Capitalism and democracy have lost popularity in the former Soviet republics of Eastern and Central Europe where many people felt better off economically under communism, a poll showed Monday.
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall research by the Pew Research Center showed the percentage of people approving of democracy was markedly lower in the former Soviet bloc compared to a similar 1991 poll.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.69105fc6eae7b98bc224a2a77ee79cd8.4c1&show_article=1
Reactions? As far as my two cents go I think it's certainly a combinations of factors that really leads to the tragedy of these states losing faith in the West. There's no doubt that there was a wave of pro-Western sentiment sweeping through the former Soviet Union earlier this decade. The Rose Revolution of Georgia in 2003, Orange Revolution of Ukraine in 2004, and Tulip Revolution of Kyrgyzstan in 2005 led to these former Soviet citizens voting for the staunch pro-Western governments into power led by Mikhail Saakashvili, Viktor Yushchenko, and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, respectively. And this was all done much to Russia's fear and disapproval (they even tried to kill Yushchenko with Dioxin poisoning for God's sake). There was finally even talk of expanding NATO into Ukraine and Georgia, against Russia's wishes again.
However, after coming into power, these countries were looking toward the U.S. for asstance and support in resisting Russia's power and influence within their borders. And quite frankly, I think both administrations let them down. Russia's been working to reassert their presence and influence in these regions and have been making strides with the opportunities being presented to them - namely through military and economic means.
As far as Georgia goes, after Saakashvili won re-election in 2007, Russia did everything they could to cripple his power. They supported the breakaway regions within Georgia's own borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and even invaded the country in August of 2008 to protect these pro-Russian provinces (they're still occupying these areas by the way). With U.S. forces tied up in two wars in the Middle East, there was nothing we could do to stop them. Georgia is now both politically and strategically fractured, thus having paralyzed Saakashvili's power and credibility, which is totally fine with Russia. If they can't install a pro-Russian government, better to have a lame duck government there instead of a strong pro-Western one.
In Ukraine, everything's falling apart. The Russians have been doing everything they can to use all the intelligence powers they possess to discredit Yushchenko and split his pro-Western party. On top of that, they were woefully unprepared for the global recession that hit (not just them, a lot of fragile economies as well), and now the Russians are dangling a $5 billion loan offer in front of the Ukrainians not only for their support, but even to tell them what they're going to do with most of that money (buy Russian oil and increase their energy dependence on them). To top it all off, Yushchenko's popularity is at an all-time low in Ukraine, and almost every poll expects him to lose big-time come the January 2010 election to either one of the two pro-Russian candidates facing him.
And as for Kyrgyzstan, the Russians essentially used the same bargaining chip they're trying to apply in Ukraine: a $2 billion loan to buy back their cash-strapped, desperate support in exchange for controlling their air space to use as leverage against the U.S. Afghanistan war effort.
To top it all off, the Obama administration even tosses Eastern Europe under the bus (namely Poland & the Czech Republic) by reneging on the propsed Ballistic Missile Defense system promised under the Bush administration as a last minute attempt to coerce the Russians into cooperating on the economic sanction effort against Iran (which didn't work by the way), and the Poles & Czechs took that as a huge slap in the face. The BMD system was a symbolic effort to the commitment of Eastern Europe's security by the U.S. more than anything else. And the Obama administration can send Vice-President Biden there to try to save face and make all the pretty speeches he wants as a consolation prize, but it doesn't produce results.
In short, we inspired them with all these pro-Western promises and no action to back it up. They wanted results, not just rhetoric. And because we failed to help these governments, they're now looking toward an old 'big brother' they're all too familiar with and Russia's waiting with open arms.
- John
