One of my favourite Sunday morning routines is watching Fareed Zakaria on CNN. This week, he is covering one of my fave subjects, Putin, and how Bill Browder, a US financier and CEO, poked that bear with a stick. And how Canada then picked up that stick, and poked a little harder.
Putin is a dangerous adversary, as evidenced by the deadly outbreak of Diplomatic flu a few months ago. He really does believe he can operate above the law, and so far, he has been. He has money, power and wields influence we do not know the full extent of. Remember, he is old school KGB. Do not underestimate him. He has had a game plan in effect far longer than we realize. Strategizing, playing the long game – only China does this better, and we should be worried about that too. My point: that the only way to take down this type adversary is with a united front. Otherwise, he targets and picks off opponents one by one, using their weaknesses against then. We are stronger together, but that is very difficult to achieve in the the theatre real politik. Everyone knows what Putin is, what he is capable of, and what he has done. He rules by fear. So long as we give him that hold over us, nothing changes.
Which brings me to this story. I am a Canadian. We say “sorry” as often as we say “hello”. We’re peacemakers. Confrontation is not what we do. That’s why this is significant: a country known for its diplomacy and mild-mannered approach has taken a stand against a powerful force. And we have succeeded in riling Putin who declared Canada was engaging in “unconstructive political games” per CBC. The Magnitsky Act is a US law passed in 2012 – a retaliatory measure against Russians for human rights violations that hits them where it hurts – the wallet. Not only does it freeze their assets, but it bans them from entering the US. Per CNN:
“What is emerging in Russia today can only be described as a culture of impunity — a sense among those who control the levers of power that Russia is theirs for the taking, and the only question left to debate is how government officials and other elites will divide up the wealth, the power, and the spoils … What is so important about this legislation is that its provisions would not simply apply to those Russian officials responsible for the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky; it would also apply to other persons in Russia who commit human rights abuses. In short, this is not just about historical accountability; it is also about preventing future Magnitsky cases. It is about imposing consequences on all human rights violators in Russia.” Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
Ouch. This strikes fear in the black hearts of those engaged in organized crime, especially at the nation state level. And is named after the Russian lawyer who uncovered massive financial corruption via tax fraud and was later imprisoned and died for it. Several countries already have their versions in place. According to Browder, in a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria:
“For Putin, this is his single largest foreign policy priority, to get rid of these sanctions, which sanctions him and the other people around him who do terrible human rights abuses, torture and murder … They’ve been trying in every possible way to get rid of the Magnitsky Act. They’ve sent in — this woman, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has been leading the campaign in the United States to get rid of the Magnitsky Act. It’s a hugely resourced effort. They have hired — spent millions of dollars; they’ve hired lobbyists, lawyers.”
For Browder, this is personal. Some six years ago,Russia stole his investments, took over his companies, kicked Browder out and then went after his lawyer, Magnitsky. Browder has been trying to wake up the world to this reality for years. He has written a book on it, detailing all the nasty things we know but don’t like to say out loud about Putin. It’s like talking about the boogeyman. However, “Now that he’s unmasked as a thug, Putin is increasingly at risk”, Browder states. They do say sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Let’s seriously consider this statement from the CBC report:
“Can one man bring down a nuclear-armed dictator? Well, don’t say Bill Browder’s not trying. And he’s not just one man anymore”.
Yet, Putin continues to play the ultimate “Trump” card, and for so long as the current US President chooses to disregard his “friend’s” transgressions, it impedes the course of justice. It’s clear that Trump isn’t the man for the job on this one. But he doesn’t have to be. A group effort is needed here, one which acknowledges that Putin is guilty and needs to be called out. As I said earlier, we have to recognize that there is strength in numbers to effectively take action. Sooner or later, everyone makes a mistake. Winning streaks come to an end. We need to move on this. Because in the end, we all are held accountable.
Issues and Intersections 