At 01:27 PM 2/22/01 -0500, Doug wrote:
>But if this guy has been operating for 15 years, he hasn't been spying for
> the "Soviets" for at least 10, n'est pas? Are the Russians still "bad
guys"?
Obviously, it is much more complex than that...... but in a word, "yes."
Part of the problem is that US-Russian relations are a self-fulfilling
prophecy. We don't trust them, and they *really* don't trust us, and thus
we act accordingly - with a lack of trust. These actions, of course, only
precipitate even less trust from the other side.
The other problem is that Russia really isn't part of the Western
intellectual tradition just yet. Democracy is a rather new-fangled thing
and not totally trusted. As far as treatment of indigenous ethnic
minorities (i.e. Chechens) they are about where we were 100 years ago.
Most of their societal institutions from the federal government, to the
local level, to the markets, to the Courts are corrupt, ineffective, and
are abused for the self-enrichment of the powerful. The Russians do not
have the same vision for the world that we do, regularly co-operating with
North Korea, Iraq, and Serbia. The Russians still have designs on
imperial glory, and much of their foreign policy resides on slowly reeling
States like Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Georgia back into the orbit
of Moscow.
Yes, there is a great deal of opportunity to move Russia from the "enemy"
column and into the "friend" column - but we've spent much of the past
eight years actively blowing that opportunity. It will take a lot of hard
work and concentrated effort - and a whole lot of genius/luck. For now
though, yes, Russia is an "enemy" - even if we won't say it to their face.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of isntitutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
