In response to "Foreigners Wonder Who Will Be Next"
Read and comment on these two letters to the Editor of the Moscow Times on the expulsion of the Peace Corps from Russia. The first letter from a Russian says that the United States is wasting the lion's share of the world's energy resources, defending the death penalty and anti-personnel mines, and arbitrarily acting as the world's sheriff, applying precision bombs or Peace Corps activists -- whatever comes in handy. The second letter from an American says he hopes the Russian people have the sense to realize what the FSB has done and is doing Russia and Russians a tremendous disservice by such actions. Read the letters at:
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In response to "Foreigners Wonder Who Will Be Next," an article by Natalia Yefimova on Jan. 13.
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Editor,
Your article on the recent measures by government agencies regarding a number of foreigners, most of whom work for nongovernmental organizations, requires correction.
I can perfectly understand some of the irritation and disgust on the part of local authorities after more than 10 years of experience with foreign NGOs. The litany of political correctness, the so-called global -- but in essence Anglo-Saxon -- views and values that are being spread by quite a few of the politically active foreign citizens in Russia can indeed be nerve-wracking:
The heroic Chechen freedom fighter vs. the Russian soldier and rapist; the enlightened Catholic missionary vs. the backward Orthodox priest; the Greenpeace volunteer vs. the ruthless new Russian capitalist -- I exaggerate but it can be tiring at times.
In particular when you consider that a majority of the concerned activists share a U.S. background: The one society that is wasting the lion's share of the world's energy resources, defending the death penalty and anti-personnel mines, and arbitrarily acting as the world's sheriff, applying precision bombs or Peace Corps activists -- whatever comes in handy.
The political elite of Western Europe has long succumbed to this new world ideology. That does not mean that Russia has to follow suit. As a West European I am pleased that there is a society committed to withstand and to mount resistance with the required critical mass. Ex oriente lux.
Thomas Fasbender
Moscow
Editor,
Regarding the recent expulsion of Irene Stevenson, the AFL-CIO representative in Moscow, and U.S. Peace Corps representatives working in the Russian Federation, I hope the Russian people have the sense to realize that the FSB has done and is doing Russia and Russians a tremendous disservice by such actions.
By his generally pragmatic approach to the West, President Vladimir Putin had made tremendous progress in building confidence, trust and mutual understanding with existing and potential economic partners who have the money, expertise and the desire to help rebuild the Russian economy and set Russia on the path to unprecedented prosperity.
I am aware of some 100-plus Western companies that have been actively studying trends in Russia over the past two years and were very close to a decision to jump into the Russian market. I know that the vast majority of these companies having since learned of these recent expulsions on top of the myriad of other inadvisable and anachronistic FSB actions -- undermining media freedoms, jailing innocent public policy researchers, etc. -- have decided to take a giant step backwards and place all plans of expansion into Russia on indefinite hold.
Clearly, the FSB's heavy-handed, patently absurd actions have caused significant and lasting damage to Russia's international reputation and to the Russian people's future economic well-being. It is time for the national leadership and the State Duma to step up to block the FSB's excesses and give real political power back to the only player that truly matters in a democratic society -- the people.
William Smith
Honolulu, Hawaii Background on the Peace Corps in Russia
Read more background on the Peace Corps in Russia at:
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