Not a Typical American

I first entered the new Russia in 1995 in what was now Saint Petersburg. My first recollection was after we landed on Finnair that there were hundreds of gutted Aeroflot aircraft stored along the taxi way to the terminal. My wife and I were there on a tour. I still had a slight amount of Russian and unlike our fellow tourists who stayed in the Europa Western Hotel we stayed in an old Intourist, KGB controlled, hotel. Modest, communal, controlled. Our fellow guests were from everywhere including multiple Iranian mullahs.

It was a wonderful trip to the “new” Russia. Our first observation was a wedding and then in a wonderful Orthodox Church a funeral. Religion was back in Russia, and based on a few observations it was back in force. You see Saint Petersburg was Putin territory and he had been baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.

A brief word on the Orthodox Church. It believes it is the sole descendent of the original Church with the Western version, Roman Catholicism, destroyed by multiple schisms and especially the Avignon papacy. They believe as William of Ockham that the Pope then, John XXII was a heretic and thus broke the line to Peter. Not to mention the multiple “Popes” that followed, simultaneously. 

Putin uses the Orthodox Church as Lenin used the Communist Party, and in a sense Putin was right and Lenin totally missed the point.

So what drove Putin? Yes the collapse of the old Soviet state but worse the religious war in the Balkans. The US supported the Muslim side against the Orthodox side, and to him it was a religious war where the US was the infidel and the oppressor of those of the true faith.

Now on to Ukraine. Despite the historical revisionism of Putin, Ukraine was always a distinct region. For example it was part of Poland, Lithuania and so forth. Western Ukraine uses a wealth of Polish words and the East uses Russian. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is western as compared to Putin’s true belief in the supremacy or Russian Orthodoxy.

Then go to the Ukrainian elections and the direct visible and invasive interference of US diplomats pushing for their choice, rewarding Ukrainians to vote for a candidate whose interest was that of the US. It makes the fable of Trump and Russians pale in comparison. US State Department senior persons walking the streets of Ukraine enticing Ukrainians to vote in the interest of the US.

Now the Russian remember Napoleon and Hitler, the burning of Moscow. Tanks from the Germans still dot Moscow as a permanent to reminder to anyone who goes along the main routes into the city. So far but no more, Putin sees these every day and it means that there shall be no NATO puppet on his doorstep. 

Thus history and religion are drivers of this Russian action.

Now personally I remember a meeting I had with a banker and one of my Russian partners, a “former” general. I took the Moscow Metro during rush hour to eventually get to the building, an older Soviet style building on the outskirts of Moscow. I walked a few blocks, using my best Cyrillic to navigate and walked into the building. My banker arrived by limo. After some negotiations my Russian colleagues and I had a conversation and the general said I did not look like a typical American. I asked why. He said I took the metro and walked, did not use the limo service, and my Russian, poor, stilted and accent was at least a recognition of the Russia they loved. I was like a good Russian peasant, walking and involved in the interest of my partners.

I knew and respected Russia, I knew the history, the struggles, the fears and the ambitions.

Russia should be a western ally, not an adversary. Russia wants security based upon centuries of invasion. The US does not understand that. Russian now respects its religion, the Orthodox Church, which we cannot understand. The arrogance of western diplomats and even corporate players is sensed by the Russians. My first book was translated into Russian and it referred to the Russians whose insight it built upon. The Russians appreciated that. Yet I do suspect that my FSB files is larger than my FBI file.

So how do we view the current Ukrainian mess. First in many ways the US actions over the past thirty years instigate much of what we see today. Second, in my opinion and in my experience the current State Department principals bring a level of ignorance and arrogance that just further amplifies the problem. Third, in a rather strange sense, this may be a religions conflict, Russian Orthodoxy and its underlying cultural norms against western wokeisms. Perhaps Putin feels that God is on his side?