Mail Call.(Letter to the Editor)

Putin vs. Washington

Our readers have given Russian President Vladimir Putin mixed reviews since he took office almost a year ago. One thing seems certain to everyone, however, and that's his tepid relationship with Washington. One wary reader warned against Putin's "frequent and increasing bashing of the United States and its allies... The happy days of Boris and Bill seem to be over." Still, others defended Putin and cautioned that, as one said, "Putin's problems... cannot be... solved by U.S.-style democratic means."

Deconstructing Putin

Russian president Vladimir Putin's frequent and increasing bashing of the United States and its allies is more serious than it appears. Favoring such allies as North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Cuba is steering a dangerous course. In the long run, it could start a new cold war, especially if the United States' new president goes ahead with plans for a giant and costly antimissile defense. The happy days of Boris and Bill seem to be over. In this new era, American relations with China seem more important than ever.

Eric Af Wetterstedt--Leksand, Sweden

Your article naively assumes that Russia is like a poor United States, rubs Putin's nose in the poverty of his country and demands he kowtow to Washington as a matter of duty. He disagrees with some U.S. foreign policy and expresses his opinion. As head of a sovereign state, he even acts. Does he need U.S. permission for this? Putin's problems and concerns cannot be understood in an American framework or solved by U.S.-style democratic means, since neither these laws nor the philosophical framework exists in Russia. President Putin is forced to go a different way; and insisting that the United States' version of democracy is the only model worth following is naive, isolationist and arrogant.

Hans-Peter Clamann--Bern, Switzerland