The Simons were in Washington the first weekend in September.
This is the evening of September 4th.
After various social activities during the day, the Clintons held a private banquet specially for Simon in the evening.
Simon didn't just come here out of boredom, of course he had something serious to do. In a small restaurant in the White House, while waiting for the waiter to serve dinner, they complimented each other politely as usual, and the conversation quickly got on track.
"As for Russia, Bill, my thinking has always been clear. Economic penetration is far better than military intervention. Therefore, my soldiers in Ukraine will definitely not be dispatched in the upcoming conflict in Chechnya. If Washington If you insist on interfering, you can only cooperate with other private military organizations."
The topic is about Russia’s upcoming second Chechen war.
Historically, the second Chechen War broke out at the end of August. This time, under the whirring of Simon, the big butterfly, things inevitably went awry.
Mainly due to the Kosovo War that has ended. Compared with the past, on the Russian side, after someone began to gain more and more power, it was inevitable that he would also become more involved in Yugoslavia. Coupled with the confrontation with Western countries, the time was prolonged. Some.
So it was not until September that there were clear signs of another use of force against Chechnya in recent days.
When Washington noticed this, of course its first reaction was to intervene, but this time it was obviously not easy to intervene, so it once again hoped that Simon's private army in Ukraine would enter Chechnya.
Simon will not agree this time.
If that's all it is, it's just to say hello. However, Simon also felt that it was time to take the opportunity to chat with some people in Washington. After all, just like the control of his business empire, if Washington wants to maintain a sufficient sense of presence, Simon also needs to come here often. , so we have this weekend’s itinerary.
It was already the 7th year of his term, and he was about to hand over the baton to his ambitious wife. Clinton behaved quite calmly. As a result, while the president was smiling and thinking about something, the president's wife had already spoken: "Simon, don't you Do you feel that Russia has once again shown its inappropriate ambitions in Yugoslavia, and we must work hard to suppress it?"
Simon also smiled and looked at the president's wife: "Hillary, of course I am sure that Russia should be suppressed. Moreover, I have just said that this kind of suppression is undoubtedly the most effective from the economic level. After all, the United States and the Soviet Union are competing for hegemony. The results have confirmed this. According to Chinese military theory, we should use what we are good at to attack what the enemy is not good at. In addition, I have to say that many of my private troops in Ukraine are actually Soviet veterans. , all have some feelings for the former Soviet Union. If they are sent to the Chechnya region, it is difficult for me to be sure that they will not be able to shoot because they are worried that the opponent is a former comrade."
Simon's tone was gentle, and Hillary immediately realized that she seemed to be too strong just now. After all, she will run for the New York State Senate next year. If she makes the young man in front of her feel bad, it will definitely outweigh the gain, so she quickly softened her voice and said with a smile. Laughing: "The problem is, Simon, we all know that Russia is a group of barbarians, and barbarians are more accustomed to solving problems in barbaric ways. Therefore, I have to remind you that for them, economic means may not be applicable. Maybe one day , I mean, it’s not just you, Simon, maybe many federal companies’ investments in Russia were all confiscated and reset to zero just because of Russia’s barbarism.”
When Simon heard what Hillary said, he had to admit that this woman saw things quite clearly.
Let’s just say that last year, if Simon hadn’t intervened, Russia would have made a big mistake. However, the financial market turmoil caused by the bailout plan that could collapse at any time still caused misfortune to many Western financial giants such as Long-Term Capital Management.
Therefore, it is obvious that barbarism does have a large enough 'advantage' over civilization.
Thinking about this, Simon said: "Hillary, the problem is that Russia is a group of barbarians, but if necessary, I mean, we cannot always be civilized people. But, under the current situation, I think it is still A civilized approach is more effective. Of course, I will not object to Washington’s response to Russia’s expected actions in Chechnya, but I will not participate.”
After Simon finished speaking, Mr. President finally added his first sentence, picked up the goblet next to him, and said in a smooth tone: "Okay, dear, and Simon, we are all for the Federation. Isn’t it?”
Simon picked up the red wine in cooperation, and Hillary across from him also followed suit.
After clinking glasses, Mr. President finally did not lose the initiative to speak this time, and quickly said: "Simon, I already understand what you mean. I will definitely not force you to make some of Washington's next deployments for Chechnya, and , of course, our happy cooperation will never change. Skip this matter. Simon, let’s talk about China. I will have a meeting with China at the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in New Zealand on the 11th. You know , mainly discussing WTO matters, you are a China expert, and you have recently been helping to lobby for China to join, so can you give me some advice this time? "
As expected of a veteran politician, he said he was asking for advice, but when he mentioned that Simon had recently been helping to lobby for China's entry into the WTO, it immediately turned into asking for favors.
If Simon takes advantage of the trend and hopes that Clinton will help promote China's entry into the WTO, it is obvious that he must do a favor to the other party. In fact, Simon doesn't mind owing this kind of favor. The so-called favor actually means coming and going. If you only let others owe you something, you will inevitably end up with good friends and bad friends. If you only owe others, it will definitely not last long.
Thinking of this, Simon did not answer directly, but said: "Bill, what do you think is the biggest diplomatic mistake made by the Soviet Union during the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union?"
Clinton did not expect that someone would push the issue back. Moreover, as a smart man, a personal experiencer of the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, and a top politician, of course he knew. After a slight hesitation, Clinton did not pretend to be stupid and said: "Probably, break off diplomatic relations with China."
Simon nodded: "As for China, the Soviet Union, which was powerful at the time, was more inclined to directly develop the other country into its own sphere of influence like the Eastern European countries, even if it is not a joining country, it can only be a satellite country. However, China demands independence and cannot They were willing to lose their independence, and the two sides broke up. As a result, the Soviet Union not only lost a strategic ally in Asia, but also lost a production base and consumer market with a level of 1 billion people. Ha, as a businessman, Obviously, this is still a problem that I consider from a business perspective, but I believe this is a very critical factor. The Soviet Union's weakness in agriculture and light industry has been very obvious from beginning to end, and China can just make up for the Soviet Union's weakness. This major weakness can also provide a very huge potential market for the Soviet Union's heavy industrial products. However, the Soviet Union voluntarily gave up all this and also directly lost the qualification to compete with the Federation to a large extent. So, Bill, this For once, do we have to give up too?”
Clinton nodded slightly.
It’s not a pity that I didn’t get any favors. After all, Simon Westeros’ favors weren’t that easy to come by.
On the other hand, Hillary next to her spoke again: "Simon, I think you are a little too absolute. As far as the current federation is concerned, we have no shortage of other options besides China."
"Others," Simon looked at the president's wife: "Hillary, do you mean Africa, which is in a state of turmoil, or Latin America, whose economic structure has basically solidified and is difficult to revive?"
Hillary didn’t show any weakness: “What about Eastern Europe?”
Simon smiled and shrugged: "As for Eastern Europe, Hillary, I think you should be able to understand."
The president's wife was also very strong for a while. Simon said this, and she generally reacted.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union and drastic changes in Eastern Europe created a virgin economic land that embraces hundreds of millions of people and is waiting to be developed.
However, what has to be said is that even if the Federation spends more effort, Eastern Europe will undoubtedly still be reserved for Western Europe because of its proximity to the water.
Let’s just talk about the cheap labor force of hundreds of millions of people. To put it bluntly, this is undoubtedly the most valuable ‘asset’ in Eastern Europe. Western European countries want to maintain their high welfare and maintain a comfortable working system of less than eight hours for their citizens, but social In order to operate, some things still have to be done, so the hundreds of millions of cheap workers in Eastern Europe can just fill in all of this. Moreover, these people flock to Western Europe because they do not need to be granted status immediately, and therefore do not need to consume the social welfare of local residents. At the same time, because they have no status, they can do the most work, get the least money, and create the fruits of their labor. Enough to allow the residents of Western Europe to maintain a leisurely life comfortably.
Compared with Western Europe, which can be reached in just a few steps, the difficulty of crossing the ocean to the United States immediately increases exponentially.
In short, it is not impossible for Simon to build a stronghold in Ukraine, and then gradually encroach and eat the entire Ukraine, but it is simply not feasible to expand his power to the entire Eastern Europe. After all, when there is a ready-made 'good life' that can be easily pursued, not many people are willing to struggle step by step. Even if some people's dream of a better life is to wash dishes or work as a cleaner in an economically developed Western European country, relatively speaking, they can indeed get more than staying in their own country.
this is the truth.
What's more, for the United States itself, with the issuance of the euro, the most critical issue currently needs to be solved, which is to maintain the hegemony of the US dollar.
With a population of 1.2 billion and a current economy that has entered the top ten in the world, China is definitely an object that cannot be ignored. Just to maintain the hegemony of the U.S. dollar, the federation must take the initiative to bring China into the WTO system instead of letting the other country surrender to the embrace of the euro zone.
After chatting for a few words, we couldn't help but talk about Latin America, Africa, and finally about the New York State Senate race that Hillary will participate in next year. Dinner began at seven o'clock and lasted until ten, and was generally very pleasant.
The next day is Sunday.
Simon continued to stay here, attending a cocktail party organized by the Carlyle Group headquartered in Washington at noon, and another private dinner in the evening from the Vice President and his wife.
In fact, such a private banquet could have been put together last night.
However, as Al Gore also announced his plan to participate in next year's presidential election some time ago, the Vice President has more clearly begun to draw a line with the already notorious Mr. President, saying that when he previously announced his participation in next year's election, the Vice President None of them roped in Clinton to help.
From the perspective of a mature politician, this seems to be a pretty wise choice.
However, Gore probably ignored that most ordinary people are not politicians. Moreover, ordinary people are also the group of people who are most easily influenced and lose their judgment. Their position...or there is no accurate position at all.
This means that the Vice President has always been a close partner with the President in the past few years. Now, in order to run for president and not let the bad reputation of the current president affect him, he decided to cut ties with him. What will the public think of such a person
Can a man who is so ruthless to his close associates still loyal enough to his constituents
What a great focus for public opinion operations.
Having said that, since the Vice President and his wife have drawn a clear line between themselves and the White House has invited Simon to a private dinner, the Clintons will certainly not call Gore or his wife any more.
What comes and goes.
Of course, Simon would not explicitly draw a clear line with the vice president and his wife, but would happily attend the dinner. After all, this is actually equivalent to maintaining a good relationship with the entire Democratic Party.
They probably also felt that their own weight was a bit insufficient compared to the White House. The Gores also invited some Democratic leaders in Washington to help out, so the private banquet on Sunday was even more lively than Saturday night. The crowd was too enthusiastic, and Simon left At that time, because I drank a lot of wine, I was inevitably a little tipsy.
In the new week, Simon received the news as soon as he woke up in a private residence in the western suburbs of Washington.
At dawn on Monday local time, the Russian troops that had completed their assembly launched an attack on the Chechnya region.
The Second Chechen War breaks out.
This time, someone was very well prepared. Not only had there been a number of attacks from Chechnya in Russia some time ago, which had won the authorities support from public opinion, but the name of the war was also labeled as 'anti-terrorism' , seems justified.
Moreover, compared with the mess of the Russian army in all aspects of the first Chechen War, the troops entering Chechnya this time basically belong to the last group of elites that Russia can handle, which can be said to be a ruin.
In any case, if there are no surprises in next year's general election, the Kremlin will indeed have to break the boat this time.