A Game of Musical Arms

Washington has decided to redeploy its naval arsenals, to withdraw them from the Middle East where it has been standing on guard for decades, toward Asia, where its allies in and around the South China Sea have become increasingly restless with concern over China's latest belligerence relating to its boundaries outreach. Those waters surely sit over valuable natural resources just waiting to be tapped, and why should Japan, the Philippines, South Korea or any other pretenders to ownership be availed of them, and not far more powerful China?

The vacuum that the American naval fleet has left, has suited the Kremlin just fine. While the United States has refused to become involved in the Syrian conflict -- with evidence clear enough that arms being supplied to the diversely tribal and unreliable rebel militias have been making their way to the Islamists that have joined them from Mali, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, and Libya -- a reminder of training and arming the Taliban, Russia has sent its navy squadrons to the Port of Tartus.

The United States faces off against North Korean threats to American interests, while China sits smugly back, happy enough to see the U.S. administration squirm its way yet again out of a potential confrontation with the China-backed Kim Jong Un and his restless military machine, one-million-strong and prepared to meet the enemy head on.

Russia has made common cause with Syria, with Iran and with Hezbollah and of course Qatar is in there as well, funding the Islamist cause.  This has been Russia's choice, spurning the Arab League's position, and that of Turkey, itself conflicted with its warm relations with Iran. To complicate matters just a little further Egypt, beset with its own internal strife and on the cusp of economic collapse, has edged closer to Iran.

President Vladimir Putin is now not only playing the Russian strongman for show and tell for his admiring public in Russia, but he is presenting himself as the strongman on the world scene prepared to invest hugely in acquiring arms in preparation for a massive military modernization program. The Kremlin has set aside $645-billion to be spent through to 2020 in the procurement of aircraft, helicopters and navy ships.

Shuffling the deck world-wide.