All of a sudden Russia seems to be keen to perform symbolic moves. By acknowledging the independence of Southern Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia they did not change anything, in practice. They simply gave the western media something to talk about. In practice nothing changed, the Russians tanks are where they were, they did not get a square millimetre more than what they already had. So why did they do it?

Sure enough, this is a game the West started by acknowledging Kossovo's independence. We set a precedent, and now this precedent is going to be widely used. Most imperial powers won't like it, which explains the Chinese silence. If you accept to go that way Tibet is a good candidate for the next state to be born. Many more such candidates are sitting on the bench, waiting, even in Western Europe. So one sure reason is that Russia has decided to make it plain: easing separatism is a game anyone can play, NATO has no monopoly at that.

Yet the late Kremlin is showing an incredible knack for moves that hit many targets on different levels, so I'm not satisfied with such a simple explanation. Since their current style is about getting lots of targets with a single bullet, there must be more to the picture than meets the eye. And if you watch the rating in the American elections you immediately get a strong feeling that the Kremlin is casting a vote for John McCaine.

There may be many reasons for such a choice. Nobody can know for sure what sort of presidents Obama and McCaine can be, yet some first hints are already there. McCaine is old (72 y.o.) while Obama is young. McCaine is showing continuity in his cold European policy, while Obama seems to be extremely popular in the EU. McCaine will keep NATO well stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Obama could free resources from that blind alley. If I was a Russian, I'd sure like to see McCaine in place, at this point. And I would not be alone.

One of the things the western media always fail to represent is the old Russian expression The east is a subtle thing. Any time I speak with people from the west about what's happening down here I have the impression they believe in the existence of some sort of ethnic or ideological wall. Something clearly dividing Russia from the rest of Eastern Europe. Well, nothing could be falser than that. Things down here can appear very simple, but they NEVER are.

NATO's eastern wing has exactly the same interests as Mr. Putin's, as far as American elections are at stake. It's the Republicans who underpin the value of nations like Poland, the Ukraine, the Baltic states or Georgia. Obama went to Berlin, in instead. He may visit Paris or London, but for him the map of Europe is still the original NATO map. This much is clear. McCain may not know how the Cechs are called, but his advisory will surely paint the Cech Republic twice the size of Germany, on his maps.

On the surface we assist to a grandiose quarrel about principle, but under the table all eastern players push in the same direction. They all need the fuss to be kept at maximum level, at least until November, when the President is chosen and the opinion of the American Voter looses any importance whatsoever for the four coming years. When fuss is an advantage to all, you bet that fuss will be there.This is something the Kremlin surely counts upon. Their fifth column, for this operation, is NATO itself. From a strictly intellectual and aesthetic point of view I can only stand up and applaude them. I happen to belong in the losing team, but I still have some dignity left. They are playing a fantastic match and it's a privilege and a pleasure for me to see it happening.

The interests of the EU? I'm afraid we are far from being able to have interests. But if I can cast a single vote I'd rather have Russian gas than American debts to manage. I know that even state debt papers burn and can be used for fuel in the winter, but they tend to be bulky and smoky. Besides... being born in Italy I guess I already saw more state debt than this family is willing to see for the next 20 generations. Inflation is the milk I've been grown up with, and I can't see much good out of it. In the end it all boils down to a giant debt my daughter will have to pay. So no, sorry. Vote for big words if you wish, I'll rather try and make sure Catlin-a has some stable situation for her to grow up in.

Another funny question I often get from the west is: can Russia become democratic? I admit laughing to tears when I hear this. Adolf Hitler WAS democratically elected, you know? So what? Being a democratic representative of your nation does not mean in any way that your nation's interests will correspond to ours. We can still bomb each other pretty well, and we can happily do it in the name of democracy. The sad reality is that my poor brainwashed countries have eventually got to think that democracy is us.Which is nothing but the current version of the old Gott mit uns. Nothing new under the sun, it was us who made the crusades, after all.

It is sad to admit it, but by concentrating all the possible moral condemn upon Nazism (actually upon Germany) we all managed to pose as saints again. As if Nazism was a mental illness that hits only Germans, while everyone else is genetically immune. Isn't this the most perfect example of Nazi thought? Democracy is us, the rest is the Huns. Well... it is, and I cannot think of a single person noticing it. The people who repeat it are rather sincerely convinced to be democrats. Just as most Germans were, in the late '30s... or most Russians, under Stalin. In a way or another we cannot accept simply being people. We must be the Elected People. The kind that get SMSs by God in person (do girls get them from the Holy Virgin?).

Just please excuse me for remaining an ordinary and racially not noticeable moron, as I find this particular state more suitable for my likings. God isn't phoning me, He does not even send spam to my mailbox, so... ;)