Estonian President Toomas Ilves paused when I asked him if the annual Estonia's Friends meeting he hosts is a copy of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Valdai Club, which gathers Russia experts from around the world every year. "Uhhhhh no," Ilves finally said, peering at me through his frameless eyeglasses.
Of course my question was meant to be provocative because Estonia and Russia have taken radically different paths since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million, is the smallest of the former Soviet republics; Russia is 100 times more populous.
Estonia implemented bold reforms to achieve membership in the European Union and NATO. Estonia's Friends who showed up at this year's meeting in the quaint capital Tallinn were mostly Scandinavian and American entrepreneurs interested in doing business in the country. The Russia hands that typically attend the Valdai Club go for the question-and-answer session with Putin that they can later repackage in books and talk shows as Kremlin access.