Of Summits and Students
Boston Globe
July 7, 2006
By EDWARD D. LOZANSKY

Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin will meet in Russia this month, first for face-to-face sessions and then at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg. Lately, a debate has erupted over how US-Russian relations, so promising a few years ago, have reached a state of mutual wariness and mistrust.

With the upcoming summit and changing relations as backdrop, I solicited opinions from college students at the most prestigious Russian universities affiliated with the American University in Moscow. In the past, summits -- and students -- have helped to define the relationship between Bush and Putin. In November 2001, toward the end of a three-day summit at Bush's Texas ranch, the two leaders visited nearby Crawford High School. As Bush put it, they stopped by so the students "can know Russia as a friend, that we're working together to break the old ties, to establish a new spirit of cooperation and trust." The following May, Bush and Putin met at St. Petersburg University, where the Russian leader said he believed sessions with students "will become a fine tradition" because students "feel the rhythm of civilization as it's changing."

So it seems an appropriate time to check whether students think that rhythm is, in fact, changing and, if so, how. The students I spoke to belong to the most pro-Western section of Russian society. Their views are from some of Russia's most dedicated friends of America, and there is much we can learn from them. Here are their principal suggestions and judgments:

• Seek cooperation on multiple fronts. Considering the enormous challenges ahead, the United States and Russia should join forces as they did during World War II and recently, on a smaller scale, in Afghanistan. In addition to security cooperation, they should expand their mutually beneficial business, science, space, educational, and cultural cooperation. They should go beyond the official G8 agenda and discuss concrete proposals in these areas during their bilateral talks in St. Petersburg.
   
• American promotion of democracy is dangerous and self-serving. Bush should reconsider his endless push toward democracy throughout the world or, at least, in Russia. This policy is counterproductive and even dangerous as Russians believe it is used as a cover for asserting American economic and security interests.
   
• Stop undermining Putin with Russia's neighbors. An American effort to undercut Putin -- who enjoys overwhelming approval at home that surpasses all of his G8 partners -- is counterproductive. Putin is probably the most pro-Western leader in Russian history, but he has been alienated by US support of revolutions in Russia's backyard, by NATO expansion, and by harsh criticism of Russian domestic affairs.
   
• Democracy is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Russia belongs among the Western nations and has firmly chosen its future as a country of freedom and democracy. But it wants to develop according to its own historical and cultural traditions and does not appreciate American moralizing. America and Russia are destined to be strategic allies, but relations between the two states should be based on pragmatic, shared interests without interference in each other's internal affairs.
   
• Don't ignore the massive advances that Russia has made already. American hypocrisy is out of bounds in lauding the former regime of Boris Yeltsin with its devastated economy; a criminal oligarchic regime that controlled the Kremlin and media; huge capital flight; and near-collapse of order. It appears some people in Washington are missing the "good old days" by talking about Russia's current "backsliding on" democracy when it's finally rising from its knees, experiencing a booming economy, a growing middle class, and the return of its citizens' self-respect. The West should acknowledge that Russians, in the 15 years since the collapse of communism, have achieved breathtaking progress on the way to freedom.

Notwithstanding criticism of certain aspects of White House policies, Russians generally extend their hand to Bush and welcome him. They believe his presidency can leave an important legacy if he helps to achieve a US-Russia rapprochement and move Russia closer to the West during his remaining time in office. They also hope he will focus on two Russian proverbs. One reads, "V chuzhoi monastyr so svoim ustavom ne khodyat," or, loosely translated, "Do not impose your values on other people's monastery." The other states, "Nelzya obyat neobyatnoye," or "One cannot embrace infinity."

Perhaps feeling "the rhythm of civilization as it's changing," as Putin put it, these students stress that the United States, instead of spreading itself too thin in pushing its values all over the world, should concentrate first on its real enemies. And Russia, certainly, is not on that list.

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