When pragmatism yields to “ideology”
Leonid Brezhnev, when a viable leader, was listening to Alexei Kosygin’s and Nikolai Baibakov’s opinion. The Prime Minister of the Soviet country and the head of the Soviet state planning were not deeply engaged in ideology, they were specialists and pragmatics. Kosygin even had plans to reform and “marketing” the Soviet economy in slow and cautious manners. However, these reforms failed die to the very ideological reasons.
Boris Yeltsin, in the first phase of his tenure, was listening to Gaidar and Chubais. Today, fairy tales are told about the three of them on the theme of “ruining the country”, but I think, they just got the share of destroyed country, and it is impossible to overcome the abyss in two jumps; the issue will not be resolved without pain and “shocking means”.
I know this issue can be argued for months. In the specific case, it is not important. What I want to say is that Yeltsin was also listening to the opinion of experts. Vladimir Putin does not care about the opinion of pragmatic professionals. “Alexey Ulyukayev and German Gref are not opponents, nor “traitors of the nation”, they are officials appointed by the very Putin – the minister of economic development and the president of the Central Bank.
Read also
These experts warn that serious experience, to say the least, is expected to Russia’s economy: the ruble weakens and the oil becomes cheaper. These obvious facts for unarmed and non-professional eye should prompt the first figure of the country that it is necessary to review the policy based on crazy imperial ideas that the possibility to restore the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire as much the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Caliphate (there are also inadequate groupings in these regions).
But the Russian leader listens not to the pragmatic professionals, but Alexander Dugin, likewise Russia’s last queen was listening to Grigori Rasputin. The same for the vague ideas about the “spirit”, the open allegations about the same Russian peculiarities. In short, an “ideology”. In fact, in contrast to the Soviet ideology, which was the extreme manifestation of the communist ideas coming from Europe, this one is a collection of something unclear and irrational allegations. When the king governs by ideology and with not sober calculations, the end is no good.
God save Russia. We absolutely are not interested in weakening of this country, moreover, in the collapse. But we must be ready for any scenario, we need to discuss these scenarios, as well as think of “the reserved airports”, which will be possible to run in case of “collapse” of our friendly country. They, essentially, are two of them: Iran and Europe. Of course, the accession to the EaEU has significantly limited our ability to maneuver. But it is a theme of another talk.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
