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TWO-WAY TRAVEL. In the case of the AFL-CIO's Stevenson, Moscow office director of the U.S. AID-funded Solidarity Center, she apparently raised hackles by consulting with Russia's air-traffic-control union about a threatened strike. Impolitic, perhaps. But that hardly makes her a national-security threat. "I think it's important that the Russian government remember that travel goes two ways," Stevenson said from Washington, where she's cooped up in a hotel while she tries to get her visa back. "You cannot be calling for free travel for Russians in Europe while at the same time you're turning people away at the border who have visas."
Putin, the ex-KGB colonel based in East Germany during Soviet times, is contributing to the clash of cultures. He doesn't want Russia to turn its back on the world. With his support for such open-market policies as World Trade Organization entry, he's encouraging Russia's new capitalists to look abroad. Open-market advocates, such as liberal economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, have clout in this regime.
And yet, with his signature call for a strong Russian state, Putin has also installed ex-KGB officials -- the Chekists, they're called -- in prominent positions at the Kremlin and key ministries. The outbreak of a second Chechen war is a personal issue with Putin, an emotional touchstone revealing his own distrust of foreigners.
CAPRICIOUS IMAGE. After the terrorist operation at the theater, Putin met with media executives to discuss how to cover such events. Pointedly not invited was Boris Jordan, the U.S. citizen of Russian descent in charge of independent station NTV, whose relentless coverage of the crisis particularly angered the Kremlin (see BW, 02/03/03, "Reality TV in a Russian Boardroom").
Under rhetorical attack from Putin, NTV's owner, state-controlled Gazprom, fired Jordan on Jan. 17. The new steward of the TV station is a native Russian. The assault on NTV isn't just a serious blow to a free press. Russia is also starting to look capricious, which is never a positive for attracting investment.
Westerners aren't the only ones affected by the contradictory policies. At first, Moscow invited China's national petroleum company to participate in the government's recent auction of state oil company Slavneft -- then subtly urged it not to make a bid. Such mixed signals undermine Putin's No. 1 goal of putting Russia among the world's wealthiest nations.
SOCIAL STRAINS. At the least, barriers to foreigners make it much more difficult for Russian businesses to operate. Take Moscow-based Alfa Bank, which has its own support staff dedicated to sorting out visa issues for the foreigners who make up half the bank's managerial ranks. "It just makes for additional costs and discomforts for them and everyone else," says Mikhail Fridman, chairman of Alfa Group, the bank's holding company.
Russia's ambivalence toward foreigners has strained the society since Peter the Great, who tried to drag his countrymen -- kicking and screaming -- into the rapidly modernizing Europe of the 18th century. But such tensions can be abated. The best thing Putin could do is try to settlethe Chechen conflict peacefully, depriving the security organs of their prime rationale for a crackdown. But he seems too stubborn to attempt this move. So look for more maddening swings from one pole to the other. And if you're planning a trip, apply for your visa early.
Copyright 2003, Bloomberg L.P.
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