CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Moscowrnby Robert C. WhittenrnChange and Its ConsequencesrnLast October I journeyed to Moscow byrninvitation for a conference on conversionrnfrom military to civilian production.rnUpon arrival, my colleague, ProfessorrnConstantine Danopoulos of the politicalrnscience department at San Jose StaternUniversity, and I were informed that thernmeeting had been shifted to Decemberrnto coincide with the Congress of thernSupreme Soviet. Rescheduling and cancelingrnwithout warning are typical Russianrnfailings that they must somehowrnovercome if they are to bring in Westernrninvestment.rnThe question was what to do inrnMoscow in what proved to be a week ofrnearly winter, indeed the earliest winter inrn20 years. Our contact, Vladimir, was resourcefulrn—he is something of a “wheeler-rndealer”—and we had a most interestingrnmeeting with Father Gleb Yakuninrnand two Russian Army colonels, ColonelrnMikhail Kuznetsov and LieutenantrnColonel (Colonel-select) Boris Lukichev.rnVladimir speaks excellent Englishrnand proved to be an able translator.rn(I assume that he was honest and accurate.rnEven today, one is wise to be atrnleast a little suspicious.)rnFirst we took the Metro from our lodgingsrnat the Gorbachev Foundation tornRed Square and the GUM state departmentrnstore. It was strange to see thernwhite, blue, and red flag of the czars flyingrnover the Kremlin on that chilly, overcastrnmorning. The last time I was there,rnin eady June 1970, the hammer and sicklernwere firmly ensconced, seemingly forever.rnGUM, which lies on the other sidernof Red Square, was then something outrnof the 19th century. Although it still is torna considerable extent primitive, the modernrnvies with the antique. For example,rnPlayMobil toys, German stereos andrncamcorders, and Italian shoes are soldrn(for hard currency only) right next doorrnto Russian shops selling Matryushka dollsrn(stacked dolls-within-dolls). Before returningrnto the hotel to meet Vladimir,rnwe took the Metro to DzerzhinskyrnSquare, or rather Lubyanka Square as itrnis now called. Before the coup attempt,rna gigantic statue of “Iron Felix” stood inrnthe center of the square opposite the infamousrnLubyanka, headquarters of anrninsurance company before the revolutionrnand later headquarters of thernCheka/KGB. It was pulled down andrndestroyed at the time of the coup and replacedrnwith a crude cross.rnFather Gleb (Russian Orthodox) hadrnbeen a dissident who was quite independentrnof the KGB and who spent years inrnthe labor camps for his vocal oppositionrnand religious practices. A man of strikingrnappearance and presence, he is now arnpeople’s deputy in Parliament and anrnimportant figure in “military reform.”rnAlthough he did not mention it, FatherrnYakunin had just returned from a conferencernconvened in Washington by thernInstitute on Religion and Democracy—rn”More Than Just a Constitution: ThernFuture of Democracy in Russia andrnAmerica”—where he had received thernIRD’s 1992 Religious Freedom Award.rnOur meeting took place in FatherrnYakunin’s office in the Russian WhiternHouse, the Parliament building thatrnserved as Boris Yeltsin’s redoubt duringrntheabortcdeoupof August 1991. Fromrnan upper-story window our hosts showedrnus the scene of Yeltsin’s standoff withrnthe tanks. The window also ovedooksrnthe ill-fated American Embassy building,rnriddled with KGB “bugs,” whose securityrndesign earned a State Department officialrnan award.rnUpon entering the Parliament building,rnwe immediately spotted life-sizernpaintings of the Russian czars, which onlyrnrecently had replaced similar paintingsrnof Bolsheviks and communist partyrnapparatchiks. Our Russian hosts, who repeatedlyrnreferred to the “spiritual rebirthrnof the Russian Armed Forces,” werernmainly interested in two aspects of militaryrnreform: civilian control of the armedrnforces and the creation of a militaryrnchaplain corps to replace the old politicalrncommissar system. Colonel Lukichevrncited the results of a recent poll which indicatedrnthat about 10 percent of the officerrncorps is strongly religious and thatrnabout 25 percent is religious, but not asrnstrongly. About five percent are atheists.rnColonel Kuznetsov challenged these figures,rnclaiming that as much as 35 percentrnis strongly religious, but he did not tell usrnhow he arrived at his numbers. In anyrncase, the Russian Army seems on thernway to establishing a chaplain corps withrngenuine religious freedom for Baptists,rnCatholics, Muslims, etc., as well as forrnOrthodox Christians. In the course ofrnconversation I suggested that they mightrnwish to consult Cardinal John J. O’Connorrnabout their proposed chaplain corps,rnsince he has served both as U.S. NavyrnChief of Chaplains (as far as I know thernonly admiral ever to become a cardinal)rnand as a military vicar of the RomanrnCatholic Church. The Russians wererninterested, and so I pursued the matterrnafter returning home. I ultimately spokernto the senior chaplain on the Joint Staffrnat the Pentagon who informed me that,rnyes, conversations with the Russiansrnabout forming a chaplain corps had takenrnplace.rnThe conversation on civilian control ofrnthe armed forces proved to be more nebulous,rnI suppose because of the nature ofrnthe subject. A retired U.S. Marine Corpsrncolonel who was also present cited thernexample of George Washington’s refusalrnto have anything to do with military rulernas an important precedent in the Americanrnsubjection of the military to civilianrncontrol. Colonel Kuznetsov also citedrnthe brutal hazing to which Soviet Armyrnrecruits have long been subjected. Itrnturned out that his son had been draftedrninto the Russian Army, and he was concernedrnfor his son’s safety. The meetingrnended in the coffee shop of the WhiternHouse where Father Gleb served us tearnor coffee and the Russian version ofrn”crumpets.” It is hard to find peoplernmore friendly than the Russians, and Irnwas saddened to leave the meeting.rnThat evening Danopoulos and I wererninvited to the home of one of hisrnMoscow friends, an Armenian editor,rnVagan. His wife, an attractive and intelligentrnUkrainian, had prepared some deliciousrnsalmon, which must have costrnthem a great deal. Their apartment,rnwhich they own, would be consideredrnsmall in America but is decidedly plushrnby Russian standards. During the coursernof dinner Vagan was called away to therntelephone. While he was gone, his wifernproceeded to tell us what atrocious hus-rnAUGUST 1993/43rnrnrn