One of Russia’s leading opposition activists Wednesday decried the rise of
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the United States’ own
version of “Putinism,” saying the New York real estate mogul’s election would
be the “best hope” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his dictatorial
regime.
Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and democratic political
activist, said he’s committed to “preventing the rise of Putinism, whether it
is in Russia or this country.”
“I wish it would be a joke,” he told the Aspen Institute during a
Washington forum. “It is not. What we are seeing in this election cycle is it’s
an attack on the American way of life and democracy.”
Kasparov said he sees an assault on American ideals coming from both ends
of the political spectrum.
“The fact is that in both parties you have very powerful trends that are
pushing it to the opposite sides, sort of creating not a consensus but a
conflicting field.
It worries me. Economically, [it is] from [Bernie] Sanders’
supporters, you know, reviving the socialism,” he said of the Vermont senator’s
surprisingly successful insurgent campaign for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
“As someone raised in a communist country, it is anathema,” Kasparov said.
“People seem to forget what socialism was. They don’t seem to realize that the
luxury of talking about socialism was paid for by capitalism.”
“On the other side,” he continued, “you have, of course, the rise of Donald
Trump,” who has made admiring statements about the Russian leader. “That is an
attack on liberty.”
Trump’s so-called “America First” foreign policy, in Kasparov’s view, would
be a disaster and only embolden Putin.
“Putin’s biggest hope? Donald Trump,” Kasparov said. “This is the way to
weaken American democracy and the trans-Atlantic relations.”
Kasparov, who lives in New York, was in Washington to discuss his new book,
“Winter is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must be
Stopped.”
He said the world desperately needs the kind of American leadership that
was provided from both major political parties during the Cold War.
“Recently I watched again this Kennedy-Nixon debate, in 1960, when
candidates could disagree on means but they could agree on goals,” Kasparov
said. “Now, I am afraid we will be entering a very different kind of debate
where substance will be totally trumped.”
He also didn’t mince words when discussing President Barack Obama and his
secretary of state, John Kerry, who he described as a weak negotiator with
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“I’m afraid if Kerry and Lavrov stay in the room too long, Kerry will give
Alaska back to Russia,” Kasparov said.
Asked whether there are specific steps he would recommend the U.S. take to
confront Putin, Kasparov responded: “The answer is nothing. The only thing
America can do is to use the credibility of the Oval Office. It has none today.
At the end of the day, you don’t want to start a war. Credibility helps you
make a threat — a threat that scares bad guys.”
“It is time to start thinking what will happen in five, 10, 15 years — a
long-term vision has to be offered,” he added. “Maybe, this administration
still has a chance of laying down the agenda. It is very important that America
has to restore its adherence to a credible and consistent foreign policy.”
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