Byzantine Blog

Cold War Condi Goes to Moscow

A single event from Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Moscow is probably the best illustration of U.S. State Department’s recalcitrant Cold War mentality reflected in adamant suspicion and stubborn resistance to anything coming from official Moscow, good or bad.

Making sure Hollywood aliens’ message—We Come In Peace—arrives before her, Condi was interviewed on the plane by her team of reporters. Before her foot touched the Russian soil, Madam State Secretary’s good-vibe words circled the globe twice over: No, this is not a Cold War era where we routinely distrust each other, this is different.

But the fact is that Condoleezza Rice did not go to Moscow to consult with her Russian colleagues, as “partners” generally do, nor did she have any compromises to offer on either of the two most disputed issues — Serbian Kosovo province and the missile shield. Despite her initial friendly message, just like in the Cold War era, she simply went to tell President Putin and Russian officials what United States wants, to hear what will Russia do when United States does what it intends to do and to give Russians the opportunity to tell her they have changed their minds after seeing her: Alright! We’ll let you pass your resolution to sever Kosovo from Serbia in the UN Security Council and alright! we want you to put your missile shields all over our backyard, in fact, why don’t you get yourself a sparkly new military base right here in Moscow, while you’re at it?!

Russian Opposition Chips the State Department’s Cement Block

While Russian officials welcomed Condi’s initiative “to tone down the rhetoric,” they did not agree to go back to playing subservient Drunken Bear Role from the Yeltsin era, and Madam State Secretary wasn’t exactly paying attention to any of their arguments, so it looked like the differences will remain as deep and divisive as if they were carved in stone. And if it wasn’t for the only Russians on earth Cold War Condi does hear when they speak, that’s how the whole thing would end.

They hate Putin and love Bush. So it must have come as a surprise to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hear from Russian opposition spokesmen that she should not pursue an aggressive pro-independence policy on Kosovo, lest it would reveal Washington’s double standards in relation to the four unrecognized countries on the post-Soviet space: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh and finally Pridnestrovie; also known unofficially as Transdniestria or Transnistria.

[...] “We warned the U.S. against a unilateral resolution of the Kosovo question,” Remchukov said. “We said that it would irreversibly lead to a broad wave of anti-Americanism in Russian society and accusations of double standards. We said that the topic of unfriendly states could become one of the main ways of earning political points in election campaigns.”

Yasina added, “Everyone agreed that, after such an event, there would be little to keep Transdniestria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia from seceding from Moldova and Georgia.”

Fried: Washington Will Not Recognize Kosovo Independence Without UN Security Council Resolution

Even though the article authors concluded that “apparently the warning from Russia’s pro-American opposition fell on deaf ears,” quite the opposite was apparent as soon as Condi’s plane took off, according to the AP report:

The U.S. assistant secretary of state said Wednesday Washington would not make any unilateral move to recognize independence for the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.

Daniel Fried told reporters that talks in Moscow between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister failed to bridge deep differences over the future status of the province, but said Washington would continue to pursue a resolution within the U.N. Security Council.

“We see no advantages whatsoever of taking action outside of the security council, we see only disadvantages in every way. A security council resolution in this matter is better,” Fried said during a short stop at NATO headquarters.

So, after all, with the Cold War mentality still heavily nurtured among the top U.S. officials and lawmakers, what is being said turns to be far less important than who is saying it. The exact same warnings being issued by Putin and official Moscow for months couldn’t make a dent. But once “anti-Putin, pro-Bush” Russians said the same thing, State Department—whose representatives were until yesterday threatening with unilateral recognition—make an admirable U-turn and give up on the most perilous part of concept.

Speaking of Warnings

Yesterday’s RighTalk Radio show hosted by Paul Schiffer featured Julia Gorin and James Jatras, two among the U.S. Balkan experts with exceptional knowledge about the civil wars that destroyed former Yugoslavia and the most thorough understanding of what’s at stake in the current Battle for Kosovo. Prompted by the recently unveiled terror plot to “kill as many U.S. servicemen as possible” in New Jersey’s Fort Dix Army base, which involved four Albanian Muslims, one of whom also was a member of terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) wreaking havoc in southern Serbian province, Paul Schiffer asks Julia and James to clarify some of the issues regarding Serbs and Albanian Muslims in Kosovo-Metohija province that are still treated as taboo in the West.