Amongst its columnists are Timothy Garton Ash, one of the best commentators on Eastern Europe and a strong voice for freedom in the region in the 1980’s. As such, it is odd that there columnist on Russia is one of the biggest supporters of Putin’s ideology of a Russian sphere of influence over its neighboring countries.
I first came across the articles of Jonathan Steele during the Orange Revolution. Whereas most foreign commentators saw the massive street demonstrations in Kyiv as a voice of outrage over a blatantly falsified election campaign orchestrated with the assistance of a foreign government, Mr. Steele came back from Kyiv and penned column entitled “Ukraine’s postmodern coup d’état” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/26/ukraine.comment).
He dismissed all Ukrainian protesters as being American-stooges funded by Washington. His article ended with a plea for the EU to “calm Russia’s legitimate fears and send a signal to Washington not to go on inflaming a purely European issue.”
As the Putin oversaw an invasion of Georgia last week, Mr. Steele turned his pen again to this part of the world. Whereas most commentators were concerned over the question over the Russian military invading the territory of a sovereign nation, Mr. Steele’s column was entitled “This is no pipeline war but an assault on Russian influence” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/11/georgia.russia4)
Again, Mr. Steele labels any figure resisting the idea of a Russian veto over its neighbors domestics policies as American puppets falling for Washington’s grand strategy of limiting Russian rightful power in its sphere of influence.
Why Mr. Steele believes that Putin and Russia should have a veto over the government and politics of Ukraine and Georgia is anyone’s guess? But why is the Guardian publishing it?
(Again to highlight the general quality of the Guardian reporting, they were outspoken in reporting that claims of 2,000 dead in South Ossetia were a deliberate Russia exaggeration. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/13/georgia?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront) All of which make Mr. Steel an odd anomaly in a quality newspaper.)
