That wise old man, by the way, was Richard Pipes. Next to Brezhinski, he
is the most hated person of the Muskovite intelligencia - probably because
his theories hit too close to home for Russian chauvinists:
"Pipes's moral and political ideal appears to be a form of conservative
liberalism: in healthy countries, there will be a working alliance between
state and society based on private property and the rule of law. In the
medieval era, Russia failed to develop the political and social
institutions needed to sustain that kind of alliance. Following this
unpromising beginning, Russian history after 1500 was the story of the
consolidation and expansion of autocracy. However, there were also a number
of key moments, taking place at times of social upheaval or with the
appearance of certain brilliant personalities, when breakthroughs of social
evolution might have occurred. For a variety of reasons, the Russian state
or people failed to take advantage of these occasions; Russian history was
effectively a series of missed opportunities. In Pipes's framework, a lot
depends on particular individuals. Pipes suggests that Mikhail
Katkov(1818-1887), whose strong conservatism greatly influenced both
Alexander II
and Alexander III, 'bore heavy responsibility for tsarism's persistent
refusal to grant its subjects a voice in running the country' (p. 126). And
he describes Nicholas II's rejection of calls for consultations with the
zemstva in 1895 as 'the most fatal mistake committed by tsarism in the late
nineteenth century' (p. 167). He clearly believes that individuals can make
mistakes, and that these mistakes can be costly. Implicitly he also
believes that historians have a right to hold figures from the past morally
accountable for their actions. Pipes's sense that history contains a real
moral drama, and that moral judgments about the past are valid, suggests
that his worldview contains some underlying metaphysical elements."
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/532
To defeat our enemies it is important to first understand them and their
weaknesses. I trust in this post-Crimea annexation, many more Ukrainians
are now researching and coming to grips with the true Muskovite psyche.
On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 4:51 PM, Bohdan Wynnyckyj <[email protected]>wrote:
> Some wise man once said that many Russians naively believe that fear and
> respect are the same thing. They have this obsession with "greatness," yet
> have no clue about what greatness really means.
>
> On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, Francine Ponomarenko <
> [email protected]> wrote:
> > Why doesn't Moscow just ask these Russians to come home to mother
> Russia. Their population growth is low, life expectancy low, and so why
> not just repatriate these Russians home, and leave the Balts and Ukrainians
> alone.
> >
> > But it isn't about this, it is about subjugation,power and empire.
> > It's about appropriating the history of other people, and grabbing their
> land.
> > I guess he wants to show folks what a strong man he really is.
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday, 19 March 2014, <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> And so dreams of glory and imperialist expansion dance in Putin's head.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Moscow signals concern for Russians in Estonia
> >>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/19/us-russia-estonia-idUSBREA2I1J620140319
> >> By Robert Evans
> >> GENEVA | Wed Mar 19, 2014 1:03pm EDT
> >>
> >> (Reuters) -- Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's
> treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy
> in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the
> use of Russian.
> >>
> >> Russia has defended its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula by
> arguing it has the right to protect Russian-speakers outside its borders,
> so the reference to linguistic tensions in another former Soviet republic
> comes at a highly sensitive moment.
> >>
> >> Russia fully supported the protection of the rights of linguistic
> minorities, a Moscow diplomat told the United Nations Human Rights Council
> in Geneva, according to a summary of the session issued by the U.N.'s
> information department.
> >>
> >> "Language should not be used to segregate and isolate groups," the
> diplomat was reported as saying. Russia was "concerned by steps taken in
> this regard in Estonia as well as in Ukraine," the Moscow envoy was said to
> have added.
> >>
> >> The text of the Russian remarks, echoing long-standing complaints over
> Estonia's insistence that the large Russian minority in the east of the
> country should be able to speak Estonian, was not immediately available.
> >>
> >> But amid the growing Crimea crisis, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -
> which like Ukraine were all parts of the old Soviet Union - have expressed
> growing apprehension over Moscow's intentions.
> >>
> >> U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is currently in the Lithuanian capital
> Vilnius as part of a trip to reassure the three countries, all European
> Union and NATO members, of Washington's support.
> >>
> >> Ukraine told the rights council that U.N. experts had found no credible
> evidence of mistreatment of its Russian minority as alleged by Moscow --
> one of whose pro-Kremlin newspapers said this week there was "bloodshed
> almost like in Syria" in the east of the country.
> >>
> >> The new government in Kiev, a Ukrainian envoy declared, was
> reinvigorating its promotion and protection of the rights of minorities "to
> the highest international standards".
> >>
> >> The envoy asked what measures could be taken to protect Ukrainian,
> Crimean Tatar and other minority groups in Crimea "whose rights are being
> violated under the Russian occupation."
> >>
> >> Responding, the Russian delegate said there were no violations of
> minority rights in Crimea and minorities were not being persecuted. The new
> Russian-backed government there had guaranteed protection of the Tatars.
> >>
> >> (Reporting by Robert Evans; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
> >>
> >>
> >> InfoUkes Inc. Gerald William Kokodyniak
> >> Suite 185, 3044 Bloor Street West Webmaster InfoUkes Inc.
> >> Etobicoke, Ontario [email protected]
> >> Canada M8X 2Y8 http://www.infoukes.com/
> >>
> >
>
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