Has Putin gone too far? The dangers of humiliation..

Vladimir Putin knows he's the most powerful man in Europe. Sitting on top of a military and energy behemoth growing in economic and political influence with each passing day, Russia is reliving its past glory. It has also regained its imperial/hegemonic arrogance. In banning Polish meat and vegetables (with a threat to ban all EU meat once Romania and Bulgaria join the E.U), I think Putin has finally gone too far.

The move, ostensibly to prevent weak Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian controls from letting in infected meat from Europe into Russia is blatant retaliation for Poland's attack on the proposed German-Russian oil pipeline. Poland compared this pipeline (which neatly bypasses Poland) to the accord that split Poland between Russia and Germany in World War 2. Putin being Putin, completely ignored the Poles and is now obviously punishing them for their insolence. Putin has also used his economic clout to punish Georgia (transportation and economic sanctions), Ukrain (turned off the gas supply in the middle of winter) and Lithuania (cut off oil supplies to their only refinery).

My fear is that Western Europeans feel humiliated that Putin has so much power based on his energy reserves. I feel that this humiliation will have repercussions with regard to non-energy Russian business and the Russian people themselves. As India, Pakistan and China have realised, making enemies of you're next door neighbour is rarely a viable long-term strategy. I personally admire Vladimir Putin. I admire his dedication to his country, his guts and balls, his wit and humour. I even admire his great taste in watches (Patek Phillipe perpetual calendar and Breguet Marine). But I really think he's done enough to illustrate Russia's power and its place in the world. He might even have overplayed his hand with the Russian people. His nationalistic antics will help him in the upcoming elections, but once the Russian people see their growth stifled by the European backlash, Mr. Putin will have to take all the blame.

There's only so much you can whip a horse to make it obey, beyond a point, its bound to kick you off and trample you into the dust. The crafty Mr. Putin would do well to treat the surly pack animal that is Europe with a bit more respect. Arrogance has always been the Achilles heel of Russian imperialism.