"They're Out Of Their Minds" Gorbachev Slams US 'Triumphalism' For "Turning Cold War 'Hot'"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/29/2015 19:55 -0500

• European Union
 
• Foreign Policy magazine
 
• Gallup
 
• Ukraine

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In November of last year, Mikhail Gorbachev first warned "the world is on the brink of a new Cold War." Then around the turn of the year he escalated his warning, fearing "a war of this kind could lead to a nuclear war," hoping that no one "loses their nerve in this overheated situation." Today, in an interview with Russian news agency Interfax, the 83-year-old former Soviet leader, asks "have they lost their minds?" raging that "the U.S. has already dragged us into a new Cold War, trying to openly implement its idea of triumphalism," warning that "the 'cold' war will "lead to a 'hot' war," concluding"The U.S. has been totally 'lost in the jungle' and is dragging us there as well."

As Common Dreams reports,

Mikhail Gorbachev stated that the United States has pulled Russia into a new Cold War that faces the risk of further escalation.

The 83-year-old former Soviet leader made the comments on Thursday in an interview with Russian news agency Interfax.

"The U.S. has already dragged us into a new Cold War, trying to openly implement its idea of triumphalism," he is quoted as saying.

"Where will that lead all of us?" he said.

"What’s next? Unfortunately, I cannot be sure that the Cold War will not bring about a ‘hot’ one. I’m afraid they might take the risk," Gorbachev said, referring to the United States.

"All you hear is about sanctions towards Russia from America and the European Union. Have they totally lost their minds? The U.S. has been totally 'lost in the jungle' and is dragging us there as well."

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The new comments follow a warning in November from the Soviet Union's last leader when he said,

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some say that it has already begun."

A month later he stayed said that the U.S. is "tortured by triumphalism" and called for deescalation in the midst of hostilities in Ukraine.

"This whole process may and needs to be stopped. It was stopped in the 1980s. And we opted for deescalation and reunification. Back then it was harsher than today. And now we can also do this," Gorbachev said at the time.

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As RT reports, it appears more and more likely that this comes to a non-diplomatic head...

Meanwhile, international relations experts in America are quite alarmed over the new Cold War possibility – although not as much as the general public. While over 48 percent of scholars answered "no" when asked whether the US and Russia are headed towards such a conflict, the scenario was deemed likely by 38 percent.

The data comes from an American snap poll conducted at the end of January by the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) project at the College of William and Mary, in collaboration with Foreign Policy magazine.

The research compared its results to a Gallup poll from March 2014, when 50 percent of the public believed a new Cold War was indeed possible when asked the same question.

In Russia, one-third of the population believes their country and the US are on a collision course.

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Average:

4.8