Putin's diplomatic cunning threatens freedom
From the end of World War II, until the eventual collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the Western world was engaged against the Russian communist state and its allies in a bitter struggle known as the Cold War.
The separation of the USSR in 1991 created fifteen independent states, the largest of which became known as the Russian Federation. Nominally a democratic state, Russia introduced many political and economic reforms under its first president, Boris Yeltsin, who resigned in late 1999 and was succeeded by Vladimir Putin. A tactile and skilled politician, the former KGB agent has maintained friendly contact with the West, while at the same time his government has repeatedly acted against Western interests.
In the aftermath of the collapse of communism, nearly all former communist countries adopted Western democracy as their official form of government, with the exceptions of Cuba, Belarus, and North Korea. Additionally, much pressure was placed on these new governments to privatize the former command economies, transforming them into capitalist economic systems.
However, in the Russian Federation, a tendency both towards political absolutism and a movement against Western ideas and influences has recurred during Putin's term as president. Censorship, though naturally much more lax than during the Soviet period, has taken its toll, most notably in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a vehemently anti-Putin journalist.
Additionally, it is nearly certain that the long tentacles of the Kremlin also reached the Soviet defector, Alexander Litvinenko, all the way in London, possibly in a response to his investigation of the killing of Politkovskaya; Litvinenko died Nov. 23, 2006 of radiation poisoning, in what is considered a sophisticated political assassination under the auspices of Russian authorities.
Furthermore, the Putin regime has consistently performed extraterritorial machinations and attempted to regain foreign influences lost in the political turmoil of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Most notably, the Kremlin has threatened Ukraine, one of the larger former Soviet republics, by cutting off its supply of natural gas in the dead of winter.
Not only Ukraine, but the majority of the European continent relies on Russia for its natural gas, a key fuel for heating. The nation of Georgia has also been at odds with the Kremlin and its policies, accusing the Russian government of spying and stirring civil unrest in Georgian territory. Again, in Moldova, another former Soviet republic which does not even share a physical boundary with Russia, a large contingent of the Russian army is present in the province of Transnistria in an effort for the province to gain independence and possibly be annexed by the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic cunning and ability of Putin has calmed the fears of Western leaders, likely explaining President George Bush's recent praises of the Russian president.
True, some friction is seen on the topic of a U.S. missile shield being built in Poland and the Czech Republic, both former Eastern Bloc states, however the majority of U.S.-Russian contact is rather cordial. Additionally, Putin and many European leaders share friendly relations, regardless of Russian policies. When Lufthansa, the major German airline was blackmailed to move its hub of Asiatic operations to Russia, no action was taken by the German government.
Therefore, be it by attempting to restore its grip over former communist nations, or by directly interfering with Western entities, the Russian government of Putin is aiming towards a restoration of previous Russian power.
Furthermore, this authority will most likely be negatively biased towards the United States and other Western nations as well as the ideals that they preach. Most likely, current Russian politics are aimed at minimizing the autonomy of former Eastern Bloc countries, something which is possible due to Russia's geographic proximity, economic, and political power, and its control of vast quantities of necessary resources.
Hence, the strong influence which Russia has and utilizes can again become a distinct and serious threat to political self-determination, as well as national and personal freedom.
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