Victor Erofeyev: Russia's Imperial Crutches
[Victor Erofeyev is a Russian writer and television host. Translated from the Russian by the International Herald Tribune.]
Once again, Russia has found itself at a crossroads. The reason may not seem all that significant in itself: After the recent restoration of the gaudy Kurskaya station on the Moscow Metro, there appeared for the first time in half a century, in full view of all the passengers, the word “Stalin,” which was implanted in the underground ensemble in a line from the national anthem of his time glorifying the leader of all peoples. Thus did Stalin’s ghost come back to haunt not only the Metro, but all of Russia.
This appeared as a Rubicon. To cross it would be to start anew on the whole glorious path of Soviet imperialism. But President Dmitri Medvedev, in his last two broadcasts over the Internet, tried to blow up the bridges.
First, he declared that Russia is in need of a radical — though not violent — modernization. Bureaucrats froze: A coup? Or powerless rhetoric from a Putin puppet? Then Mr. Medvedev affirmed that human values were more valuable than state values and declared that Stalinist crimes were a bitter truth whose concealment was equivalent to a falsification of history.
All this was done so decisively and definitively that it seemed to be either the desperation of a person who understands that his country is rushing toward the abyss, or an attempt to win Western support for Mr. Medvedev’s own, non-Putin politics, and strengthen his international image.
In any case, I — for all my skepticism about any Kremlin initiative — declare my support for Mr. Medvedev, because, ladies and gentlemen, we have hit bottom. It all began with the Kremlin’s declaration, not long before the financial crisis, that Russia is rising from its knees. But a large body needs help to get up. In this case, the chosen instrument of assistance was imperial crutches. But where were they to be found? All the neighboring countries of the former U.S.S.R. not only declined to serve as crutches, but, like children during a school break, ran away (for the most part toward Europe)...
Read entire article at NYT
Once again, Russia has found itself at a crossroads. The reason may not seem all that significant in itself: After the recent restoration of the gaudy Kurskaya station on the Moscow Metro, there appeared for the first time in half a century, in full view of all the passengers, the word “Stalin,” which was implanted in the underground ensemble in a line from the national anthem of his time glorifying the leader of all peoples. Thus did Stalin’s ghost come back to haunt not only the Metro, but all of Russia.
This appeared as a Rubicon. To cross it would be to start anew on the whole glorious path of Soviet imperialism. But President Dmitri Medvedev, in his last two broadcasts over the Internet, tried to blow up the bridges.
First, he declared that Russia is in need of a radical — though not violent — modernization. Bureaucrats froze: A coup? Or powerless rhetoric from a Putin puppet? Then Mr. Medvedev affirmed that human values were more valuable than state values and declared that Stalinist crimes were a bitter truth whose concealment was equivalent to a falsification of history.
All this was done so decisively and definitively that it seemed to be either the desperation of a person who understands that his country is rushing toward the abyss, or an attempt to win Western support for Mr. Medvedev’s own, non-Putin politics, and strengthen his international image.
In any case, I — for all my skepticism about any Kremlin initiative — declare my support for Mr. Medvedev, because, ladies and gentlemen, we have hit bottom. It all began with the Kremlin’s declaration, not long before the financial crisis, that Russia is rising from its knees. But a large body needs help to get up. In this case, the chosen instrument of assistance was imperial crutches. But where were they to be found? All the neighboring countries of the former U.S.S.R. not only declined to serve as crutches, but, like children during a school break, ran away (for the most part toward Europe)...