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by Shoshana Bryen
• March 31, 2017 at 5:00 am
- How the United
States responds to these protests abroad can determine not
only the future of those protesting, but also the future of
the governments that find themselves under pressure.
- Russia seeks
superpower status in the Middle East and Europe, but real
superpower status has always required the ability to shoulder
burdens abroad without fear of upheaval at home.
- Ignoring the Green
Movement in Iran was a missed opportunity for the West and a
tragedy for the people of Iran. It is not America's job to
create or foment unrest in Russia or anywhere else. But it is
in the interest of the West to support and hearten those who
have the courage to take on a corrupt and aggressive
government.
Police in Moscow arrest an anti-corruption protestor
on March 26, 2017. (Image source: CNN video screenshot)
For all the
hyperbole in Washington about Russian hacking, Russian
disinformation, Russian influence, and Russian espionage, the
really remarkable events in Russia over the weekend appear barely
to have registered.
One hundred
years after the assassination of the last Czar, and two-and-a-half
decades after the fall of the communist regime, Russian people have
taken to the streets.
In early
March, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny posted a report on
YouTube detailing the corruption of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
After more than 13 million views in roughly three weeks, people,
including a large number of teenagers, answered Navalny's call for
public protest. They flooded the streets of 95 Russian cities, as
well as London, Prague, Basel, and Bonn. Many carried rubber ducks
-- or real ducks -- referring to reports of a luxury duck farm on
one of Medvedev's properties.
Navalny is
now in jail.
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