By David K. Shipler
Washington
may regard Vladimir Putin as the world’s Number One Nuisance, but he came
through in the Iran agreement, just as he did in 2013 by negotiating the
removal of chemical weapons from Syria (minus chlorine, unfortunately, which has industrial uses but has been weaponized). Before its thinly disguised invasion of
Ukraine, Russia also shared intelligence on terrorism and other security
matters. Unpublicized contacts among Russian and American military and civilian
intelligence officials were reportedly frequent and productive; perhaps they
still are.
So, a new overlay of common ground
should be drawn onto the map of conflict between Washington and Moscow.
President Obama, answering a well-placed question by Thomas Friedman Tuesday
after the deal restricting Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, said
this:
“Russia was
a help on this. I’ll be honest with you. I was not sure given the strong
differences we are having with Russia right now around Ukraine, whether this
would sustain itself. Putin and the Russian government compartmentalized on this
in a way that surprised me, and we would
have not achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness
to stick with us and the other P5-Plus members in insisting on a strong deal.”
Quite an
endorsement. But he shouldn’t have been surprised. Preventing Iran from going
nuclear is as much in the Russian interest as it is in ours. Look at a map.
Iran is in Russia’s back yard. If there is any constant in Russian history (and
there are several), it’s the importance of the back yard. Ukraine is also in
Russia’s back yard. You mess with the back yard, you mess with house and home.
And while Putin can certainly be faulted for his aggression against Ukraine, for
exaggerating Western designs on Russia’s security, and for fostering jingoism
among the Russian public, his country and the United States share important
overlapping interests.
Let’s make
a short list:
