With the grenade and hammer

President Dmitry Medvedev has declared that the strike systems will be displayed in the area close to Russian western and southern border. Iskander missiles will be also placed in the Kaliningrad region.

It is the answer for the lack of Washington’s agreement on joining Russia to European anti-missile defense system. Medvedev has announced on Wednesday that he will order the Ministry of Defense to “run in a warning system radar station in Kaliningrad without delay”.

He stated that Russia still remains open for a dialogue with the United States and NATO. "We are not closing the door to further dialogue on missile defense with the US and the North Atlantic alliance, nor to practical cooperation in this area. We are ready for further dialogue, the path towards such work depends upon the creation of a clear legal basis for our cooperation that will reflect our legitimate interests" - said Medvedev.

Few days before, one of Russian military officials had warned about that the risk of the nuclear war near the European border. General Nicolai Makarov who is closely connected with the prime minister Vladimir Putin had claimed that: “under certain circumstances, local and regional conflicts can become large-scale wars when the usage of nuclear weaponry might be used”. In his opinion the risk is connected with the change of the military alliances in this part of the continent and NATO expansion to the east. 

It may look that the Russian officials, despite vast political ambitions to create global reality, are still close to the strategy of the hammer or baseball bat. In place of economic dominance, innovation and advanced technology they take military power as their main argument. They still lack not only political finess but also simple originality.

But can we be sure about that?