Deal With Putin, Remember Yeltsin!
Tonight former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott was asked on BBC why did United States fail to predict where would Russia go under Putin’s rule.
Mr Talbott gave a “wrong explanation” by saying that Mr Pution was the first world leader who expressed his deep regrets about 9/11 attacks to united States and to president Bush. He also said that then Russian president said “Yes” to important questions concerning “War on Terror”, questions which U.S. president didn’t even need to ask. According to Mr Talbott’s words all this gave credit to Mr Putin to run Russian affrais the way he did. And to gain support from United States.
Is it so easy? If the answer is “yes” then we have a good reason to trust those who predict that United States would loose their leading role in International relations. This is exactly what Mr Putin wants.
I understand his attitude. Russian leaders still think of their country as the world’s leading power even it lost most if it. They will give their best to restore Russia on top of the world affairs. To love your country is something we have to respect. The point is that there is right way to make Russia stronger than it was within the last decade, and there is also a wrong way.
The right one is to drive Russia to more open and democratic state, to strengthen its economy, and make it more competitive. The wrong way is the one Mr Putin goes.
Outgoing Russian president has never wanted to see Russia as a strong democracy. He prefers to breathe new life into an old dream - Russia to be centralized state and the world’s leading military power.
What would Mr Putin win for Russia?
Mr Putin’s party appears to win a huge majority in Russian parliament. The Russian president leads the candidate list of his United Russia party. Mr Putin cannot run for a third term in presidential elections in March 2008, but he’s looking to find a way to keep his power after he steps down as a president.
Kremlin officials did all they can to help him. It weaken the liberal and right wing parties. It drew changes in Russian political system by imposing 7% barrier on election law which parties and coalitions needed to pass to enter the Duma. Its government has pressed both state and private owner media to censor oposition parties and to give massive boost to United Russia.
Mr Putin will win Russian elections. He could even run Russia again. But he wouldn’t regain Russia’s place on top of the world affairs. A country without democracy can not stay on top of the wolrd politics. At least not in this world.
Now we know how does Mr Putin sees his country. And we can compare his Russia to Boris Yeltsin’s one. Yeltsin’s Russia suffered a decade of an economic recession. It needed to change the old communist economy into a market one. It had to become a modern democratic state. And it almost made it under the Yeltsin’s presidency… at least on the filed of building democracy.
That’s why we have to remember Yeltsin’s Russia and to compare it to present one. We need to deal with Mr Putin and to try to make Russia at least as much democratic as it was. I hope that Russian realize that more deomratic and open Russia is waht can make their country stronger.
