Few days ago I finished reading “Stalin: Court of the Red
Czar” by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Fascinating read that paints detailed picture
of the times when “Man of Steel” ruled Soviet Union. When Stalin would order
murder of a thousand his henchmen would kill two, just to make sure that they
don’t miss those that the boss wanted killed. His most trusted killer,
Lavrentiy Beria executed Stalin’s orders with zeal of the religious disciple,
always, like others, making sure that he goes extra step, just in the case. Montefiore
quotes in his book that, regardless of his communist credentials, Beria went on
record saying, “He would love to see the day when his kids would go to
Cambridge or Oxford to get their education”. Coincidentally, the New York Times
published an article on Russia the same day that I finished reading the book.
In the article they analyzed consequence of the recent ban on foreign adoptions
of Russian orphans and some even more recent recommendations of members of
Putin’s party that would further distance Russia form the West. Seeing that
“New Czar” is determined to severe connections with the West his “Berias” are
competing who will come with more drastic measures. One of the recommendations was to legally
sanction practice of sending children of Russian leaders to Western schools.
Beria’s dream came true in last twenty years.
Many Russian young people have enjoyed their ability to attend schools
outside of the country and, as I believe, that could have only positive effects
on their development and for the Russia in general. Traveling and interacting
with others is enriching and eye opening, I know that very well from my
personal experience. In order to exert control over his people Putin and his
camarilla need to severe as many connections with foreign world as
possible. Leader of a country that possess
enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire planet multiple times should have
very difficult time explaining to his people why should they fear any
particular entity in the world. In order to forge national unity at the times
where there are no many reasons to fear, Putin and his apparatus have to be
very crafty. If George W. Bush was able to get his way with Iraq and its alleged
weapons of mass destruction, in country with free press, what then Putin can do
in the country where he has de facto despotic powers. Wheels of our human,
especially democratic, development turn forward very slowly. In USA it took
hundred years to liberate slaves and then another hundred to give them right to
vote and then another fifty to have the first black president. It took us two
hundred years to develop sanctity of the habeas corpus and than ten years of
the “War on Terror” to roll it back. And all this is happening in a democracy.
When wheels of progress spring back, they go at a ten-fold speed. We could see
this in Russia before revolution. From agrarian country, Soviets, by 1937,
turned Russia into land of starvation and cannibalism. In former Yugoslavia
fifty years worth of progress was gone in smoke in couple of months in
1991-1992. Countries of former Yugoslavia, other than Slovenia, have been
rebuilding themselves at snail speed since acquiring huge debt in the process.
Putin is on his way to undo the entire gain of the democratic progress in
Russia and, with his apparatchiks eager to make him happy, things could get very
ugly very fast. Greatest victims will be Russians themselves but newly
independent state in “near abroad” could pay the price as well.
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