Geotherapy: Russia's Neuroses, and Ours
Mini Teaser: An ambition, inordinate and immense, one of those ambitions whichcould only possibly spring in the bosoms of the oppressed, and couldonly find nourishment in the miseries of a whole nation, ferments inthe heart of the Russian people.
"Coddling" and its Consequences
Since the end of the Cold War, American presidents--first Bush and
now Clinton--have treated Russian leaders with exceptional personal
courtesy, and with the diplomatic hyperbole embodied in the term
"strategic partnership." Russians see this. Bogaturov and Kremeniuk
acknowledge "a measure of humanism" in U.S. policy toward their
country. The West does not want to "unduly hurt Russia", they say,
and will even "spare Russia's self-esteem to the extent possible."
Now the geotherapists are not against politeness as such. What
bothers them--and this is their fourth proposition--is the thought
that the United States might go beyond cordiality, and actually
reshape Western policy to take account of Russian objections (or
worse yet, Russian excuses about the