Russia: Other Points of View

MEDVEDEV REDEFINES THE SECULAR STATE

ROPV CONTRIBUTORS

Medvedev Redefines the Secular State by Legalizing Courses About the Main Confessions

by Joera Mulders 

President Medvedev has approved experiments with courses about Russia’s ‘traditional’ confessions; Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, as well as ‘secular ethics’ in 18 regions of the Russian Federation. Effectively, this means that he has started the process of legalization of civil initiatives, which have begun as early as 1999.

Based on online publications of local newspapers I collected during spring 2006, I found information that Russian-Orthodox courses were taught within the regional component in the Belgorod, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kursk, Smolensk, Tver and Vladimir regions. In the Lipetsk, Samara, Saratov, Stavropol, Sverdlovsk, Volgograd, Vologda and Voronezh regions this was not yet the case but training centers for future teachers of the course have been set up in cooperation with the local administration and universities. In many other regions courses are taught in individual schools.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION WEEKLY SITREP

by Patrick Armstrong

Respect and influence. Two centuries ago John Jay wrote: “If they [foreign powers] see that our national government is efficient and well administered, our trade prudently regulated, our militia properly organized and disciplined, our resources and finances discreetly managed, our credit re-established, our people free, contented, and united, they will be much more disposed to cultivate our friendship than provoke our resentment.” True then and true now. A Medvedev interview touches on many of these points: “Just as our foreign policy has a direct impact on living standards here at home, so does our success at home have a direct impact on how others perceive us.” He knows Russia has some distance to go: “So long as others see Russia as a country with an unacceptably high level of corruption we will be treated accordingly.” If you want to know what the Russians think about things, read what they say; not what other people want you to think they said.

THE NORTH CAUCASUS

COMMENTARY

The North Caucasus: Through Mainstream Media's Distorted Lens 

by Gordon Hahn

The U.S. and Western mainstream print media – the New York Times (NYT), Washington Post (WP), Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Economist and Newsweek – continued their grossly one-sided presentation of what is happening in Russia’s jihadi-plagued North Caucasus.  This time it came in their coverage of the murder of the courageous Russian journalist Natalya Estemirova.  It is only when such incidents occur that the North Caucasus jihad makes even the most brief blip on the mainstream media’s radar screen. 

The following paragraph from the WP catches the flavor of the mainstream media’s entire take on the North Caucasus: “(Estemirova) was a meticulous researcher, but she was also fierce in her determination not to submit to the fiction, so ardently purveyed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his circle, that Chechnya is quiet and that the problem there has been solved. It has not. House burnings have become a frequent form of collective punishment by local authorities, with at least two dozen incidents in the past year and a half. Suspected militants and collaborators, their relatives and any other perceived enemy of the regime can be tortured, abducted and assassinated” (Tanya Lokshina, “Another Voice Silenced in Russia,” Washington Post, July 17, 2009). 

SOUTH OSSETIAN PRESIDENT URGES U.S. TO SUPPORT PEACE, NOT MILITARY BUILDUP

President Eduard Kokoity says, “We want to be able to raise our children without worrying every day about a reckless Georgian leader with a U.S. arsenal at his disposal.”

Tskhinval, South Ossetia—July 22, 2009—The following statement was released on behalf of Eduard Kokoity, President of the Republic of South Ossetia, for distribution to media covering current events in Georgia.

ABKHAZIAN PRESIDENT URGES U.S. TO SUPPORT PEACE AND SECURITY, NOT GEORGIA'S FALSE CLAIMS

REPRINTS

President Sergei Bagapsh says, “Abkhazia is a free and independent country and will never be part of Georgia. President Saakashvili is mired in failures of the past and still seeks to isolate my and intimidate my country.”

Sukhum, Abkhazia—July 23, 2009—The following statement was released on behalf of Sergei Bagapsh, President of the Republic of Abkhazia, for distribution to media covering current events in Georgia.

OBAMA DRINKS RUSSIAN TEA - THE AFTERTASTE

REPRINTS

The Future of Russian-American Relations as Seen From Colomna and San Francisco

Summary Statement: The following is an article from a Russian newspaper Espresso which includes a Q&A that gives a bit of insight about the questions Russians are asking about Obama and Medvedev meetings. -- Sharon Tennison

by Tatiana Trishkina

Tatiana: Even if the leaders of our nations have a liking for each other, we can not ignore the views of political elites of both countries. The agenda of the Moscow summit was prepared by “elders”, whose intrigues go back to time of Reagan and Bush (father). Exactly 20 years ago, Robert Gates was preparing «propaganda bomb for Gorbachev» – the abolition of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. The amendment is still alive. Don’t you think that Obama was sent to Medvedev with a similar “bomb”?

THE LEGAL CASE FOR RUSSIAN INTERVENTION IN GEORGIA

ROPV CONTRIBUTORS

by Professor Nicolai N. Petro

Russia's "peace enforcement" operation in Georgia in August 2008 has been widely condemned in the West. Despite such criticism, however, the Russian elite and populace remain remarkably united in their view that Russian intervention in this humanitarian crisis was both morally and legally justified. Russia's persistent appeal to international law throughout this crisis highlights its growing importance in Russian foreign policy thinking.  In the future, Russia will seek to both uphold the basic tenets current of international law, but also to make it more broadly representative, in terms of its geography and "civilizational content." While this poses a challenge to the supremacy of Western standards of international law, it is not a rejection of legality, and so long as Russia feels that it has a say in framing and applying these standards, it will continue to support them in international fora.

EU'S GEORGIAN WAR REPORT "DELAYED"

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION

by Sharon Tennison

Today, the long-awaited publication of European Union's independent report on the Georgia/S. Ossetia/Russia war is being delayed "for a more appropriate moment."  Is it because the report doesn't agree with the US' story on the war - and that VP Biden arrives there today to declare the US' support for Saakhashvili - and once again to make claims that it was Russia who initiated the August 08 war?

CENTRAL EUROPE'S LONGSTANDING FEARS by Stratfor

Statement:  Different points of view are reflected in the following Stratfor Analysis on Central Europe's Longstanding Fears, followed by Sharon Tennison's IMHO which was sent to Stratfor.

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From Stratfor:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Munich on Thursday. The meeting produced talk of a Russian-German manufacturing alliance, a 500 million-euro ($704.7 million) joint investment agreement, several business deals that included infrastructure and transportation development, and a lot of chatter on Europe's energy issues, such as the proposed Nord Stream and Nabucco natural gas pipelines. The business deals are further evidence of a burgeoning relationship between Moscow and Berlin that is evolving into more than just a partnership of convenience based on German imports of Russian natural gas.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION WEEKLY SITREP

by Patrick Armstrong

Just what Russia needs. Another liberal/social democrat opposition party. But it has been announced that Gorbachev’s Independent Democratic Party of Russia will hold its founding congress in early September. I would estimate that 10 to 15% to the electorate would be sympathetic to something like this (although the “pedestal parties” long since stole the economic platforms) but for some reason Russian liberals absolutely refuse to cooperate with each other and there doesn’t appear to be much sign that they ever will. Each is prepared to unite – but only under his leadership.