On Friday, March 29, 2024, The Wall Street Journal left a large portion of its front page blank under the headline, “His Story Should Be Here,” the paper’s way of denouncing the year that its Moscow reporter, Evan Gershkovich, has spent in Russia after being arrested by Vladimir Putin’s order. Inside, the paper featured several stories about Gershkovich, including an interview with his parents, and one headlined “Authoritarians Threaten Journalists Around Globe.” The previous day, the WSJ reported that Russian courts extended Gershkovich’s detention, giving the illusion that the courts in Russia are independent, and not simply acting upon Putin’s orders.
Another incorrect assumption is that the Biden administration in the U.S. is taking all possible measures to have the WSJ reporter released from a Russian jail.
It is known — actually it has been publicized by the authoritarian states themselves (such as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc.) — that dictators think that the West is weak and in a state of decline. Meanwhile, democratic leaders in the West consider themselves to be the “adults in the room,” and show restraint and common sense when presented with the challenges posed by dictators.
But the dictators are the real adults in the room. They got there strategically by being ruthless, bloodied, and conniving.
Because of their training, they appreciate and relate only to subservience from their underlings and toughness from their antagonists. When the Western leaders show restraint, they see it as a show of weakness. When democratic leaders play the waiting game, dictators see it as a mandate to go ahead with their evil plans. The “I understand” attitude of some Western politicians and media outlets also helps dictators by creating domestic discord in democracies.
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