HISTORY LESSONS FOR ALL INDIANS THE AFFAIR IN CRIMEA Russia is taking definite steps against Western expansionism in East Europe - By N.V. Subramanian Developments in the Crimea may seem far away from India even in these globalized times, but the lessons these hold for this country are near at hand. The first lesson is to never trust the West, especially the Anglo-Saxons. The second is, learn from history, and never permit its repetition as tragedy. Russia has intervened in Ukraine in the copybook manner of great powers, but without bloodshed. Rarely do geo-strategic pursuits and morality meet, but in this case, they make a small rendezvous. Russia is the poor cousin in Europe. Is great landmass is the subject of envy of the cramped but rich powers of Western Europe. Conquerors from Napoleon Bonaparte to Adolf Hitler have eyed its vast lands and sought to occupy it. Through all their tribulations under the Tsars, the Bolsheviks and the plundering oligarchs, the Russian people have never stopped loving their often harsh but beautiful country, the land, ultimately, of the greatest modern writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is the deep and abiding passion for their nation that has willed the Russians to rise against the warlords from the West time and again. The same reflex is now evident as Vladimir Putin rallies the country to take a stand against Western imperialism in Ukraine. Anyone with the smallest acquaintance with military history will understand and empathize with the Russian angst at the unfolding events in Ukraine. With their hands soaked in blood, Britain and Germany have no business preaching morality to Russia, least of all Germany. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the West did not respect the successor state. It had no patience or inclination for Mikhail Gorbachev’s calibrated restructuring of the former Soviet state, egging on the weak-minded, dipsomaniac wrecker, Boris Yeltsin, who sold his country to the West. The country was crying out for a strong leader who would return it to greatness, and repulse the Western predations. In his first stint, Putin repaired the situation considerably. In the interim when he had to step down for constitutional reasons, Russia lost its way. In his second coming, Putin is determined to restore Russia to eminence, and he is assisted by the United States, which is rudderless under Barack Obama. Is Putin blameless? No. Is he authoritarian? Yes. But Russians are used to authoritarianism, to limited democracy, if you will. When nationalism is strong and the church encourages it as well, as the Orthodox Church does, authoritarianism becomes part of the landscape. Without the religion, a similar situation obtains in China. Those who speak of democracy being just around the corner in China don’t know the first thing about the country. And it doesn’t help the Russians that the West has been creeping up to their country, bent upon dismantling the state. In good old Curzonian style, Putin wants buffers for Russia, and buffers for buffers. The West often forgets that Russia constitutes a civilization equal to any, and perhaps superior to some. This civilization embraces lands outside Russia and includes Ukraine. Russia will safeguard this civilization at any cost. FOR MORE newsinsight.net/TheaffairinCrimea.aspx#page=page-1
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 01:18:40 +0000
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