Beware the States are closing

American elections!

A topic that invariably causes us a powerful surge of interest, unhealthy agitation, disputes of experts, monologues of observers, reports from across the ocean, regardless of what time it is, who is elected (president or congress) and at what point are the relations between the White House and Kremlin.

This is how we are arranged: well, we cannot live without America, no matter what happens to us.

The current by-elections to Congress, during which the full House of Representatives and part of the Senate were re-elected, were no exception.

Information about what intrigues are being played out in the swing states, which candidates are winning and where, what they say or don't say about military aid to Ukraine is dropping almost at the rate of spam.

A detailed breakdown of how strong the “red” wave that has covered America and how it will affect the political future of Joe Biden and his main opponent Donald Trump has become an integral part of the Russian media landscape these days.

So we ourselves were covered by this American red-blue wave, in which the same eternal democratic donkey and Republican elephant are floundering.

There are no relations with the States today - they lie in ruins, the mechanisms and channels of communication have not worked for a long time, the presidents do not even communicate by phone, diplomats quarrel, experts and the media are fighting without rules.

Everyone unanimously says that no matter who wins, it does not matter at all for the future relations between the United States and Russia: everything will be as bad as it is now.

No one hears anyone, everyone blames each other.

It would seem that what else can be said in this situation: Russia and America have long had everything clear.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the point of no return has been passed and no reset is possible even in the wildest fantasies and projects.

But here's the paradox - with all this, for some reason, we just can't close America to ourselves, we track almost every sneeze of it: what is there in Pennsylvania, but what about in Iowa?

And further down the list.

For every talking head, writing hand, or political force in Russia, the topic of the American election becomes a kind of marker, identifier, starting point in its own coordinate system.

Therefore, not only Dmitry Peskov, who simply cannot but do this on duty, is commenting on the American elections.

Here is one example of the impossibility of tearing America off like a bath sheet glued to us with invisible superglue - a statement by the leader of the party and the Duma faction "Fair Russia - For Truth" Sergei Mironov, widespread after the by-elections to the US Congress.

Expressing his conviction that the former course will continue, which, in his opinion, must be taken into account in Russia's foreign and domestic policy, Sergei Mironov notes: “It is quite obvious that, no matter who comes to power in the United States, the national interests of the American elite lie in weakening Russia".

And the most interesting thing is after that: “For those who have not yet understood this in our country, and there are such pigeons in power structures, it’s time to take off the rose-colored glasses and start developing and strengthening our country.

And we must always remember this, and not only during elections overseas.”

Such reflection is the result of the attitude to the American theme that was formed back in the era of the classic Cold War, during the time of the "International Panorama" in black and white TV, when the confrontation between the two superpowers forced to know the enemy in the face and study in detail what they have there. the ocean and what the “masters without masks” are doing there.

So called his book Valentin Zorin, who conducted his own investigation of the Kennedy assassination.

The American theme even seeped into the culture.

"Americans, where is your president?"

– sincerely sang Mark Bernes, which became a popular song to the verses of Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

And even the subtle lyricist Yaroslav Smelyakov ended the poem "Alyonushka" with an unexpected appeal to America: "Here she stands under the sky, in an open field, in a field wreath - against your Statue of Liberty with an atomic lamp in her hand."

This whole huge layer, which cannot be erased from our modern history, explains why even today we cannot stop talking about America.

And again we begin to argue who is better for us - Democrats or Republicans, although this discussion is reminiscent of the medieval debate between nominalists and realists about the nature of universals and how many devils can fit on the tip of a needle.

Already after the elections, a reminder that in Russian-American trade and economic relations with their actually dry channel there will be nothing to catch, everything will only get worse, was the decision of the US Department of Commerce announced this week to deprive the Russian economy of the status of a market economy.

This will allow Washington to fully apply US anti-dumping laws against Moscow in the future.

Recall that the Russian economy received market status from the US Department of Commerce 20 years ago - in 2002, and exactly ten years later, in 2012, this played a decisive role in Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

However, if a positive agenda is, by definition, impossible, does this mean that relations with the States have lost all meaning?

Not at all.

It’s just that after these congressional elections, which will be followed by the US presidential elections in 2024, the main task can be defined as follows: not how to cancel the confrontation (it’s impossible), but how to make it manageable, how to agree on the minimum rules of the game, which are absent today, how to minimize the global risks of confrontation between the two leading nuclear powers.

Hence the need to preserve channels of communication and continue the dialogue on strategic security and stability.

That is, to put it simply, we will no longer build anything with America, we do not expect anything from it, we now need to ensure that America spoils our blood as little as possible.

This is the hard dirty work of politicians, diplomats and experts, and it cannot be canceled.

In turn, the Americans understand that in a confrontation with Russia it is impossible to reach a point where this confrontation at some point can create a threat to their own security.

After all, it’s one thing to have fun fighting Russia with someone else’s hands, on the territory of Ukraine, thousands of kilometers from America, and quite another thing to create with your own hands the risk of a nuclear conflict and the threat of a third world war.

Americans value their own lives and do not want to suffer, so the confrontation should not be boundless, manageable for them too.

By the way, today China is also solving a similar problem in its relations with America.

The tightening of the screws in trade, economic, scientific and technical ties forced Beijing to conclude that it no longer makes sense to count on any concessions and compromises in this area.

The United States is doing everything to prevent China from developing advanced technologies, in response, China is relying on import substitution.

After the dialogue between the two countries has by now completely deafened to one trade, economic and technological ear, its only area for Beijing and Washington is security, just as the USSR and the USA negotiated during the Cold War.

And for us, this agenda of strategic stability and security has not been canceled; on the contrary, it is becoming more and more relevant.

Apparently, this cannot but be understood in Washington, too, while maintaining the possibility of minimal interaction with Moscow.

Recently, the US Treasury allowed American banks to carry out financial transactions for Russian diplomatic missions abroad.

Commenting on this decision, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov noted: “In general, we consider the decision of the US administration to lift financial restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions a step in the right direction, although belated.

It took a lot of work to bring Washington to awareness of the significant damage that sanctions inflict on our diplomats around the world.”

“However, the license of the Ministry of Finance does not relieve the United States of responsibility for imbalances in world markets, which are caused by numerous illegitimate unilateral barriers.

I mean rising prices, disruption of supply chains, problems in the field of food security.

In the same row is the administration’s announced today, contrary to logic, statement on depriving Russia of the status of a country with a market economy,” the head of the Russian diplomatic mission added.

In general, in the days of Gorbachev, and then "friend of Bill" and "friend of Boris", having discovered America for ourselves, today we must learn to close it.

To be able to do this, following all the safety rules and not forgetting to repeat to yourself: “Beware, the States are closing.”

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.