FORT RUSS – There’s been a migration from the univocal and measured parsings of Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Press Secretary Peskov to a shared podium populated by a less nuanced, more binary power center consisting of Minister of Defense Shoigu, Deputy Defense Minister Gerasimov, and the so-called Stavka; binary as in, shoot or don’t shoot. How simpler can a march to war get?
In marked contrast to the advisory role of the Security Council of Russia, for example, a Stavka would be operationally focused, tasked with expediting strategic resource allocations in the event of a rapidly evolving, large scale conflict.
In a May 4th Asia Times article, Pepe Escobar predicted such a shift just prior to Putin’s ministerial appointments: “Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce a new government. And a bombshell is in the making. The new cabinet is bound to be a Stavka: that is, a war cabinet.”
