Educating the Re-educated

Today's Washington Post has a long article on the travails of the upcoming generation of Russians. With only the faintest memory of the Soviet Union and facing an uncertain, chaotic political and economic world, some of the under-20 crowd romanticize the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin, and even Stalin.

This is hardly surprising. Seventy years of lies, brutality, and the struggle to survive war and oppression left deep scars on a Russian soul shaped by 1,000 years of autocracy. As the article notes, many of the Russian parents who benefited from communism -- top party members and apparatchiks, favored courtiers and other elites -- lost out economically when the USSR fell. Their offspring have been reared on a diet of stories from the glory days of their parents' youth, when everyone knew his place and perks were taken for granted.

It's not so different in Iraq, except for the violence of the Baathists. And it won't be so different in any country trying to move from illegitimate regimes based on fear and favor to more open polities. Russia's difficulties are well known, from the rise of the oligarchs and the lack of rule of law that made them possible to the autocratic impulses of President Putin. All such cases require the West to act proactively through locals when possible to educate the young about the foundational elements of civil society. Without this knowledge -- and it isn't something that they'll discern on their own, especially in an atmosphere laced with nostalgia and envy -- free and stable societies are unlikely to develop or last. Vigilance, patience, and vision are called for from Western governments, nonprofits, and elites. It won't get better overnight, but by using our heads and resources, we can help ensure progress toward freedom.