Russia’s Role

Well Mr. Putin met with President Obama Monday. Before the meeting Putin made the rounds of several speaking venues and issued his opinions on the world and especially the US. He made it clear that America and particularly Mr. Obama were at fault for most of the world’s ailments. Especially those problems of a foreign policy nature. So the talks were set to get off on the wrong foot instantly.

                                           

More of Putin’s posturing. His foreign policy style is to shoot from the lip and the hip in private where he has no push back. That sufficiently poisons the planned talks beforehand and thus he appears strong and intelligent. He is in control. Or is he?

Actually, when heads of state meet they need to do so in private so they can properly gain the measure of each other and their strengths, weaknesses and so forth. Doing so allows each person to act naturally and demonstrate their own brand of openness and honesty.

In truth leaders are searching for answers, pathways and solutions. No one enters a conference with all the answers. Heck, they don’t even enter with all the problems fully known or well defined. That’s what these meetings are for.

Another valuable aspect to these talks is determining which problems have priority over another and why. How can two leaders discover what works best for them in solving complex problems? The solutions have to work for both of them and their nations. Not just one side or the other. These are not problems of Russia or America. They are global issues with the global community benefiting or not from cooperation from two unwieldy and discomforted enemies. Best if the enemy label were removed and friends or colleagues become the new tags of identity.

Entering a conference with predispositions of obfuscation and testiness only dooms the process and the conclusion.

Mr. Putin could help build a saving face for Syria’s Assad so he can retire peacefully to another country. New leadership could form as a result and Russia and America would be credited with helping that happen. Naturally it is Syria itself that must solve its leadership problem. For now they need a timeout in which to engineer the solution. This can happen only if the hostilities end and Assad is absent.

ISIS is a common thorn for everyone. They have no legitimacy with the exception of violence and death. That is their power. That, however, is not a path toward legitimacy. Fear is the cause for movement; not the cause for lasting power and governance. The Taliban have proven that. So too Al Qaeda. Violence for violence sake earns only attention; no lasting loyalty or basis for governing a land, a religion, a culture or anything else.

In America the republicans are learning the same lesson. Ideologies, like violence, do not win the day. China has learned this lesson as well. So, too, Russia.  Ideology alone does not rule the day or 10,000 days.

Common good of common people require more care and governing science. Not ideology.

Working together brings ideas together, not ideologies. History, too, is the product of many elements, mostly ideologies gone awry. Cause – Effect – Result – remember? These three bring movement to history. Not all movement is good. Not all history is good. But lessons abound nonetheless from history. Good or bad, we learn what not to do more than what to do.

Such is the grist of conferences among foreign leaders. How can they bring their assets to the discussion table and parse their use intelligently for the good of the global community? That is the task. That is the Holy Grail we seek.

Will this week’s talks between Putin and Obama be fruitful? I think time will tell if the parties were conciliatory and wishful for a common solution. If not, history continues on its track of frustration and obfuscation.

I’m hoping for the former, not the latter. Perhaps I’m too harsh on Mr. Putin?

We shall see, won’t we?

September 30, 2015

PS: Well, the talks went badly if you are a fan of peace. If you wish otherwise, then you are happy with Putin’s claim that Russia is only interested in international law. He said America is breaking the law in Syria. Oh sure; like Russia reclaimed the Crimea and has attempted to reabsorb Ukraine into its nation’s borders. Really, Putin? Your actions are legal and the US’s is not?  In Syria there are many nations working together under a leadership umbrella and weaponry to beat back ISIS. We are doing the work for Assad whether we wish to or not. But the alternative is not what any of us wants; even you Putin.

Shame on your Bad Boy Peck act, Vlad. Shame. The whole world is watching and you’ve been found desperately, swaggerishly, wanting.