Anti-terror Tops Russia's Politics in 2002

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Anti-terror Tops Russia's Politics in 2002

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President Vladimir Putin's support for the United States-led war on terror has become one of the most discussed topics in Russia over the past year. With anti-terrorism dominant in the diplomatic arena, Moscow has now found it also a top priority in domestic affairs after the recent Moscow hostage crisis.

IMPETUS FOR CHANGES IN FOREIGN POLICIES

Since the September 11 attacks, people have noticed some obvious turns in Russia's foreign policies. Essentially, Putin's diplomacy doctrine has two main components: a striving to use Western sources to modernize Russia, and the view of international terrorism as a major challenge facing Russia.

The first provided the basis for Russia's efforts to further integrate into the global economy. As a major progress this year, Russia won official recognition from the US and the European Union as a country with a market economy. The two also reiterated their support for Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

But improved ties did not bring more Western investment to the country, which is eager to attract foreign funds to revive its flimsy economy.

After the Sept.11 attacks, Putin, for the first time, made Russia a Western coalition member without aspiring to play a dominant role, and allowed the US to have a military presence in its geopolitical region of influence. Moscow provided intelligence aid for US military operations in Afghanistan and the worldwide hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists.

In response, US President George W. Bush repeatedly cited his "close friendship" with Putin during their four meetings this year.At their May summit in Moscow, the two leaders signed a landmark nuclear control treaty that foresees cuts to each nation's nuclear arsenals of 1,700 to 2,200 warheads, down from 6,000 or more for the US and about 5,500 for Russia.

Both sides hailed the "historic summit" as a burial of the Cold War and "a new era" for developing strategic partnership between the two countries.

Also in May, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia signed an agreement, which makes Russia a more equal NATO partner and provides for setting up a joint council to make decisions on important issues of common concern, including anti-terror and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The pact marked the formal creation of a "20 format," which gave Russia more say over NATO affairs compared with the previous "19 plus 1 format."

The West also softened its tone from strong criticism of Russia's military operation in Chechnya, acknowledging that some Chechen militants have links with international terrorism.

As a reasonable and pragmatic leader, Putin has made full use of Russia's indispensable cooperation in the anti-terror coalition using it as a good chance to improve his ties with western partners.

The Kremlin even finds, the increasing disputes between Washington and its Western allies over key issues of the new world order -- particularly regarding terrorism -- might make itself a more hopeful ally in the US pursuit of terror.

On the other hand, Washington is striving to reach understanding on regime change in Iraq with Russia. Both are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Russia is a traditional ally of Baghdad.

So Putin has been seeking US assurances that its military action in Iraq would not endanger Russia's economic interests and political influence in the gulf region.

Bush has suggested that Moscow would play a major role in a post-Hussein Iraq, that Russian oil companies could maintain their profits from deals with Iraq and that Moscow would be able to recover more than eight billion dollars of Soviet-era Iraqi debts.

A TOP PRIORITY IN DOMESTIC POLICIES

Year 2002 should be a good year for Russia with a more stable political situation and a foreseeable four percent economic growth.President Putin has enjoyed a powerful presidency after three years of efforts to drive out Chechen rebels, crack down on political rooted oligarchies and secure a majority support in parliament.

But October's hostage crisis in Moscow that claimed 129 lives broke the prospect and forced the president to renew his prime attention on Chechnya and terrorism.

Because of the crisis, Moscow could no longer declare a "decisive victory" in the Chechen war. It was also the biggest test for Putin's personal prestige as head of state in the terrorism-plagued country, while the next general elections were approaching one year later.

Putin immediately made a tough response. Speaking on Oct. 28 in the wake of the hostage-taking crisis, he ordered Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to draft amendments to the national security concept so as to adapt the armed forces for anti-terrorist missions.

The Kremlin meanwhile announced that there would be no talks with Chechen rebels; that "wiping out the terrorists and bandits" was a prerequisite to a possible peaceful solution.

A week later, Ivanov, in charge of reshaping the armed forces to better combat terrorism, called for providing more power to the military for carrying out raids abroad, including those on terrorist bases and other locations related to international terrorism.

Putin linked the case with international terrorists, saying the abduction was planned abroad by "the same people" responsible for attacks such as the Bali explosion in Indonesia.

Moscow suspended previous plans for a partial withdrawal of military units from Chechnya and re-launched broad-scale, tough and targeted special operations in the rebellious republic as a counterattack on the terrorists.

To win international support for its fight against terrorism, Russia also asked Denmark, Qatar and Turkey to detain Chechen rebel leaders hiding in their territories and extradite them to Russia.

As a reward for Vladimir Putin's support for the US-led war on terror and in order to consolidate his warming private ties with Putin established after the Sept. 11 events, US President George W.Bush has clearly treated sensitive issues of his friend, Vladimir,as gently as possible. This is especially so with the problems of Chechnya and Russia's handling of the Moscow hostage crisis. Now some journalists are already writing about the "Washington-Moscow axis" against terrorism.

Analysts believe that Putin will stick to tough policies on Chechnya for a rather long time for the sake of national interests.Russia would continue intensifying its participation in the war on international terrorism, as well as its cooperation with western partners to this end.

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