Russia -- The Empire of Tyranny

frontpagemag.com ^ | May 19, 2005 | Askar Askarov

[lizol]

Ping!

[RusIvan]

Yeah:). Someone Askar Askarov is "expert" on Russia since he is himself one of asiatic origins looking on his name:).

Lizol don't you get tired to read those "experts" who knows of what guuter they came from? Or they glad your anti-russian feelings.
I beleive that guy speaks russian language maybe good and it is all of his expertise.

[Wiz]

ping!

[GSlob]

In his search for the explanations he should have gone much deeper in the past, to Bysantine traditions of statism.

[lizol]

I just found this article interesting.

My impression is, that it's not anti-Russian, but rather anti-Putinist (just like me).

I don't think it's the same.

[sergey1973]

OK--what's the authors offers instead of "Great Russia" ? Russia disintegrating along ethnic lines into pieces ? What are geopolitical consequences of that ? I.e. what happens if North Caucasus falls into hands of the likes of Shamil Basayev--will it be democracy or Islamist State bent on spreading "jihad" ? What happens with underpopulated Far East--Will Overpopulated China look calm at disintegration of Russia and won't try to grab Far East and Siberia ? What exactly author suggests should happen to Russia, so it can become successful democracy ?

There are plenty of multiethnic countries around the world that are successfull democracies. As for his criticism of Empires, Empires existed as long as civilization existed and some of the empires brought a lot of good to this world. British Empire tried to instill (with mixed results) culture of parlamentarism and democracy on its former territories. Roman Empire was a beacon of civilization in Europe and North Africa incomprarably better than what succeeded it--Dark Ages of Barbarism in Europe for about 6 centuries and Islamic Conquest of North Africa.

The problem was not that Russia was (and arguably somewhat still is) an empire of different people. The problem was what kind of Empire Russia Was--oppressive, brutally authocratic heavily centralized, etc. It's true that Putin is just unable due to his KGB mentality to find any better model for Russia. However, what Russia needs is a decentralization (not disintegration) with Central Authorities having minimal powers like foreign policy and defense, while localities should have majority of powers. Putin done quite a few awful things to Russian development. However, the alternatives to Putin and overall centuries old authocratic model of Russia should be something better than disintegration.

[redfreedom]

" - - - Central Authorities having minimal powers like foreign policy and defense, while localities should have majority of powers."

Sounds similar to the original formula for the USA.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Isn't Ivan the father of the Russian nation and called by its own people, "the Terrible". There just may be something in that.

[GSlob]

"What exactly author suggests should happen to Russia, so it can become [a] successful democracy?"
Well, there are some hints in Huntington's "Clash" on what would need to happen to achieve such a desirable outcome. Briefly, the Russians (for nobody else could do it for them) would need to reassess and analyze their own cultural identity, and discard those parts of it which have been the main impediment to their social development through ages. Actually, vampirialism is the least of these. Otherwise, back into the pile, using the words of Alexander Zinoviev ("Ziyayushchie Vysoty" = "Yawning Heights"):
"Ya kucheyu gorzhus', v kotoroi ya sizhu,
I zad rukovodyashchii predanno lizhu"
[I'm proud of the pile [of sh*t] I'm sitting in,
And I lick the boss's derriere with devotion].

[RusIvan]

I don't think it's the same.==

For you it is same if you find this article interesting..
As I said this article invoke vibes of your mind or soul.

For example this passage: "..What is most disturbing about today’s Russia is not Vladimir Putin per se, but the fact that Putin represents the mindset of a great many Russians. It helps to know that unlike Peter the Great, Lenin or Stalin, Vladimir Putin has actually been elected to presidency by the majority of the Russian people. .."

"..Unlike every other European colonial power that has apologized for the wrongdoings of the past, Russia to this day has not renounced imperialism. Russia, to be sure, remains an empire. Besides its genocidal oppression against Chechens, Russia has imposed a direct presidential rule over the Tatars, Bashkurts, and tens of other nationalities against their wishes. .."

You say that you anti-Putin but mostly you critisize Russia an donly Russia. Don't disgise yourself.

This article is full of stamps and stereotypes of pure russophobia and hence beneath comtempt. Probably author ancestry of being non-russian "oppressed" in his Kyrgizia (his name tells that) invokes on him "genetic memory" of his "flogged" ass:)).

[RusIvan]

Otherwise, back into the pile, using the words of Alexander Zinoviev ("Ziyayushchie Vysoty" = "Yawning Heights"):==

Zinoviev wrote this about soviet life and communism. You know that? He hated communist but you - Russia.

[PhilDragoo]

Russia’s current economic output is less than that of Los Angeles county alone.

It's Bush's fault.

[GSlob]

These few lines of his are an accurate summary of all known Russian history in its psychosociological aspect, not just of its soviet period - he built better than he knew. As they say: if the shoe fits, wear it. And the wilful denial of so simple a fact is rooted in precisely one more of the cultural identity elements in need of discarding, namely civilizational inferiority complex.
Other well known summaries (predictions, actually) of different aspects of Russian history were made by Vladimir ca. AD 990: "veselie Rusi est' piti" ="the joy of Russia is to drink" and even earlier (ca. AD 762) by Gostomysl, regarding the size of the territory and the absence of civil order [or what passed for civil society, rather] in it.
As an aside, one Karl Marx characterized pre-soviet Russia of mid-19 century as "asiatic despotism". Well, the soviet period was, if anything, even more asiatic and despotic. What he was looking at were manifestations of the same elements of cultural identity which are impeding the progress there.

[jb6]

What exactly author suggests should happen to Russia, so it can become successful democracy ?

This is typical tripe. They hate Russia and don't think past that. These are the same people who wanted to get rid of the Tsar and destroy the Russian Empire for years. They gave Trotsky lots of money. Well congrads. Thanks to the exact same idjits, we had Communism International, Nazis, WW2, the Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam, Afghanistan, the various trajedies of Africa, etc and a resurgent Islam. But why admit that the original plan screwed up to kill 300 million people, we'll just continue with the same brain dead stupidity.

[jb6]

Gslob says he came from the Soviet Union, I wonder what nationality. He dispised Russians with no end to his hatred and has never passed up an opportunity to dig out the racism. His heart is black, leave him be, it's not worth getting your hands dirty. God sees the evil in his heart.

[jb6]

These few lines of his are an accurate summary of all known Russian history in its psychosociological aspect, not just of its soviet period

Gee, your usual racism is boiling up really well on this site. For a blacker heart you'd have to mix it up with the Klan or the Aryan Nation types.

[jb6]

That's why according to the CIA World Fact Book, in PPP terms its $1.28 trillion. So since the dollar has fallen 20% everyone in the world became richer by 20%? Your statement and direct GDP conversion upholds that theory.

[jb6]

Fact is, in Russia you can feed a family of 3 well for a month on $60. In the US that wouldn't cover 1 week. A dollar is a dollar is a dollar not. Even within America there are huge differences. Do a cost of living comparison between LA and Houston.

[jb6]

Ivan Grozny (the Feared) is not the father of the nation. Demitry Donetsk threw off the yoke of the Mongols. Ivan the Great built up a large state. Ivan Grozny was an insane ruler. His son Feador was the last of the Rurik line of princes who first ruled Kieven Russ, the true foundation of the state. Moscow was a small town when Kieven Russ fell to the Mongols. The capital was supposed to move further east then Moscow to Vladimer, the second largest city (Novograd the original capital was the 3rd largest, Kiev became the capital after Novograd). When the Metropolitan See moved from Kiev (which was annexed by the Catholic Lithuanians) it refused Vladimer and moved to Moscow.