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Thomas Graham — The problem isn’t Putin, it’s Russia

Summary:
As relations worsen, US must realize Russia will not soon, if ever, become a liberal democracy.… Carried away by ahistorical reasoning, the U.S. believed its victory in the Cold War meant that Russia, like all other countries, had little choice but to adopt the liberal democratic free-market order that had brought prosperity and peace to the West.... The real problem is viewing this as problem. Probably no non-Western state will become a liberal democracy because it is not in accord with the culture and temperament of the people. This is not a problem; it is a fact of history. Wanting it to be otherwise results in wishful thinking and, worse, magical thinking.The problem is assuming that Western liberalism, and worse, Anglo-American liberalism, are based on eternal truth. This is the

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As relations worsen, US must realize Russia will not soon, if ever, become a liberal democracy.…
Carried away by ahistorical reasoning, the U.S. believed its victory in the Cold War meant that Russia, like all other countries, had little choice but to adopt the liberal democratic free-market order that had brought prosperity and peace to the West....
The real problem is viewing this as problem. Probably no non-Western state will become a liberal democracy because it is not in accord with the culture and temperament of the people. This is not a problem; it is a fact of history. Wanting it to be otherwise results in wishful thinking and, worse, magical thinking.

The problem is assuming that Western liberalism, and worse, Anglo-American liberalism, are based on eternal truth. This is the kind of dogmatism that liberalism was born in opposition to, and it is the basis of justifying tyranny, for example, as the divine right of kings.


The obvious solution to the pseudo problem is multilateralism and multiculturalism, which is actually more faithful to the principles of liberalism than dogmatic liberalism, which is an oxymoron.

Note that the problem with Graham's policy analysis is that while encouraging pragmatism, it ignores Russia's bottom line and is therefore unrealistic from the outset and will not work. Graham is therefore guilty of what he argues against. 


Politico
The problem isn’t Putin, it’s Russia
Thomas Graham, managing director at Kissinger Associates, was the senior director for Russia on the U.S. National Security Council staff from 2004-2007
Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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