The Cold War is back! His books haven’t been very good since the fall of the wall.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich in a speech Wednesday commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, in an apparent escalation of anti-American rhetoric within the Russian government.
Putin did not specifically name the United States or NATO but used phrasing similar to that which he has used previously to criticize American foreign policy while making an analogy to Nazi Germany.
The comments marked the latest in a series of sharply worded Russian criticisms of the foreign policy of the Untied States – on Iraq, missile defense, NATO expansion and, broadly, the accusation that the United States has striven to single-handedly dominate world affairs.
Some political analysts see the new tone as a return to Cold War-style rhetoric by a country emboldened by petroleum wealth. But Russians say the sharper edge is a reflection of frustration that Russia’s views, particularly its opposition to NATO expansion, have been ignored in the West.
Ah, those poor Russians – how could we ignore them? I say besides LeCarré it’s time to revive other aspects of the flotsam and jetsam of the Cold War, like cultural exchanges. I volunteer to go on one, since I have experience, having been on two such writers’ trips during Soviet days. (Are my old minders still alive – or have they died of alcohol poisoning?)
But seriously and sadly, we’ve come a long way since ebullient optimism of Yeltsin standing on that car. I wish it weren’t true , but the dominant trait of the Russian character – paranoia – evidently cannot be repressed.
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9 Comments
1. Sandy P:Only we thought it was over, they never thought it was over, they just went quiet for 20 years until 9/11…….
May 10, 2007 - 7:49 am 2. Sandy P:100 million red staters holding off the world……
May 10, 2007 - 7:49 am 3. jedrury:It is fair to ask if American public opinion, as presented in our media, has ever really understood Russia as a complex country with a deep history of attraction to, and aversion towards, the West. The recent anti-Putin articles and books focus on the Russian mob, the KGB, the Litvinenko killing, the Khordorkovsky prosecution when far more significant events are occurring in Russia. See the Wall Street Journal
May 10, 2007 - 8:35 am 4. Robert Schwartz:A couple of weeks ago we had the rare treat of seeing a brilliant company of famous actors (including Ethan Hawke, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle and Amy Irving) perform Tom Stoppard
May 10, 2007 - 10:53 am 5. Lem:Putin is doing his own version of ‘Wag the dog’.
May 10, 2007 - 10:54 am 6. Bostonian:A Russian comrade of me mentioned the internal passport you have to use in Russia (even now). I expressed astonishment at such a law.
He got very defensive.
At least *one* Russian really really does not understand the idea of law being written by the people for the people.
May 10, 2007 - 12:20 pm 7. Interested Conservative:While we all watch for events to unfold in Esotnia, Belarus, and The Ukraine, I wonder if the Russians are watching events unfold to their east?
Also, it’s fascinating to be “obliquely compared” to Nazi foreign policy by a country that actually shared Nazi foreign policy, until that came to an unfortunate end. I wonder if anyone bothered to point this out, at least editorially.
May 11, 2007 - 11:14 am 8. Macker:Um Roger…Boris Nikolayevich stood on top of a tank…
May 12, 2007 - 7:15 am 9. Fred Z:Since the wall fell I have re-read all of Le Carre’s books.
He was never any good. Dull, dull, dull.
Even worse, he now seems to me to have been on ‘their’ side. His books were pure pessimism, oozing a sense of “Resistance is useless, the socialists will win, because their system is better.”
Now I’ve read a bit of his post communism enviro – nutter – evil – corporations – bad – Jews – poor – little – Arab – boys – tailor – gullible – spies stuff I’m even more convinced his work belongs on the trash heap of history.
May 13, 2007 - 11:15 pm