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(Rossiiskaya Gazeta) Waves of anti-Americanism in the Russian media and anti-Russian outbursts in the American press threaten to become a regular feature of bilateral relations for the first time since 2001.
Criticism is a positive thing, but criticizing each other all the time is silly, if only because it can become habitual, Professor Alexei Bogaturov, dean of the political science department at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, writes in popular daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The Russian people are no longer shocked by criticism of their country's democratic inadequacy, mostly because they have a practical view of the many aspects of democracy and thus a deeper understanding than the majority of American reporters and TV commentators, who are not experts on the realities of life and development in Russia.
The prestige of American opinions is on the decline in Russia. People no longer regard them as objective and have learned the meaning of the word "manipulation."
At the same time, Russia's assessment of U.S. policy is not always adequate. The system of informing Russians about American views has become ineffective because a considerable number of moderate and liberal specialists in Russia have become too heavily dependent on U.S. assistance in the past 15 years. Some people no longer consider the moderates as true members of the Russian intellectual community. Radical politicians claiming to be patriotic champions are trying to monopolize the right to speak on behalf of Russian political experts.
The intellectual dialogue between Russia and the U.S. must be revised. Americans should abandon the primitive idea of influencing Russia via the "external management" of Russia's world outlook and its place in the world. Russians should regard the United States not as a master of global intrigue but as a country that does not know what to do with its excessive might and that fears that it may lose its power or use it to harm itself.
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