Russian Obsession with Decline of Europe Keeps Elite Together and Prevents It from Dealing with Their Own Country’s Problems, Pastukhov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 19 – An exaggerated focus on the decline of Europe is “one of the creeds of the Russian people,” Vladimir Pastukhov, which arises from their originally Orthodox worldview but which infects even militant atheists and ardent opponents of the Russian autocracy including many who go into emigration to escape that system.

            For nearly all of them, focusing on the death of the West is “the simplest and therefore most desirable way to address Russia’s own existential problems,” the London-based Russian analyst says. After all, “why struggle or seek to overcome problems if the West is going to perish on its own and the problems will be solved by themselves?”

            If one believes that, and many Russians do, then “the only correct survival strategy is to wait until the corpse of your enemy is carried past,” Pastukhov says. But unfortunately for Russia, predictions in Russia of the impending death of the West are exaggerated and have dire consequences (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=62E6B4142F0E8&section_id=50A6C962A3D7C).

            That is because “consciously or subconsciously, a significant portion of the elite believes this,” including not just the enthusiastic backers of the Kremlin’s “course toward self-isolation” but also those who oppose this self-isolation. Indeed, the belief that the West is dying has the effect of holding the two groups together.

            It is of course the case that the West is in trouble. There is a crisis of capitalism, a crisis of democracy and a crisis of culture, Pastukhov continues, all of which taken together help fuel Russian attitudes. “But still, rumors about the death of the West seem somewhat exaggerated” at least for the time being.

            Moreover, even if the West is fated to die, “its agony will take an entire era if not more than one.” Its death will “not mean any automatic flourishing of the Russian world.” Instead, just the reverse. Moreover, those parts of the world that will flourish are likely to be those who mobilize best to survive – and in that regard, the West is better positioned than Russia.