Russia in Global Affairs

Due to their geographical location between Europe and Asia, the tolerance of Eastern Christian culture, and broad political and economic ties, Russian people are destined to play an active role in maintaining global peace. The outside world will still need Russia in the foreseeable future in order to update the ideas of dialogue and global interaction.

The struggle for “traditional values” should mean not the protection of some specific list of “values,” but the protection of the mindset that distinguishes between science and politics, public and private, rational and emotional, male and female, truth and lies, etc. All these values, in fact, make up the principles of classical liberal conservatism, which the West has rejected, opting for a “culture war” and a new version of radical modernity.

For a long time, Russia preferred to rely on the principles of realism in foreign policy. However, the very fact that Russia has thrown an open challenge to the United States and its allies in the situation around Ukraine is a significant precedent. If the “Russian rebellion” is not suppressed, the blow to US prestige could be extremely painful. Such a blow would not necessarily bring down the US leadership. However, it can become a factor in its erosion.

The collapse of the USSR shows that its current idealization can only be the result of an ideological vacuum. Undoubtedly, the idealization and mythologization of the Soviet past, especially of the late Soviet period, is, above all, a consequence of the post-Soviet trauma. But this trauma was inflicted not on Russia alone, but almost on the entire post-Soviet space.

The events of 2022—the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and the subsequent economic war of the “collective West” against Russia—have aroused speculations that the St. Petersburg period of Russian history is over. Russia is secluding itself on an “island” and turning towards Asia. The period of rapprochement between Russia and the West is closing up. The country has chosen its own civilizational path, diverging from that of Europe.

The historical roots of the current crisis between Russia and the West are partly related to Russia's three hundred-year striving for the global power status, which has undermined the country’s stamina and deepened the gap with the West. Today, this striving requires Russia to revise the very foundations of its internal development and foreign policy.

It all begins with pushing the “guilty person” to the sidelines, that is, the one who must atone for his sins in church, get closer to eternal life, etc. The place of the guilty person is taken by a kind man, a “good savage,” who is not bad by nature, is not burdened with original sin, and, therefore, is not yet spoiled by society.

The problem of radicalization motivated by fundamentalist interpretations of Islam has been faced by countries around the world for several decades. And there are no reasons to say it may be resolved in the near future.

Putin a politician and leader, not an academician. His conservatism should be judged accordingly. It is a work in progress and is part but by no means the whole of the mental apparatus he brings to his role.