4 thoughts on “Taking the Right Lessons From the Dismantling of the Russian Illegals Network in Brazil”
pre-Boomer Marine brat
Thank you very much for including the link to the column “Can Russia Ever Be Democratic?” Somehow, I’d missed that one.
However — apart from Europe, just considering the Beltway which controlled NATO — might the question be asked, “Would Russia ever have been allowed (by the West) to become democratic?”
What would, perhaps, Dr. John Mearsheimer have to say about it?
We did not give the best account of ourselves in all things with Russia in the 1990s, but I don’t think the West is seriously at fault – neither in intent nor in fact – for Russia’s relapse into autocracy. A lot of it, as I say in the piece, comes down to what you make of Yeltsin. The U.S., in particular, really placed all the chips on him. If you think Yeltsin was not serious about democratisation, then that looks like a very bad bet. In my humble submission, he was serious.
I’m not any sort of expert on the topic, but I agree that Yeltsin was serious. The reconstructive path he took was the only one available. The state had to be run by those already seated at the desks, and regarding the sell-offs, the Oligarchs were, in a very real sense, inevitable.
Kyle Orton's Blog 
Thank you very much for including the link to the column “Can Russia Ever Be Democratic?” Somehow, I’d missed that one.
However — apart from Europe, just considering the Beltway which controlled NATO — might the question be asked, “Would Russia ever have been allowed (by the West) to become democratic?”
What would, perhaps, Dr. John Mearsheimer have to say about it?
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We did not give the best account of ourselves in all things with Russia in the 1990s, but I don’t think the West is seriously at fault – neither in intent nor in fact – for Russia’s relapse into autocracy. A lot of it, as I say in the piece, comes down to what you make of Yeltsin. The U.S., in particular, really placed all the chips on him. If you think Yeltsin was not serious about democratisation, then that looks like a very bad bet. In my humble submission, he was serious.
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I’m not any sort of expert on the topic, but I agree that Yeltsin was serious. The reconstructive path he took was the only one available. The state had to be run by those already seated at the desks, and regarding the sell-offs, the Oligarchs were, in a very real sense, inevitable.
Regarding Putin, consider this op-ed: A Kremlin conversation, Mort Zuckerman (2003) https://www.jewishworldreview.com/mort/zuckerman071503.asp
Zuckerman is the owner/Editor of US News & World Report, the most right-ward of America’s weekly news magazines.
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There is also this op-ed: How to Think About Vladimir Putin, Christopher Caldwell (2017) https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/how-to-think-about-vladimir-putin/
Hillsdale College is renowned as solidly conservative, in the ‘not-merely-patriotic’ sense.
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