Yesterday, the US president Donald Trump has promised to protect religious freedom: "America must forever remain tolerant society where all faiths are respect and where all of our citizens can feel safe and secure." Just a few days before saying it, Trump signed the order titled 'Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the US', blocking the entry of refugees from seven countries with majority-Muslim populations. The US President's contradictory actions entail equally contradictory assessments of his activities.
Speaking at the discussion platform 'Tverskaya 21st Century' at the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, the director general of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies and Initiatives, Veronica Krasheninnikova, said that Russia should not be very optimistic due to Trump coming to power in the United States. "Not everyone who voted for Trump are fascists and racists, but every American fascist and racist voted for Trump. He managed to collect around this core poor people, people who fear for their well-being, afraid of losing their jobs. When workers get poorer, when the middle class gets poorer, they fall prey to populist leaders who promise them simple solutions to complex problems," Krasheninnikova said.
She also focused attention on the fact that Trump's team also includes the people from the Obama administration, the most aggressive of them: "The Trump administration is the Obama administration on steroids. They will continue the same policy, but more aggressively and using more rigorous means. They will deal with Iran in a few months. A military conflict can occur anywhere at any time. Most likely, in the sea, because there have been several collisions between Iranian and American vessels, which provoke clashes. Now there are naval drills involving the US, Australia, France and the UK, which simulate a confrontation with Iran. Hope such drills would not become a real armed conflict".
In this case, according to Krasheninnikova, Russia faces a tough question: "Iran is our partner. We are fighting terrorism in Syria in a joint coalition. We understand that the attack on Libya in 2011, was a preparation for an attack on Syria, and Syria was a preparation for an attack on Iran. The US cannot immediately deal with too strong countries such as Iran, it needs to act progressively, starting with the weakest and moving to more powerful."
