Letters from Russia

Sergey Kolsanov is among CCI most successful entrepreneurs who started from scratch and has built an extraordinary business "Konsultant Plus. Information technologies" providing information service.  His letter is a response  to a CCI request to share thoughts and ideas on the improvement of US-Russia relations. 

December 1, 2008

From:            Sergei Kolsanov

                      Owner Business Consulting Firm 

                      Kazan, Tartarstan

To:                CCI Board of Directors and Staff

I would like to thank you for the organization of the conference in Asilomar. I gained unforgettable impressions from both the conference and my trip to California!

Having received a letter from two of you, in which you requested that we, CCI alumni, share our ideas and thoughts about the future of CCI and how it could further the improvement of the US-Russia relations, I decided to set forth some of my thoughts.

First, I would like to explain the evolution of my personal views of the USA. My character was formed in the times of the USSR, and I was growing up with a father who was a staunch communist. Generally we were raised with an unquestioned loyalty (devotion) to the USSR. Despite these facts, I have never been antagonistic towards the US as a country, nor towards the American people.

It may seem strange that the Soviet propaganda didn’t nurture a sense of hatred towards the American people. Soviet propaganda always divided the “ruling aggressive imperial class” and “ordinary Americans and their rich culture.” Besides, Soviet education rewarded our yearning for reading American authors, such as Mark Twain, Jack London etc. Books by these authors were available in all libraries, including rural. Jack London was actually a favorite of the Soviet youth and his books always highlighted honest, courageous and generous characters. Naturally, we juxtaposed these features onto our view of an average American. Moreover, everything in conjunction with the Second World War was very significant in the Soviet Union. My father fought from 1941 through 1945 and finished the war in Berlin. We always knew the USA as an ally of the USSR. There were many other factors. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian mass media was focused on highlighting the positive aspects of American life, the activity of American political elite, which allegedly had a goal to establish a fair world order. Such representation of the US in our media outlets, against the background of the disorder of the 90s (significant decline in living standards, sharp economic decline, crime wave, etc) formed a perception of the US as an ideal state, a wise global arbiter.

But our illusions began being shattered by the bombing of Yugoslavia, the war in Iraq to destroy nonexistent WMD, the existence of Jackson-Vanick amendment, expansion of NATO to our very borders, the encirclement of our country by military bases, the plans to install an anti-missile defense system in Poland and Czech Republic, and  the use of double standards in interpreting the events in our country.

Events in Georgia in August dispelled the remnants of our illusions. I was particularly shocked by two increasingly evident findings: 

1. The US helped arm Saakashvili, trained his military, and during the conflict, provided intelligence to Georgia. This has been confirmed by more and more evidence, including from Saakashvili’s immediate environment. Our government was told that Saakashvili wouldn’t attack South Ossetia. All of this happened even after our country rendered immediate support to America after 9/11. 
2. More importantly, as a result of this conflict Russian peacekeepers who were placed in Tskhinvali under UN mandate, and dozens of innocent civilians-Russian citizens were killed in the assault on S.Ossetia on August 7, 2008. And this was done not without the American support.  

I made a terrible conclusion after these Georgian events. If the US knew that Russia wouldn’t be able to respond in case of a military attack, they would attack us, and no international regulations or agreements would get in the way. American mass media could devise a reason for such an attack immediately (for instance, citing a danger that terrorists may get a hold of the nuclear weapons, or take over the control of Russian energy resources in order to secure the EU from Russia energy blackmail et al) 

All of this is very sad and very dangerous. Now Russia has to spend more money on arms, and this money comes from the taxpayers like me.

To me, there are two Americas: one – a country of ordinary citizens who I met during my visits to the US, who I fell in love with and towards whom I have a great sense of respect for having built such a wonderful country.  We have a lot to learn from the American society, and we are learning. There is much we can adopt from them, particularly in areas such as democratization of social institutions. We should not be doing this thoughtlessly though, but rely on our Russian values, which have been formed over centuries.

And there is the other US: - an aggressive country ruled by elites who are unfriendly towards Russia. It appears that the US is conducting a policy of weakening Russia. Most likely, the prevailing opinion among the US elite is that Russia is a weak state and will probably fall under pressure, just as the USSR did, so it is only necessary to push harder on Russia, in all directions – military, economic, humanitarian – and to use mass media to conduct propaganda against us.

By the way, after our trip to Washington, DC in 2007 I realized that the incorrect, biased and generally negative coverage of Russian events in the US mainstream media to a considerable degree is managed politics. This is not due to an absence of true information about Russia. I made this conclusion based on the meetings with the Congressional members, in which I participated. It was clear that the US elite possess more than enough objective information and that the monitoring system is very sophisticated. 

I don’t believe that Obama will change anything significantly in the US relations with Russia. Judging by his appointments, Obama’s team will consist of established status quo politicians (Gates, Clinton, Biden et al) and, as a saying goes, the suite defines the King. 

Of course, one may say that I am oversimplifying or demonizing the American elite and that there are various shades and nuances in US-Russia relationship. Yes, I am oversimplifying it somewhat, but I am mainly talking about the prevalent mainstream attitude towards Russia.

Yes, by definition there are anti-Americans among the Russian elite as well. But, as strange as it may sound, Putin and Medvedev are mentally pro-western politicians, and they very much want to integrate with the West, but on equal rights in order to build a fair open world.

Dear leaders of CCI, I believe that in the current crisis of trust between our countries, your work is increasingly essential and important. It is very important that citizen diplomacy trips be organized and implemented in the future. The communication between ordinary citizens and experts is crucial. Please keep us informed about the visits of Americans to Russia. My friends in Kazan and I are always ready to participate in such meetings or assist in facilitating them. I strongly believe that the more American people see our country and meet ordinary Russians, the quicker the American elite may start thinking about changing its political course towards Russia. Perhaps, such trips will lead to a realization that Russia is not as weak as it appears and will think of the consequences of pressuring us without provoking another acute crisis.

As for meetings with experts, I remember very well a meeting with Thomas Graham at Kissinger Associates in Washington, DC. In the summer of 2007 he published an article in a Russian magazine “Expert.” One of his suggestions was to discuss values, which underlie behaviors and world-views of both Americans and Russians. By comparing them we find similarities and differences, because after all we are congenial.  In this comparison we need to see that we are “two wings of the European civilization” (this metaphor was also used by Tom Graham at our meeting in DC in March, 2007). Please ask Tom to join this group of experts and let him implement his idea for a discussion of values between our two nations.

Sincerely, Sergey Kolsanov

Kazan, Tartarstan

 

Comments

[Steven G. Traylor]

Good read Sergey.

I would like to speak with you.

I am an American here in Moscow. Tell you a little something about me, go to:

www.btigroup.net
www.sgtraylor.eu

Provide your cell number and I will call you next week.

regards,

Steven G. Traylor