Can't Trust, Can't Verify

Here's the insight of my old Russian history professor at Harvard, Richard Pipes, in the WSJ:

Why do the Russians still give us trouble even though the Cold War has long ended? Why do they invite the terrorist Hamas leaders to Moscow? Why do they cut off natural gas to Ukraine and thereby reduce its flow to Western Europe? Why do they harass foreign non-governmental organizations, accusing them of espionage and incitement to revolution? Why do they carry out joint military exercises with the Chinese, clearly aimed at Taiwan?

There are many causes to account for such actions that range from noncooperation to outright hostility. Two stand out. One is Russia's inability to find for itself a proper place in the international community. This sense of isolation has deep historical roots. As a country professing Orthodox Christianity derived from Byzantium, Russians have always felt alienated from Catholic and Protestant Europe, not to speak of Islamic and Buddhist Asia.

Although religion today plays a much smaller role in politics than it did in the past, the sense of alienation persists in secular form. Public opinion polls indicate that the majority of Russians regard the West as an enemy and do not want to follow Western ways. The Russian press is filled with snide remarks about Europe and the United States and finds satisfaction in any unfavorable news emanating from there.

Even after the loss of its empire, Russia remains the largest country in the world. This spaciousness contributes to the sense of alienation. Russians take immense pride in the vastness of their land: They tend to think that they are not a country like the others, but a continent. They further believe that by virtue of their size they are entitled to superpower status and as such have a right to a decisive voice in world affairs. The Russian language promotes this illusion because the word velikii means both "large" and "great."

(No wonder the Russians and the French have gravitated to each other in foreign policy)

The other factor that reinforces the sense of isolation and hostility to the outside world has to do with Russia's antidemocratic, authoritarian tradition.

Professor Pipes goes on to point out that Russians barely trust each other, let alone its government or outsiders. And to illustrate that Russia has never come to terms with the crimes of its communist past, points out the astonishing fact that, "according to opinion polls, nearly one-third of Russians, presumably mostly residents of rural districts and small towns, are not aware that the Soviet regime no longer exists."

This profound lack of trust and respect for the truth within Russia hardly inspires confidence in the rest of the world to rely on Russia to restrict Iran's nuclear development to peaceful purposes.