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Opinion
RUSSIA NOW
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Letters to the Editor
THE LOSER IN UKRAINE
Kind Regards were skeptical of the Stock Mar-
Dear Editor, ket and banks after the Great
Each edition of Russia Now Depression of 1929.
DMITRY BABICH
seems to improve. And if Amer- Thank you for the opportu- RIA NOVOSTI
icans had had access to Russian nity to learn about Russia and
thought years ago, our coun- Russian thinking provided in So, who was the loser in the presiden-
tries might have had a better Russia Now. tial elections in Ukraine? On the sur-
relationship prior to the break- THOMAS YERG face, it is the Prime Minister Yulia Ty-
up of the Soviet Union. The peo- U.S.A. moshenko, who finished at least 3
ples of our nations were unfor- percent behind the opposition leader
tunately manipulated by Postcards From the Edge Viktor Yanukovych. However, Ukrain-
mutual fear. What a delightful article [by ska Pravda, made famous thanks to
In the early 1980s, I asked a Jennifer Eremeeva, Russia Now, political campaigns organized around
Russian translator-broadcaster December 2009]! But I must the killing of its founder Georgy Gon-
of Radio Free Europe - Voice of say that on my last trip to Rus- gadze, blamed by the Western media
America what, if any, impact the sia, I mailed a whole bunch of on Ukraine’s former president, Leonid
Islamic Religion had on Soviet postcards home to New York. Kuchma, takes a more nuanced view
foreign policy. I did not receive They all got there in about a of the situation. Yulia Tymoshenko lost
an answer. Finally, the article week. The Russian post office a battle, but did not lose a war. As the
“Afghanistan Invasions” ad- may not do great inside Rus- Prime Minister, she still controls the
dresses part of that issue. Also, sia, but their international ser- government and thus the country’s
the article "Medvedev’s Slow vice actually works pretty well. economy. Her loyalist Yuri Lutsenko,
Burn" gives the American read- Maybe I’ll send Velvet a post- fired from the position of the interior
er insight into Russian political card myself the next time I’m minister, refused to let go of his con-
thinking. in Moscow! trol of the country’s police. Tymosh-
As I am very much interested BETH KNOBEL enko herself refused to concede her
in foreign language, although NEW YORK, NY defeat, using the same language she
I have not studied Russian, I find used in 2004, during the so-called Or-
the article "Rejecting the 'isms' Pride and Prejudice ange Revolution.
of Ideology” to be a fascinating It’s nice to hear Russian gays At the time, the Western media
word study. [December 2009, Russia Now] just loved that language, believing
And the article "Under the are fighting for their rights! every word of it. Tymoshenko was
Mattress" reminds me of the re- ANTHONY LEROY elevated to the status of Ukrainian
actions of my grandparents who WASHINGTON, D.C. Joan of Arc and Yanukovych was vil-
ified as a “Kremlin’s stooge.” Now quences of recent rule in Ukraine are rules of democratic procedure. In Isn’t this a bit too high a price to
Tymoshenko’s conduct is an embar- indisputable and recognized even by every situation, they used every tool pay for the prejudiced attitude to
rassment, since this election was rec- such former zealots of the Orange at their disposal to hold on to power. Russia, which lay at the core of West-
ognized as fair by the European Union, Revolution as the New York Times These tools included dissolving a dem- ern support for the Orange Revolu-
We Want to Hear From You
the United States and just about every and Newsweek. One figure is telling ocratically elected parliament, mak- tion? “In our enthusiasm to find oth-
possible monitoring organization. An enough: Ukrainian exports to the Unit- ing a mockery of justice and arrang- ers who appear to share our goals,
obvious question sneaks into one’s ed States dropped by 90 percent in ing sleazy media attacks against each we have allowed ourselves to be
We welcome letters to the ed- umns become the sole mind: What if in 2004 her motives the five years of orange rule. The usual other. fooled into believing that anybody
itor and reserve the right to property of Rossiyskaya Gaze- were the same as now: trivial lust for objection to Tymoshenko’s critics: The blank check that the West gave we dislike is illegitimate, that our en-
edit for length and clarity. ta. We do not publish anony- power and not a mixture of demo- “But now they have democracy!” to Yushchenko and his orange team emy’s enemy is our friend,” writes
Please send your comments by mous letters, letters advocating cratic principle and idealistic nation- does not hold much water under clos- in 2004–2005 did a terrible disser- professor Paul Robinson in Ottawa
e-mail (editor.usa@rg.ru) extremism or containing per- alism, as the West believed in 2004– er inspection. vice to the Ukrainian nation. Instead Citizen. One could add only that
or fax (0870 928 9823), to- sonal attacks, mass mailings or 2005? As the situation develops, this Indeed, one cannot call neither for- of concentrating on joint movement consequences could be especially
gether with your name, address commercial appeals. version of events appears to be clos- mer president Viktor Yushchenko nor toward Europe (which does not nec- bad if the perceived “enemy” (in
and a contact telephone num- All articles and letters appear- er and closer to the truth, thus re- Yulia Tymoshenko democrats. Dur- essarily mean away from Russia!), the the case of the Orange Revolution,
ber for verification. If you do ing on the opinion page do vealing the true losers of 2010 elec- ing their six years at the top of the orange politicians polarized the na- “imperialistic Russia”) is not actually
not wish your name or e-mail not necessarily reflect the po- tions—Western experts and politicians, Ukrainian state machine, they showed tion, discredited democratic institu- an enemy at all.
-
to be published, please indi- sitions and views of the editors who believed Tymoshenko in 2004– themselves tough political fighters, tions, badly damaged their own econ-
cate this clearly. Once pub- of Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Rus- 2005. but not really democratic, unready omy and the economy of other Dmitry Babich is an analyst at RIA
lished, letters and guest col- sia Now. The disastrous economic conse- to concede defeat and respect the European countries. Novosti.
The Polls
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY
Russians Favor Yanukovych
VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH’S POPULARITY HAS INCREASED NOT ONLY IN HIS
NATIVE UKRAINE, AS SHOWN BY A RECENT YURI LEVADA CENTER POLL.
WAYNE MERRY
The hydrocarbons constitute Mos- growing American combination of to score cheap shots on issues rang-
SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW cow’s instrument of parity with Eu- long-range nuclear missiles, high- ing from chicken parts to the Cau-
ALMOST HALF OF RUSSIANS FEEL HIS ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY
rope and nuclear weapons with the tech precision-guided non-nuclear casus.
WILL IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH THEIR COUNTRY.
American and Russian negotiators United States. Without the nuclear weapons and anti-ballistic missile This will be Obama’s first foreign
have struggled for months to craft arsenal, however, Russia’s vast ge- programs. This fear has deep roots, treaty ratification effort, requiring a
WHICH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WOULD BEST SERVE RUSSIA’S INTERESTS? a new bilateral treaty on strategic ography would become a major li- as revealed in David Hoffman’s new vote of two-thirds in the Senate.
nuclear weapons. In the Cold War ability, especially with China. Neither book, “The Dead Hand,” which doc- Members of both parties will ask why
era, such negotiations could take Russia’s economy nor its declining uments the terrifying Soviet-era ob- the United States needs a new trea-
years, but why is there a problem population could sustain a conven- session with a decapitating Ameri- ty at all, when Russia’s nuclear arse-
now? tional military able to defend such can first strike. nal is in long-term decline due to
In the bad old days, the challenge an enormous perimeter against all In fact, if by magic all of Russia’s age and financial constraints. Some
was to work out the details of a stra- threats. nuclear weapons were to disappear will doubtless try to draw “linkage”
tegic relationship that was more or Without a major nuclear arsenal, tomorrow but America’s remained, between ratification and Russian
less balanced. Today, the heart of Russia’s global role would be less like the United States would not then “good behavior” with its neighbors.
the problem is the absence of sym- India or China and more like Brazil use its nuclear monopoly either to Others may question the value of
metry between the two countries, or Indonesia, an intolerable decline attack or threaten Russia. (That Mos- reciprocal arms limits, of mutual ver-
not only in their size and power, but from its present status for those who cow would believe itself threatened ification and monitoring regimes,
in the role nuclear weapons play in rule in Moscow. Thus, Russian ne- is probably inevitable.) Perhaps it is and of the importance of a treaty
their respective security concepts and gotiators are near the lowest num- difficult for Russia’s leadership to ac- for the remaining global system of
status in the world. ber of nuclear weapons their coun- cept this reality. Some might rather nuclear non-proliferation. Such ar-
If, by magic, all nuclear weapons try must maintain, not only in the lie awake in fear of an American at- guments would be short-sighted,
were to disappear from the earth to- strategic category, but also in so- tack that will never come than ac- shallow and divorced from the na-
morrow, the United States would called tactical weapons, which Mos- knowledge that Russia no longer tional interest, but they will need to
greatly benefit. Not only would no cow employs for deterrence within dominates Washington’s priorities. be answered persuasively.
foreign power be able to inflict major Eurasia. In addition, Russia is strug- The U.S. administration faces a Thus, the current challenge for
damage on the American homeland, gling with increasing costs and dif- huge problem in obtaining Senate American diplomacy is to produce
Washington would enjoy almost ficulties in deploying new genera- ratification for a new treaty, and not a treaty that responds more to Rus-
global supremacy in non-nuclear mil- tions of strategic delivery systems, just because of domestic partisan sia’s political and psychological re-
SOURCE: WWW.LEVADA.RU
itary capabilities, reinforced by its ex- especially at sea. politics in an election year. During quirements than to its real security
tensive system of alliances. A related challenge for the nego- the Cold War, many senators and needs, and then to persuade Amer-
Viktor Yanukovych’s popularity bers also increased, howev- In contrast, a world without nu- tiations is that Moscow perceives congressmen were engaged with ican senators that such an effort is
among Russians skyrocketed to er, from 5 percent to 10 per- clear weapons would constitute a American advances in military tech- Russia. Certainly, they were not in the interest of the United States.
44 percent from 26 percent one cent. severe blow to Russia’s security and, nologies as creating a capacity for a Russophiles, but they devoted seri- By comparison, the job of Cold War-
year ago. Meanwhile, the number of re- even more, to its sense of self-worth. disarming first strike on Russia. This ous time and effort to Russian issues. era negotiators was simple.
-
Russians’ interest in the Ukrai- spondents expecting Yanuk- Russia is a great power today by vir- notion appears absurd in Washing- Not any more. Capitol Hill scarcely
nian elections has also increased ovych to gradually improve re- tue of its geography, its arsenal of ton, but prominent Russian strate- thinks about Russia at all nowadays E. Wayne Merry is a former U.S. State
from 34 percent to 46 percent of lations with the West dropped nuclear weapons, and oil and gas. gists see a genuine threat in the and, when it does, often it is only Department and Pentagon official.
the general population; opti- from 11 percent to 6 percent.
mism for good relations be- For Tymoshenko, the corre-
tween the two countries has sim- sponding numbers were 34 per-
ilarly increased. cent and 26 percent.
Perhaps more surprisingly, However, while fewer people
Russians’ confidence in both expected Yanukovych to even-
Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor ly balance relations between
MAJORITY RULE
two revolutions (1905 and 1917).
Many thinkers concluded that what
Russia needed was a stretch of peace
combined with a not overly oppres-
Yanukovych improved com- Russia and the West, a greater sive government.
pared with five years ago. number expected Tymoshenko Well, that’s what it has had for the
Compared with last year, a to do so. the empire and the Soviet Union as What has to happen for the Rus- nearly 20 years since the Soviet Union
greater percentage of respon- The poll was carried out by
RICHARD LOURIE
THE MOSCOW TIMES
well (Joseph Stalin aside). But in So- sians to realize the full significance of imploded. The Chechen Wars and
dents felt Yanukovych would the Yuri Levada Center in Janu- viet times, it was commonplace their becoming a majority in their Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s crack-
pursue better relations with Rus- ary 2010 in 127 cities and towns As a rule, I’m not much one for sta- among Russians that everyone—Poles, own land? In “Warsaw Diary,” the downs are relatively mild by Russian
sia. Yulia Tymoshenko’s num- in 46 regions of Russia. tistics, but every so often one stops Czechs, Hungarians with their gou- Polish writer Kazimierz Brandys de- standards. There is no real enemy
me cold. In the December issue of lash communism—lived better than scribes one of the unexpected and like Nazi Germany during World War
Russia in Global Affairs, political sci- they did. And no one suffered more unintended consequences of Pope II or the United States during the
entist Igor Zevelev pointed out in his from Soviet oppression than the Rus- John Paul II’s first visit to his native Cold War.
article “Russia’s Future: Nation or Civ- sians themselves. Poland in 1979. The Pope drew vast So the question is: Now that the
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