The West鈥檚 real struggle with Moscow
Twenty-six countries have now joined in solidarity with Britain and expelled more than a hundred Russian envoys over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in England. In return, Moscow plans its own retaliation.聽
It is difficult to predict if this expulsion battle might escalate to a serious confrontation. And that鈥檚 why Western leaders must be clear on what message of peace to send to the Russian people.
The message should be that Russians can still make a choice on how to be ruled. President Vladimir Putin may be popular, a result largely of heavy media manipulation, elimination of key opponents, and an exaggeration of foreign threats. But at the root, it is popularity based on a false choice between a promise of stability, safety, and national greatness over a society built on liberty and democracy.
In truth, Russians can have both.
The March 4 murder attempt on a Russian traitor fits a pattern of recent actions aimed at ensuring obedience to the Kremlin and, as Putin puts, to maintaining national unity around a national identity.
He often reminds Russians that the country suffered two revolutions in the 20th century, both of which disrupted the country鈥檚 traditions and culture. Now he asserts that Russia should claim its rightful role as a 鈥渟tate civilization.鈥澛�
He defines that civilization as one 鈥渞einforced by the Russian people, Russian language, Russian culture, Russian Orthodox Church and the country鈥檚 other traditional religions.鈥� And to achieve this unique identity requires a strong ruler who embodies this mission and the state.
Based on past speeches, Putin also believes the project of building Russia as a distinct civilization is threatened by what he calls 鈥渆xtreme Western-style liberalism.鈥� Russia has its own values, he says, and they may not include the universal values of individual rights, an open society, rule of law, or true plural democracy. In fact, those values could threaten the 鈥渟tate civilization鈥� of Russia, especially his strong rule.
This is the real struggle, more so than tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats or other flare-ups between the West and Russia. Is the world really divided between democratic rule and the notion of nationalist civilization?
The West鈥檚 responses to any Kremlin provocation must include the idea that Russia can be built on more than culture, traditions, bloodlines, or 鈥渢raditional religions.鈥� All people are capable of expressing democratic principles such as equality, freedom, or respect for minority views.
In fact, Putin鈥檚 attempt to ensure Russia remains a great power will require that he loosen his iron grip and open up society to alternative views that allow innovation and growth. The economy is one-fourteenth the size of that of United States and struggling to survive.
Today鈥檚 civilizations thrive on civil rights, or a view of the individual as empowering the state, not the other way around.
