Look on Asia
// The promise of Third World
When I hear that foreign policy of Russia is multi-directional, it spoils my mood at once.
I realize that a country with such geopolitical situation as Russia has various interests. Moreover, it simply cannot afford to neglect any of these interests. Moscow tries to be active on various directions, and it is only natural that it sometimes collides with other large players.
The rub is in Russia’s self-perception. Russian elite either does not want, or can not separate current and changing politics from the basic question of identity, that is to which civilization Russia in fact belongs.
Thus, when political and economic competition with western nations becomes especially tense, it immediately leads to denial of key principles of western pattern. It suddenly turns out that Russia cannot live up to fundamental values of the European civilization, or adopt its historic traditions or society structure. European democracy contradicts Russian reality. Russian values are exclusively original, and history is so unique that foreign experience is of no use to Russia at all.
Strategic game, inciting the competition between consumers of Russian raw materials, for instance, is a usual means. Yet, the means becomes the goal in the mind of propagandists. They say Russia should not walk together with stagnating, entangled in their own problems, and hypocritical European countries, but should follow developing Asia.
Together with promoting such ideas, it would be good if they also explained the recipe of Asian (Chinese, for instance) “miracle” to the people—the recipe based on the lack of social support system, cruel exploitation of labor force, and careless attitude to nature. Another country now fashionable with pro-Asian propagandists is India. India gives a lesson on how to preserve democratic political system in extremely unfavorable conditions, and, what is more, be proud of it, instead of considering it an evil imposed by British colonialists.
The first thing Russia will learn, if it listens to anti-West agitators and turns to Asia, is that Asian countries will never consider Russia to be an Asian state. The fact that largest part of Russian land is behind the Ural mountains, thus making it a great Asian state, will persuade anyone except the Asian countries proper. They may regard Russia differently, but will never accept it as “theirs”. Asia strongly believes Russia is a European country, and a part of European politics.
Despite a very complicated perception of Russia by European countries, the latter still regard it as a part of Europe as well. After all, it is not out of malignancy that Moscow was demanded to comply with humanistic “nonsense”, but because Russia was considered a part of European cultural and political scope. Nowadays, Europe rather switched to business from humanistic issues. I see no reason why this change should make our compatriots so happy. Perhaps, they are tired of social and legal security, imposed on Russia by ill-wishing Europe.
So far, it looks like Russia, more than anyone, denies its European essence. Analysts promise economic leadership by 2050 to Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and this promise leads Russia away from European patterns and values, not only in economy, but also in politics and perception of the world. Strange as it may seem, Russia is ready to voluntarily follow not the developed world, to which it belonged for the larger part of its history, but the developing one.
There is one consolation, though: Russia will never manage to do it. The reason for it being that Russia shares in the classical European approach to Third World. Just like leading European nations, Russia deeply believes in its own superiority.
Fedor Lukyanov, editor in chief of Russia in Global Politics magazine
All the Article in Russian as of June 20, 2006
|
