On Russia, Europe and US: New Year Dreams

MOSCOW, December 29 (Sputnik), Vitaly Tretyakov – I’m well past the age when people believe in Father Frost and his New Year presents. However, a piece written on the eve of a New Year implies a certain state of dreaminess.

More often than not, you can’t change or redo things that have already been done, be they good or bad. This is especially true regarding policies – the policies of the great powers in particular – which are usually quite inertial, being based on centuries old historical traditions.

Even outbreaks of revolutionary change rarely alter politics as such, except for the so called ‘great revolutions’. There was one such revolution in Russia’s history, by the way.

The world was taken by surprise by Crimea’s reunification with Russia. But while some were pleasantly surprised, and others were merely puzzled by this development, yet another group – the West – was frightened.

I believe that in our country’s recent history (starting from 1991), in terms of importance – Crimea’s reunification with Russia can only be compared with Yeltsin’s resignation in 1999. And for Russia’s policy as measured on a historical scale, this event, this reunification was logical and inevitable. Now if it didn’t happen, then… But now is the time for my New Year dreams that, of course, will never come to pass – but let’s imagine that they would.

Imagine that members of the US ruling elite suddenly realize that no one ever issued them a mandate to govern the world. And that those who seized such a mandate would then lose it – first its moral aspect, then the mandate itself. And, most importantly, that you don’t have to wait for others to seize that mandate from you or become too decrepit to hold on to it. And so the US ruling elite would decide to stop meddling in the affairs of foreign civilizations and the rest of the world’s countries.

I’m certain that as soon as the US recalls all of its advisors from Ukraine, and stops participating in the "settlement” of domestic Ukrainian matters and the Russia-Ukraine relations, the aforementioned settlement (without quotation marks this time) would advance by leaps and bounds, and in a few months peace would be restored in the region (though it would take more time to bring prosperity there).

Imagine that Europeans would become tired of being Washington’s vassals, and that they would understand that their countries no longer require the US military’s protection, because no one is seeking to attack Europe. And that the greatest threat to the European civilization comes from within, as Europe becomes more and more alienated from its roots. And that as soon as Europe (along with the US) stops meddling in the affairs of other countries, let alone whole civilizations, no foreign terrorist would seek to sow chaos in European cities.

And imagine that the European Union would realize that Europe is also comprised of non-EU countries. That in the eastern part of our continent lies a giant country that extends across Europe (extends naturally, not in the form of colonies) into Asia, to the very shores of the Pacific Ocean. And that this country called Russia has equal rights with Paris, Brussels, Berlin and London to determine the way of things in the Old World.

And that the salvation of the European civilization could only be achieved with the help of Russia, while the EU confrontation with the latter means, at best, the weakening of Europe and the way to speed up its demise – demographical, political, moral and economical.

And what if the European Union would understand that Russia – the state of countries and nations – is an eastern analogue of the EU? And that just as Moscow doesn’t seek to dictate to Paris and Berlin how to do things on the shores of Loire and Rhine, so should the European capitals (along with Washington and Stockholm) refrain from telling Russians what they should and shouldn’t do on the shores of the Volga and Dnieper. The Dnieper River, by the way, originates in Russia and runs almost 500 kilometers on Russian territory, while Russian people settled on its shores both within and without the boundaries of Russian Federation for thousands of years.

And what if the Western EU would understand that Russia as the Eastern EU would never relinquish its sovereignty to anyone — especially to its civilization-equals, the US and the EU…

Furthermore, if this last part is understood by the pro-Western sympathizers within Russia, considering that their so called ‘Westernism’ implies the necessity to surrender the Eastern EU’s sovereignty to its Western counterpart, and to reshape the former in accordance with the common European standards…

Imagine that people both within and without Russia would understand that it is absurd to treat Russia as some sort of a historically failed state. How could you consider a country that’s over 1150 years old – the last 530 of which were a time of absolute and continuous independence – a failed state? And during these five centuries, every time that someone sought to threaten Russia’s independence (and such attempts were numerous), the country would immediately put aside all of its internal feuds and immediately (from a historical point of view) restore its independence.

One should keep in mind that there were very few such examples in the world’s history. And if since 1480 no one managed to destroy Russia’s sovereignty, no one would definitely be able to achieve such a feat today.

Imagine that a significant portion of our ruling class and of the so called Moscow elite, those who tainted their image with collaborationist thoughts, speeches and actions, would realize that they’re not the salt of the earth. That they, just like all those Sigismunds, Karls, Napoleons and Hitlers, not to mention False Dmitriys, won’t be able to buy the support of Russia’s people with jamon, parmesan and other ‘European values’. Not to mention that there’s a shortage of Napoleons in Europe today, though there are Sigismunds aplenty – and just like in early 17th century, they won’t be able to defeat Russia.

And one other thing (if you dream, you should dream big): what if Russia’s ruling elite and Moscow’s chattering classes would realize that Russian people do not require ‘modernizations’, ‘improvements’ and ‘Europeanizations’ of any kind? That just like any other nation, it is good by itself, and the great Eurasian power built by these people serves as a testament to its status. That they should improve themselves, by working tirelessly to preserve their country and its well-being, to show the people that they’re worthy of being called elite. And maybe they would also understand that the Russians’ love of the state stems directly from their mistrust of the ruling class. And that the more the elite would promote Conchita Wurst as a cultural icon instead of Natasha Rostova and Anna Karenina, the more Katerina Izmailovas they would get.

I could also dream of a great many things, but I believe that it already became clear how greatly the situation in the world would change if at least some of the things mentioned above would come to pass.

By the way, just like Europe, Russia suffers from a certain form of haughtiness (which only grows stronger as phony experts both within and without seek to impose an inferiority complex on Russia). According to a saying attributed to several politicians from countries that had made attempts to invade Russia, "Russia is never as strong as it thinks it is.” This is the nature of our Russian haughtiness. But on the other hand, Russia is never as weak as others think it is.

And while we work to overcome the first, the second will forever remain a historical constant.

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