Despite Russia’s weak alliances, Putin seems undeterred. Beyond his boastful talk about Russia’s nuclear arsenal, his government has recently announced a new naval doctrine – one that amounts to an alarming echo of Germany’s naval challenge to Britain prior to World War I. If no diplomatic détente is brokered, Putin may well continue on this path, bringing his country ever closer to a full-blown conflict with NATO.
尽管俄罗斯没有强大的盟友，但普京并未退缩。除了炫耀性地谈论俄罗斯的核武库，他的政府最近还抛出了新的海军思想——让人警惕地想起一战前德国对英国发起的海军挑战。如果不设法牵线外交调停，普京极有可能沿着这条路继续走下去，把俄罗斯引向与北约的全面冲突。