How Honest Is Illarionov?
Andrei Illarionov
Colorado Springs-- Last week Andrei Illarionov, a former advisor to President Putin, addressed the 29th Annual Heritage Foundation Resource Bank. Illarianov's speech was warmly welcomed and made a deep impression on the audience. At the end of the evening, some people had tears in their eyes and Illarianov received the standing ovation. Sitting in the audience, I looked around in complete disbelief at what I was witnessing. Is Illarianov's speaking fee really enough for him to believe the things he said? And are Americans really naïve and ignorant enough about Russia to buy what he is selling?
Mr. Illarionov read his speech from his notes the entire time, glancing at the crowd only a few seconds of the time. For the first fifteen minutes of his talk, the former presidential economic advisor spoke of free markets, democracies, dictatorships and other general topics, to impress the audience with his "knowledge". This part was hardly controversial; everyone in the audience agrees that people live better in free-market democracies rather than under Communist autocracies. Having stoked expectations and built up the audience, Illarianov then preceded to make his most outrageous claims.
According to Mr. Illarionov, some Jewish people are persecuted in Russia. Private businesses aren't allowed to exist, and the Kremlin, which first came for the Jews, then for non-governmental organizations and independent media outlets, finally came knocking on his door last year. Illarianov described the recent NGO bill as a disaster and a crackdown on democracy. He said that the actions of the Russian Army in Chechnya (which in his speech made sound like a separate country) were a long list of atrocities. President Putin has allegedly made alliances with Hamas and other terrorists, and now the list of the world's most repressed countries according to Illarionov reads "Iran, Syria, Somalia...now Russia".
I will briefly address each of these issues, which make me think that I know nothing about the country where I grew up, where my parents live; where my friends have private businesses and work for the media, and our family's closest Jewish friend is a successful physician, still practicing medicine at the age of 75.
First of all, the Russian government does not persecute anyone today like the Soviets did. There is a lot of organized crime due to corruption and economic chaos, and chaos is exactly what Russia has had since the days of Yeltsin's Western-supported "reformers". Russia has never been a truly democratic country, unless gangland violence and multi-billion dollar theft is what Americans think of as a free markets and democracy. It is very hard to lose a democracy if you have never had one. It is true that there is a lot of ethnic and racially motivated violence, and the Kremlin is doing its best to prevent it. As for attacks by young thugs on blacks and other foreigners, Russia Blog has reported several of these incidents. You can read more about them in the Crime section of this site.
No one knocks on anybody's doors in the middle of the night. Jewish Russians and ethnic Caucasians are prominent and successful in all levels of business and government. The private "businessman" Mikhail Khodorkovsky went to jail because he didn't pay his taxes and tried to sell 40% of Russia's oil reserves to American corporations. It was purely a business decision on the Kremlin's part, and had very little to do with Khordokovsky funding anti-Putin opposition. Now the former richest man in Russia resides in solitary confinement in Siberia, 12 miles from the Chinese border. Read more about his life here.
Russia Blog has commented on the NGO bill before. Please read our article on that bill and the reasons why it was passed here. Briefly, there are an estimated 450,000 NGOs in Russia, and only a few thousand of these organizations conduct honest and transparent non-profit activities. The rest of them launder money, serve as fronts for espionage, or directly sponsor election campaigns. In comparison, U.S. campaign finance laws don't allow donations by foreigners to political candidates or parties, so why should Russia be so different? Also, the part of the bill where Russian NGOs must report to the government was removed by the Duma, however, almost everyone who is now attacking the legislation fails to mention this.
Russia Blog has reported frequently about the terrorist attacks in Chechnya and around Russia - see the Terrorism section of this site. Chechnya is one of 89 Russian states and republics, and it has been a part of Russia longer than many U.S. states have been part of the USA. Unfortunately the civil war in Chechnya has attracted many foreign terrorists from the Middle East, including avowed members of Al-Qaeda. However, Russian security forces have succeeded in restoring some calm to this region, and in recent elections the Chechens voted for a new parliament and a new constitution. The region is now much more stable than it was during Yeltsin's term.
Russia Blog has also written about the recent Hamas visit to Moscow. Somehow Mr. Illarionov forgot to mention that Putin never met with the Hamas leaders, and his Foreign Minister Ivanov told Hamas to "get serious and start talking to Israel, because if they don't they will never be recognized". Calling Putin and Hamas friends is nothing but nonsense, anymore than meetings between the U.S. and representatives of Iran's government would mean that Bush and Ahmadinejad are now friends. Russian military training with China is nothing but a humiliating offer Russia cannot refuse.
At the very end, Illarionov called for the audience to stand up and fight for freedom. He actually promised "to fight for freedom till the last drop of [his] blood!" Well, this sacrifice seems unnecessary, because there's no one to fight to the death against, and there's no one who wants to draw his blood in the first place.
Many of Illarianov's listeners got the idea of putting sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin's human rights violations don't stop. When I listened to that interpretation of the speech and thought about the picture that uninformed Americans received of Hamas and Putin uniting in an axis of evil against America and democracy, I wanted to cry myself. How unfair is it to brazenly lie like that to the directors of American think tanks, and wreck U.S.-Russian cooperation in energy, diplomacy, and the fight against international terrorism?
Hostile attitudes and sanctions won't help Russia or America. If Americans are really concerned about the state of democracy and the free market economy in Russia, they should watch the beautiful example set by IKEA, which today runs four stores in Moscow. IKEA doesn't give or take bribes, and it doesn't call for sanctions or for a bloody fight against the Kremlin. It chases profits and by doing so proves that Russia is a modern country, which needs more IKEAs and less Illarionovs.
If the U.S. can pursue commercial engagement with China, why can't it do so with a far more free (but chaotic) society in Russia, where websites are not blocked and where people are not jailed for their political or religious beliefs?
Yuri - I take it that there wasn't much in terms of a challenge to what Illarionov said.
Judging from the description of the audience, I can see an intimidation factor if someone were to challenge him in a Q & A segment.
Here're two articles from sources who share your (as well as my own) view of Illarionov.
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-80-13.cfm
http://www.exile.ru/2005-January-27/putting_the_ill_in_illarionov_.html
One only wonders for how long you will continue to delude yourself. Don't you see that you are only trying to hide from your own conscience the truth on where Russia is going again?
Best, Mark.
Three great articles on a circumspect individual.
Yuri Mamchur does it again.
I read those articles Mike.
We seem to know which views get emphasized.
However, Russian security forces have succeeded in restoring some calm to this region...Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.commercial engagement with China, why can’t it do so with a far more free (but chaotic) society in Russia... A friend who does investigations in both countries said: "In China, you'll be safe, but no one will talk to you. In Russia, people will talk to you all right, but you'll have an 'accident' on the way back to the airport."
A number of your comments are well taken, but I would like to follow up on several of your allegations in the linked article on NGOs in Russia.
When you say that many non-profits in Russia "have hired intelligence officials of foreign countries", and that you personally know examples, could you list some of those? I imagine it may be problematic to reveal intelligence operations, but having some specific examples would greatly strengthen the argument. Along the same lines, when you say there was increased activity of this kind in recent months, what were the indices that this activity was increasing?
I congratulate your father on running one of the oldest charities in Russia. When he says that only about 1,000 non-profits are doing what they're supposed to be doing, which, as you point out, is only .2% of the total, that's an extraordinary indictment. What in his personal experiences led him to come up with this estimate and how would he break down the activities of the other 449,000 non-profits? BTW, what is your father's name and what is the charity he runs?
I appreciate your insights and suggestions for democracy promotion in Russia.
Thanks for the post Yuri. It is good to know that things are not as bad over there as some would have us think. Still, it would be nice if Putin would stop giving Iran support in nuclear energy generation. Don't think Americans will be able to trust the Russian Fed. until it stops giving support and arms to our enemies. That or actually provide some public support of our fight with the islamists.
I think American companies trust Chinese in business ventures more than Russians because there is less corruption and the Chinese gov't plays fairer in business transactions. This doesn't mean that American citizens trust the Chinese more or even like them. In fact, most Americans probably figure China will be our greatest threat in the future, and that a war with them over Taiwan may be inevitable. However, they make such cheap goods, you just can't say no to them, not right now anyway.
To reply to Mr. Averko, the reason no one spoke up after the speech to challenge Mr. Illarionov was likely due to ignorance of current conditions in the Russian Fed. and possibly to just be polite.
Speaking as an American, the Russians were our enemies for a little over 40 years. We are predisposed to assume the worst about them, even though we know the cold war is over. Give it another 50 years, and things should be much better, assuming a new type of totalitarian gov't is not installed in the region.
DEAR BILL EASTMAN:
I appreciate your long and well thought-thru comment. I am sorry, but I can't give you the name of the person who got into the trouble with American intelligence working within his organization, because he is one of my funders and a well-known individual. However, it is easy to notice that this activity was the major reason Putin's patience was pushed to the limits. Here's a well balanced article about the issue.
My dad is a president of the Sodeystvie Fund (Cooperation), here's their website. They've been around since the end of the 80-s as Sodeystvie-Chernobyl (or something like that) and in 1997 changed the funders and the name. You can learn more from the foundation's website.
DEAR JASON HERR:
I understand what you are saying about the Russian cooperation with Iran. It is frustrating and has its own reasons. Please see the posts about this topic here and here.
Regarding an earlier comment here referencing the differences between China and Russia, I cite this article:
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-42-19.cfm
The author (who I know to be professionally involved with researching Chinese matters) is upbeat on Russia.
Dear Mr. Herr:
I missed your comments addressed to me and now reply.
I wonder if it's the case of the audience just being polite to Mr. Illarionov.
Some examples:
Awhile back, Amy Goodman of the Pacifica Foundation was frowned upon at a State Dept. briefing when she asked a really hard question to the official on the podium. Many of her media peers looked over at her with a look of what was she trying to prove?
As per an earlier comment I made at the article about Mr. Verstakov's Discovery Institute presentation - I noted how Charlie Rose is quite chummmy with guests who agree with him as opposed to those who don't. The ones not agreeing with Rose don't appear too often on his show.
This indirectly relates to your comments about present day Russians. Stalin was a Georgian and Georgia was part of the USSR. Why not be suspicious of Georgians? Cuba remains a Communist country and yet I don't see people calling Cuban-Americans Commies. When I was kid growing up in the sixties and seventies, I'd be called a Commie after my Russian heritage was made known. Why? Americans of Chinese and Polish origin wouldn't be called such. Russia has historically been an ally of the U.S.
There's absolutely no excuse for some of the existing anti-Russian prejudices out there. It's this reality which motivated me to write my last Russia Blog article on the bigoted legacy of the Congressionally approved Captive Nations Committee, which articulated an official American holiday called Captive Nations Week.
One question for you:
Would the Heritage Foundation invite as a speaker a Russian having the views of Mr. Mamchur? I'm glad the Discovery Institute is employing his services as his views generally tend to reflect those of most Russians. The sad reality is that among major American media and think tank orgs., those Russians thinking like Illarionov get the nod even though their views reflect no more than 10% of most Russians. It's kind of like the Soviets relying on Gus Hall and Angela Davis as a consensus of American views.
With no disrespect meant, the matter of Russia requires a closer review among many in the U.S.
Yuri,
You make some valid points, and I agree that Illarionov is exaggerrating - but so are you. Wouldn't you agree that the Khodorkovsky affair was completely arbitrary on the part of Kremlin? Things like that shouldn't be a matter of a personal decision of the President - in a democratic society, that is.
And just because you know a successful Jewish doctor in Russia, doesn't mean the gov't doesn't encourage chauvinism. You can choose to ignore the ideologies promoted by the official Church, and that are increasingly popular among the police and security forces. I understand your desire to help Russia, and I agree that Putin is by far not the worst ruler Russia can have. But it doesn't mean the situation in Russia is improving. The Russian gov't is getting away with way too much - and I think that's why violent racism is on the rise. When people can't take their government to call, I'm not surprised when they start cutting dark-skinned people.
"the Russian government does not persecute anyone today like the Soviets did."
Tell that to Khordorkovsky. For God's sake, if that wasn't a Soviet show trial then what was it? Was he tried before a jury of his peers? Were his "crimes" unique? How about other Yukos employees arrested and tried on trumped up charges?
Who owns the media in Russia now?
Who cancelled the provincial governors elections?
Who is playing Iran off in a reckless game against America and Israel?
While the lights of a civil society are dimming in Russia, you are an apologist for Putin's totalitarian behavior.
Michael Averko, Amy Goodman is an idiot with a very leftist agenda. No points there.
Dr. Andrei Illarionov, Putin's former chief economic advisor offers excellent anecdotal evidence about the loss of freedoms through the economic policies Russia has chosen to engage in for the past six years. Read his speech on the imprimis website. As a senior fellow at the Cato Institute now, he makes stunning revelations.
Left to its own devices, as we have seen, Russia is incapable of becoming a democracy and has slid back into the depths of corruption and communist thinking ressulting in real losses of freedom for its citizens. Rent-seeking policy, and the refusal to embrace constitutionalism to protect its citizens to name just two problems. And of course, there's the political assasinations- remebr Andrei Koslov to name just one? And all the murdered journalists, Anna P., et.al.
In Russia now, the press is controlled by the government, there is no idependent legislature, no free market, no free elections, and a takeover of private enterprises--can anyone say Yukos? Why Putin refused to listen to Andrei''s advise is a testament to Putin's KGB past and his unwillingness to allow Russia to become a free country.
Hopefully, Illarionov will overcome his own fear of reprisal and reveal what else he knows, but isn't saying, in a book soon.