[Washington Post] Natan Sharansky - As the free world tries to formulate an effective response to Russia's recent incursion into Georgia, policymakers might want to consider how we got to this point. The situation in Georgia is the culmination of a failed post-Cold War policy toward Russia. Central to this failure has been ignoring the inherent connection between internal freedom and external aggression. As democracy was rolled back within Russia, the world abandoned an approach that had been so effective during the later stages of the Cold War, when relations with the Kremlin were linked to the expansion of freedom inside the Soviet Union. If the root of the problem is to be addressed, the focus must return to the matter of democracy within Russia itself. The threat to Georgia, Russia's other democratic neighbors and America ultimately arises from a lack of democracy within Russia. Changing that should be the focus of statecraft today - if we want to ensure that the Kremlin poses no threat to peace tomorrow.
2008-09-15 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive