It was inevitable...

...We've seen the calls of then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, one month prior to the Chelyabinsk meteor incident, for a Russian asteroid monitoring and defense system, a system whose capabilities for defense against other kinds of threats were clear. More recently, as I've been suggesting, the BRICSA nations would have to beef up their space security systems if they are to put into place viable mechanisms of international electronic financial clearing. Clearly, these countries, Russia in particular, are interested in by-passing London and New York for international financial clearing.

It now appears that the next step is being taken in this elaborate spatio-geo-political dance, for Mr. Putin, President of the Russian Federation, is calling for precisely such a space defense system, and notably, he has directed his commentary specifically to the threat posed by emerging American technological capabilities:

The Return of "Star Wars"

As the article notes, some $616 billion, over half a trillion dollars, is being spent by Russia in this effort, to culminate in 2020, and already upgraded defense systems are being put into place around Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk in Siberia, and oddly enough, Kaliningrad(the former German Koenigsberg), in East Prussia.

It's the latter that, from the geopolitical context, is highly significant. The Kaliningrad Oblast, essentially the northern sliver of East Prussia(the southern half having been absorbed by Poland), is crucial to the Russian ability to project power into the Baltic region, but more importantly, would be necessary to any Russian defense of the Baltic pipelines supplying energy to Europe, which pipelines run through - you guessed it - Germany, from any aggressor(and there is only one country mentioned by name in Mr. Putin's remarks folks).

The article, however, admits to something else, equally significant, and that is that a variety of countries are developing such capabilities, but that only the US has deployed them. The indications, while only implied, are clear: Moscow thinks a Cold War over its missile defense systems can be avoided, probably because it has read the tea leaves, and realizes that other nations are busy developing similar defensive technologies out of similar concerns over the USA's Mafia-style "protection racket", or "system of alliances."

In short, the USA, which outspends the military spending of the next eight great powers combined, might have thus created the very thing it was intended to avoid: a new arms race. Thus, if there's any prediction to be made here, one can watch for (1) potential Russian offers to expand its air defense zone to other nations, perhaps by offering the technologies to do so, (2) Ramped up Chinese, Indian, Brazilian, and European commitments to missile defense systems.

See you on the flip side.