Mac's Musings

Crisis Management Russian Style: Welcome Back, Cold War

As I said yesterday, businesses facing a crisis need to manage it in a way that will protect their reputation. If only governments were the same.

Some just don't care what we think of them which makes them very dangerous. The newly-rich Russia - flush with oil and gas wealth - is a good example. Its behaviour over the British Council spat takes us right back to the Cold War.

We know this is part of a bigger row over the killing of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko. So should we really be worried about this diplomatic posturing and counter-posturing?

Well, yes, because we currently get about one third of our gas supplies from Russia. And we know they could turn off the tap or hike the price at any time - just as they did to some of their former Soviet Bloc neighbours not long ago. It seems to be a very risky policy to allow strategic supplies to be controlled by a country that really doesn't like us much.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, doesn't care if it is loved. It wants to be respected. And an old Russian saying goes: 'If you want to be respected, it helps to be feared.'

Cause for concern.

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