Will Russia ever make the West happy for long? Muyanja Ssenyonga
It was a bashing for real. An article appeared in one Newspaper
decrying Gazprom’s tactics to screw out more money
from Ukraine
for the supply of Russian gas. It unveiled long memories. Recalling the days
when we are at school, High school to be exact, I cant forget the phrase ‘Russian
bear’ coined by some Russophobes in then powerful England. The image was featured in
one of those history textbooks that one couldn’t dare fail having, save passing
Advanced level examinations was on the lowest rung of your pecking order. Apparently,
hopefully I made right interpretation then, the bearish Image portended the perception
Britons , as the most powerful nation on mother earth, had
about large Slav state, under Rumanovs, to the
East.
The
failure of one of the extinguished War Generals, France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, to bring Russia to its shaky knees, didn’t lessen the fears Britain had of ever losing their
hegemony on World power , to the bearded debauchery-loving ‘Bear’. The juvenile
simple and apparently simplistic
mind, couldn’t figure out the whys
and hows, the
image of a nation depicted as bear about to pounce on (call it maraud, however
scavenge should be more to it), a meek, nimble, helpless being, came to
underpin the relationship between Jingoistic Britons and Vodka ‘loving’
Russians. What is obvious it became indelible to this day and beyond. This treatise attests to that. Many wars were fought, driven by the sole aim of bringing
the Russian bear to its knees, using any means possible, direct and
otherwise, overt and covert. Such
skirmishes involving the two nations were ostensibly caused by other factors, yet
in fact the Russian Phobia was behind public support for any engagement
involving Britain
and Russian empire.
The most spectacular was of course the Crimean
war 1850s, most likely an attempt at gaining a foothold on the gates on Russian
empire where British, ended up laying bare great mishaps and blunders, perhaps only lessened
by humility and caring services of Florence Nightingale. The
Balkan wars that ranged in the second half of the 19th century, and were directly
responsible for catapulting the World into World, at least that is what most
reliable sources say; though praised as attempts at nationalities under the yoke of subjugation
to win their self –determination were supported by Britain simply because the
virtual collapse of the Habsburg Empire
in 1866, has left only one stumbling block in the way, toward opening Russia to
balkanization-the vast Ottoman empire. The collapse of the Turkish empire, would leave Russia bare,
making it easier for its collapse, if not in the short run, certainly in the
long haul. One shouldn’t forget the Russian-Japan war in early 1900s, in which
Britain , not surprisingly, Emperor Hiro Hito’s Japan , which
turned the tables against the Russian Bear, as it lost the skirmish. Then came the communist regime. As if
social-political events were in favor of perpetuating the rivalry between the
two peoples(you can call it nations), Vradimir Lenin,
having imbibed all that Karl Max and Fredrick Engels
could think of putting down as their postulation of political theory, brought
the Romanov Russia under Marxism-which of course true
to their likes, he christened it Leninism. From 1917 to 1991, Russian influence
had a stranglehold over last expanse of territory in much of former Habsburg
and part of Ottoman empires. The world saw one of the most vicious battles
fought ostensible for the sake of helping countries under austere and
oppressive regimes to achieve self determination, and out of sheer philanthropy. The
friction between the two nations sharpened with the rise and fall of Hitler. Herr Hitler , vicious
as he was tried to achieve what Napoleon had failed to do, defeat the Russians
(this time they were professed ardent communists).
Failure was to be his reward, and once Russia proved
unconquerable, the march was on to the West to pre-empt any further incursions,
Russians should have argued. By the end
of the Second World War, large swathes of the Eastern
Europe were to be under the loathed Russian bear. And worse still,
Britain, was no longer the power it once was, hence there was
nothing much it could do. Did I say not much? Not exactly.
Having lost its helm as the most powerful
nation on Nation to its Anglo-Saxon mentor, United
States, Britain
would henceforth back any efforts and moves that sought to roll back the
influence of Russia in Europe. The chance to strengthen the resolve presented
itself when Russia refused
to be part of the Marshall plan,(it would have sounded ironical if it did being a avowed
self-reliant communist), the Berlin Blockade,
and Russian incursions into then Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The war was on, only this time, not between Britain and its Russian bear foe, rather a
united democratic Europe under threat of an
impending communist apocalypse. Wars were not only fought in Europe, but moved
South in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Definitely, at the time, no one could have the audacity to attribute
such wars to the long running rivalries between Britain
and Russia(Soviet
Union it had become). That was then. A closer look doesn’t lead one to any other
conclusion. The first person to praise Mikael Golbachev
for his ‘business like’ manner was the Iron lady, Margaret Thatcher. The praise
was never lost to Mr Gorby,
who embarked on Perestroika(restructuring) and Glasnost (openness). We all wondered how
such tenets would apply in a regime whose strengths lay in the very antithesis
of the two policies above. In less than a decade, other Soviets were demanding Glanost and restructuring of their own, to which of course
fervent support was given by Britain(this
time carrying the torches of NATO, EC, and the democratic west. Unable to reverse the trend, Mr Gorby seeing his helm falling
asunder, realizing the tumultuous trend he had been hoodwinked into, by such ‘emboldening’ and welcome into the
fold flatteries’ , took counter measure too late, and if not by sheer luck
would have cost him his life, forget his Presidency. Sensing the benefits of enjoying liberties
were under threat, the
liberal Moscow Major, Yeltsin, galvanized his troops, to demand for Russian
exit out of the Soviet Union.
The center of the edifice was asunder, what was
happening in the periphery, is anybody’s guess. Having visited free America, and drank to debauchery its life, wealth,
liberty, name it, it should have dawned on him, that that was the kind of society Russia wanted.
Of course, it is doubtful whether he knew how long, the 102 or so storied mansions, pervasive liberties,
institutions, and immense wealth, had taken Americans to build. For him it was
‘now or never’. Doubtless, the West could give him the advice to more slowly,
as it would lengthen the death of the long-loathed Russian Bear. Headlong, the
guy moved, bombarded parliament into submission, and there he went on his
ill-fated economic liberalization binge! And this was a
nation that had had no experience in running a privatization program,
more so on the scale that went on in Russia. Hardly were there any
institutions to conduct the identification, valuation, and selling. To most
Russians, having been under Communism for close to 78 years, private property
should have sounded sinister.
Which was perhaps why they didn’t
bother when the bureaucracy , easy to learn the new lessons of free market,
capital, money , wealth, and good life, from what would become their western
counterparts, saw the laxity and lack of all manner of state mechanisms and procedures, divided
state assets amongst themselves, becoming nouve riche
billionaires, we are now reading about in the papers. No complaints
were made then by anybody when state assets fell into the hands of those very
individuals who were supposed to conduct the privatization process.
Chaos and anarchy could hardly be avoided. The 1998 Russian economic crisis
attests to the immense cost ordinary Russians had to pay for faults that
weren’t their own. Even then, If you are an ardent
news reader you should have seen how disparaging Russia was depicted: the most
telling was Yeltsin’s weird dancing, and antics, that arose from his intense
liking of the bottle. This was a Russia following the lines drawn by
those it thought were its
forerunners in the drive for
better democracy, economy, and
social welfare. Yet the economy was falling into tatters as state assets
were stripped off, ordinary people fell hungry as the replacement of the
collapsed state planning machinery was not yet in place. I
am sure Russian endured because they knew it was cost worth paying. However,
the 1998 convulsion
delivered the most clear message to them: there is never even free lunch.
The falling Ruble lead to an
upsurge in prices of all manner of goods. Liberalization was in town, but it was very clear to them that , money to buy the abundant products in shops was no
where. Economic liberalization doesn’t per se better social welfare. News
papers could of course fail to show the suffering Russians, of course no bear, word
this time. It should have sounded sweet victory to those schemers who had been
dreaming of a time when a huge Russia genuflects, seeks for bail outs, for this
was what Russia came to. Perhaps
Russians, has seen enough of many empty promises and few tangible results. Even
Yelsin, grogy as he often
looked, should have realized that some mistakes were made and needed
correcting. Then came the almost stoic, austere Putin. True to his background( Russian intelligence
agency), he has ushered in democracy, albeit truncated; restored normality (the
Russian economy is now one of the most resilient economies, reigned in economic
Czars who couldn’t pay taxes due, continued with privatization(but on Russian
terms). Surprising the resurgence of Russia has received cool reception
from newsmen. Bringing order into Russia, which has made the country less of a
hell run than it was prior to Putin’s
Presidency, hasn’t won much praise
either. Putin is accused of stifling democracy and a threat to
private enterprise. And efforts have been underway to box Russia in. This
is discernible in the NATO and European Union expansion to the East; the
vicious remarks about Putin’s role in Ukraine and Georgia,
support for Uzbeskistan’s Nazabayev,
and disruption of gas supplies to Georgia and Armenia. Oh. How one even dream of forgetting the
recent spat over the exotic spying rock, should have said rocks, pitting Britain and Russia?
A resumption of Cold war gimmicks
and antics of espionage accusations and counter accusations? Perhaps not.
Nonetheless, by the looks of
things, try as it may, Russia’s
acceptance into the unity of nations, as
an equal let alone, influential nation ,
will continue to face old stubborn habits that may take long to overcome, if ever. .even if this
the 21st century I
recall! Anyway, it sometimes happens, didn’t one wit say, countries don’t have
permanent friends or enemies, but permanent interests! ...and there is some
thought, for sure!