Understanding Each Other

Judging impartially, both sides have made many errors. We Americans look negatively on state control of the media. There is a danger that the press will lose its ability to tell the authorities the truth, which is an important element in a democratic system. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that several oligarchs could have concentrated enormous political power in their hands when they established monopolistic control over television in Russia in the 1990s. We Americans are concerned by the strengthening of control by the federal center over the Russian regions. Such centralization could pose a threat to democracy in Russia. But we are unaware of the fact that regional leaders in Russia often established regimes of personal tyranny. It should also not be forgotten that the central authority has significant influence in the regions in many modern democratic states, such as France, as well. At the same time, Russians watch U.S. activities in the countries that border on Russia with great suspicion. Russians think that the U.S. is trying to turn the countries surrounding Russia into a sanitary zone directed against it. At the same time, Washington is denying that Moscow has the right to create “special relationships” with its neighbors, similar to those between the U.S. itself and countries like Mexico, Canada and even Cuba. The changes occurring near its borders as a result of mass demonstrations and elections also fill the Russians with suspicion. Moscow assumes that a similar scenario could be played out in Russia has well. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=527&id=681474

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