Quotable notes (05/07/06)

Quotable notes

"... The question now occupying the minds of leaders of the G-7 countries is whether to participate in the upcoming G-8 summit in St. Petersburg. Idealists have proposed a boycott. Pragmatists oppose that approach. In either case, a bad outcome is inevitable.

"Pragmatists proposed to include in the agenda a discussion of 'energy security' and another attempt to persuade the Russian government to accept universal democratic values. But it would be naive to expect substantial results on these two points.

"The Russian authorities have already demonstrated how they understand energy security. Instead of liberalization and privatization of energy assets, they are opting for nationalization of private companies, the cementing of state control over the electricity grid and pipeline system and, on the international scene, efforts to use non-market methods to manage international energy resources. Is this something the world's leading democracies are ready to accept? ..."

- Andrei Illarionov, former senior economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin, writing in the April 18 issue of The Washington Post in an op-ed piece titled "The Death of the G-8."

"... After the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union, Russia rid itself of its oppressive police state, and the Russian people were finally free to choose how they wanted their country to evolve. In those days it was believed that Russia would become part of a broader democratic world. The time of irreconcilable confrontation with the West seemed to be over.

"But by 2003 Alexander Vershbow, then-U.S. ambassador to Russia, was talking about a widening 'values gap' between the United States and Russia with regard to democracy and the rule of law. And in today's Russia, the West - and especially the United States - is increasingly regarded as an adversary whose values are not shared by Russians. ...

"The hardships of the early post-Communist years caused bitter disillusionment. The insecurity and disparities in wealth under fledgling capitalism brought anxiety and resentment. The task of reforming a nation crippled and demoralized by decades under an inhuman regime proved insurmountable. It would have taken a true visionary to mobilize the Russian people and pursue the path of modernization. And Vladimir Putin is no visionary. He addressed his nation's pain and anger by offering a return to traditional paternalism - a model that people welcomed with a sense of relief. For even if the government was habitually self-seeking, incompetent and corrupt, it was once again possible for people to avoid making choices and assuming responsibility for Russia's future. ...

"... The nation and the state have slipped back to the familiar pattern of seeing enemies inside and outside, regarding the West as a force that seeks to harm Russia and Westerners as potential spies. ..."

- Masha Lipman, editor of the Carnegie Moscow Center's Pro et Contra journal, writing in the May 2 issue of The Washington Post, in her monthly column, this one titled "Fear of the West in Russia."

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