Teddy Bears

TO ANYONE who knows the past half-century of European history, the idea that Russia is a peace-loving nation is hardly plausible. The whole idea of NATO expansion assumes that Russia is a threat to the peace and security of Europe and the United States.

But Russia today is not the Soviet Union. The Red Army has ceased to exist, and the power of the new state to coerce Russians has gone. Russians now have substantial freedom to ignore what their governors command, especially when it means risking their lives for an aggressive action abroad. The Afghan War was deeply unpopular in the Soviet Union, but the information blackout and suppression of opposition enabled the Soviet state to continue it for years.

RR

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Richard Rose

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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

TO ANYONE who knows the past half-century of European history, the idea that Russia is a peace-loving nation is hardly plausible. The whole idea of NATO expansion assumes that Russia is a threat to the peace and security of Europe and the United States.

But Russia today is not the Soviet Union. The Red Army has ceased to exist, and the power of the new state to coerce Russians has gone. Russians now have substantial freedom to ignore what their governors command, especially when it means risking their lives for an aggressive action abroad. The Afghan War was deeply unpopular in the Soviet Union, but the information blackout and suppression of opposition enabled the Soviet state to continue it for years.