RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA

ROPV CONTRIBUTORS

 by Charles Heberle

It is past time that we put our relationship with Russia on course which will include national self-interest, geopolitical realities, and common sense.  What’s needed is a general rethinking of our entire view of Russia throughout our nation.

Unfortunately today, a sensible approach to Russia is unpopular in America.  Why?  The reasons are many and widespread.  The history of relations with Russia has been fraught with mystery and ill assumptions, many on the American side.  David Foglesong, historian at Rutgers University says in his book "The American Mission and the 'Evil Empire"" it started with the America's historic foreign policy goal which has always been to spread "our" way of life to the rest of the world.  Russia has been sort of a mirror image of the US in that they began building their country at about the same time, had a "manifest destiny" to build a continental size nation, and have been a Christian nation with exception of the communist era.  However, throughout their history, they have been non-democratic which has made us look at them as an 'evil twin' much of the time.

There are other reasons as well.  For instance, why do Americans view Europeans as 'like us' and Russians as foreigners?  We see Russia as a strange "foreign" country because of the way we teach history.  Russia is left out of our history books on "western" civilization.  Victor Davis Hanson, one of the more respected thinkers of our time, speaks about the "western way" and by west he said, "roughly speaking we refer to the culture that originated in Greece, spread to Rome, permeated Northern Europe, and was incorporated by the Anglo-Saxon tradition."  Notice that leaves out the eastern Christians of Byzantium, Russia and the Eastern European countries.  This is the standard view of "western civilization" among American intellectuals.

As for the idea of liberal democracy, we view it as coming from Greece and Rome when in fact it dates much further back.  If we think of democracy as a secular Greco-Roman concept, it is easy to assume that Russia simply does not have the ability to be democratic.  Yet democracy started not in Greece or Rome, but  in Exodus.  The idea of free people ruling themselves through representation came from the early Hebrews and the values that sustain it are Judeo-Christian.  The republic idea was picked up again by Rome which covered not only Greece and Southern Europe but North Africa, Romania, and Turkey and thence into Russia, Ukraine, the Balkans, Czech, Slovakia, Poland and the Baltics.  That is the reason they are Christian nations.  But Romanization and Christianity came to Russia from the west which is to say the eastern branch of the Roman Empire after Constantine split it.  So while democracy has been brought to its highest evolution by the western and particularly Anglo-Saxon countries, it is not unique to these.

Today's Russia has had a long history with the Scandanavian and Baltic countries who have had many democratic experiences and customs for centuries.  That history and the successful growth of the nations of western Europe is why Peter the Great drove Russia westward.  It was natural.  The people in Europe were mostly Christian and followed the same Judeo-Christian philosophies as did Russia.  Peter tried to link with people who would be culturally and philosophically close to his people, just as the Russians are trying to do again today.

Then there is the communist era - 75 years of a brutal communist dictatorship that left many in the West with a knee jerk anti-Russia position.  This includes State Department veterans and America's national media.  It will not be easy to change them.

In the 1990s another Russia emerged out of the ashes of communism. It was weak and helpless. Young diplomats and foreign policy wonks were sent to Russia to assist them to be "like us."  Economic experiments of different sorts were carried out, many to Russia's detriment.  These policy people and their counterparts in the mainstream media later joined with hard core anti-Russia people to create what has become an almost universal view among the American people and government that Russia is hopeless.   She can never be "like us" and therefore must be distrusted and subordinated.

Russians are generally dumbfounded by our ill-founded opinions of them.  The fact is that we were never that far apart except during the Soviet period, and, with the recent huge changes in Russia, it is high time we began to update our view of Russia. To do this Americans will have to change their perceptions at all levels. 

There are two things we could start with that would help to correct Americans' view of Russia and improve relations.  Both are easy, no-cost options.  The first is to have Congress repeal the Jackson-Vanek Act.  This act, according to Congress members and policy makers has no real usefulness and its repeal would send a signal to the bureaucracy on both sides that times have changed.  The other is for both countries to remove the visa requirements for travel between the two nations.  This would allow both peoples to travel freely in each other's country.  Once Americans and Russians meet, work, and play together it will become obvious that these are two peoples with similar philosophical and cultural roots who can and should get along easily.

About Charles Heberle

Charles Heberle has had a multi-faceted career starting with army officer in the Vietnam war, to Harvard, back to the Army, to NATO, to the Pentagon where he worked directly with then Secretary of Defense, Colin Powell. The NATO position was an appointed one; at that time Charles held the rank of Colonel. All the while, he was studying America's founding fathers' original writings. Charles created an NGO "You the People," to educate American citizens regarding what is needed from citizens to assure their own democracy. Since 2001, Charles has been living in Petrozavodsk, Russia and has been involved in a fascinating task to create for Russia a "democracy building" curriculum called "Civic Education" based on America's Founding Fathers' concept of democracy in the US between 1662 and 1775. The curriculum is being prepared for implementation in all Russian Federation public schools.

Comments

[r l krattli]

Mr. Heberle's analysis is right-on. I would argue, however, that his "other reasons" may deserve a higher ranking. His reference to the standard American texts on "western civilization", which often paint the east as the bad guys, rings true. A true democracy requires a well-informed electorate. Until we are confident that American students are seeing a balanced view of history, we should not have any pretentions to a superior political system.

[Gordon Hahn]

Nice article, Charles. Would like to visit Petrozavodsk in summer perhaps. Can you help me get a good apartment for a few days or a week?

Best,

Gordon