Paul deLespinasse: A radical idea for Putin and Xi

Vladimir Putin thinks Ukraine ought to be part of Russia. Xi Jinping thinks that Taiwan should be part of China, and is threatening to use military force to achieve that goal.

Here is a radical recommendation to Putin and Xi: How about devoting all your talent to providing the best possible governments for the people already living inRussia and China?

Both countries are immense. Both have problems that would challenge the best possible leadership. But both countries also have many resources that could be employed to improve the lives of all their inhabitants.

The idea goal for Putin and Xi, as I see it, would be to make conditions in their current countries so wonderful that people in nearby areas would like to become part of them, or at least would push their own governments to emulate these countries.

There is no sense in trying to forcibly incorporate additional areas into Russia or China, which is sure to alienate the populations of the seized territories. Even if "special military operations" manage to grab additional real estate, they will make normal government in those areas impossible because of resentful populations.

Seeking to govern so well will also reduce the desire of people already in Russia or China to get out from under their governments. Both countries have regions where people would like to secede if they could get away with it.

To use a non-political analogy, a gardener whose current acreage is not well maintained does better to cultivate what he or she already has more carefully before seeking to acquire additional land. When your garden gets bigger, it always brings new challenges and problems, and of course the larger your garden the thinner you have to spread yourself in trying to cultivate it.

Governing at all is a very challenging occupation, comparable, as Max Weber noted, to the "slow boring of hard boards." As Shakespeare put it, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." (Henry IV, Part II)

Governing well is even more difficult. And the larger the country, the harder it is to govern.

When political systems enlarge themselves by the use of military force, which admittedly has been the case historically, bad governments have an advantage over good governments. It is easier for them to use effective military tactics that a good government would not be able to employ.

According to Gresham's Law in economics, when there are two currencies circulating in one country, the bad money drives out the good. Similarly, when a country enlarges itself militarily, bad governments drive out better government. For example, a country like Russia which censors its press and television and prosecutes critics can conduct a war more easily than the democracy it is attacking.

But if countries were to strive to enlarge by making themselves overwhelmingly attractive, it would be the good governments that would prosper at the expense of bad governments.

Vladimir Putin had an opportunity to go down in history as a talented leader who led his country out of the political and economic morass which followed the breakup of the Soviet Union. During his early tenure, the people of Russia became able to lead normal lives for the first time since World War I, which was followed by the Communist takeover, the Stalinist purges, the Cold War, and then the crackup of the Soviet Union.

Alas!

If foreign policy were designed to take rational advantage of opportunities at the world level, wars would happen very infrequently, since they are often losing propositions for all parties concerned.

But in fact, foreign policy in all countries often appears to be a side effect of domestic political considerations, as suggested by the movie, "Wag The Dog." Although Russia's current war in Ukraine makes little sense as foreign policy, Putin may think it will help him remain in power.

— Paul F. deLespinasse is professor emeritus of political science and computer science at Adrian College. He can be reached at pdeles@proaxis.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Paul deLespinasse: A radical idea for Putin and Xi