Over the past month, the United Kingdom has gone through one of the most bizarre post-Cold War experiences in recent memory. On Nov. 23, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko died after ingesting one of the rarest radioactive substances on the planet, polonium-210. Litvinenko was a former FSB and KGB agent who fled to the United Kingdom after speaking out against the Russian security establishment. In isolation, this case would be disturbing enough, if only for the use of a radioactive substance as a poison. However, the Litvinenko case is only the most prominent example of the vast number of Russian dissidents who have lost their lives over the past six years.
During President Vladimir Putin's two terms in office, the number of politically motivated assassinations within Russia has spiked alarmingly. Critics of President Putin are disappearing at an alarming rate. Just two months ago, prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed inside her Moscow apartment. Ms. Politkovskaya was extremely critical of the war Russia has been waging in the separatist region of Chechnya. She had also directly criticized President Putin. Among experts and the media, it has been widely assumed that her killing was the result of her opposition to Kremlin policies.
Many other Russian journalists and opposition members have been assassinated or died under mysterious circumstances. Yuri Shchekochikhin, a liberal Russian lawmaker and organized crime expert, was killed in 2003 after being poisoned by thallium. Coincidentally, doctors originally thought that this was the same material used to kill Alexander Litvinenko. Sergei Yushenkov, another liberal lawmaker, died in 2003 shortly after completing the process of registering an opposition political party for that year's elections. He was shot just outside of his house. The list of dead goes on. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, contract killings claimed the lives of 16 journalists over the past six years. This number does not include those who have been poisoned or the numerous non-journalist opposition members who have lost their lives.
While at first glance these killings may seem to have little importance to the United States, the path that they chart becomes disturbing after closer examination. The oppression of the media in Russia can only draw that country further backward in time toward the darkness of its Soviet past. In those days, the Communist Party allowed no dissent from official viewpoints and opponents were sent to the gulag. Putin's Russia is in danger of returning to those days. A free press is necessary for any democracy. Without it, the Russian people will have no alternative outside of official media channels.
A further worry from the Litvinenko killing is that it did not occur inside Russia. Rather, the incident occurred on the western edge of Europe, far from the dangerous streets of Moscow. The idea that Russian or Russian-sponsored agents may be committing killings in Western countries is a disquieting thought. Many Western countries house Russian dissidents who have fled from their homeland, fearing arrest from the authorities or death at unknown hands. Any kind of Russian campaign to eliminate dissidents abroad can only increase the current tensions between Russia and the West.
The United States' main concern in this matter must be the prevention of the resurrection of the Soviet Union or a return to the world politics of the Cold War. The Russia of today does not have the infrastructure, population or economy to challenge the dominance of the world system orchestrated by the West. However, that has not stopped Russia from meddling in the former Soviet Republics such as Georgia. The return of the tensions that the Cold War created would be disastrous for the world as a whole.
Litvinenko's death might seem to be insignificant. However, his burial yesterday symbolizes the increasing strain on relations between Russia on one side and the European Union with the United States on the other. Ultimately, the Russian people are responsible for what system of governance they live under. The United States and the European Union cannot change Russia's government, nor should they try to. However, Western nations need to tell the Kremlin that there are limits to how far they can go to eliminate dissidents. Killing them outside of Russia is going too far.
Andrew Wagner ([email protected]) is sophomore majoring in computer science and political science.
