10
Wednesday, December 28, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Looking
Outward
Dan Glode
Columnist
Deals with thugs
A lie told often enough
becomes the truth.
— Vladimir Lenin
The fall of the Soviet
Union took just four days,
and left huge vacuums in the
affected countries. Russia
and Central and Eastern
Europe simultaneously found
themselves between a rock
and a hard place in countless
ways.
Determining what laws
applied to which situations
and which ones took prece-
dence was an incredibly dif-
ficult situation, and major
institutions had many chal-
lenges. How to deal with the
rule of law was a daunting
task as these countries rap-
idly had to evolve to democ-
racies. Institution — building
was needed — and needed
quickly.
The American Bar
Association developed a pro-
gram called ABA/CEELI
(Central European and
Eurasian Law Initiative) in
1990, and the goal was to
help in the process of insti-
tution-building and strength-
ening in these budding
democracies.
The genesis of the
idea was simple: bring in
American attorneys as liai-
sons, supervise them and
have them share their exper-
tise with their host countries.
I was in Moscow 2004 to
2008, and during that time
I went from being a liai-
son to the country director
for Russia. We worked on
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several projects: assessing
the status of women for the
U.N., developing a best-prac-
tices manual for law enforce-
ment in dealing with human
trafficking case investiga-
tions, teaching lawyers how
to conduct jury trials (a
relatively new thing there),
teaching lawyers how to
present cases to the European
Court of Human Rights, local
anti-corruption enforcement,
strengthening and building
bar associations and other
projects. Russians were eager
then to try new things.
We moved to Moscow in
early 2004. My office had
four American lawyers and
25 staff including six Russian
lawyers. This was an excit-
ing, changing time for Russia
as it was beginning of the
second term of Putin’s first
presidency. We found it to
be a magnificent and exqui-
site experience, as life in
this unique megacity (about
12 million) was a different
experience for us and the cul-
ture, language, diversity and
customs were incredibly rich
and interesting.
George W. Bush was the
president at the time, and he
had a very naive idea regard-
ing democracy. He seemed
to think we were Johnny
Appleseeds of democracy
and all we had to do was scat-
ter the seeds of democratic
institutions and water them
with information and oppor-
tunity and the seeds would
grow into full-blown democ-
racies where human rights
were acknowledged, valued
and defended. Hogwash.
The Russia bureaucracies
had a different idea and at
glacial speed the inertia tried
to keep everything as it was.
The young Russian lawyers
in my office often got dis-
couraged, and I had to remind
them that our 200-plus-year-
old democracy was a result
of a very difficult, painful
and checkered past regarding
human rights.
I was there to see the
beginning of the end to
the Russian democratic
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experiment.
During my four-year ten-
ure, Anna Politkovskaja,
a Russian journalist, was
assassinated not too far from
where we lived. She was
one of many. The broadcast
media and much of the print
media came under state con-
trol. As a result, the govern-
ment has sole control over
the message they send the
people. Truth is what they
say it is. Political opponents
were and are assassinated or
tried on trumped-up charges
and sent to prisons far and
wide. The number of politi-
cal parties declined, and
only one remains in control:
United Russia.
Regional governors went
from elected to appointed by
Putin. Life, tenured supreme
court judges went to term-
limited positions appointed
by the president. Rallies
were suppressed and assem-
bly became difficult. Free
speech was thwarted; oppo-
sition suppressed.
The old KGB way of han-
dling things returned. Heck,
Putin’s career was with the
KGB.
NGOs (non-governmental
organizations ) were forced to
close their doors. The ABA
office I worked in closed this
past October 1. Oftentimes
people at NGOs just show
up for work and there is an
official seal across the door
barring entry. Human-rights
NGOs are hard to find these
days, fewer in number and
harassed constantly. All
NGOs are listed as “foreign
agents” and treated with
suspicion.
The way things are done
in Russia is murky. No one
would tell an NGO they had
to close, but rather the pro-
cess for staying becomes so
burdensome you pack up
your tent and go home.
No one really knows what
happens to political oppo-
nents, and everyone who
opposes Putin and his gang
of thugs suffer grave conse-
quences — even death — for
advocating for a more open
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society. There never is crime
solved when it comes to an
opponent’s assassination. No
real investigation, no prose-
cution. One thing I realized is
you can never really put your
finger on or prove anything.
It is not a good idea to
generalize, but it seemed to
me there were two groups of
Russians we worked with:
older ones, my age, who had
spent a good deal of their
adult life in Soviet times; and
younger Russians who per-
haps had seen Soviet times
as a kid or not at all. In the
former group we got along
well but there was a slight
air of a “you come here and
tell us what to do” attitude.
We were viewed a little sus-
piciously by the older group
and embraced whole-heart-
edly by the younger group.
From friends I have there
now, it appears this line is
blurred and since the govern-
ment controls the messaging
all Americans are looked
to with distrust and we are
blamed for all that is wrong
with their country. It’s not
only the older group who
reminisces about old glories,
power and national respect.
Putin has whipped many
Russians up into an anti-
American frenzy. He is
placing heavy weapons into
Kaliningrad (a small part of
Russia on the Baltic Sea),
entered into agreements with
Nicaragua to support their
military, is beefing up his
nuclear arsenal, launching a
cyber war in this country, in
Western democracies and in
central and eastern Europe,
manipulating elections in
many places, getting very
territorial with former pieces
of the old Soviet Union, and
he is generally fanning the
flames of nationalism.
There was a group of
advisors who were discred-
ited during the 1990s but who
now exclusively have his ear.
I am worried; you should
be, too.
But, our president-elect
somehow thinks he can cut
deals with this brutal dicta-
tor. In fact, 37 percent of
Republicans think Putin is a
decent guy and regard him
favorably.
Trump has no idea what or
who he is dealing with. I am
not sure if it is naiveté, gross
stupidity, or perhaps a desire
not to diminish his business
interests there. His loose talk
on our nuclear arsenal has
initiated another cold war. If
he ever read a book he might
recall that alliances between
dictators don’t fare well. You
never make deals with thugs.
Two likes repel.
I was beginning to think I
may be able to survive four
years of Trump — but now
that I think about it I am not
sure anyone will.
What will you wish
for this season?
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