The supposedly civilizing influence of being a Western partner — chairing a G-8 summit in Saint Petersburg for example — seems to have been lost on Putin’s Kremlin cabal. Once again exposure to Western values has delivered another Potemkin Village;
预想中作为一个西方伙伴所能带来的文明的影响力，比如在圣彼得堡主持八国峰会，似乎在普京的克里姆林宫阴谋集团中消失了。暴露在西方的价值观面前的是又一个华而不实的例子。在俄罗斯法律和民主制度的表面下隐藏的同样专横的暴君统治。