I am really sorry to say that, you seem to be an authoritative figure on
Russia (I saw your interview on BBC I think) but your remark about 1917 and
1991 is typical of what I hear from many Westerners. To characterise such
complex event as the Russian revolution with the subsequent horrendous civil
war that lasted for 4 years as a clear warning to Russians against
authoritarianism is a gross simplification. I am a bit taken aback to hear
that from you. Even Ray pointed out today that the freedoms and education
women got were very good. You would prefer Russian women to still be
illiterate servants? Or work from the age of 8 like my grandmother did
before the revolution? I know you wouldn't.
Also, how can you persuade people that the soviet system was an "unreliable
arrangement" if ALL the main macro statistics show a sharp deterioration for
the majority of population? Honestly, did you know that life expectancy now
is 9 years lower than in 1991? It's a stunning change, comparable to losses
in a war.
I call the western attitude to the Soviet Union the greatest historical
fraud of the 20th century. You need a great deal of effort to block the main
information channels and create such one-sided view among the majority of
the westerners, to completely conceal the achievements and exaggerate the
problems. Until this is resolved there can't really be a dialogue. Andreas,
please don't take it personally, I see this informational bias as a
by-product of the cold war.
As to democracy in modern Russia, I am not such a "maximalist" as your
Russian friends, I would aim for gradual improvements (and I think the USSR
should have been modernised, not maximalistically thrown to the bin). But I
am not surprised about their views. There is a good book by prof. Vasilenko,
"Dialog civilizaciy", where she points out that the Russian national
character has always been very "maximalistskiy" ... What can do you about
it? Try to transform Russians into people with a different mentality? Or
perhaps transform westerners to something closer to Russian mentality? I
think solution is simple: we need to try to understand each other.
Best wishes,
Alexander
-----Original Message-----
From: On all aspects of Russia and the FSU
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andreas Umland
Sent: 08 May 2008 20:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Utopianism & pragmatism in assessing Russia's polity
Alexander's remark is typical of what one hears from many Russians: As there
is no real democracy anyway, at least not in the West, why bother about
possible democratic deficiencies in Russia?
The principal issue seems to be here that, in the West, these subjects
are mostly discussed from the point of view of democratic theory whereas
many Russians discuss them, paradoxically, from the point of view of
democratic utopia: As there is no and never was true democracy (and, one
coud add: never will be), there is not that much difference between Britain
and Russia, the US and China, Switzerland and North Korea...
This is a fascinating combination of democratic maximalism with political
machiavellianism.
The one argument that speaks against such seeming political pragmatism is
that almost all of the world's economically and socially more successful
countries are those that have been or/and are trying to be as democratic as
possible. Granted, the various more or less democratic countries do that
with rather varying success. Still, many Western and non-Western countries
would, at least, seem to be trying. Though Russia is today trying many
things, being more democratic is not among Moscow's current policy
priorities.
The latter makes many foreigners unhappy and some Westerners, like for
example those worrying about the future of Strasbourg's European Court for
Human Rights, angry. However, in the end, the most unhappy people will be
not any Western "russophobes", but the Russians themselves. As, one would
think, they should know from the experience of 1917 and 1991, authoritarian
polities constitute unreliable arrangements for organizing modern nations.
These regimes, sooner or later, collapse. And their nations have to pay the
bill.
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