Often, history can educate people about mistakes of the past. Sometimes, though, history repeats itself.

A Nov. 6 BBC article reported Russia has plans to deploy short-range Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad near Poland and Lithuania. These plans come in response to U.S. missile defense systems put in the Poland and the Czech Republic. Both of those countries are NATO members.

These actions seem too similar to the American-Russian resentment of the Cold War.

“On the surface, it looks a lot like the Cold War, but it has some new twists,” said Daniel R. Kempton, political science professor with an emphasis in international relations.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack indicated in the BBC article that the missile system was designed in response to rogue nations like Iran who have been working on long-range missile technology.

A Nov. 5 CNN article reported Russian President Dmitry Medvedev harshly criticized U.S. action as a threat to Russian national security. Medvedev, however, said Russia has no feelings of anti-Americanism.

“The U.S. policy was not meant to be aggressive, but that is one of the side effects,” Kempton said.

Kempton, who has spent time in Russia, explained that the U.S. implemented these defense systems for European protection. Russia, however, inevitably found this action devaluing the extent of their missiles.

The world has already watched nervously as both superpowers nearly began the destruction of humanity with their nuclear weapons in the Cuban Missile Crisis. A developed country should have strength in their military, economy and diplomacy.

Nations recognize and respect the extent of their power.

As Ben Parker of the Spider-Man Series once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Neither country has shown any evidence of resuming the Cold War, but tension still remains.

The U.S. and Russia should not see each other as two separate, competing entities but as two of the most powerful countries concerned about global security.