Did Clinton Overstep His Bounds?
President Clinton's remarks during a joint press conference Wednesday with Russian President Boris Yeltsin were unprecedented in their directness, and may trigger a backlash from the country's lawmakers, CBS News Consultant Stephen Cohen says.
Cohen, a professor of Russian studies at New York University, followed Mr. Clinton's statement expressing his support for Yeltsin's commitment to reform. The president said that he would make a similar statement to the Duma, or Russia's lower parliament.
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Later, Mr. Clinton addressed some two dozen members of the Duma and regional leaders, including Alexander Lebed, a regional governor and former hard-line commander with a record of challenging Yeltsin's policies, and Gennady Zyuganov, the Communist Party leader who also is a chief Yeltsin nemesis.
Mr. Clinton backpedaled slightly from his push for democratic reforms by encouraging Russia to find its own voice.
"Russia must have its own approaches that keep the nation strong, that care for the people who are in need, that prepare for the future of your children," Mr. Clinton said, emphasizing the benefit of a national debate. "No other country's approach would be exactly right for Russia."
However, referring to Russia's failure so far to build an effective tax collection system, defeat corruption, and pass laws to protect and regulate banking and other commercial enterprises, Mr. Clinton said "I do not believe you can find one country in the world that is economically successful that has completely ignored the ground rules of the global economy.
"If the basic framework is not in place, as a friend I say I do not believe that you can defy the rules of the road in today's global economy any more than I could defy the laws of gravity by stepping off the top floor of Spaso House," he said, referring to the U.S. ambassador's residence in which he was speaking.
Cohen says that anti-American sentiment in Russia comes from the United States' suggestion that the country turn to democracy.
"The Russians think that there are American policies that have ruined their lifestyle," Cohen says.
At the Kremlin news conference, Mr. Clinton said he told Yeltsin: "If the reform process can be completed, I, for one, would be for greater assistance to Russia." He said the United States has a "very stong vested interest" in seeing Russia succeed.
President Clinton, in his remarks to reporters, referred obliquely to Yeltsin's standoff with communist and nationalist lawmakers.
"I think if other political forces try to force the president to abandon reform in midstream or even reverse it, what I think will happen is even less money will come into Russia and even more economic hardship will result," Mr. Clinton said.
Cohen expects President Clinton's remarks to result in a "firestorm." He believes that Mr. Clinton should have come to the summit with an open mind, and should not have encouraged Russia to "stay the course."
Noting that the country's economy is 20 percent of what it was 30 years ago, and that it is suffering losses much greater than the American Depression of the 1930s, Cohen says the reforms are not working.
"Russia has got to change course to serve the nation," Cohen says.