Moscow - 'To use the words of John Le Carre, Russia has 'come in from the cold'... ' new President Dmitry Medvedev declared in the first of two major foreign policy speeches building to his debut at the G8 summit.
His words rang softly on the ears of business audiences in Berlin and St Petersburg who applauded Medvedev's premise that 'Russia is a global player' that wants 'to take part in the rules of the game,' with more than one enthusiastic banker echoing, 'Russia has emerged.'
'The world's new economies - with Russia among the leaders - will drive global growth and value creation in the early decades of this new century,' CEO of Renaissance Capital Stephen Jennings predicted.
While Western leaders thought they felt a liberal breeze from Russia, the current for change had an edge to it aimed at policy- makers in the 'new economies.'
Medvedev's two speeches grabbed headlines by roundly blaming the United States for a global financial crisis he casts 'as severe as the Great Depression of the 1930s' and for advocating an overhaul of the international fiscal order.
Though analysts in Moscow shrugged at that, saying it was nothing new.
Medvedev, they said, has shown the same knack as his predecessor Vladimir Putin, famous for lashing out at the US war in Iraq and threatening of a new Cold War-era arms race: Medvedev said what politically-correct Western leaders would not but have long agreed.
The difference: Medvedev evokes a modern Russian foreign policy that is easier to swallow based on economic not military might.
Russian pundits will be watching the G8 closely to see if Medvedev finds independent footing with his free market rhetoric when he meets the leaders of Britain, France and Italy for the first time in Japan from June 7-9.
But ex-KGB agent Putin, the man who put Medvedev in office and whom many believe still pulls the strings, warned in March, 'I don't think it will be easier for our partners to deal with him.'
'Medvedev is free from having to prove he is a liberal,' Putin said of external comparisons between the two, 'But he is not less a Russian nationalist, in the positive sense, than I.'
Fyodor Lukyanov the editor-and-chief for Russia in Global Affairs journal, in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, said: 'Medvedev's main goal will be to establish personal relationships and show he is a significant international actor.'
US backbiting at the G8 is likely to recede in favour of a pragmatic agenda including energy security and the removal of barriers to Russian investment abroad, Chief Economist at Deutsche Bank Yaroslav Lissovolik told dpa.
Russia's agenda at the summit will be as much of a diplomatic overture to the Western leaders as a bid to present itself as the champion of the interests of the concert of emerging economies whose leaders, not ordained to the G8, will be on the sidelines of the summit.
'Russia is aspiring to serve as the bridge between the developing and the developed world,' said Lissovolik.
Neighbours Russia and China have matched their United Nations Security Council votes to defend principals of sovereignty and nationalism - particularity in opposition to US unilateral policy and democracy promotion.
Washington has not been indifferent to the move, fearing a loss of geo-strategic influence as Russia and China close rank over Eurasia. Concern over how these two countries will use their powerful sovereign wealth funds also sparked debated on Capitol Hill ahead of the G8 summit.
Russia's deep Reserve Fund, an economic hedge to soak up excessive oil profits, topped 129 billion dollars this year after 33 billion dollars was split off into a separate fund for riskier investments.
After years of conservative fiscal policy, Russia's leaders have found they have wealth enough to share and in this charity a salve for the humiliation of its debt-accumulating, shock transition to a liberal economy.
Putin in recent meetings with World Bank head Robert Zoellick in Moscow stressed Russia's was no longer just another extended hand, saying its relationship with the bank had turned the corner.
Russia may contribute from 50 to 100 million dollars to aid countries suffering from the global food crisis, according to local media.
'At last there is a change,' Moscow-based analyst Lukyanov said. 'Russia has lived a funny paradox: It is an extremely wealthy country acting on the psychology of a poor nation.'
Medvedev has exposed an aggressive economic vision that would promote the expansion of Russian firms abroad, transform the ruble into a hard currency and Moscow 'into a world financial centre' alongside London and New York.
But Russia will have to prove its talk is equal to its real influence on the international arena where the International Monetary Fund and World Bank warn Russia harbours debilitating corruption, an economy that is overheating and sky-rocketing inflation.
This Barbs for YouJul 1st, 2008 - 09:15:19
What kind of global player threatens to cut-off supplies of energy to countries that have to suffer in the cold? Russia forces a hard game with rules that are extremely demanding and exploitive of its neighbors. Just ask the Ukraine how squeezed they were by the energy mess.
Corruption and power is the future and we must be on our guard. When heartless rulers speak those that have no voice, meekly whimper. Sure, it is one thing to improve yourself, and another to do it at the expense of those you would love to dominate. Straight talk is not always so easy, you see.
Perhaps, we need a UN economic stimulus package that is fair to all.
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