Washington and Moscow both enthusiastically celebrated the victory of the Allied “Grand Alliance” over the fascist powers at the end of World War II. Since then, however, the two capitals have typically been on opposite sides of numerous nasty geostrategic struggles around the world. They also have relished opportunities to work with foreign countries and political movements to create major headaches for the other great power. A crucial recent example of that strategy has been the decision by the United States and its NATO allies to use Ukraine as a military proxy against the Russian Federation and its leader, Vladimir Putin. That approach has achieved some success. Keeping Ukraine in the war has bled Russia physically and economically. Achieving such an outcome has required a substantially greater effort on the part of the great power playing offense, though, than did either of the other two most prominent proxy wars: those in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The United States, other key NATO members, and the Alliance as a whole, have been deeply involved in supporting Kyiv’s military ventures – including launching air and missile strikes deep inside Russian territory. With the onset of the war in Iran, Moscow now …read more Source:: Ron Paul...