Posted by
Bert Chapman on Monday, June 04, 2007 5:51:02 PM
This week's G8 Summit on Germany's Baltic Coast will feature a variety of leaders from the world's leading democracies to discuss various political, security, and economic issues. One of these leaders is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, calling Putin a democratic or republican leader is increasingly a real stretch.
Higher oil prices are increasing Russia's wealth and geopolitical importance. However, Putin has decided to use this increasing wealth and importance to take a magical mystery ride back to the bad old days of the Soviet empire. Putin has sought to crack down on domestic critics having the state seize control of opposition media outlets. He has reactivated the former KGB's practice of active measures against regime opponents by allowing the assassination of former KGB official and dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London last November using highly radioactive Polonium 210.
For me, the biggest sign of Putin's retrogression to Soviet era policies is his recent announcement that Russia will seek to actively oppose U.S. efforts to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. Such announcements could make one think it's 1987 instead of 2007 for those of us who remember the ferocious Soviet opposition to President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. I guess Putin remains stuck in a late Soviet era time warp when it comes to understanding the growing ballistic missile threat the world faces from countries as diverse as Iran, North Korea, and China.
Putin is enthusiastic about pursuing Chechen terrorists but his vigor for going after Al Qaida, Iran, and other terrorist supporting regimes is limited. He seems more intent on resurrecting the Soviet empire than creating a truly democratic Russia that could be a formidable ally to the west in fighting Islamist terror. Putin could have engaged in further democratic reforms that would have demonstrated that Russia wanted to be part of the international democratic community. He could have compelled his country to engage in a long overdue recognition of and accounting for the multiple crimes committed during the Soviet era. Sadly, he has chosen to keep Russia in an authoritarian mold which has done incalculable disservice to the potential of the Russian people for centuries.
Hopefully, President Bush will engage in some frank Texas conservation with Putin about his abysmal record when they meet at the G8 summit in Germany.
Vladimir Putin has proven unable to shed the KGB apparatchik mentality he spent so much of his professional career in. He's another example of a Russian leader the west initially put so much misplaced hope in, only to find out that he has chosen to remain imprisoned by the Russian/Soviet totalitarian leadership culture.