A Conservative Look into Putin's Soul
The Hill

November 28, 2001

One would have thought, given the media coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit, that the man has decided to abandon his homeland, settle in Texas near his new best friend from Crawford and get a job teaching school.

We’ve been enamored of Russian and Soviet leaders in the past. They’ve toured Iowa farms, hung out with presidents, and allowed us all to indulge our dream of a world in which the differences between our nations pale to insignificance. That’s never happened, of course, but the hope is that this time will be different.

And, there is evidence to suggest that this time may, in fact, be different. The world has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the bankruptcy of communism and the emergence of new threats to world peace and stability. A friend of mine, stuck in Moscow on Sept. 11 reports that he cannot begin to describe the outpouring of sympathy he witnessed as thousands of Russians lined up outside our Embassy carrying candles and praying for the souls of those who perished in New York and Washington. In the days that followed Putin made it clear that he was prepared to both side with and help the United States in the war against terrorism and, as a result, U.S. planes today are taking off on bombing missions from airfields clearly within Russia’s sphere of influence.

Moreover, Putin has relaxed, though not dropped, his hostility to the idea of U.S. abrogation of the old antiballistic missile (ABM) treaty, thumbed his nose at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) desire to get a firmer grip on our pocketbooks and closed down an old, but very viable, listening post in Cuba.

How should conservatives and Americans in general react to this fellow? The answer depends on a reading of Putin’s motives. Vladimir Putin is, after all, a man with a past. He made his bones with the old KGB and rose to power in the new Russia largely because many Russians believed he could deliver on his promise to crush the Chechen rebellion with dispatch. He will not be honored as Amnesty International’s man of the year and, if one is looking for the man who will convert Russia into some sort of Jeffersonian democracy, he ain’t him.

However, he’s obviously smart and seems hell-bent on getting his country out of the mess in which she finds herself. He knows and accepts a reality that many Russians just can’t accept. The old days are gone and aren’t coming back. The disintegration of the old Soviet Union happened and he knows it’s time to move on or risk economic and political isolation that could take decades to overcome.

There can be little doubt that Putin is both acting as a Russian nationalist and has a grasp of what is and is not possible in today’s world. Seen in this light, Putin is acting out of self-interest rather than friendship, and history has shown this a more reliable base for long-term relations. If it turns out that he’s a good guy to boot, so much the better.

President Bush seems to think Putin is, in fact, a pretty good guy and Texans like Bush aren’t bad at sizing up such things. If it was Texas savvy and an understanding that our interests and his are converging that led Bush to say, when they first met, he looked into his eyes and decided he could trust him, that is even better.

Putin comes to us knowing that Russia cannot compete with the West economically or politically on her own and that a stubbornness borne of Russian pride will result only in strategic isolation between a dominant West and an emerging East.

Western Europe has reasons to continue fearing a healthy Russia and isn’t about to let her and her products in the back door of the economic and political protectionist fortress she is constructing on the European mainland.

This leaves Putin little choice. The old Soviet ties with radical elements within the Muslim world have proven disastrous. The Russians are, in fact, scared to death of the Muslim minorities on their periphery and suspect that our war against Osama bin Laden and his buddies deserves support.

As a result, we have a new Putin and, perhaps, a truly new Russia.

Overtures based on such reasoning should be welcomed by President Bush and applauded by conservatives. After all, we always maintained that our enemy was not Russia and her people, but the ideology that skewed the perceptions of her communist leaders. That ideology is dead. The Soviet Union is no longer and the new Russia has every reason to seek out our friendship.

President Bush said during his campaign that he wanted to model his presidency on Ronald Reagan who said of the Soviets: “Trust, but verify.”

Good advice then; good advice now.

Mr. Keene is the chairman of the American Conservative Union.