With recent escalation in
events between Ukraine and Russia [1] [2] [3], my friend sent me an article
written this past summer outlining Putin’s view on the affair. Although I’m not
an expert in Slavic politics and foreign relations, that doesn’t stop me from
delivering a half-baked opinion on the issue of Ukrainian independence from
Russia. I highly recommend that you as the reader read the full article below,
it’s surprisingly well written and in a more-or-less heartfelt tone:
The Putin article is
very interesting. I have only an elementary understanding of the region, and
only from the viewpoint of the Russian Orthodox Church. While it's true about
the history of the old Slavic lands, Holy Rus, and the shared use of Church
Slavonic (the old language) [4], how does the former KGB agent of all
people not realize how bad the extent of USSR propaganda is [5] [6]?
This is the same theme that
replays constantly in the world. A generation or two, or three ignorant of
history; those born after the Red Revolution of 1917 and those born during the
60+ years of Soviet rule have been completely damaged from any sort of
unification of the kind that Putin claims to seek. The Bolsheviks and
the USSR had a massive hit on the Russian Orthodox Church and desired to eliminate
it from Russian History altogether [4]. Anyone raised with a Soviet
Education would have a predisposition to hate or be wary of any appeals to
religion, especially the religion of the Tsars they overthrew and the Church
that generally supported them [7]. In theory, he should know this?
It's possible that he may have
forgotten, or that the fact that he grew up Orthodox Christian led to this sort
of blind spot. Putin's story is that his father was a middle ranking
Soviet Admin and was an atheist, but his mother was a devout Christian and
conducted her faith in hiding much like all Orthodox Christians at that time
and would educate her son on the principles of her faith. He wouldn't consider
himself a devout Christian until he had a car accident that he survived in the
80's I think. After that, he visits a church in Moscow, and meets a priest who
tutored him back to the Church. That priest would become the father of the current
head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Cyril of Moscow, who is close friends
with Putin now [8].
A possible better route for
this persuasion is to turn the tables and pull "an enemy of my enemy"
type plan. He tries it with the dirty disgusting kielbasa-dog Polish people,
but this wouldn't be effective because Russia and Poland have some shared heritage
due to geography alone [9]. Instead, it surprises me how Ukrainian
citizens never see it as odd that the U.S. suddenly had such a vast interest in
Ukraine after 2008 where we previously didn't care much for them past Communism
containment [10]. Or how the U.S., a nation of protestants (who often know
nothing of Orthodox Christianity) have such an interest in helping them develop
an independent church separate from Russia with the help of the Greek Orthodox
Church [11], which is massively indebted to the EU and NATO which is an
arm of the US military for the most part [12] [13].
The Ukrainians might be lost on
this one. Putin understands as he stated, that the Ukrainians are in
fact an asset. He wants their resources and their brains for his crumbling country.
Meanwhile, the US and the EU want their resources and their women to continue
to propagate the white race in the face of mass immigration from non-white
countries (Sarcasm, but we likely have interest in natural gas). This all
continues to be a prelude to war, boots-on-the-ground war, but why?
Do liberal politicians really
hate Russia this much? After all, many old politicians today are mentally stuck
in the Cold War Era...
Is war with Russia a cover for
the coming Chinese collapse? What happened with Evergrande is huge in China, a
war would definitely distract from the Paper Tiger...
Is this the start of the energy
wars? After we've successfully strangled our own oil supply in the west and put
our future back in the hands of OPEC, people demand cheap power again...
Maybe this is the only way out
of any coming economic hardship in the west? War is one of the best ways to
increase productivity and money, it worked after the great depression after
all…
Who knows...
References:
[1] Macron
warns against “self-fulfilling” prophecies on Ukraine-Russia risks [Internet].
[cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://news.yahoo.com/macron-warns-against-self-fulfilling-143342420.html.
[2] Why Putin is willing to risk a
catastrophic war to dominate Ukraine [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available
from:
https://news.yahoo.com/why-putin-willing-risk-catastrophic-212007239.html.
[3] Ukraine ambassador to the UK says Russian
invasion could spark nuclear disasters like Chernobyl [Internet]. [cited 2021
Dec 10]. Available from:
https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-ambassador-uk-says-russian-135917160.html.
[4] Ware T. The Orthodox Church: New Edition.
2nd edition. London, England ; New York, N.Y: Penguin Books; 1993.
[5] STALIN PROPAGANDĂ ȘI REALITATE | Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://www.rferl.org/a/27774611.html.
[6] Soldak K. This Is How Propaganda Works: A
Look Inside A Soviet Childhood [Internet]. Forbes. [cited 2021 Dec 10].
Available from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/katyasoldak/2017/12/20/this-is-how-propaganda-works-a-look-inside-a-soviet-childhood/.
[7] Eastern Orthodoxy - The church of Russia
(1448–1800) | Britannica [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy/The-church-of-Russia-1448-1800.
[8] Orthodox Church. Patriarch Cyril’s father
baptized Vladimir Putin [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qjnDWSxb4U.
[9] Divided memories, shared memories: Poland,
Russia, Ukraine [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://calenda.org/435721.
[10] Herbst SP and J. The Obama Doctrine and
Ukraine [Internet]. Brookings. 1AD [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2016/03/18/the-obama-doctrine-and-ukraine/.
[11] Ukraine Orthodox Church granted independence
from Russian Church. BBC News [Internet]. 2019 Jan 5 [cited 2021 Dec 10]; Available
from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46768270.
[12] Harress C. Greece is quickly becoming a pawn
between NATO and Russia [Internet]. Business Insider. [cited 2021 Dec 10].
Available from: https://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-quickly-becoming-a-pawn-between-nato-and-russia-2015-7.
[13] The Greek debt crisis story in numbers. BBC
News [Internet]. 2015 Jul 10 [cited 2021 Dec 10]; Available from:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33407742.
Thanks for the analysis~
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