Dr. Vladenstein Makes his Move

No one can say the Russians don't have a sense of humor, however darkly disturbing it may be. The Biography Channel has a show called "Mobsters". It is predominantly about the history of the US Italian Mafia. Since my 4 Grandparents are of the exact generation as the founders of the American Mafia, the show is interesting to me. But the Biography Channel needs more material. How many different ways can you tell the story of Luciano, Costello, and Gambino before it starts boring you to tears? They need not worry however. The Russians are creating plenty of material for future shows. Three things stand out for me in learning about the Russian "Mafya": 1) unprecedented ruthlessness; 2) their sense of intellectual superiority; and 3) an ingrained sense of the difficulty of survival in Russia versus the ease of success in America.

I wrote a Masters thesis on Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It always amazed me that a guy writing in the middle of the 19th century half way around the world could seem so "2oth century". Russians seem to have a sense of deep irony about the human condition and its simultaneous and contradictory capacity for self deluding optimism as well as enormous evil. When Putin's term for president was constitutionally ended last May, he simply had his chosen successor name him Prime Minister. That is what I call dark ironic humor.

Russia is a society that is crumbling beneath itself. It has been unable to convert the good fortune of high commodity and energy prices into a sustainable economic system. Those so called Russian Oligarchs would rather invest their ill begotten gains outside of Russia than invest it in a country whose male life expectancy is 58 years old. But old Vlad is looking west again for salvation.

On the very day when America is engaging in a self congratulatory, nostalgic, and weepy sense of moral accomplishment Putin has Medvedev announce to the world he is moving missiles in place to counter our plans in Poland. Obama has already stated (in September) that he will not permit missiles to be deployed in Poland if they are "aimed" at Russia. Who should they be aimed at, France? He has given unclear signals in the past about the nature of his support for the system. Obama advisor, Michael McFaul, today says that Obama will support the system "if it works and if it can be financially feasible". Which means of course he does not know what he thinks. Polish Prime Minister Tusk is feeling the terror big time. He weakly pronounced that Russia's move is "just political". Tusk must have forgotten his Clausewitz.

Yes, the Russians have a great big dark sense of humor.