May 11, 2007
Behind Putin’s anti-U.S. tirade
At a Moscow celebration to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin just couldn’t resist working in a little jab against the United States:
Speaking from a podium in front of Lenin's Mausoleum, Mr. Putin hailed Victory Day as "the holiday of huge moral importance and unifying power”….He….appeared to take a swipe at the US, saying the world now sees threats to peace "based on the same disrespect for human life, claims to global exclusiveness and diktat, just as it was in the Third Reich". –Sydney Morning Herald
Everyone recognized that Putin’s remarks were a thinly veiled reference to the United States. In recent years, Putin has fretted endlessly about U.S. hegemony. Just days ago, he protested U.S. plans to place a missile defense system in Europe. Now he has compared the United States to Nazi Germany.
Is this the President of Russia talking? The leader of the same country that, in its former incarnation as the Soviet Union, blatantly declared its intention to place the world under the yoke of Communism? And what about the massacre of some 8,000 unarmed Polish servicemen at Katyn? What about the murder of thousands of Hungarian freedom fighters in 1956? And Moscow’s bloody suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968? I could go on, and on, and on.
And if a more direct comparison to Nazi Germany is desired, I could note that the Russian government---unlike the government of the United States---has actively persecuted Jews and other religious minorities. Anti-Semitic violence in Russia dates back to Czar Alexander III. The Soviet government was notoriously anti-Semitic.
While Putin knew that his speech would be reported abroad, this bit of bluster was intended for domestic consumption. Russians don’t have a lot to cheer about these days. The economy has improved somewhat because of high oil prices; but Russia is still a fairly miserable place in which to live. The Russian mafia still dominates large portions of economic activity. And Putin---a former Soviet KGB officer----has clamped down on freedom at every opportunity.
Consider the fact that Russia’s population growth rate is now a negative .484%. Yes, you read that right. Russia is losing its population a little at time. If present trends continue, there will be a lot fewer Russians in 2050 than there are now.
Not only are Russians choosing not to reproduce, but they are voting with their feet. Many are taking any opportunity to leave Russia for the West. You have probably heard about “mail order Russian bride” sites on the Internet. Common sense would say that most women don’t dream of marrying a strange man who lives in a foreign country. Russian women don’t choose this option because it is exciting or romantic. They do it because so many of them are desperate to leave Putin’s Russia.
But fixing Russia’s problems would require real work---and Putin doesn’t seem to have a clue where to begin. He has therefore decided to appeal to Cold War-era nationalism by making this absurd comparison between Nazi Germany and the United States.