Over the years, people have asked for thoughts on why the Russians have been successful in the Middle East, where the West appears to have failed.
The reasons for this, I feel are quite simple. Up until 1991, the West viewed Russia and the USSR as being politically “evil” because of Communism and during the 1990’s were laughed at because of Boris Yeltsin.
The emergence of Putin created a political shift, where while the West remained bogged down in subjectivity, the Russians accelerated into a process of objectivity. Each Russian move was made to secure their national, regional and international interests.
People refer to Putin as being "good" or “bad”, but it was his own working background in the KGB, which established within him and his Government, a firm understanding of Russia’s place in the world and what was necessary to achieve their aims.
As Western subjectivity has resulted in attempts to micro manage each step, Russian objectivity has given them the path to macro manage each approach, where outside of the realms of being “good” or “bad”, has allowed them the foresight to think of Russia’s future.
During the 1990’s and the 2000’s, the West championed concepts such as individualism and democracy, as intricate parts of the free market economy.
As Margaret Thatcher stated in 1991:
“The changes in your country and in Eastern Europe have been enormous. I believe President Gorbachev deserves great praise for his part in bringing them about.When he and I first met in November 1984, we talked about the great differences between our two political systems. And indeed they are profound.”
And as Stella Rimington stated in 2013, that in the aftermath of the fall of the USSR, what existed outside of the immediate political void, was a re-arrangement of social forces. While Russia appeared chaotic on the surface, behind the scenes it was “business as usual”.
Hussein Al-alak is the editor of Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra).
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