Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Was it More Balls or Hypocrisy to Publicly Lecture Putin About Democracy?

oktjabr · 03-02-2005, 03:33 PM

I think that the main problem in analyzing Russian politics is that we (I believe most of us at least - I do know how to book a hotel reservation, say hello and order vodka in russian, doesn't help much) have is that we have no real access to the public discussion of domestic politics in Russia due language barrier. Of course we can read the commentary coming out from there in english or other languages or reports written by specialists of varying degree. There is of course a number of translations available from Russian commentators, but most of those that I have read come from writers that are critical of the government (like Politkovskaya and the war in Chechenya, for example). Maybe it seems a bit absurd to state that "we cannot know, because we don't understand" but I think there is a grain of truth in it - how would people react if I referred only to sources written in french about US politics? I mean, how many here can even label four major parties in Russian politics without consulting the internet?

Due this point and some other ones tied more to historical relations between the western world and Russia, I'd say that Russia remains a rather enigmatic country to most of us. Even to me and I only have to drive 400 km to be there. It appears that people tend to say stuff about Russia without really understanding it at all. Though I admit that I can be affected by the (academic) finnish understanding of history where Russia has always been a puzzle that requires constant reanalyzing, or things are made far too simple.

That being said, I think it is very useful (?) to lecture to Putin about democracy - considering that the development there is very worrying. I wouldn't even call it hypocrisy even if I do not love Bush. In a fact, I find it totally irrelevant what is the situation in USA. The main point is that democracy in Russia is in trouble and the problem needs to be addressed.

03-02-2005, 03:33 PM	#16 (permalink)
oktjabr Crazy Location: Fünland	I think that the main problem in analyzing Russian politics is that we (I believe most of us at least - I do know how to book a hotel reservation, say hello and order vodka in russian, doesn't help much) have is that we have no real access to the public discussion of domestic politics in Russia due language barrier. Of course we can read the commentary coming out from there in english or other languages or reports written by specialists of varying degree. There is of course a number of translations available from Russian commentators, but most of those that I have read come from writers that are critical of the government (like Politkovskaya and the war in Chechenya, for example). Maybe it seems a bit absurd to state that "we cannot know, because we don't understand" but I think there is a grain of truth in it - how would people react if I referred only to sources written in french about US politics? I mean, how many here can even label four major parties in Russian politics without consulting the internet? Due this point and some other ones tied more to historical relations between the western world and Russia, I'd say that Russia remains a rather enigmatic country to most of us. Even to me and I only have to drive 400 km to be there. It appears that people tend to say stuff about Russia without really understanding it at all. Though I admit that I can be affected by the (academic) finnish understanding of history where Russia has always been a puzzle that requires constant reanalyzing, or things are made far too simple. That being said, I think it is very useful (?) to lecture to Putin about democracy - considering that the development there is very worrying. I wouldn't even call it hypocrisy even if I do not love Bush. In a fact, I find it totally irrelevant what is the situation in USA. The main point is that democracy in Russia is in trouble and the problem needs to be addressed. __________________ "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face -- forever." -G.O.