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Why Did Putin Grant Edward Snowden Asylum? Revenge

The Diplomat

Face the Nation, one of America’s premier Sunday political talk shows, spent a good part of this weekend’s broadcast discussing something many in U.S. political circles have been wondering this week: why would Russian President Vladimir Putin give sanctuary to Edward Snowden?

Speaking of the decision to offer Snowden asylum, Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer asked Senator Chuck Schumer, “Why do you think Putin did this? I mean, this, kind of, has a high school-like scenario to it. But, you know, often nations have some reason behind their actions. Do you think this was a calculated strategy on his part?”

The senior New York Democrat responded by saying that he felt it had to do with Putin’s resentment over Russia losing the Cold War and the general decline in Russian power.

Speaking to the New York Times’ David Sanger later in the show, Schieffer again returned to the subject, saying of Snowden’s decision, “It’s kind of following a kind of high school scenario here. Here you have Putin sort of — sort of taking on the role of Hugo Chavez. I mean, nobody thought Venezuela posed any kind of threat to the United States, but Chavez apparently thought he could really make his place in the world by poking his finger in the eye of the giant,” referring to the United States.

Sanger concurred saying, “I think that’s exactly right, Bob. This is half high school, half Cold War playbook.”

There may be some truth to these statements. Nonetheless, they show the complete lack of self-awareness that is too often commonplace among American leaders in their interactions with the outside world.

The truth of the matter is that if Edward Snowden had been a Russian spy who arrived in New York or Washington after telling the international press all about Moscow’s domestic surveillance programs, the U.S. would have provided him asylum without question.