By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

At a time when President-elect Donald Trump describes NATO as "obsolete,” war-party Washington has decided to deploy yet more "obsolete” U.S. Marines in Europe. More specifically, they are heading to Trondheim, Norway,  along the Russian border.
For obvious reasons, Russia is not happy, both annoyed at the U.S. for deployment yet more troops along its border, and in Norway, which promised not to host any foreign troops on the Russian border when they became part of NATO. Norway insists this is just a temporary deployment and doesn’t count.
This is far from the truth. Under the whole game of "Pivot to Asia,” war-party Washington wants to rule over Eurasia. Under the same concept, the Western-Russian dispute over Ukraine is now manifesting itself in myriad ways: Energy deals, investment deals, shale gas exports, free trade agreements, war games, a closer political alliance inside the G-20, the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a concerted effort to progressively bypass the petrodollar and sanctions, et al.
The gambit has become so serious that former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev says the tensions between the U.S. and Russia should be kept under control because they have put the world on the brink of a new Cold War.
This is while Western experts say Washington’s inconsiderate rhetoric/gambit over Moscow’s policy in Ukraine has jeopardized U.S. strategic objective of exerting pressure on Iran. They say this has come at a very opportune time, claiming any split between Washington and Moscow will be welcome by Tehran - anything that gives it the upper hand in Syria!
Quite the opposite, Tehran is not happy to see Russian/Ukrainian people getting killed over territorial disputes so that it could subtly benefit from it in Syria. To be sure, Iran is against aggression and will do all it can to ensure stability and peace in the Caucasus, particularly in eastern Ukraine, is restored. Lest we forget, these are the same "pundits” that used to say the standoff was helping Iran during the nuclear talks!
However, disputes should be resolved through dialogue, because they could easily escalate to something that may cause even more instability and bloodshed - which Tehran does not wish upon any nation under any circumstances.
Nevertheless, the unipolar, imperial elite in the West only have themselves to blame: In their fantasy to tear Russia apart, "Pivot to Asia” and control pipelines  from Asia to Europe, they were the ones that offered military training and diplomatic support to the opposition to topple the government in Kiev. They are also the ones that blamed Moscow for the crisis and came up with sanctions.
In parallel, President Putin has imposed embargo on imports of agricultural products from the European Union, Norway, the U.S., Canada and Australia. The resulting glut has worsened Europe’s already delicate economic situation. And that’s just tip of the iceberg.
So Russia, the U.S., and the EU are all being hurt by the same sanctions regime. It is a no-win situation for all those involved. At a time of enormous strains in international relations, one would assume it is not too late to try a less confrontational policy to exit the spiral of conflict. Undoubtedly, sending yet more U.S. Marines to the Russian border is not the answer in this difficult time.