From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 4/28/2005 1:39 AM
Editorial: Dealing With Russia
26 April 2005
 

RUSSIA’S President Vladimir Putin pulled few punches in his state of the nation address to Parliament yesterday. He said the collapse of the old Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century. He strongly defended his political changes which have refocused power in the Kremlin and warned outsiders bluntly that Russia would advance to democracy at its own pace and would take no lessons from abroad.

In Washington this may very well be seen as a deliberate snub to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice whose Moscow visit last week emphasized the need for Russia to do more to promote democracy. Putin left few of his listeners in much doubt that Russia was taking no advice from any other country — whether it was over his assault on powerful private companies such as Yukos, the muzzling of the press and media, the continuing bloody anti-separatist campaign in Chechnya or the changes to the way once powerful and independent provincial governors are chosen.

One of the more disturbing parts of his speech was his reference to the millions of Russians who found themselves outside the country’s borders when the Soviet Union broke up and thirteen independent republics were created. His audience, not just in the Duma but on nationwide TV, might just have taken the view that the president felt that this was a wrong that in due time needed to be righted. For the independent Ukraine with its new independent-minded government and a large Russian minority, Putin’s comments will not have played well. Indeed for all former Soviet republics with significant ethnic Russian populations, the statement could be taken as downright sinister.

Among most ordinary Russians however, their tough-talking, second-term president is just the sort of leader they respond to. The next presidential election will be in three years but under the constitution, Putin may not seek a third consecutive term. Nevertheless will his substantial control over Parliament tempt him to seek a constitutional change so that he could run again? The cowed press would be unlikely to rebel. Though there was widespread criticism of the way the media was controlled during the hustings last year, no international observers could prove that the actual vote was not genuine.

Putin’s position currently seems unassailable but long-suffering though the Russian people are, he is going to have to deliver on promises to win the Chechen war, look after pensioners, end graft and corruption and encourage economic growth. There have recently been angry protests by poor pensioners and student unrest has been growing. But outside interference must be cautious. For the rest of the world, there is the danger that a Putin administration besieged by US and European criticism will be tempted to turn insular. This may of course be precisely what Washington wants because it would remove an important counterbalance to US world power, particularly in the Middle East.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=62765&d=26&m=4&y=2005