Brzezinski: Russia's Invasion of Georgia Is Reminiscent of Stalin's Attack on Finland

NATHAN GARDELS

Brzezinski: Russia's Invasion of Georgia Is Reminiscent of Stalin's Attack on Finland

Posted August 10, 2008 03:49 PM (EST)

On Sunday I talked with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the elder statesman whowas national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, about theRussian invasion of Georgia. He long tangled with Soviet power. Now hetakes on Putin:Nathan Gardels:

What is the world to make of Russia's invasion of Georgia?Zbigniew Brzezinski: Fundamentally at stake is what kind of role Russia will play in the new international system. Unfortunately, Putinis putting Russia on a course that is ominously similar to Stalin'sand Hitler's in the late 1930s. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildthas correctly drawn an analogy between Putin's "justification" fordismembering Georgia -- because of the Russians in South Ossetia -- toHitler's tactics vis a vis Czechoslovakia to "free" the Sudeten Deutsch.

Even more ominous is the analogy of what Putin is doing vis-a-visGeorgia to what Stalin did vis-a-vis Finland: subverting by use offorce the sovereignty of a small democratic neighbor. In effect,morally and strategically, Georgia is the Finland of our dayThe question the international community now confronts is how torespond to a Russia that engages in the blatant use of force withlarger imperial designs in mind: to reintegrate the former Sovietspace under the Kremlin's control and to cut Western access to theCaspian Sea and Central Asia by gaining control over the Baku/ Ceyhanpipeline that runs through Georgia.In brief, the stakes are very significant.

At stake is access to oilas that resource grows ever more scarce and expensive and how a majorpower conducts itself in our newly interdepedent world, conduct thatshould be based on accommodation and consensus, not on brute force.If Georgia is subverted, not only will the West be cut off from theCaspian Sea and Central Asia. We can logically anticipate that Putin,if not resisted, will use the same tactics toward the Ukraine. Putinhas already made public threats against Ukraine.Gardels: What, if anything, can the West do to contain this revivedRussian behavior?Brzezinski: Not only the West, but the rest of the internationalcommunity, must make it clear that this kind of behavior will resultin ostracism and economic and financial penalties. Ultimately, ifRussia continues on this course, it must face isolation in theinternational community -- a longer range risk to its own well-being.

The United States, particularly, shoulders the major burden ofmobilizing an collective international response. This invasion ofGeorgia by Russia is a very sad commentary on eight years ofself-delusion in the White House regarding Putin and his regime. Twomemorable comments stand out. First, when Bush first met Putin andsaid he looked into his soul and could trust him. Second, not longago, Condi Rice claimed that American relations with Russia have neverbeen better in history!Gardels: John McCain has already suggested that Russia be expelledfrom the G8. Is that something you would contemplate?Brzezinski:

The G8 is an impotent fiction anyway. But It has to bemuch more thanthat. It has to be a concerted effort on all levels -- at the UnitedNations, in the Atlantic Council, in the EU or in NATO, inconsultation with the Japanese, the Chinese and others -- to convey toRussia that, whatever grievances it may have, it cannot resolve themby a deliberate policy of dismembering an adjoining state andtrying to obtain political domination over it.Gardels: Is the West obliged to help Georgia resist the Russian attackwith some kind of military support?Brzezinski:

The question is not what obligation the West may have atthe moment. The question is about our longer term interest. If aRussia, which misjudges its power and its capacities embarks now on ablatantly nationalistic and imperialistic course, we will all suffer.Therefore it is all the more important that Russia be stopped now bymobilizing a concerted, global effort to oppose and condemn theRussian invasion. Ultimately, that could lead to economic andfinancial sanctions, though one would hope that other Russian leaders,including its business elite, will have cooler heads and be more awareof Russia's own vulnerabilities. Russia is not ready to sustain a newcold war.Gardels: Should the Atlantic Alliance urgently induct Georgia intoNATO as one response?

Brzezinski: The West desisted from extending the NATO "membershipaction plan" to Georgia -- a preparatory stage for becoming a member-- out of deference to Russian objections. It is now clear that thedeference shown to Putin, in the face of his obvious ambitions, hasbeen counterproductive. In view of what has happened, NATO ought toextend the membership action plan to Georgia, therefore reinforcingthe commitment NATO made in Bucharest last Marchto the effect that NATO intends, at some future point, to include Georgia.Gardels: You haven't mentioned Dmitri Medvedev, the the Russianpresident, once, but only Putin.

Does Medvedev have any function in this?Brzezinski: As much to do with it as the formal head of state of theSoviet Union in 1950 had to do with the running of the Sovietgovernment. Does anyone remember his name? But the real ruler of theSoviet Union had a name that most still remember -- and it rhymes withPutin.....