Voice from Moscow
After reading Fred Weir’s Feb. 21 Daily article “When Putin goes, will Putinism persist? Russians debate,” a similar question was triggered in my mind: When Nikita Khrushchev, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Boris Yeltsin went, why didn’t Khrushchevism, Gorbachevism, and Yeltsinism persist?
The answer is obvious.
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Russia’s modus vivendi is an endless territorial expansion, and the legacy of those Kremlin leaders who shrink it – be it by giving Crimea to Ukraine like Khrushchev or by dividing Soviet Russia into independent republics like Gorbachev and Yeltsin – is bound to perish and not persist.
But Vladimir Putin is different.
To begin with, in Russia, Chechen separatism has been successfully crushed. NATO’s relentless expansion toward Russian borders has been halted by hypersonic missiles.
And last but not least, plans for further Russian territorial expansion will involve the moon and even Mars.
So, as Mr. Weir touched on in his article, Putin adviser Vladislav Surkov is 100% correct in claiming that “Putinism” will survive any challenges.
Mergen Mongush
Moscow
Canada’s First Nations
Many thanks to Sara Miller Llana for her balanced and in-depth reporting on Canada and how America is perceived by its northern neighbor in the Feb. 25 cover story, “Northern composure.”
Hopefully the rage that is spreading through the world won’t gain a foothold there.
A follow-up article on Canada’s First Nations would be welcome. Can restorative justice prevail for indigenous peoples in the larger society?
Julia McBee
Decatur, Georgia
Typing prowess
Pamela A. Lewis, the writer of the March 11 Home Forum essay “How I tapped into my success,” wrote a beautifully crafted essay that I lingered over. I enjoyed her phrasing, sentence structure, and storytelling ability.
I hope her essays continue to appear in the Monitor pages so we can all delight in other tales she might have to share.
Elaine Zavodni-Sjoquist
Portland, Maine
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