Wait to see if Russia, China, or Iran makes a move down the road

As expected, the media are obsessed with the Biden-Putin meeting.  They are already telling us that the world loves Biden because he is not Trump.  It’s only a matter of time before we hear that the world’s bad guys will confess their sins and release all their political prisoners because Biden is not Trump.

Well, it’s not that easy.  In fact, we may not know for a while what Putin really thinks of Biden.  It may take a bit of time before we see the results of this meeting.

Back in 1961, Soviet leader Khrushchev met President Kennedy, and nuclear missiles showed up in Cuba a few months later.  It happened because the Soviet leader concluded that the American president could be pushed around.  By October 1962, the world was on the brink of nuclear war because of a perception in Vienna 15 months earlier.

Back in 1986, Gorbachev of the USSR met Reagan of the USA.  It was obvious from the photos that Reagan was the alpha male that day.  It did not take long for Gorbachev to tell his team that Reagan could not be pushed around.  Three years later, the Berlin Wall fell.  Five years later, Gorbachev and his wife were under house arrest because of a coup.

So let’s wait a few months to judge the Biden-Putin summit.  Unlike the aforementioned meetings, there are other parties that will watch the meeting — i.e., China and Iran.

At the moment, Iran has a couple of warships headed to Venezuela.  My guess is that these are not cruise ships of Iranian tourists looking for sunshine at Isla Margarita.

This week, China sent 28 military planes into airspace controlled by Taiwan.

In a couple of weeks, the Putin-Biden meeting will be largely off the front pages.  We will be chasing other topics.  We will see what really happened at the Biden-Putin meeting when our adversaries make their move down the road.

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