President Putin Protects Russian Interests: West Displeased – OpEd

By John Robles

After 19 years being denied entry into the WTO the West thought Russia would be a pushover once allowed in the “club.” Unfortunately for the West while they have been slipping further and further into an economic abyss of their own making, Russia has been growing economically, independent of the WTO. The West did not take serious repeated Russian statements that Russia would protect its interests while following WTO rules, they should have listened because in reality, Russia needs the WTO less than they need Russia.

Sadly it was to be expected but the total lack of respect not only for Russia as a country but again towards the President of the Russian Federation is enough to cause rage.

Many in the West were expecting that the entry of the Russia Federation into the World Trade Organization would mean huge profits and trade that would be unilaterally beneficial and allow them to make billions while dumping goods into the country of questionable quality and origin.

Again, sadly, they were expecting a country that was pliant and easy to manipulate and due to Russia’s almost 19 year battle to join the organization believed Russia would be the new kid on the block and a pushover, of course ignoring the repeated statements by Russian Officials that Russia would follow WTO rules and laws but would protect the interests of Russian companies and Russian consumers. Well Russia has done just that, and many in the West are not pleased.

The biased Western Press has jumped all over disagreements between the Russian Federation and has portrayed Russia as somehow being unfair and unjust and of course the media bias towards Russia is clear.

One media outlet in the West, the Financial Times, has had a long history of publishing unbalanced anti-Russian articles and has gone from one extreme to the other depending on which way the wind blows as long as the wind is carrying dirt onto Russia’s image.

In January of this year the Financial Times published a provocative piece titled “Nationalist‘ ghost at feast’ in Russia” claiming the opposition was being led by neo-nazi extremists. Their apologetic attitude towards convicted neo-nazis and nationalists is a matter worth further research, but for now suffice it to say that at the time the nationalists were against the government and a leading force in the opposition, according to the Financial Times

Now 11 months later, the Financial Times, in another article titled “Russian Justice” says that President Putin is somehow using nationalism himself and this time it is a bad thing. So when nationalism is used against President Putin it is good and when it is supposedly used by President Putin it is bad and once again used as another tool to take stabs at the president. You can’t have it both ways.

Let me get back to the issue of the WTO and on another article by the Financial Times on that matter, as well as the views of many in Europe on Russian-European WTO disagreements as reflected in the Western Press. An article titled “Europe cools on Russia’s WTO accession” published today by the above organization is biased in many ways although it does cite officials and gives a basically sound argument the article is lacking in that it does not present all of the facts and does not present a fair portrait of the Russian side of the equation. The article also attempts to demean Vladimir Putin in the disrespectful tone that it speaks about the elected President of the Russian Federation.

The Financial Times and publications such as the Wall Street Journal are many times right on the front lines of demonizing Russia and President Putin for the sole reason that they serve the interests of the West and in particular and most importantly the serve the interests of big western money and that is what it is all about, the bottom line if you will.

President Putin has been a target of the West almost since day one. Why? Well the exact reasons are many and varied but in a nutshell because he has almost single-handedly pulled Russia up by its bootstraps, right out of the very depths of the hellacious-hell-of-near-anarchy that existed when he took office. That is a fact almost anyone would agree with. That’s number one. Why did this upset the West? Well because after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the old saying goes, to the victor were supposed to go the spoils.

After the collapse the West had plans in place, ala Zbigniew Brzezinski, to divide and conquer, in particular the United States, a country founded on the genocide and stealing of the lands of the Indians, and these plans were completely and totally obliterated by Vladimir Putin. Much to the chagrin of the West President Putin has continued to protect and advance the interests of Russia and the Russian people, again, not good for the West.

Back to the article: taking no issue with the pompous grandstanding of the European Union trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, and his threats against Russia that the clock is ticking and his almost open calls for a “Showdown at the O.K. Corral” against Vladimir Putin, the article is revealing in the attitude many in the West have as to their false perceptions of what Russia’s real posture should be when it comes to the WTO and what they really think about the Russian Federation.

The European optimism that the Financial Times claims has left Europe was only there for those who believed that a huge opportunity for exploitation had opened up. Sorry, not going to happen. People forget that Russia has shown positive economic growth on all fronts during the global economic crisis and has grown stronger economically as the world slides further and further into the economic abyss, and for all intents and purposes, Russia does not really need the WTO.

Issues that the WTO members have been upset about include dumping cheap genetically modified products onto the Russian market, sending Russian livestock that does not meet Russian standards, and lo-and-behold Russia has concerns about its ecology? Well imagine that.

The Financial Times claims Russia had “… entered the WTO without a clear idea of why it wants to belong to this club and it has no intention of participating in negotiations to free up trade, the prime purpose of the WTO.” Not true, Russia knew exactly why it wanted to enter the WTO and unfortunately those in the West were sadly mistaken when they believed the new kid on the block would be a pushover.

According to the Financial Times De Gucht also said “EU officials would demand answers when they stand ‘eyeball to eyeball’ with the Russian president during the summit” and that, “… he would be very interested to learn from Mr. Putin himself what he has on his mind.”

Perhaps Mr. De Gucht is going to learn the hard way that when push comes to shove, Russia just might shove right back, a wee tad harder than they could have possibly imagined.

The views and opinions expressed here are completely and totally my own. I can be reached at [email protected]