Russia Still Poses Serious Threat

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Most of us don't remember the Cold War. It happened a long time ago, and ended while we were very young. I personally can only vaguely remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, and many of us can't even remember that. The names Lenin, Stalin, and Kruschev only ring a dim bell. They were bad guys, of course, but nothing extraordinary.

Russia has more or less been an ally to America since communism and Soviet Empire collapsed over a decade ago. It's easy to see why most of us today don't think of Russia as much of a threat to us anymore. The fact is that Generation X'ers don't know much about the history of the Cold War, or that Russia was our enemy for most of the Twentieth Century (save for the years during WWII). Most don't know of the 100 million who died due to communism, or that Stalin actually killed more people than Hitler. "We will bury you" seems as vague and distant as the gulag.

Today, Russia is no longer a world power. They're still a nuclear power, but they don't seem to pose much of a threat to America anymore. This line of thinking is correct, at least for now. Russia isn't pushing for expansion, and President Vladimir Putin says nice things about us. He's made friends with President Bush. Commentators on the left and right think Putin is genuinely a swell guy, dedicated to reforms and democracy.

Perhaps they're right, after all we can't see what's in Putin's heart. If they are right, however, and Putin really is a democrat, he has a funny way of showing it.

Vladimir Putin is the former head of the KGB. The KGB was the long arm of Soviet oppression, mixing intelligence gathering with the state police. Thus it's safe to say Putin's human rights record leaves a lot to be desired.

Obviously, it would be unfair to judge him solely on his involvement in the KGB. Putin was only a product of his time. In the time since then, however, Putin has not done much to distance himself from his former activities. We all know about Russia's complete refusal to support Coalition action against Saddam Hussein. Again, we shouldn't judge him solely because of this, as he was probably only representing the views of the Russian people, but his true motivation may have been something darker.

Rumors have flown that Russia was supplying intelligence and, perhaps, weapons to Saddam Hussein. These are only rumors, but it is widely known that Russia has built a nuclear reactor in Iran, and is presently shipping nuclear fuel to it. Building reactors in and shipping nuclear materials to a rogue nation that seeks nuclear weapons and hates America. Do these sound like the actions of a friend?

Vladimir Putin tenure as president has been marked with anti-democratic activities. One of his first moves as president was to shut down the only non-state owned national TV network. United Russia, his party, is basically a rubber stamp for him, completely without ideology. It won in a landslide during the last election, in what was obviously a rigged election. It is filled with thugs, including one who called for the imprisonment of homosexuals.

During Putin's reign, democracy has all but died in Russia, as Masha Gessen points out in the February 9, 2004 edition of the New Republic. During the last elections, secret ballot voting was all but abolished. When your vote is public knowledge, and liberties are limited, it becomes very difficult to vote against the ruling party, especially given Russia's history of tyranny.

Gessen also goes on to demonstrate how little attention all this has been given by the American media. This is not new; during the 1930s Walter Duranty, a New York Times correspondent, completely ignored the famine in the Ukraine, and even won a Pulitzer. Today, the Times run editorials such as one entitled "RUSSIANS INCH TOWARD DEMOCRACY," despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

A friend of mine, who lived in Albania (a former Soviet satellite that was one of the world's most oppressive countries) for 19 years put it best by stating that the Russian dream of an empire is still alive. Communism didn't work, he said, so now Russia will try another method.

What can America do about this? Not a whole lot. We can continue to keep exporting our products and ideals to the Russian people. If President Bush does hold some sway with Putin, perhaps he can try to convince him of the virtues of democracy. All this isn't much, but perhaps, given time, it can lead to democracy finally taking hold in Russia.

In the meantime, we should keep our eyes on our former Cold War enemy.

John Brown is a senior in political science and history at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com, or visit www.johnnorrisbrown.com. This column originally appeared in the February 19, 2004 edition of The Daily Beacon, available here.