[Marxism] Gorbachev defends Putin's methods

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Resentment against Washington's unilateral approach,
asserting its right to dictate to the world what is to
be done about everything, is behind the support which
Putin has domestically, and which Gorbachev is further
providing for him. We see here the role of the national 
question, still unresolved internationally, as playing
a vital role in opposition to U.S. world domination.

So even with Russia, there's a national question, both
for Russia as a country, and in its own defense against
efforts by the West to take Russia over.

The fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe who are
now capitalist, and the extreme openness of both China
and Vietnam to extensive private foreign investment,
has given capitalism a certain expanded breathing space
in the world. No, I don't think this is a good thing, 
but I do think that it's actually happened. How long
this will last is anyone's guess. Capitalism in the
U.S. isn't doing well, but is it completely finished?

Foreign investment in and of itself isn't a bad thing
anyway, it's what's done with it and how much control
of the country is ceded to the foreign investors, that
is something which must be understood. Accepting foreign
investment is a trade-off. You get stuff and you realize
that you pay a price for what you get. It's going to be
awhile before most of the world is completely convinced
that capitalism must be replaced by socialism. Under the
domination of Stalinism, the USSR built itself up enough 
that it could resist Germany's attacks. 

The nationalistic characteristics of the USSR's resistance to 
Nazi Germany also played a important role. The Soviet Union 
couldn't survive the influence of  the higher technology 
of the west - essentially, computers, cybernetics and so on. 

If you have not heard Cannon's talk on the TRIPLE REVOLUTION,
he gives a sense of that influence there. Lacking a transcript,
it's possible to listen to the talk online here:
http://marxists.architexturez.net/history/etol/audio/index.htm#cannon


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California

===========================================================

LOS ANGELES TIMES
Gorbachev defends Putin's methods
Last Soviet leader says Russia's president, authoritarian at times, 
is trying to save the country for a democratic future.
By David Holley
Times Staff Writer

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gorbachev29jul29,1,2713763.story?ctrack=2&cset=true


July 29, 2007

MOSCOW â Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, whose reforms
played a major role in freeing the Soviet Union from totalitarianism,
defended authoritarian moves by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin
as necessary "to prevent the disintegration of the country."

Putin has chosen "to use certain methods â that were even
authoritarian to some extent," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in
a recent interview. "But even though he used those methods sometimes,
he continued to have the same goals â the goals of moving toward
democracy, toward market economics."

Gorbachev attributed tensions between Washington and Moscow to the
"victory complex" of some U.S. leaders, and said the two governments
should tone down harsh rhetoric and work together to solve global
problems.

Asked what advice he would have for Putin and President Bush,
Gorbachev replied:

"First of all, to preserve the climate of trust that emerged during
the years of perestroika, when we were able to work together with the
United States to discuss the issues and ultimately to end the Cold
War. I believe that this trust is now in jeopardy."

Perestroika, as Gorbachev's reform policies of the late 1980s are
known, played a major role in the collapse of the Soviet Union and
laid the groundwork for U.S.-Russian friendship in the 1990s.

But in the last few years, tensions have grown again. Besides the
perceived rollback of democracy in Russia, U.S. dissatisfaction has
been fueled by Moscow's alleged use of oil and gas export contracts
to make political demands on its neighbors, differences over how to
deal with Iran's nuclear program, a dispute over the future of Kosovo
and other issues.

Russians have been angered by U.S. plans to install an antimissile
system in Eastern Europe. Washington says it is needed to defend
Europe and North America, citing the possibility of missile attacks
by Iran.

Moscow has expressed fear that the move would be a step toward a
global missile-defense system aimed at devaluing Russia's and China's
nuclear deterrents, and that the system could be modified for
offensive missiles that would be close to Russia's border.

Tensions have been further stoked by the radiation poisoning in
London last year of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned
fierce Kremlin critic. In a written statement prepared shortly before
his death, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, a charge
the Kremlin has dismissed as "nonsense."

The widespread perception in the United States is that the
deterioration of U.S.-Russian ties has been caused by the Kremlin's
actions. But Gorbachev said much of the blame should go to a "victory
complex," which he described as a view expressed by some top U.S.
officials that pressure exerted by former President Reagan brought
about defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War. He included Vice
President Dick Cheney among this group.

"I believe that this victory complex is very dangerous," Gorbachev
said. "The United States has really not achieved anything alone. I
believe that only when the United States worked with others was it
able to achieve anything. Where they acted alone, the result was a
real mess."

Gorbachev said he was encouraged, however, by the atmosphere of this
month's informal Bush-Putin summit in Kennebunkport, Maine.

"The more difficult the situation is, the more dialogue there should
be, so I am pleased that it seems to be beginning to change," he
said. "It seems now that perhaps with the moderating help of
President Bush the father, the senior President Bush, something is
beginning to happen and something useful is resulting."

Gorbachev expressed hope that the recent summit would lead to a
compromise on the antimissile system, ease Russia's concerns and
bring international cooperation on such matters.

Another problem aggravating U.S.-Russian relations, Gorbachev said,
is that Western journalists, analysts and politicians often fail to
acknowledge the depth of Russia's problems in the 1990s, under
then-President Boris N. Yeltsin, and the practical justifications for
some of the non-democratic methods used by Putin to reestablish the
authority of the Russian state after he became president on the last
day of 1999.

In the late 1990s, "the country was really in dire straits,"
Gorbachev said.

"People were living in poverty and there was chaos in the countryâ.
So in this situation Putin was faced with the question of what kind
of methods to use in order to prevent the disintegration of the
country."

Gorbachev did not spell out what sort of authoritarian steps he
believed Putin had taken. But Putin has been criticized by democracy
advocates for establishing state control over all nationwide
television networks, ending the direct election of governors and
establishing a pliable parliament with election rules that make it
difficult for opposition forces to win seats.

Although Gorbachev typically defends Putin in public comments, at the
same time he is the key political backer and an important financial
supporter of the country's most fiercely independent newspaper,
Novaya Gazeta, which frequently carries reporting and commentary
sharply critical of Putin. Copies of the newspaper are prominently
displayed in the lobby of the Gorbachev Foundation, which studies
social, economic and political issues.

Gorbachev portrays his backing of Novaya Gazeta as support for
democracy, not an anti-Kremlin line. At the same time, his support
for Putin is not so one-dimensional as seen in much pro-Kremlin
media.

His argument is that what Putin is doing, with all its flaws, should
be seen in its historical context.

"I believe that reemphasizing the role of the state, consolidating
the state, which is what Putin did, is justified," Gorbachev said.

"When the country was really lying on its back, when the country was
in really bad shape, during the Yeltsin years, when half the
population of the country, and even more, were living in poverty, the
West was applauding Yeltsin," he added.

With living conditions dramatically improved today, he continued, 
"I don't know why the [foreign] media is so negative about Russia. 
Are you, the reporters, talking to only one group of people whose
thoughts all go in the same direction? Well, I would suggest that 
you talk to a larger group of people, to all kinds of people."

Polls show that Putin's popularity rating is consistently more than
70%.

"I support Putin, and I do that deliberately and thoughtfully,
because even though of course many mistakes were made, still Putin â
is transforming Russian politics in a way that will benefit the
majority of the people and ensure stability in the country,"
Gorbachev said.

"Certainly, he has not been 100% successful. Certainly, there is
still a lot of corruption and stealing in the country. But, I mean,
what do you want? Do you want Putin to be swept away?"

Gorbachev said he believed Putin would keep his pledge to step down
next year at the end of his second term, as required by the
constitution, and that this will be an important contribution to the
development of Russian democracy. He endorsed, however, the widely
accepted idea that Putin will carve out an influential
post-presidential role that would help ensure the stability of the
country's current policies.

"Of course, there is absolutely no need to repeat the mistakes that
were made by Putin, by the government, by others," he said. But "the
positive decisions far outweigh whatever mistakes were made."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
david.holley@xxxxxxxxxxx


================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
================================

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism