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Who Are You, Mr. Putin?
// The Answer Isn't So Friendly Anymore
George Bush's recent criticism of Russia is not merely an expression of disagreement from yet another Western country about the Kremlin's new course. In essence, Mr. Bush's comments at his ranch in Texas drew a line under a whole period in the relationship between the West and Russia, a period that could be called a strategic partnership.
After the leadership change in the Kremlin on the cusp of the new century, the West took a very cautious view of the rise to power of the new Russian leader, a graduate of the special forces who promised to "rub out" terrorists in Chechnya. The question, "Who are you, Mr. Putin?" became crucial for the West.
The first to answer for him was British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Speaking informally with the favorite to win the Russian presidency in 2000, two weeks before the elections, Mr. Blair stated confidently, "Putin is a highly intelligent person with a clear idea of what he wants for Russia. His Russia is a strong power, where law and order reign, but still a democratic and liberal country." Mr. Blair quickly called up his Western colleagues to share with them his excellent impressions from his meeting with the new leader of the Kremlin.
After the British prime minister, the next Western leaders to "accept Putin's Russia" were German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, and US President George Bush put paid to any remaining doubts. At his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, in Slovenia in 2001, he pronounced his final verdict: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy."
For the last several years, this phrase has defined the policy of the West in relation to Russia. This policy has led to the following principle: partnership with Moscow and personal friendship with its leader. Of course, there have been roll-backs and periods of cooling in that policy (over Chechnya, freedom of the press, and Yukos), but its essence has remained unchanged. Western leaders have not only declared Russia to be a strategic partner – they have maintained good relations with it on a variety of important achievements for their own foreign policies.
At first Moscow replied in kind. Before the historic G8 summit in Kananaskis in summer 2002 (where Russian became a full member of the G8), Vladimir Putin made a statement of principle: "For the first time in many decades – if not a century – we are not confronting either the entire world or any individual countries."
Then the situation changed. The Kremlin's course began to provoke a more and more negative reaction in Western society and the Western press. This was followed by increasingly frequent accusations of "mistaken policies in relation to Moscow" aimed at Western leaders.
The Russian card again began to turn into a trump card – but in the hands of the opponents of the current Western leaders. And the circle of those leaders, who had assumed the beginning of a partnership with Putin's Russia, has begun to visibly thin: Gerhard Shroeder and Silvio Berlusconi have left, as has Jacques Chirac, and Tony Blair is on his way out the door even as we speak. Only George Bush is left, and he has only a year and a few months left. So he has decided to give an advance summing-up of the period in relations with Russia that is drawing to a close.
There will soon be another period, one that can't yet be called a cold war. But the time for locking horns has clearly arrived.
Gennady Sysoyev
All the Article in Russian as of May 23, 2007
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