Charlie Rose Science Series
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02/29/2008
Henry Kissinger, David Remnick, Thomas Pickering
A discussion about Russia
A discussion about Russia with Henry Kissinger, Thomas Pickering & David Remnick. Dmitry Medvedev was officially elected as the President of Russia in elections over the weekend. Medvedev, who was backed by Vladimir Putin to succeed him as president, won about 70 per cent of Sunday's vote according to official results.
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Very disappointing "discussion" (well... as almost any "discussions" on western media about Russia): e.g., Remnick is talking BS and there is NOBODY to respond.... sad and boring... american-style "freedom" of speech.
Why there are NOBODY in this "discussion" who'd have an a neutral or pro-Russian point of view??? Invite Peter Lavelle (who could stand for russian side)! Where is Stephen Cohen (neutral)? Let, at least, Anatol Liven speak... is this discussion do a service to Americans by hiding ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW???
Good point by Alice, below.
Henry looks as if explosive flatulence is impending. From both ends simultaneously. The ill-wind theory will be totally discredited.
Finally, the first competent discussion on contemporary Russia. Thank you for that, but, please, find a way to fast-forward Henry Kissinger. If I may, a few points â?¦ quick â?¦ from a Russian expat. Re wealth: Yes, Putin was lucky with petrodollars, but so are Nigeria and Venezuela â?? failed states, which is what Russia was by the end of the Yeltsin era. Out of chaos and despair, a country the size of an ocean, one sixth of all dry land emerged as a functioning â??normalâ?? state within a matter of just a few years. Nothing to sneeze at. Re the luxury of belief: Consumerism combined with centuries of disillusionment has driven a dagger into whatever was left of the romantic ideals in a Russian soul. And it has been a long and a tragic romance: millions dead for â??paradise on Earthâ??, millions humiliated and driven into misery for â??democracyâ?? of the 1990s. They are just tired, fed up. And in no mood for lectures especially from the Americans. And here comes the irony! The same people (see Dick Cheney, Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, half of the fellows of the American Enterprise Institute etc.) who whispered into our ears lovely things on democracy via Voice of America (and, god, did we fall for it!) have done the following to name a few: abandoned all 800 years of habeas corpus, eavesdropped on their own citizens, committed war crimes, went to wars on fake pretenses. â??If you are not with us â?? you are against us!â?? all of it is oh so nauseatingly familiar to a fainthearted Russian. And that extravaganza of a check made out to Halliburton, vice presidentâ??s company, which profiteered in the war â?¦ Vice president being the defacto leader and not his ignorant boss â?¦ donâ??t you see a Russian grandeur to all this? I do! And I did not need a prism of the Russian media, the uncritical American one was plenty! But we shall keep things in perspective: Guantanamo is not a Gulag, we may not (or ..) be all bugged, it is just that it all prevents American heads from shaking and fingers from wagging. And IT IS A PITY! It was good to dream that sanity was possible and that there was a good guy on the block. Btw, what happened to Zbigniew?
I find it amazing that we would spend nearly an hour talking about the icy relationship we have with Russia without talking about the why. We demonize Russia (and China) because they haven't joined us in our anti-Iran obsession. Even Pickering danced around the subject without spelling it out.