I am a Russian citizen. Specifically, I am a citizen of Rostov-on-Don, a city on the border with Donetsk - Ukraine is an hour away. My surname is actually Ukrainian. At the same time, I am an international student in Switzerland. I studied journalism and international relations, I speak 3 foreign languages, and over the past few years it seemed like I spent more time outside of Russia than inside. I have more friends across the world than in Russia, and my boyfriend comes from Lithuania - country with one of the most anti-Russian vision in the world. I know why people in Lithuania are very skeptical (use any stronger word if you want) about Russia, and me the first, I accuse my country in many possible (and sometimes impossible) sins, I criticize it a lot - honestly, I could probably do it less. But I am an educated person, and my education was built on principles of objectivity, search of truth and just logic (yes, this is the way my professors in Rostov State University taught me, in spite of the opinion that Russian journalism is dead, and Im grateful to them). So, after the OSCE talks today, I keep asking myself a question: do those people who represented the organization today have any idea about the notions with which I am familiar at my 20th? Any presentation made by my IOMBA group-mates would be deeper, more constructive and more logical, and essentially less biased, even on the level of language used. And this is not about being pro- or contra-Russian, and even not about being just, but about being an educated person, a researcher in global sense - to be à la recherche de la vérité - qui est, malheureusement, perdue. This is what I see lacking in Russian politics, but the very same thing is lacking in European politics. And the worst (in my opinion) is that these people, who were accusing one country for propaganda and shortage of opinion diversity during the talks where all three speakers had the same and very extreme point of view, - these people actually influence new generations. It is a shame when men and women far over 40 let themselves publicly make provocative statements in conditions when there is no way someone can be able to respond them (and I dont speak about bringing a Russian to the talks, it is not about nationality, but about the opinion. There are a lot of foreigners who can represent other side of the dispute - right, Andrew Korybko? and, to be precise, this dispute is not two sided, as the speakers today tried to show us - this is not true; there are much more opinions than the Russian one and the OSCE one). However, it is much more shameful when these not very decent methods of promoting very provocative opinions (such as: Russias strategy is not about getting stronger - it is impossible, - but about making everyone else weaker) actually help to influence younger people, people who have probably never been to Russia or Ukraine, for whom such talks are the only way to learn about the situation, and who really believe what they hear. That is how the girl with a question So, how do we defeat Russia? appears. This is why we are where we are now. I dont want to protect Russia, or EU, or OSCE, or anything else - except for the possibility of young people - or of just any people - to see the whole range of opinions and sides. Because if our generation manages to bring some logic and sense to the international relations, we might actually change the situation around us - and between us.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:24:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015