Article on Russia in The New Yorker

[Michael Denner]

Why is that every time I read a New Yorker article on Russia (I recall a
similar one in the spring of 2005), I end up feeling like a spokesperson
for Russia? (I in fact lean somewhere closer to the Russophobe pole than
the Russophile.) 

The article has some fine synthesis of the past ten years, and it seems
fairly evenhanded when it comes to analyzing the government's control of
mass-media; but it is terribly one-sided and anti-Russian, not to
mention egregiously wrong on some basic facts when it tries to talk
about Russia's oil and gas policies. Here's how the article reads:

>The Russian government has become bolder and more assertive throughout
Putin's tenure. >On New Year's Day of 2006, Russia abruptly cut gas
exports to Ukraine after the >government there objected to a sharp rise
in the prices charged by Gazprom. Gas headed to >Europe from Russia
passes through Ukraine, and the disruption-which was widely seen as
>punishment for Ukraine's political intransigence-affected many European
countries. This >month, Belarus was treated in the same fashion: Russia
doubled the price it charges for gas >and began to impose much higher
export duties on oil. <<snip>> The Kremlin recently >provided a
particularly audacious example of how it sees its role as an "energy
superpower": >Royal Dutch Shell, which had invested billions of dollars
to develop the world's largest oil->and-gas field, Sakhalin II, in the
Russian Far East, was forced by the government to sell its >controlling
stake in the project. 

Last month, at the NATO summit, Richard Lugar called Russia a "hostile
regime" -- why? Because Russia balked at continuing to subsidize gas for
Belarus and Ukraine by something like 80%. (Ukraine and Belarus have
paid approximately $50/thousand cubic meters under Soviet-era contracts,
while world prices are closer to $250.) Now that Ukraine and Belarus are
no longer docile sycophants (bully for them!), Russia wants them to pay
closer to (but still not full) market price for gas. How is this an
unfair expectation? We in the US use our economic (and military!)
strength to reward allies (Egypt, Israel) and punish those who cross us
(most nations beginning with the letter "I"). 

Why is Russia wrong to do the same?

As for the RDS antics: Shell's contract with Gazprom was "first out" --
it stated that Shell gets paid all its expenses BEFORE Russia can start
receiving its share of the profits. But Shell suddenly, and with no real
explanation, doubled its bill for expenses, from something like $25
million to $50 million. Imagine! Russia reacted poorly to this!! (Think
if your contractor suddenly doubled the estimated materials cost in a
home renovation.)

How is this unreasonable? Anyone who has taken a moment to acquaint
himself with the facts surrounding the ongoing gas problems with Ukraine
& Belarus, as well as R. D. Shell's "shell game" with the Russians will
know that 1) Russia was not unreasonable in its reactions; 2) Russia
must have the worst P-R team in the world. The New Yorker frames Russia
as a bellicose tyrant, but in fact, Russia is simply pursuing its own
economic interests. When they act like a capitalist country, they get
accused of declaring war:

>U.S. Senator Richard Lugar urged NATO to update its charter. "We are
used to thinking in >terms of conventional warfare between nations, but
energy could become the weapon of >choice for those who possess it," he
said. (from RFE/RL, 12-5)


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Dr. Michael A. Denner
   Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
   Director, University Honors Program
   
   Contact Information:
      Russian Studies Program
      Stetson University
      Campus Box 8361
      DeLand, FL 32720-3756
      386.822.7381 (department)
      386.822.7265 (direct line)
      386.822.7380 (fax)
      www.stetson.edu/~mdenner

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of David Powelstock
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 8:20 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] Article on Russia in The New Yorker

There's an article by Michael Specter in the Jan 29 issue of The New
Yorker. Nothing especially new in the article, but it distills many of
the more distressing recent trends in the country down to a piquant
attar of grimness. A must-read, I think, for anyone who hasn't been
keeping track of developments under Stalinism Putinesca. Unlike the
Kundera article, this one's available online, at
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070129fa_fact_specter.

Cheers,
David

David Powelstock 
Asst. Prof. of Russian & East European Literatures 
Chair, Program in Russian & East European Studies 
Brandeis University 
GRALL, MS 024 
Waltham, MA  02454-9110 
781.736.3347 (Office) 



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