Our World in 2018

The Only True
Strategy for Russia
By Mikhail Khodorkovsky
More than 25 years after the collapse
of the Soviet Union and the
attempt to build a democracy in
its place, Russia has once again become an
authoritarian state. The same inability to build
democratic institutions plagued the leaders of
the February Revolution of 1917, which led to
the Bolsheviks gaining power later that year.
Russian authoritarianism has profound
consequences not just for Russian citizens,
but also for neighboring countries and the
rest of the world. Still burdened by a “besieged
fortress” mentality, the Kremlin pursues a
foreign policy aimed at achieving a “balance
of forces” between Moscow and the West.
This outdated strategy creates a hysteria
for military adventurism that threatens the
entire planet. Pro-Kremlin propagandists
such as Dmitry Kiselyov, a well-known state
TV host, have even suggested that “aggressive
behavior” from the United States could
prompt a “nuclear” response from Russia.
It is not surprising that the Kremlin is
using disinformation and other dirty tricks
NEW YORK TIMES
Mikhail
Khodorkovsky
Mikhail
Khodorkovsky is the
founder of Open
Russia, a movement
committed
to promoting
democratic rule in
Russia.
to sow confusion in Western countries and
undermine faith in democratic systems.
Russia’s leaders are convinced that Western
democracy is a threat to the authoritarian
order in a country they have cowed into
submission.
For Moscow, this is a zero-sum game:
Any weakening or discrediting of democracy
can benefit only the Kremlin’s system of
rule. But this is shortsighted. The rupture
of the Western alliance could create serious
instability throughout the world, exposing
Russia to dangers it would likely be unable
to manage.
To find an alternative system of
government, Russian democrats like myself
need to make sense of our country’s
unfortunate history. Doing so raises the
inevitable question: Do Russia’s size, political
culture and distrust of the Western world
make it unsuitable for democracy?
Absolutely not. I reject the fallacy that
Russians are somehow incapable of building
democratic institutions. People said the same
thing about the Germans. How wrong they
were. Countries and their citizens do change,
usually in response to their own failures.
The majority of Russians have never
experienced democratic institutions and don’t
understand how they function. But Russians
who have moved to the West have adapted
quickly and easily to democratic conditions.
They see how democracy protects individual
rights and property, and allows societies to
.
democratic practices, Russia today has tens
of thousands of civic organizations defending
civil rights. A 2012 survey from the Pew
Research Center showed that a majority of
Russians support honest elections and a fair
judiciary. The Russian people want their voices
heard and their leaders held accountable:
T.
To avoid the mistakes of the past, we need
to determine why Russia’s two attempts to
establish democracy in the 20th century led
to new authoritarian regimes. In both cases,
having overthrown one tyrant — the czar
in 1917 and communism in 1991 — Russia
154 2018 | OUR WORLD