The Russian invasion of Georgia should have surprised no one. Putin’s KGB background and the number of KGB agents he brought into high government should be more than adequate warning that Russia was slipping away from the rule of law and becoming a gangster government.

I use this term deliberately because it is important to confront how far outside any reasonable diplomatic norm the current Russian regime is.

Gangster regimes break the law in their own favor, use force against the weak and the helpless, and loot on behalf of the power elite.

For the last few years we have watched as Putin has presided over the creation of a state machine of killings, intimidation, and theft.  Now that state is further empowered by expensive oil and natural gas.

Putin has seized upon the West’s failure to have an energy strategy to inflate his own ambitions. He has enough money to rebuild the military, pay off his cronies, and support foreign adventures.

Recently he has advocated closer ties with Communist Cuba (clearly designed to unnerve the United States), the sale of advanced fighter aircraft to the Venezuelan dictator, Chavez, the proposed sale of the most advanced anti-aircraft systems to Iran (which would then protect their nuclear program against a possible Israeli or American air campaign), and now he has invaded a small neighbor.

Three Strategies to Contain the Russian Gangster Government

The United States should respond to the very dangerous Russian adventure in Georgia with three very aggressive strategies designed to make it much more expensive for Putin to continue his gangster behavior.

1. The United States and our European allies should rush supplies and reconstruction materials to the people of Georgia to help them rebuild their country. Georgia is a small country (4,600,000 people) and with a concerted effort by the democracies they could come out of this crisis wealthier and more modern than before. That would sustain the democracy and be a signal of practical help to those who encounter gangsters.
2. The United States and the democracies should wage an all out diplomatic campaign to isolate the Russian regime and treat it as the pariah a gangster ought to be.  Force the Russians to veto Security Council resolutions after lengthy debates detailing their attack on a much smaller, sovereign neighbor. Suspend them from the Group of Eight (G8) until they publicly commit not to invade their neighbors.  Start isolating Russian government officials from diplomatic invitations and begin examining the bank accounts of the Russian oligarchs who are Putin’s allies. There are many of steps which can be taken diplomatically to signal that gangster behavior is unacceptable.
3. The United States and the other democracies (including Japan) should launch an all out effort to develop energy resources, energy technology, and energy conservation systems that strategically make Russian oil and gas useful but not vital. The Europeans should now have irrefutable evidence that Russia will use their dependence on Russian natural gas to strategically blackmail them. Furthermore they have clear proof Putin and his gangster government partners use their money to build up the military and boldly extend Russian power and influence in a destructive way.  No response to the invasion of Georgia would be more powerful than a coherent and aggressive energy strategy designed to make Russia irrelevant in the world energy system.

A Fictional Introduction to the Gangster World of Putin’s Russia

Anyone who wants to understand the emerging gangster state of Vladimir Putin would do well to read  Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva. This New York Times bestseller is the eleventh novel this former newsman has written and is part of a long series about an Israeli spy and assassin named Gabriel Allon.

In earlier novels, Silva captured the long and bitter war between terrorism and democracy that has been the burden of Israeli and now of American existence. In Moscow Rules, he shifts his attention to the war against democracy and the rule of law being waged a Russian gangster class of often illegal and occasionally violent state sponsored billionaires.

Moscow Rules captures the arrogance, ruthlessness, and willingness to torture and kill that have become the trademark of a KGB inspired and trained leadership elite in the Kremlin.

Silva understands the spirit of the new Russian gangster regime. It was willing to brazenly kill an émigré in a London bar by using a very obvious and easily traceable radioactive poison (as more than one observer has noted, almost as if they wanted to advertise to their enemies what they would do to anyone who dissented or threatened them).  It has supported the methodical killing of reporters who are undertaking investigative and embarrassing efforts.

In Moscow Rules, a Russian international arms dealer is preparing to sell deadly weapons to Al Qaeda. It is Allon’s job to stop that from happening.  In a fascinating tour de force Silva introduces you to the practical realities of the new Russian gangster regime and some of its more dangerous and threatening practices.

This novel combines exciting reading with a useful introduction to a system so amoral and so prone to violence that it is beyond the understanding of most western analysts.

If you want to understand the mindset which led Putin to invade Georgia and the willingness to use violence which is at the heart of that regime and is a serious threat to the stability of all its surrounding neighbors, Moscow Rules is a fascinating place to start.