Estado Sentido

Ontem foi um dia tranquilo e com um tempo formidável em Washington, de fazer inveja a Portugal por estes dias. Após um tour guiado pela cidade e a tradicional paragem na Casa Branca, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument e Capitólio, e ainda pelo recente Martin Luther King Memorial e pela National Cathedral, aproveitei para ir à National Gallery of Art e ao National Museum of American History. Neste último, destaque para a Bíblia de Thomas Jefferson e um dos fatos de Benjamin Franklin, cujas fotos aqui ficam (quem quiser ver mais fotos e acompanhar estas 3 semanas mais directamente pode adicionar-me no Facebook): 

Via Exílio de Andarilho aqui fica um outro ponto de vista contrário ao do excelente post do Bruno Alves. A História nos dirá qual dos dois será mais válido.

Via CNN online

"I think that American officials and analysts -- and I would put myself in this boat -- underestimated the scope of the Russian reaction to Kosovo's separation from Serbia," Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a conference call."The Russians at the time said that they may well retaliate by stirring up trouble in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and I think many people said, 'Well, that's going to be mostly talk.' In fact, they've gone ahead and done it."In addition to reasserting Russia's regional preeminence, the incursion into Georgia also demonstrated the United States' relative weakness.

Janusz Bugajski, author of a forthcoming book on Russia's relations with its neighbors, said Washington's lack of forceful response sends a chilling message to nations that had been relying on the U.S. to counter Russia's power.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "is demonstrating to the rest of the world that the United States is not the sole superpower any more. Or if it is, it's so stretched that it's not going to come to your aid," Bugajski said. "That weakens the U.S. position globally quite a bit."Even if the United States resists the idea, it's possible that a resurgent Russia is ready for a new geopolitical rivalry in which powerful countries compete politically and militarily."

I think it's not inappropriate to put this conflict in the context of a 'great game,' " Kupchan said. "There is still a battle going on for influence -- Western influence vs. Russian influence -- in the Caucasus and in the southern borderlands around Russia. And clearly I think as a result of this conflict Russia will probably feel that it has taken a step forward in maintaining a 'sphere of influence.' "