Forceful Action Is Urged From The West Against Russia

West must take action to stop Russia's slide

Recent weeks have seen events that should alarm American and European leaders about their relationship to Russia. This time, however, alarm and worry aren't enough - what's needed is action.

In the preceding week, Russian authorities chased down ethnic Georgians living in Russia in pogrom-like circumstances, closing businesses and asking schools to register Georgian children, all to punish the Georgian government's refusal to toe Moscow's line.

A Russian deputy foreign ministry recently said, "Russia does not want to be provoked; Russia wants to be respected," adding that Russia's policies in Georgia would not change until Russia felt it got the respect it deserved. Until then, Moscow will continue trying to strangle Georgia - endorsing separatist regions in its territory, banning imports, cutting energy supplies and threatening military strikes.

Moscow can't kill a country, but one of Mr. Putin's closest advisers, Gleb Pavlovsky, once suggested the best way to solve the "Georgia problem" was "the cost of a bullet," a reference (never denied) to assassinating Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Russia claims to seek respect, but its behavior is based not on earning respect but rather on instilling fear.

As for Georgia, a Russian deputy foreign ministry recently said, "Russia does not want to be provoked; Russia wants to be respected," adding that Russia's policies in Georgia would not change until Russia felt it got the respect it deserved. Until then, Moscow will continue trying to strangle Georgia - endorsing separatist regions in its territory, banning imports, cutting energy supplies and threatening military strikes.

Moscow can't kill a country, but one of Mr. Putin's closest advisers, Gleb Pavlovsky, once suggested the best way to solve the "Georgia problem" was "the cost of a bullet," a reference (never denied) to assassinating Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Russia claims to seek respect, but its behavior is based not on earning respect but rather on instilling fear.

The West has been remarkably silent as the Kremlin's stifling of dissent at home and bullying of its neighbors gets uglier. American and European leaders have grown worried, written some and discussed much. But they have done little in terms of support for freedom in Russia or for its beleaguered neighbors. Even Western public statements have been weak and wobbly.

Western leverage over Russia, it is true, is receding as oil revenues grow. Yet this is not an excuse for inaction. What Russia's leaders do at home and abroad must receive a much more forceful and united response.

Concretely, the West must first realize that the 15-year-old policy of appeasing Russia and seeking to integrate it has failed. Appeasement has made Russia not more but less European. The West must coordinate policy priorities on Russia, both across the Atlantic and within the European Union. This will have to include bolder efforts to break Europe's energy dependence on Russia by seeking alternative sources, including from the Caspian Sea region. Finally, it is high time for the West to take up a role in resolving the "frozen" conflicts in Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan. This would deny Russia the privilege of manipulating its neighbors, and contribute to stability and freedom in increasingly strategic areas of the world.

American and European leaders must clearly mark the boundaries of what is acceptable; otherwise, the problem of a reckless and wayward Russia may soon become unmanageable. Let no one say the West did not try.

Svante E. Cornell

The Baltimore Sun