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1/10 Putin's Victory Parade contradicts Western “never again” memory politics. Putin is dissatisfied with Russia's borders, permits local wars and he demonstrates that, if needed, "We can make a repetition".
2/10 The cult of militarism and the Red Army, with para-religious features, compensates many Russians perceived development gap of Russia compared to USA & EU, especially its inability to compete with the West in fields other than military. Putin vividly demonstrates such complex
3/10 @CPRDiP ordered a public opinion poll in Russia on key aspects of the history of Russia's relations with Poland and Ukraine (to be published in July). Appox. 70% of Russians support past annexations, such as partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
4/10 Russia's politics of memory is internally successful. It corresponds to mentality of the majority of the Russian society supporting imperial or Darwinist thinking about the nature of relations between nations, and a vision of history equating medieval Rus and Russia.
5/10 Tensions between Russia and the West result from the USSR's assessment. Putin, recognizing the USSR as a normal state & part of the state tradition of the Russians - not as their oppressor -cannot understand why the West evaluates the ugly offspring of Bolshevism differently
6/10 Russians are hostages of their vision of Russian identity, equating Rus and Russia. Hence they perceive emergence of Ukrainians and Belarusians as result of Russia's weakness, inability to prevent the mental polonization of its western lands and the duping of local people.
7/10 Most Russians are also strongly attached to the Darwinist way of thinking about foreign policy, i.e. to a zero-sum game, deprived of morality, and to international order in which "more equal" (the great powers - predatory fish) are even allowed to eat "equals" (plankton).
8/10 Population full of complexes,with umbrage & grudge towards the West, territorial revisionism towards their neighbors,believing in imperial and totalitarian interpretations of history, make European borders a slumbering volcano. It ejects sordid lava and may even breathe fire
9/10 Neighborhood with Russia also resembles neighborhood with a family with the father-mafiozo beating his wife & children, stealing his neighbour's property & corrupting officials. The wife does not inform the police - she thinks: "He beats, so he loves. Others are not better".
10/10 Polish thinker, Juliusz Mieroszewski wrote: "Either we must beat Russia or reach agreement with her. We can't beat her, so we must have to get along with her. To reach an agreement, we must first change her ". I will add - to change Russia means to deprive her of illusions.
