Putin - US Pal?

[Kevin Robert Dean]

When retired General Fyodor I. Ladygin, a former head
of Russian military intelligence, first heard reports
that U.S. military cargo planes had landed in the
former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia,
he figured the Americans had cut a sly deal with the
Uzbeks without consulting the Russians. No way,
Ladygin told BusinessWeek on Sept. 24, would Russian
President Vladimir V. Putin give a green light to
stationing the U.S. military in Russia's own backyard.
Wrong prediction, general: In a speech that very
evening on national television, Putin voiced support
for such deployments to assist the U.S.-led campaign
against international terrorism.

Of all the surprising developments the world has
witnessed since the attack on the World Trade Center,
the sudden rapprochement between Russia and the U.S.
is one of the most startling. Russian President
Putin--former cold warrior, ex-KGB operative,
self-proclaimed restorer of Russian greatness--now
wants an alliance with the old archenemy, an America
that has done little to help Russia economically and
sometimes seems intent on stripping it of the little
international leverage it has left. Putin is eager to
deal with the same White House that has unleashed such
attack dogs as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld,
who has fiercely combatted Moscow's objections to
President George W. Bush's missile-defense plan.

QUID PRO QUO. But the war on terrorism suddenly gives
Putin extra bargaining chips. Now that the Russians
have offered material assistance, the White House is
coming under pressure to pay up. In the long run, that
could cover everything from granting Russia an
expanded role in NATO to U.S. assistance in
accelerating Russia's bid to join the World Trade
Organization. "What has changed is the potential for
the Russian relationship with NATO to grow at a more
rapid clip," says a senior U.S. government official in
Moscow. Although much remains to be worked out, this
partnership could eventually develop into an alliance
that would also ease Russia's opposition to the U.S.
missile-defense shield.

Indeed, with the Kremlin on board, there may be a role
for Russian technology in creating Europe-wide or
American defense-shield systems, U.S. officials say.
And the U.S. is now regarding with more sympathy
Russia's demand for a security structure to replace
the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which America is
bent on exiting. "Putin's announcement of support for
the U.S. campaign marks a deep change in the
Russia-U.S. agenda," says Andrei A. Piontkovsky, an
independent political analyst in Moscow. "Russia may
be able to achieve what it hasn't been able to achieve
for 300 years in aligning its position with the West."

Full Story:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_41/b3752726.htm

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Kevin Dean
Buffalo, NY
ICQ: 8616001
http://www.yaysoft.com

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