooperate with them. However, this was not the case.
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was the leading power when it came to the number of warheads stored. After the first Soviet nuclear test, it started to increase its arsenal quickly.
Now, the Russians are the second largest nuclear weapon state. Russia has over 1600 deployed warheads, and over 6490 warheads in storage.
Russia has developed an excellent strategic influence in the Middle East. It has political leverage over Syria and has built a military force in the Arab East.
It is also in the Middle East that the United States claims that it is prepared to defend its interests when challenged. But, Russia’s foreign policy strategy under Putin seems to counter this strategy.
As of now, the US has no clear strategy on how to deal with Russia’s shift in foreign policy. There are several overlapping crises in the Middle East.
In the Middle East, the US has several allies. Some of these include Israel, but others could be Russia, Canada, or Brazil.
While the US has a great deal of global influence, it is not necessarily bound to be an adversary to Russia. This can be seen in its policy towards Central Asia. Policy goals are to deny Iran dangerous leverage over the Central Asian economies and to encourage construction of East-West pipelines that do not pass through Iran.