Read and comment on this excerpt from an opinion piece from the Richmond Times-Dispatch that says that the "real reason Putin popped his cork at the Peace Corps is nationalism, mixed with a paranoia of the kind he has demonstrated in closing down contentious television networks and bringing the press to heel." Read the article at:
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
IN RUSSIA, U.S. DEALING WITH SUSPICIOUS MINDS
Aug 15, 2002 - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Author(s): John Hall
In case you missed it, Russia has just sent almost half its U.S. Peace Corps contingent packing.
It is not clear why President Vladimir Putin denied visas to 30 of the 64 Peace Corps volunteers midway through their two-year terms. As usual in these surprises, he gave no reason. But once again, the stability of President Bush's central foreign policy achievement - a new relationship with Moscow - has been called into question.
The Russians were said to have been offended by being treated like residents of some Third World backwater. According to lower- level bureaucratic grumbling in Moscow, young Americans ran around the countryside teaching the proud Russian people how to wash their hands.
The Peace Corps is bewildered. There have been few complaints from the field since the Russian program started in 1992 as a means of helping the Russians make the transition from communism to capitalism.
The Americans haven't been teaching Russians how to wash their hands but helping them perfect their English or giving small enterprises a hand.
The problem has been that not enough programs such as this to transfer Western know-how were attempted. Russia, as a result, remains an imperfect, half-developed democracy.
The real reason Putin popped his cork at the Peace Corps is nationalism, mixed with a paranoia of the kind he has demonstrated in closing down contentious television networks and bringing the press to heel. Under a veneer of harmony and trust with Bush, the former KGB agent seems suspicious of everyone.
Bush said he trusted Putin. But the Russian leader won't even allow a few idealistic young Americans on his soil to coach youth baseball leagues or help hone computer skills.
John Hall is the senior Washington correspondent of Media General News Service. E-mail jhall@media-general.com
Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Special Reports; Speaking Out; Peace Corps - Overseas Programs; COS - Russia
