New Axis powers
From Mr James Whitwell Sir I would like to hazard an answer to the question you posed to Tony Blair in your leader (10 June): 'Is Russia part of Europe?'
The British response should be — Russia is in if we are in, and out if we are out. British interests should be aligned with Russia's for the following military, cultural and economic reasons: Russia has enviable natural resources, a manufacturing industry and a highly skilled workforce, which might become useful when we no longer have any of these.
Russia has spawned an untold number of illustrious writers, musicians and artists, which alone is sufficient reason for friend- ship.
Russia's historical importance on the Continent is indisputable. If Russia had not baited our sworn enemies — Hitler and Napoleon — into impossible invasions, the landscape of Europe might now look some- what different.
Most Russians and some Britons rue the loss of empire and our bygone status as glob- al powerbrokers. Yet Russia still has a formidable arsenal of nuclear weapons, albeit a little rusty, and offers a sound ally against the threat of insurgent Islamic funda- mentalists and Chinese cultural hegemony.
In Chechnya, Russia has displayed exem- plary commitment to the cause of justice without pandering to bleeding-heart liber- als whose agenda is to reduce the noble and ancient values of heroism and self-sacrifice to vilified crimes. Putin will not succumb to the tyranny of minority interest groups and plunge Russia into the same quagmire in which Britain stagnates. The Bear might even lend us a paw and haul us from this mess before what remains of our national pride is irretrievably sunk.
Odds on the possibility of a Russian–British–US axis? Slim, but we can live in hope.
James Whitwell
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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