Last week’s meeting of experts from the Former Soviet and Eastern European nations at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg underscored that international relations are still based more on emotions than common sense. Neither love nor hate is conducive to effective foreign policy, however. Instead of forging brotherly relations, nations must learn the art of neighborly relations, especially when it comes to their relationship with Russia.
Last week was very loud and busy in Strasbourg; experts from the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe came together in the Council of Europe. There were many serious moments during the discussions – and there were quite a lot of comical moments too. Everyone said almost the same thing to all the Russians, regardless of their political orientations: put away the stick, take out the carrot. See, America gives; it is nice; Russia – doesn’t, it’s bad. Give us Abkhazia, and we’ll love you. Get rid of Lukashenko – and we’ll be best friends. A democratic young lady from Minsk listened to Gaidar for quite some time while he explained how the structure of modern financial markets came to contradict the existing political systems; finally, she said: I won’t comment on anything you said, because you said Byelorussia, and the correct way is Belarus. The calm and composed Gaidar changed countenance and harshly explained that there are laws of language that are beyond the control of politicians; it wouldn’t even occur to anyone to call Germany “Deutschland” or Russia “Rasseya.” The young lady became even more offended; she found Gaidar to be a chauvinist; and she thought she saw a stick in his hands.
Meanwhile, Gaidar had offered neither a stick nor a carrot; he had offered a remedy for the universal hangover. A great-Russian. And an anti-Russian. It consists of losing interest in how you are referred to from the outside; you can call me a pot. The only thing that matters is analyzing your own mistakes. Then it will be easier to figure out somebody else’s transgressions. As for us, after the collapse of the empire, we’ve done many bad things and even more stupid ones. We shouldn’t have played along with separatism in Georgia and in Moldavia, paying with our own Chechnya for these dangerous games. We shouldn’t have insolently lied to the Poles, pretending that Katyn’ was not our doing. We shouldn’t have shown absolute indifference to the fate of the Russian minority in the Baltic countries in the beginning, while only later demonstrating hysterical attention to its state. And not for the sake of the minority, but for the sake of verbal arguments with the West. We shouldn’t have succumbed to the game of the Byelorussian “father” and pumped Russian money into his useless regime, receiving only insolence in return. And, in the last four years, we shouldn’t have argued and quarreled with everyone all along the perimeter of our borders, harshly aggravating conflicts and relations where they should have been smoothed out. Or, at least not intensified.
But when you hear that all the troubles of the post-Soviet arena are only Russia’s fault; when you are seriously told that Abkhazia left Georgia only because it was an act planned by the KGB (FSB or the foreign intelligence services), and that Lukashenko would not have been elected by the Byelorussian people if it hadn’t been for Chernomyrdin – this is when you start feeling uneasy.
Of course, special services, whether American or Russian, are always willing to pull on various strings, but it wasn’t they who created these strings, was it? Did Abkhazia and Ossetia (as well as Karabakh… Transnistria… Kosovo) decide to break away from their states because the latter were behaving in the most reasonable manner? Didn’t the hysterical buffoonery of Gamsakhurdia and the murderous, bloody fun and games in the name of Tengiz Kitovani play a fatal role in the collapse of Georgia? Does the source of Lukashenko’s power lie only in Russian support? Did the Byelorussian opposition decide to have a timely talk – not with European functionaries and American congressmen, but with its own people, how they actually are at this stage of the development? Did it try to find a common language with the people – at the price of giving up some of the romantic illusions of bookish nationalism?
Unfortunately, neither our authorities nor the contiguous elites want to think about their own mistakes. At least, definitely not aloud. Some are focused on Russia’s intrigues and schemes. Others are focused on the thought of the ingratitude of the outskirt districts – we’ve done so much for them, but they are… Both have one thing in common; they pay a lot of attention to all hurtful words coming from the other side. You don’t like us – we don’t like you… we should probably like each other, like we used to a long time ago, but we’ll have to like somebody else… so you can go ahead and smooch with your America. You keep listening to this, and then you realize that Mikhail Leontief’s intonations are international; the words are exchanged for opposite ones, while the strain of complex-infused jealousy stays unchanged.
Meanwhile, love is absolutely not obligatory in politics. It’s probably even harmful. In politics, it is good to maintain a relationship. Not a family kind of relationship, but a neighborly kind. Without French kisses and without breaking dishes. In the personal sphere, such things are hard to separate: here we are together, and there we are apart, and here we’ll see who wins. He loves me, he loves me not; he’ll kiss me, he’ll kiss me not. In the public sphere, you can’t do without such separation. Here’s the neutral whole, and here are its varied parts. Here are the enemies. And there are the allies. There are the partners. We won’t come to an agreement about Abkhazia in the foreseeable future; while recognizing the Caucasian direction of our country’s policy as a catastrophic mistake, at the same time we need to soberly realize: too much time has passed; Abkhazia is already used to its separation from Georgia and has accepted economic annexation from the Russian side. There’s nothing that can be done about it; they have de jure and de facto have drifted apart irreparably. Unless Georgia starts flourishing so much that Abkhazia will ask for permission to come back. But this does not in any way mean that it is admissible to behave so arrogantly, creating a one-sided visa barrier or closing the Russian market to Georgian wines and Borjomi mineral water. As for quality… don’t accept customs bribes and make the Russian Consumer Control authorities lead a modest life. That’s all.
There’s no need to love anyone. But, there’s a need to stop hating. Our only mutual chance of creating an acceptable relationship is to lose the family-like interest for each other. To zero out the relationship. To forget the brotherly nations. And to forget the Empires of Evil. To start learning the art of neighborly relations. That is, to help when it’s necessary; to conflict when there’s too much noise on the other side of the wall; to clearly separate all utility payments depending on the occupied living space; and, most importantly, to keep a reasonable distance. Without embraces and without scuffles.
As for our neighbors’ new love for America… wait about ten years, fifteen would even be too much; let this love “burn out.” There won’t be any breaking of dishes, of course. America won’t allow this kind of behavior. But, there will be a new feeling of resentment toward the new powerful friend, who had promised a lot and gave too little. Entirely different speeches will inevitably be heard in Strasbourg; although we won’t care the least bit about them. I remember the late Sergey Sergeyevich Averintzev, the great Russian humanities scholar, telling how he came to Vienna to teach at a university there; he started receiving invitations to various political lectures and discussions. In his unique manner, in his slow, nasal voice, with a slight burr, Sergey Sergeyevich told his story: one time, a well-known Austrian parliamentary was speaking; every two-three minutes he repeated: what have you done, America?
What have you done, America? You’ve meddled in the affairs of the independent Europeans, forcing them to humbly accept your Imperial politics, you’ve introduced “outside control” to Europe.
What have you done, America? You’ve averaged out our life, turning it into a set of foreign standards, into a complete McDonalds.
What have you done, America? You’ve interfered with the natural course of European history, you’ve flooded our space with dollars, swamped it with bad English; you’ve pulled us into military programs.
And so forth, and so on, in the same spirit. And, by the end of his passionate speech (and, at this point, Averintzev comically raised his arms and looked up at the sky), the Austrian parliamentary called out:
What have you done, America? You’ve lost your martial spirit! You don’t protect anyone anymore! How could you leave us alone, face-to-face with that cursed Russia???
