Second footnote to the post titled “The Dilemma of American Security”

And what complicates American foreign policy and national security strategy even further and aside from the most basic factor and reality of international affairs and international life that is the balance of power is the fact that Russia sees itself as the “Third Rome.” It is perhaps Russia, not America, which has all the attributes and qualities of a “Third Rome.” After the fall of the original Rome and then the subsequent collapse of Byzantium, Russia is perhaps the natural inheritor of world empire, not the United States. Moreover, Russia is not an ordinary nation. Russia is, after all, a major power in the international system. Hence, the restlessness and activism of Russia on the international stage and in turn the basic dilemma for American foreign policy and “national security.”