HOW HE SEES IT Democracy in Russia a tough sell

By GEORGE GEDDA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The United States spends about $80 million each year in Russia attempting to promote democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
But are Russians listening?
In Russia, says Harvard historian Richard Pipes, "democracy is widely viewed as a fraud" and as an exercise "controlled by powerful clans."
By a margin of more than 3-to-1, Russians believe that multiparty elections do more harm than good, Pipes writes in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Do Russians treasure their more independent post-Soviet press? Not really, says Pipes, pointing to a poll conducted last winter by Romir Monitoring, which found that 76 percent favor restoring mass media censorship.
Only 11 percent would be unwilling to exchange their freedoms of speech, press or movement for stability, according to another poll cited by Pipes, who gained renown during the Cold War for his strong anti-communist views.
Methodology for the polls was not given.
Notwithstanding these attitudes, the United States persists in trying to proselytize its former Cold war rival.
A newly released State Department report says: "The United States strategy in Russia is to promote awareness and respect for the entire range of human rights, an open, representative and democratic system, including a vibrant civil society, fundamental freedoms; development of a fair and impartial judiciary and access to a diverse and independent media."
The administration believes that the best way to change Russian hearts and minds is to allow Russians a firsthand look at life in America. About 60 percent of the U.S. human rights budget for Russia is spent on "U.S.-based training and exchanges."
Russia, of course, is not the only target of American political missionary work. It occurs in 100 other countries as well.
Self-interest
Part of the U.S. motivation is self-interest. Nations that violate the rights of their own citizens, according to State Department doctrine, are more likely to wage aggression.
As part of its global rights program, the United States supports democratic reformers to provide "oxygen" needed to bring about changes.
Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner said Monday in introducing the report on U.S. reform efforts that democracy is gaining the upper hand worldwide.
The number of democracies has increased over the past 25 years from 40 to more than 120, he said.
Russia is listed as one of the breakthrough countries despite Pipes' contention that Russians -- both the leadership and the people -- are disdainful of democratic processes.
This was dramatized by a poll in which, Pipes said, Russians were asked how they wanted their country to be perceived by other nations. A mere 1 percent said "law abiding and democratic."
In contrast, 48 percent said "mighty, unbeatable, indestructible, a great world power."
Pipes says these numbers explain why 74 percent of Russians regret the Soviet Union's passing.
He says there has been a democratic regression in Russia since President Vladimir Putin took office in 2000.
"Russia's democratic institutions have been muzzled, its civil rights restricted, and its cooperation with the international community far from assured," he says.
The Bush administration agrees with that assessment but says so gently, so as not to offend. Russia is a key player on all major international issues, and the United States prizes Moscow's cooperation whenever it can get it.
Pipes says western commentators fail to realize that Russians approve of Putin's heavy-handed ways by sizable majorities.
Putin's stifling of opposition, Pipes says, was no doubt a contributing factor to his election victory this past March.
"But he is popular precisely because he has reinstated Russia's traditional model of government: an autocratic state in which citizens are relieved of responsibility for politics and in which imaginary foreign enemies are invoked to forge an artificial unity," Pipes says.
X George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The Associated Press since 1968.