Russia and the West

A sobering look at attitudes in Russia.

Russia's deep animosity

The Russian people don't like the West and don't want to be like us. This alienation could cause significant problems for us in the future and represents a foreign policy blunder of epic proportions. Yet, it rarely draws any attention in the press or in Congress.

Pfaff focuses his critique on the recent actions that have strained ralations. He could have added many more items so that his list streches back all the way to the early 1990s.

I cannot work up much outrage at Russian attitudes. It is easy to see why they think that "modernization" and "Westernization" are synonyms for corruption and exploitation. After all, under Yeltsin, they saw their country looted under the banner of modernization. When the corpse was picked clean, many of the biggest looters went into comfortable exile in the West.

These David Warsh articles make for interesting reading on that score.

In Which, At Last, We Meet, Perhaps, Andrei Shleifer's Evil Twin

Gangsta-nomics

Our adventures in the Balkans and elsewhere have also increased their distrust.

Balkan echoes