In a brilliant move, Vladimir Putin is giving all the weak-kneed leaders of Europe and elsewhere a lesson in how not to be steamrolled by Bush. He's just proposed to have the proposed missile shield (which Bush claims is directed against Iran, not Russia) located in Azerbaijan (which is situated just North of Iran) and to use the existing Russian radar there.
This is an impressive move in many ways, worth noting:
- by offering what would be a better solution to Bush's supposed excuse (the inexistant missile threat from Iran), he forces Bush to either abandon his plan, or to explicitly admit that the goal was not that stated, but rather to occupy territory around Russia while dividing and embarrassing the Europeans (or possibly to have the capacity to strike Russian ICBMs as they take off);
- by dropping this bombshell in the middle of the G8, he appears to be a smart diplomat, keen to solve problems rather than to bluster; thus making Russia a legitimate world player and member of the G8. It also completely destroys the current narrative of the "new cold war" we've been hearing recently.
Inspired by the discussion on Eurotrib
One important thing to note is that this comes two days after his Gandhi outburst. You've probably heard his clam to be the last 'pure democrat' since Gandhi's death, and filed that as the pointless bluster of an authoritarian pretending to lecture us. But the rest of what he said has not been quite as widely quoted:
VLADIMIR PUTIN: (laughs) Am I a `pure democrat'? Of course I am, absolutely. But do you know what the problem is? Not even a problem but a real tragedy? The problem is that I'm all alone, the only one of my kind in the whole wide world. Just look at what's happening in North America, it's simply awful: torture, homeless people, Guantanamo, people detained without trial and investigation. Just look at what's happening in Europe: harsh treatment of demonstrators, rubber bullets and tear gas used first in one capital then in another, demonstrators killed on the streets. That's not even to mention the post-Soviet area. Only the guys in Ukraine still gave hope, but they've completely discredited themselves now and things are moving towards total tyranny there; complete violation of the Constitution and the law and so on. There is no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi died.
Of course, this is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, but the fact remains that all what he says about us is true, and he is the only leader of the G8 to say these things and remind us of what has changed since 9/11 - our claim to any moral high ground is gone, if it ever existed. That's what all the talk about the "new cold war" is meant to distract us from, As Anatole Kaletsky noted in the Times of London this morning:
It's the West that's starting this new Cold War - Russia's belligerence is hardly surprising
Casting Russia as the enemy suits everyone at this year's summit. It distracts attention from President Bush's contempt for Europeans on climate change and his geopolitical blunders. It helps Angela Merkel and Tony Blair to disguise the failure of their Atlanticist diplomacy while allowing Nicolas Sarkozy to sound tough, without being antiAmerican. It gives all the European leaders at the summit a chance to "show solidarity" with the EU's newly admitted Eastern members without making any concessions on the discriminatory economic and labour policies that will keep these countries firmly in their place for decades ahead. And best of all, from every nation's standpoint, the starring role of villain is one that President Putin himself craves.
(...)
Why is hostility to the West so popular in Russia? Let us try to look at the West through Russian eyes. Despite all the past sentimental rhetoric of Western politicians describing Russia as a friend and "strategic partner", US and European behaviour has consistently treated Russia more as an enemy than an ally. Russia has been told it could never join Nato or the EU and Mr Putin's invitation to G8 summits is scant consolation for the denial of WTO membership and the continuation of US trade sanctions dating back to the Cold War. On human rights and extrajudicial assassinations, Russia's record may be deplorable, but its abuses pale in comparison with those of Western friends such as Saudi Arabia and China, not to mention President Bush's "boil them in oil" ally, Uzbekistan.
But far more serious from the Russian standpoint than any diplomatic conflicts is what the West has done to their country's territorial integrity. Ever since the first Bush Administration undermined Mikhail Gorbachev by denying him the financial assistance of the International Monetary Fund and then encouraged the dissolution of the Soviet Union under Boris Yeltsin, the West has appeared, at least from Moscow's standpoint, to seize every opportunity to weaken, isolate and encircle Russia.
As Putin notes (same link as above):
VLADIMIR PUTIN: If NATO were involved [in the missile shield] this would not fundamentally change anything because we know how decisions are made in NATO. They were made in the same way in the Warsaw Pact. There was a joke in East Germany: How can you tell which of the telephones on Honecker's desk is the direct line to Moscow? Do you know this joke?
DER SPIEGEL: No.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: The answer is: it's the one with only a receiver and no mouthpiece. (Laughter).
The same goes for NATO, except that the telephone line goes not to Moscow in this case but to Washington, and so it would make no difference to us if NATO were heading this project.
Putin's authoritarian leanings notwithstanding, all he is doing is to say that the emperor is naked. And as he cannot be ignored, given how his country is the first producer of oil and of gas at a time when the price and availability of these commodities seems to worry our leaders, he has to be demonized so that people do not listen to him too much.
But now, with his new move, he makes himself appear to be more interested in solving issues than in political grandstanding (and the contrast with the toothless compromise on carbon emissions is striking) - he makes it hard not to take him seriously, and that, just two days after he said loudly what we all know about Bush's torture-prone and lawlessness-happy regime and the complicit cowardice of European 'leaders' (followers would be more appropriate).
He did not back down. He is outmanoeuvering Bush, blocking his policies, calling him on his bullshit and his lies, and yet appearing pragmatic and reasonable.
Very impressive.