take it or leave it russia says it's only prepared to participate in the european anti-missile defense system on a full partnership but the details stay with her to. understand u.s. foreign policy one must first understand a very basic. u.s. government wants to dominate the world ensuring him to win support of the flag of spreading democracy he looks at how the money from u.s. taxpayers pockets ends up funding a better a kid friendly politician so the city. hundred years after the death of one of the

world's greatest writers leo tolstoy his work for the software was alive and popular as ever as we report and. this is r.t. it's midnight here in moscow well come on i'm going on doc top story russia's doors are open to discuss its participation in european missile defense but it wants a fair and equal role in it after nato secretary general made upbeat remarks about the issue president medvedev a little later repaid to suggest a slightly more cautious stubbs catarina of the reps of the main details of the nato russia council. the european anti-missile defense system that was widely discussed both in the nato summit and in the russian nato council the nato secretary general mr rasmussen spoke at length about its importance and about how

much of that as the nato member states want russia to be a part of it as a strategic partner and as a key player not only in the region but also in. a guarantor of global security that supposedly this anti-missile defense system would provide coming out after the talks of the russian nato council mr rasmussen made a few very optimistic remarks that now many chose to believe. major major. there. will acquire the capability to defend european territory and populations at games are under attack and they extended an offer to russia cooperate with our. live are still together. and i'm very pleased that president medvedev there has taken up that's offer for the

russian president the mint imitative speaking to the journalist said that he was a bit more cautiously optimistic about the potential for relationship between nato and russia he said that there are conditions to cooperation between russia and the alliance and one of those conditions one of the most crucial conditions is that of a full partnership in the involvement in the european anti-missile defense system. we have agreed with the need to pound is that we will pursue donnegan the european a.b.m. a main guide his should be that our participation will be equal and i will stress this it could only be as pontin's around no other form of participation for the sake of the parents is acceptable only by the we participate fully we exchange information take part in this is in making we do not participate at. the bottom i took the chance to reiterate the significance of ratifying the start treaty that once again urged congress to do so not only for the future of european security but

also for the future of american security and a general sense of stability in the world arena but also for it because it symbolizes the new start the so-called reset in ties between moscow and washington and to not ratify the treaty would be damaging to those ties which are crucial to our relations not only between moscow and washington but the entire international community i have received overwhelming support from our allies here that start the new start treaty is a critical component to u.s. and european security my expectation is is that my republican friends in the senate will ultimately conclude that it makes sense for us to do his jealousy forest. you with the u.s. and the russian leader to speculate on what will happen to relations between russia and the united states should the treaty not be ratified both leaders said that they

hope it won't come to that because it will mean that a whole lot of work and a whole lot of effort would have been wasted but of course both leaders reiterated once again the fact that they believe this treaty will get ratified and the sooner the better as a correspondent katrina czar over paul ingram is executive director of the british american security information council he says that although barack obama is facing an uphill battle in the senate right now the ratification of the new start treaty is a question of when not if. this treaty is good for european for america and for russian security it's the logical extension from the original start treaty that lapsed last december and there is now no official clear verification treaty between the two countries so this this this treaty maintains takes on arms control for one foot and and takes the first step in

a very long road to around obama's vision so he's certainly not about trying to score political points here he's exposed himself to some extent to two opponents who do seem to be trying to use this treaty themselves to score political points against him very very difficult political situation but i have to say if that treaty comes up for ratification on the floor of the senate it will pass the debate is when it comes up for votes and the objections are largely about not having enough time to properly scrutinize the treaty senators have had eight or nine months to do this it's plenty of time compared to previous treaties so it really is quite baffling as to whether there really any concrete objections to this treaty coming from the senate. comment two from dr adrian pabst he's professor of politics at the university of kent he says with nato his position weakening its members are well aware the alliance cannot exist without russia. the europeans have been

arguing for a long time behind the scenes that russia needs to be brought on board that nato can not function properly without stronger russian involvement that required a different attitude in moscow which was seen with present material but also a new openness on the part of all the nato partners and even countries traditionally more critical and perhaps even hostile towards russia such as potent of the baltic states have recently acknowledged doubts greater dialogue and more cooperation with moscow are a good thing for everyone involved. buying influence abroad doesn't come cheap as hard up american taxpayers are falling out of their cost right now the u.s. is spending billions of dollars to finance opposition politicians and parties overseas that fit in with washington's foreign policy plans and the second part of a special report next visit explains how it's being.

very very big who's picking up the tab apparently the american taxpayer nine billion dollars spent by the united states agency for international development and promoting washington's democracy initiatives. a new model for influencing a target country's internal politics in favor of u.s. interests to financing training support and guidance to pro u.s. forces in foreign countries another democracy promoter the national endowment for democracy received one hundred thirty two million dollars during two thousand and nine nearly all of it from u.s. government agencies but these are just the tip of the iceberg there is an entire network of organizations involved in the democracy promotion business although all organizations insist there is no political affiliation the board of directors for both n.d.i. in iraq i suggest otherwise the former secretaries of state national security.

advisers members of congress and even clinton bush and reagan administration officials they all have a history in washington one deeply rooted in sustaining the current foreign policy priorities to understand u.s. foreign policy one must first understand a very basic fact the us government wants to dominate the world. this is what democracy promotion brought the people of one door us. well us the idea of requests eight hundred thousand dollars for strengthening governance and democracy in hundred us journalists and activists are being brutalized and killed under the u.s. backed government was in egypt a revolt against the u.s. backed policies of the hosni mubarak regime has mobilized these agencies to co-opt opposition groups and sharing the results of the upcoming elections will be beneficial to washington many who study these agencies believe the soft money working behind the scenes is directly linked to the cia they had to have this

a new organization with a nice sounding name a democracy and it and i sounding name which would be free of the taint of the cia and that's been that was a reason an idea was created usa id has implemented democracy promotion initiatives in over one hundred countries in the past twenty five years this year's budget one billion dollars according to usa ideas website spending ten million dollars in a target country increases that amount to democratic change five fuld how much of your tax money would you like to go to promoting democracy in venezuela. no not that much which would be ok if foreign governments were giving our politicians money for the election campaign no that would bother me and here in lies the hypocrisy we have a very clear law on the books prohibiting for. and governments for interfering in

the russians are supporting any candidates with money so we do exactly what we were good at home encouraging transparency is a stated core element of the u.s. government's democracy promotion efforts in foreign countries however here at home the agencies themselves are far from transparent so detailed budget programs are unavailable to the public and contact with the media is limited over the last six weeks r.t. repeatedly requested interviews with usa id and a d i r i n n d r i all of our requests were either tonight or on and thirds had hospice r t washington d.c. . there you know about a special report we've compiled for you but one of america's most controversial political scientists norman finkelstein the film gives a balance portrait of a man called on one hand by some people a self hating jew by others a street fighting revolutionary it's a quick preview of what's ahead. my married mother did not live with her

become. trees afraid. and she was very good for the. chief though. our lives frankenstein's monster. we don't have a problem. every. effort is made. on the palestinian or in the european side to negotiate in. to the violent attacks against israel which i have no fear of war call the. song goes you have no fear calling the leader of the state of israel one of the main terrorists in the world. we are supposed to be seriously examining history but you mention

a few words about jewish culture happening and people get so upset this is i'm sorry to say it's a form of emotional blackmail. you're watching r.t. from moscow it's been dubbed the birth of international law the first trial of singer nazis in the german city of new romberg sixty five years ago twenty two architects of those horace faced the tribunal then made up of representatives from the soviet union the u.s. great britain and france this weekend officials of the allied nations will attend an exhibition in europe to mark the anniversary of the trials but artie's alexina jeff skilling reports next tonight some parts of europe are seeing a revival the sea is a decades old from the atrocities committed in that name. this red

army veteran was close to the trial which changed history his best friend. acted as a prosecutor on behalf of the u.s.s.r. in the newton better hearing sixty five years ago could have says if it wasn't for them then court the outcome could have been very different. he understood that the trial was not only about him. it was not just a few people who had to be punished but on in thai ideology of mass killing his speech impress the judges so the number of those in the grows dramatically in a trial which lasted for almost a year twelve high ranking nazis were sentenced to death it was a milestone in history at the nuremberg trial leave the foundations of international law as we know it in particular they created a precedent of judging people for starting a war against other nations so nowadays we all know what a crime against humanity is you know days most of free europe acknowledges the

positive effect of the nuremberg tribunal but some nations have a complex relationship with the past look here's a monument to the soviet army literatures and here just meters away is the monument to stone in soldiers who fought alongside the b.s.s. troops. is still only an anti-fascist activist andrei says this historic paradox is reflected in the. in state of affairs in this country. even looking at the crumbling streets of this monument it's clear that iraq government doesn't see the red army as saviors instead to be glorified those who fought in the side of fascists that's despite the fact a large part of our country would never support such ideas in april two thousand and seven this clash of opinions spilled onto the streets the historian government ordered the relocation of a soviet soldier statue from central to the outskirts of the city thousands of dissenters protested and clashed with the police and monuments to free estonia was

pulled several hundred meters from the square where the soviet bronze statue used to stand it resembles a cross and in the very heart of it is an emblem which was used by the a stone s.s. legions back in one nine hundred forty s. . from swastika marches to veteran gatherings sixty five years ago prosecutors in newton there could not have expected a legacy like this the trial was meant to make sure fascist ideology stayed in the bloody cross but the rise of real nazis middle eastern europe is a sign that these ideas still live on let's see russia ski r.t. reporting from tallinn is stoney. couple top world news stories in brief a german magazine reported al qaeda and associated islamist groups are plotting a terror attack on the german parliament speaker says it's planned for february or march next year with militants having already arrived in berlin several weeks ago

the information comes from a tip off by a jihadist to the german interior ministry with other parts of the country also reportedly targeted police have been posted around the country train stations airports and tourist attractions. rescue efforts which miners trapped underground in new zealand coal mine on hold because of fears of a second explosion twenty nine miners are missing more than a day after a powerful blast tore through the tunnel. as two men managed to escape with slight injuries it's still don't know whether the other monitor survived rescue organizers said the level of toxic gases is still too high to send a crew below ground. it's been a century now since the death of a world renowned russian writer leo tolstoy the author of celebrated novels war and peace and i couldn't that is being remembered throughout the country tolstoy also had controversial views on religion which saw him excommunicated by the russian orthodox church ulti visited his family estate south of moscow to find out the feelings that modern day russians have for. leo tolstoy like his family estate

because it was as far from the madding crowd as you could get a place where he could feed docks and get lost among birch trees without anyone disturbing him. a century after his death it's an easy thing bought solitary group after group falling into his house not to minute for contemplation we. just had to learn that has never been short of visitors in fact during the hi susan some are spring and autumn we have trouble handling the flow of tourists it's pretty hard to get it you have to call it a certain time to book a visit on a particular day otherwise you just won't get there. it's. a great great grandson of the writer tolstoy can we side many of his famous ancestors novels by heart and he says if you have the museums visitors could do the same russians are proud of tolstoy but more is the brand than

a favorite author according to polls only eleven percent retold these books after finishing high school. unfortunately most people never go back to question that to been forced to read it it's called instead they prefer it it was trendy and popular these days there's nothing bad about that it's just a pity that those people miss out on religion which are. just a few hundred metres from tolstoy's this beat this film also face still serves as a pillar of strength but based family alfred and elaine put their village called belong to do hogwarts a christian grove that with the help of toll floyd went to canada in the late nineteenth century fleeing from persecution in russia twenty years ago their descendants came back settling a village told stories i found most of his life what happened is that void that was in me in canada disappeared and it's the spiritual void i found myself here the boy like tolstoy who despised exploitation. all three of them elena building their new

home all by themselves even though it's already taken them a decade mike told story they strongly believe in pacifism and a unity with nature and above all they see told stories ideas time and i think his ideas haven't been reached and they are just starting to be tapped into and that's why i think russia has agreed to choose. and i thought foremost throughout his life was to begin renowned would you find all sorts of conventions including his own. leo tolstoy once or the doubt that is terrible because it means the end of everything but this doesn't apply to his own legacy during his lifetime his readership was indifferent ours and a century after his death the count goes a million last year war and peace was named the greatest book of all times by music magazine bringing an ultimate moment of peace to this war year in the wake of our

thirty. artie's laura talked to the top of his biographer andrew wilson about the author's enormous contribution to world literature of our chaps coming up next. is the hundredth anniversary of player told stories death and tomorrow but out of a story i'm talking to one of his biographers a n. wilson he wanted awards in one nine hundred ninety eight for a biography of tolstoy and wilson thank you very much for talking to r.t. now first as a biographer what attracted you to tolstoy. here's a giant he was the great giant of the novelistic form greater even than dostoyevsky who was to the great giant so that's what attracted me to him and the fact that ever since really become a serious reader in my teens it was his novels i regard as the greatest tell

stories books i'm thinking specifically of war and peace consistently tops these lists of the best book ever do you agree with these kinds of rankings. you can't really compare war and peace with any other novel he himself said it wasn't a novel and it isn't really a novel it's a book about everything. yes all the years you know five campaign culminating in a battle of our salutes and then the invasion of eight hundred twelve but the further it is on you realize that it's a novel about the whole of russia and also it's a novel about personal regeneration tolstoy was as much lost a fair as rights how what do you thinking compass is his philosophy in life the thousands of people who were following his coffin when he died and will no doubt get on to this. they weren't following him because he was a great novelist they were following him because he had taught not only russia but the world how it ought to live how we should be less selfish how we shouldn't be

wrecking the planet we shouldn't be fighting wars and he essentially and underwent this transformation didn't he from high society to spiritual allocate storm it was always there from the beginning actually this feeling that we are called to a deeper truer life away from the absurdity of society and so forth the tolstoy family were very ground i mean some of them were advisers to the emperor the family . on whom old principle construct more in pieces but it's his maternal grandfather was also very grand military and political figure tolstoy himself lived almost entirely in the country at his estate and yes my apology on the he never really. played a big part in the political life there was this huge crisis in the middle of his life when he'd finished. and he had a crisis what's the point of it all there's a moment in his autobiography where he said he couldn't even be in a room in the room with

a piece of rope to feel that he would want to hang. he then thought the way to live just to try to be like a peasant and for a few years he pretended. by the way. set up schools not only on his interstates but for acres and miles around on the starting education. he was the great pioneer of russian if you please and even now they sometimes in some russian schools use his a.b.c. to teach people to read. so it wasn't just sort of pious try dreaming but having pretended to be a peasant he then went back to being the reasonable enlightenment man he was and he thought what is good christianity and the church is teaching ethics how to live. the miraculous stuff for leicester and it was out of that was he was volved his cool philosophy of life which as you say is that he felt

that. all governments not just the governments. they are particularly evil in his eyes all governments are based on violence and the only way that we as individuals and we as societies can get away from a system of the military of war solving problems of torture is in ourselves to forswear violence but also to forswear the idea of authority so he was an extremely subversive figure tolstoy was a deeply religious man but he did get into quite serious conflict with the orthodox chat well he was religious in this way that you get in the novels i think where he parted company with the church was over the claim that for example at the miracles were literally true all that the church had the right to dictate to men and women what they believed and what they thought and how they should behave and so he fell out with the church in a very very big way and they eventually after he wrote the novel called

resurrection which has a lamp of the holy liturgy of the orthodox church in it the extreme indicated to him didn't make any difference to him because he hadn't been going to communion anyway but he was excommunicated it meant he couldn't have a church funeral which was quite a big deal in eight days it was a big deal for his wife who was who was an orthodox it wasn't for him he never wanted to be buried in church ground anyway he was buried in the place the states where his brother thought he'd buried this green stick when they were playing it but a game in childhood on the green stick was written the secret of how we should live the secrets of human happiness so it's very appropriate it should be buried there. we are celebrating the hundredth anniversary of tolstoy is that what's to celebrate well to celebrate is the greatest novelist who has ever lived but also this man who was guided with a passion for the truth and he alone stood up against this extremely powerful regime. and tow. the truth in a world of lies and this was

a fantastic example for russia because in all the terrible years which followed his death he died in one thousand and ten the civil wars the first of all the civil war the revolutions and so forth the tradition of tolstoy lived and it enabled the dissidents when they courageously began to emerge and stand in this times to look at his example and see that it's only it is one voice telling the truth look at a lot of our look at social needs and they would guided by the influence of tolstoy and that's really what we have to celebrate and you said that he was in essence an advocate if told so he'd be alive today what you think he would be doing. he wouldn't be very surprised that for example the americans just as the russians did before were trying to defeat the afghans nobody's ever defeated the afghans so he behalf amused by that he wouldn't be very surprised that the bag because of the

world. have made a complete mess of things and that what we call civilization must elapse in terms of the banks and he would be saying just what he was saying in one thousand. more simply try to love people try to live for others and also thank you very much thank you.