A Molotov Cocktail in the Age of Terror: Proliferation of Russian WMD and the Spread of Radical Islamism in Central Asia

Friendship in Doubt

Russia’s amicability was first drawn into question when its government took action that can only be described as hostile towards democratic values. Indeed, Putin consolidated his power by lessening that of regional leaders and placing much of the Russian Parliament under his de facto control. When not displacing governors or reconstituting the Federation Council, the Russian president has also systematically attacked the civil rights of his citizens. Indeed, the government now controls a majority of both TV and radio outlets, prevents the assembly of opposition parties, and has essentially renationalized the oil industry. This shift towards totalitarianism is alarming given the value placed on democracy as a means of ensuring amicable relations with the United States. Despite the rhetoric that has come from the Kremlin since Putin’s appointment in 1999, he has done nothing to prove his good will. On the contrary, his actions are entirely unacceptable in a modern democracy and have become overtly hostile towards the U.S. in recent months.

Never were President Putin’s actions more obviously anti-American than when he engaged in a $1 billion arms deal with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In fact, Putin squired the rabidly anti-American Chavez about Russiafor three days, at the end of which they signed an arms contract that allegedly gave Venezuela thirty Su-30 fighter jets and helicopters.^[1] Chavez also toured major Kalashnikov assault rifle factories in the city of Izhevsk, so as to better understand Russian weapon technology that is soon to be implemented in his country.^[2] Having already modernized the Venezuelan military through previous multi-billion dollar defense plans with Russia, one cannot help but wonder why Chavez feels the need to expand his nation’s military further.

Naturally, the bellicose leader provided an unequivocal answer – “to create a global counterbalance to U.S. domination.”^[3] Given that Chavez also met with the leaders of Cuba, Bolivia, Byelorussia, North Korea, and Iran, these words must not be taken lightly. Indeed, he received the Islamic Republic Medal, Iran’s highest state honor, in recognition of his support for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s stance against the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).^[4] It is shocking that Putin would host a leader so closely linked to anti-American governments, let alone sell him a wide array of conventional weapons. Nonetheless, Vladimir Vladimirovich allied himself withAmerica’s most outspoken adversaries and in so doing, sent a powerful message regarding the political leanings of his administration.

The Russian Threat: Armed and Insecure

Unfortunately, anti-Americanism is not the only cause for concern. While policy makers focus their attention on Iranian and North Korean nuclear development, little mention is made of Russia’s still impressive WMD arsenal. Though a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (Treaty of Moscow), the Federation is thought to have approximately 20,000 nuclear weapons.^[5] Even more alarming is its vast collection of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, both of which were developed and refined during the Soviet period. These materials are desperately sought by terrorist organizations around the world, as they are the components needed to create nuclear arms. In addition to fissile material, Russia has a considerable cache of Soviet-era chemical weapons, including sarin, soman, VX, and mustard gases.^[6]

A member of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, the Federation is well behind the time-table for eradication of these weapons as outlined in the treaty. Were this not enough, reports indicate that countries such as Iran, have “attempted to hire” Russian biological weapons specialists to help them develop similar programs.^[7] Thus, while American policy makers anguish over rogue states acquiring nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, they fail to address the fact that Russia is already fully armed and engaging in policies that are detrimental to our national security.