The November/December issue of Foreign Affairs features essays by Presidential candidate John McCain and Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. These lengthy think tank position papers are the most reliable indicators of how the individual who wants to lead the United States, views the relationship of America to the rest of the world. Publius Pundit makes the following observations about how the two aspirants view Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
John McCain: Boot Russia out of the G-8. ... "A decade and a half ago, the Russian people threw off the tyranny of communism and seemed determined to build a democracy and a free market and to join the West. Today, we see in Russia diminishing political freedoms, a leadership dominated by a clique of former intelligence officers, efforts to bully democratic neighbors, such as Georgia, and attempts to manipulate Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas. We need a new Western approach to this revanchist Russia. We should start by ensuring that the G-8, the group of eight highly industrialized states, becomes again a club of leading market democracies: it should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia".
Hillary Clinton: By contrast, Hillary Clinton says in the same publication that while Russia has screwed us on Kosovo, Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltics, Iran, democracy and, well, just about every which way, that's not such a big deal because "Putin has used Russia's energy wealth to expand the Russian economy, so that more ordinary Russians are enjoying a rising standard of living." That's what Chamberlain said about Hitler. Thanks a lot Hillary -- brought to you by the woman whose husband gave us the KGB presidency in the first place.
