Viewpoint: The answer to Russia's orphan crisis

As the father of two sons born in Russia, I was enraged by Vladimir Putin's government ban on American adoptions from the former Soviet state, and I said so in every venue open to me. A Russian national (and evangelical Christian) responded to me via social media with a rebuke: "Russia needs the gospel, not Americans adopting our children," he said. "Why don't you Americans solve your own problems before interfering in ours?" I think his response is worth pondering.

We must first acknowledge that this reaction is precisely what the Putin government wants from Russians. The Obama administration rightly supported sanctions against Russia for its abysmal human rights record. The leftover KGB thugocracy responded by "punishing" Americans by cutting off adoption, knowing this would play well with jingoistic nationalism.

At one level, this is quite understandable. Imagine if the Cold War were reversed -- the United States having collapsed into impoverished separate states and Soviet citizens adopting children from here. We'd probably see people screaming lines from "Red Dawn" at the new parents in the airports. The situation would be a blow to national pride. And that's exactly the point. Read more

Read also
Russia's Adoption Ban Really About US Bogeyman, Expert Says
Parents of Russian Orphans in 'Holding Pattern' After Adoption Ban