The Tsar of Soviet Russia... The Caliph of Syria... Or historical re-enactment societies gone native? Vladimir Putin and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are very similar in what they desire. Both are actively engaged in an historical land grab. They both wish to re-instate the glory of past empires. They romanticise what they consider to be a golden era in their histories and all that it entails, which for one, the Caliphate (caliph means successor, as in the successor to Mohammed) includes, beheading, stoning, crucifixions and slavery - barbaric by todays standards, but acceptable methods for the 7th century and essential repertoire in any revival. The other, outwardly at least less bloodthirsty, although just as worrying, is a rejection of the post-war European sensibility for democracy, for media, political and social freedoms. The new values and mores of Europe are to Putin, unmanly. He regards any foreign connections as anti-Russian. The war against fascism didnt end in 1945, it continued recently in Chechnya and is now in the Ukraine. He really wishes to be The Tsar of a Soviet sized empire. Both these men want to rid themselves and their lands of any outsiders, their methods, means and justifications are essentially the same. They are the ultimate, extreme historical reenactors. Imagine if the English Civil War reenactment Society went native... now, where did I put me pike?
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 08:17:13 +0000
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