Paul Goble
Staunton, Jan. 2 – The Russian opposition is limiting its possibilities because most of its members accept four myths that Vladimir Putin has promoted as true when in fact a close examination of each of them shows that they are not, according to Russian commentator Kirill Rogov.
At a conference in Berlin at the end of November whose presentations are now being published, the director of the Re: Russia project argued that if the opposition is to achieve success, it must break out of this intellectual straightjacket and take positions based on facts rather than on myths that serve Putin’s interests (re-russia.net/discussion/0116/).
The first of these myths is that everything in Russia is determined and thus inevitable. In fact, the radical changes that Russians have promoted and accepted show that there were and remain multiple routes forward. Consequently, the opposition must stop acting as if what has happened is the only possibility.
The second of these myths is that Russia and Russians by nature are imperialist and always interested in territorial expansion. That is simply not true. When the USSR came apart, most Russians supported and only a tiny handful opposed it. If all Russians were and remain imperialists, there would have been a different set of developments.
The third Putin myth that his opponents need to reject is that everything about the 1990s was a disaster and a failure. Yes, there were mistakes and failures; but there were also many advances. Today’s liberals need to stop acting as if the defense of the victories of that time is somehow a mistake.
And the fourth myth is that nothing is going to change while Putin is still alive but that once he goes, everything can be changed. Neither is true; and Russia’s liberal opposition needs to start fighting now rather than acting as if they simply have to wait and then everything will happen as they want.
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