Dear CCI Readers,
While we surmise that Alexei Navalny could have been poisoned by someone, I reject the accusation that Putin ordered it.
Why do I think it wasn’t Putin? This rumor is seriously out of sync with Putin’s basic mode of operating during the years for which his history is known. Being the butt of so many rumors and projections of evil during the past 20 years, he seems to have developed an imperviousness to it all. He simply keeps attention on what has to be done and moves forward.
I don’t suggest that any agree with me, but in case you are interested, here is my rationale: From what I’ve experienced and learned from other sources, Putin has been and is a level-headed, introvertish man. He admits to being governed by training in martial arts philosophy since age 11, under the guidance of his respected martial arts mentor. Putin is known (outside of the U.S.) to be the most strategically thinking of today’s world leaders. He is currently planning a United Nations “Big Five” meeting to address world issues in the immediate weeks ahead. Perhaps these most recent rumors are intended to downplay such a role, which no other world leader has risen to thus far. Past accusations heaped on Putin have had little-to-no-proof or truth offered to back them up. His way of handling these recurring rumors has become … “the dogs bark and the caravan moves on… ”
My experience with Putin started when I met an unknown Soviet bureaucrat in the St. Petersburg mayor’s office in 1992. I outlined the benefits my plan would provide to both countries. He seriously studied the proposal paragraph by paragraph, asking questions as he went along. Clearly he was interested in aspects of it. At the end he patiently said, “I’ve tried to understand whether this proposal is legal or not … and currently it is not. I’m sorry, I can’t sign my name to it.”
Of course I was disappointed. Outside on the sidewalk I mentioned to Volodya Shestakov, our St. Petersburg director, “This is the first bureaucrat we’ve met that didn’t ask for a bribe.” Of course I remembered this straightforward, minor bureaucrat, but would have never guessed he would someday be the president of Russia. Apparently, Putin was quite different from his cohorts in the St. Petersburg Mayor’s office … we learned retrospectively that he also didn’t take bribes when our clients registered their businesses … so they all went to his desk. Why did Putin not require bribes when all of the others did?
In 2000, after Putin’s ascent to the presidency, I began asking my Russian friends and CCI Russian graduates about their new President. One friend went through school with Putin (by the way, Soviet schools kept the same kids together for several years, so they got to know each other quite well). She described Putin as a “patriotic kid” and one for whom the martial arts were very important. He routinely stood up for kids being bullied on the school playground. She said none were surprised when he tried to get into the KGB on leaving what we refer to as “high school”. She was surprised at my frown on mentioning the KGB, saying, “Sharon, we admired the KGB at that time. We felt it protected our country and that Volodya would be a natural there”. FYI, the KGB mocked him and told him to get a legal degree and come back. This he did.
Later I met with Putin’s private German teacher who described him as a quite serious student, although he wasn’t known for being a good student in classes not of his interest. She beamed telling us that recently her former student (then President) had shocked the Germans by addressing the Berlin Bundestag in flawless German language.
After Putin became President I began to notice how gradually he began to get the criminal elements and Russia’s early oligarchs under some semblance of control. Next he turned Russia’s 85 regions into large zones and began replacing corrupt regional bosses with hopefully younger and more ethical men and women. He was always experimenting to make situations a bit better than previously … and still is.
I watched as different changes continued to take place, poured over his two books, letters and his annual telephone ”call-ins” with Russian citizens across 11 time zones. I was always trying to understand the essence of this very, very different character. While I couldn’t always see his logic, I could see his patriotism, character and what he hoped for in a modern Russia. Step by step, in dangerous and laborious ways, Russia and Russians began to change for the better, at least from my perspective.
I’ve been attracted all of my life to ordinary persons who march to different drummers – those committed to making constructive change in challenging countries and different eras. Albert Schweitzer was my first such man to study when I was a 20-year-old, then Victor Frankl, who in the harshest of circumstances in Hitler’s death camps, rose above the trials to survive and inspire generations of people around the world. MLK was the next … I got a copy of his Letter from the Birmingham Jail while he was still in jail. I read and reread it, pondering how one person could have so much deep determination to make change. Mother Theresa was one whom we all remember for her selfless pursuits and dedication to the poorest. Because of her I ended up in nursing school at age 34. Nelson Mandela, what an unusual man of character to keep his deep sense of purpose during 27 years of imprisonment. These human beings and many more all served purposes higher than national interests and winning elections. Studying Putin as closely as I have, I see that he has a lot of traits of the others to whom I’ve been drawn in the past. Of course, if one is into demonizing, such traits are never recognized.
When I read Putin’s speech at the Annual Munich World Conference in 2007, I knew that his road would be extremely complicated from then on. This has since proven to be true. However, he seems to ignore detractors and continues efforts to create venues to bring peoples and countries together despite vilifications.
The U.S. has sanctioned Russia and demonized Putin at the slightest pretext. For what purpose, and for what benefit? Of course, it is for our national interests, remaining the unipolar country of the world, and keeping our military industrial complex operating at full steam. Or, it may also be our lack of acceptance of any leader or any country that doesn’t bend to our will.
Discussing politics and world leadership with Russians at all levels, from experts to local school teachers over the years, I’ve come away understanding that Russians have zero interest in being #1 in the world, nor does Putin. They all acknowledge that the Soviet experience disabused them of this idea; they want no part of it. They yearn to live in a world where diplomacy among nations helps all ships (nations) to rise.
As I turn 84 years of age today, I’ve observed Russia closely now for nearly forty years, and Putin for over thirty years. I am quite sure after studying his books, his letters over the years, his speeches … that Putin hopes to help build a multipolar world while he is here on planet Earth. Being made of a peculiar strength and purpose, like other such persons in the past, he will continue to serve this purpose. Seems to me it is built into his character.
In this period of quarantine and reflection, with protests raging all around us, let us turn a spotlight on the greatest possibilities open to us as human beings … and grow in consciousness … to help make this world a better place, even at this late date. Let us persuade others to forego escalating tensions based on rumors that divide human beings.
Meanwhile, it’s past time to speak for a new era, one where rumor-making is replaced with great humane actions … asking the nations of the world to work together rather than fanning the fires and the dangers of self interest and unipolarism.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives