Many people have asked the question: Why are Russia, China, Ecuador, and others, so prepared to help Edward Snowden, a fugitive from justice, when America has legitimately asked for him to be extradited? According to this editorial from Russia’s Gazeta, the reason is simple: these countries envy, admire, and fear, the power of the United States.
Especially surprising because of where it came from, the Gazeta editorial says in part:
Russia has found itself in the company of countries that have clearly decided to stir up trouble for America on this particular occasion, unafraid of serving as a political offshore zone for the fugitive American secret service contractor.
This purely emotional impulse to “put a finger in the eye of the United States,” exhibited by many countries, including Russia, coexists with respectable political discussions within the “Big 8” or “Big 20.” Needless to say, in Russia and China, both the population and the authorities happily enjoy the wide range of “hateful” achievements of American culture, from Hollywood blockbusters to McDonald’s. Russia, to the constant refrain of anti-American rhetoric, even borrows the techniques and formats of American politics – from primaries, conducted by United Russia, to Putin’s use of the quintessential American political image of a “average Joe” when interacting with the public.
This attitude toward the United States reveals the objective power of that country. Only the truly strong are so widely hated. Only those who really amount to something warrant such annoyance. To that point, Russia under Putin actively and consciously seeks to provoke fear and hatred through its domestic and foreign policies. What would be the use of doing something to annoy Ecuador? No one would ever notice …
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