Next Generation of Russians Will Be More Anti-Western than Current One, Chesnokov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 20 – “If present trends continue,” Edvard Chesnokov says, “the next generation of Russian rulers will be even more anti-Western than the present one,” the result of the West’s double standards when it comes to Russia and recognition by Russia’s rulers that they must stand up to such pressure.

            The Komsomolskaya pravda special correspondent says this represents a repeat of what happened at the end of the 1930s when the Soviets celebrated the centenary of Pushkin’s death even as they continued to promote communism around the world (rubaltic.ru/article/politika-i-obshchestvo/20210920-pridut-zlye-russkie-novye-lidery-rossii-budut-po-nastoyashchemu-antizapadnymi/).

            That is “exactly what happens when we are on the brink of destruction, and there is no other way out but to promote the Russification of Russia,” something that will inevitably produce ever-more anti-Russian attitudes among not only Russian leaders but also the Russian population as a whole.

            Indeed, Chesnokov suggests, the population is likely to lead rather than follow in this respect because too many members of the top elite are still infected with communist-era faith in friendship of the peoples or with the idea that international cooperation is not only desirable but possible in the world as it exists today.

            As this occurs, Moscow will expand on something that constitutes its “real strength,” its ability to appeal abroad to those on the left and those on the right. The former always recall Russia’s cultural greatness and the Leninist principles of nationality policy, while the right likes its cultural conservative.

            To carry out this new vision, Chesnokov says, Moscow should adopt a much tougher stance against those who take anti-Russian positions and it should consider reviving institutions like the Communist University of National Minorities of the West (KUNMZ) which trained foreign cadres to help promote Moscow’s policies.

            That is an intriguing idea and one that is especially important because it suggests yet another way the re-Stalinization of Moscow’s approach is likely to lead to the restoration of similar institutions to play up ideological divides in Western countries.