Most people in the English-speaking parts of the
world missed Putin's speech at the Valdai
conference in Sochi a few days ago, and, chances
are, those of you who have heard of the speech
didn't get a chance to read it, and missed its
importance. (For your convenience, I am pasting in
the full transcript of his speech below.) Western
media did their best to ignore it or to twist its
meaning. Regardless of what you think or don't
think of Putin (like the sun and the moon, he does
not exist for you to cultivate an opinion) this is
probably the most important political speech since
Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech of March 5, 1946.
In this speech, Putin abruptly changed the rules of
the game. Previously, the game of international
politics was played as follows: politicians made
public pronouncements, for the sake of maintaining
a pleasant fiction of national sovereignty, but they
were strictly for show and had nothing to do with
the substance of international politics; in the
meantime, they engaged in secret back-room
negotiations, in which the actual deals were
hammered out. Previously, Putin tried to play this
game, expecting only that Russia be treated as an
equal. But these hopes have been dashed, and at
this conference he declared the game to be over,
explicitly violating Western taboo by speaking
directly to the people over the heads of elite clans
and political leaders.
The Russian blogger chipstone summarized the
most salient points from Putin speech as follows:
1. Russia will no longer play games and engage in
back-room negotiations over trifles. But Russia is
prepared for serious conversations and
agreements, if these are conducive to collective
security, are based on fairness and take into
account the interests of each side.
2. All systems of global collective security now lie
in ruins . There are no longer any international
security guarantees at all. And the entity that
destroyed them has a name: The United States of
America.
3. The builders of the New World Order have failed,
having built a sand castle. Whether or not a new
world order of any sort is to be built is not just
Russia's decision, but it is a decision that will not
be made without Russia.
4. Russia favors a conservative approach to
introducing innovations into the social order, but is
not opposed to investigating and discussing such
innovations, to see if introducing any of them
might be justified.
5. Russia has no intention of going fishing in the
murky waters created by America's ever-
expanding "empire of chaos," and has no interest
in building a new empire of her own (this is
unnecessary; Russia's challenges lie in developing
her already vast territory). Neither is Russia willing
to act as a savior of the world, as she had in the
past.
6. Russia will not attempt to reformat the world in
her own image, but neither will she allow anyone
to reformat her in their image . Russia will not
close herself off from the world, but anyone who
tries to close her off from the world will be sure to
reap a whirlwind.
7. Russia does not wish for the chaos to spread,
does not want war, and has no intention of starting
one. However, today Russia sees the outbreak of
global war as almost inevitable, is prepared for it,
and is continuing to prepare for it. Russia does
not war - nor does she fear it.
8. Russia does not intend to take an active role in
thwarting those who are still attempting to
construct their New World Order - until their
efforts start to impinge on Russia's key interests .
Russia would prefer to stand by and watch them
give themselves as many lumps as their poor
heads can take. But those who manage to drag
Russia into this process, through disregard for her
interests, will be taught the true meaning of pain.
9. In her external, and, even more so, internal
politics, Russia's power will rely not on the elites
and their back-room dealing, but on the will of the
people.
To these nine points I would like to add a tenth:
10. There is still a chance to construct a new
world order that will avoid a world war. This new
world order must of necessity include the United
States - but can only do so on the same terms as
everyone else: subject to international law and
international agreements; refraining from all
unilateral action; in full respect of the sovereignty
of other nations.
To sum it all up: play-time is over. Children, put
away your toys. Now is the time for the adults to
make decisions. Russia is ready for this; is the
world?

Hmmmm. I just need that ISIS to be crushed.

Putin is determined to get it done