"Derashization" as a strategy for the treatment of the post-imperial syndrome

Sergey FEDUNYAK, Doctor of Political Sciences 

Russia belongs to those values ​​that never leave anyone indifferent. In the period of its exaltation and decline, the question "what to do with Russia?" sounds with different intonation and content.

Now the time has come when it became relevant again. Trying to resist their own civilizational decline, the Russian society and state through the annexation of Crimea and the subsequent armed aggression in Donbas struck the foundations of the peace order that arose after the end of the Cold War.

A situation arose when Russia turned into a serious problem that required radical solutions, since the post-imperial syndrome really threatens to overturn the international system into a state of chaos with subsequent war as a means of restoring balance.

Until recently, leading players avoided radical actions, fearing the collapse of Russia.

These fears have several layers.

At first, the disintegration of a huge territory initiates tectonic shifts in neighboring regions, and they will set in motion with unpredictable consequences. Here, the influence of H. Mackinder is felt, with North-Eastern Eurasia (Russia) as the geopolitical center of the world, which in case of collapse will break the entire global structure.

In particular, a rather fragile "European project" that cannot withstand blows from the east may come under threat.

It is unclear what will happen to the South Caucasus and what the "domino effect" will be in the regions of Western Asia and the Middle East. In addition, above all, the USA is afraid of China's activation to fill geopolitical voids in the form of annexation of large territories of the Far East and Siberia.

Secondly, massive material and human resources are needed to maintain small-scale control over individual fragments of the former empire.

This is seventeen million square kilometers of land, two-thirds of which are hardly adapted for permanent residence, not to mention conducting effective economic activities, with virtually no transport infrastructure.

The European Union, the United States and China will have to agree on the distribution of spheres of control, and what will happen here is absolutely incomprehensible, since the global balance of power will be sharply disrupted, which, in fact, everyone is afraid of. No one wants to take huge risks in exchange for an illusory feeling of increasing the resource base.

Thirdly, there are traditional fears about the loss of control over Russian nuclear weapons, or rather, the possibility of their uncontrolled spread with the subsequent fall into the hands of terrorists and/or rogue states using terrorist methods in their politics.

So far, there has been no need (and, accordingly, no experience) of transferring nuclear arsenals from hand to hand - the controlled and partial denuclearization of the former USSR in 1992-1994 is not indicative in this case.

The specified circumstances led to the selection of a strategy of slow economic suffocation of Russia. The bet is definitely on a palace coup, and we are not talking about physical elimination: the West is even ready to give guarantees to V. Putin and his entourage in exchange for a voluntary departure and, accordingly, a return to the status quo for the moment before the Crimean adventure. The next step should be the final refusal of Russia from any imperial pretensions and "projects", returning to the bosom of the world economy and politics as an influential player.

The realization of this beautiful idea is prevented by one important circumstance, which Western politicians and experts have always tried so hard to ignore: after all, it is not a matter of Russian leaders, but of the society that produced and promoted them.

Even after Putin's removal from power, the model that existed under him, starting almost from the time of the Hordes, will be inexorably reproduced again and again. To change this historical karma, a powerful policy of "derashization" lasting at least one or two generations, comparable to the de-Nazification carried out by the Western allies in West Germany, will be required.

The very term "racism" is already becoming well-used in journalistic and even scientific literature. The essence of the phenomenon consists in the ugly interweaving of megalomania and a deep inferiority complex in the consciousness of the decaying post-imperial society.

The institutional embodiment of "racism" is a harsh authoritarian state with elements of totalitarianism. Here, a long and rather painful treatment will be required to return the patient to a normal life. The most powerful healing effect will be obtained as a result of the defeat in the last imperial war in eastern Ukraine.

There is nothing new in this: only after a tangible defeat did the empires begin to overcome the relevant complexes and gradually turned into ordinary "normal" nations.

An example may be the actual recognition of France's defeat and withdrawal from Algeria in the early 60s. But this country had a great de Gaulle, and in Russia such a figure is not even seen. Charismatic "somehow liberals" such as Khodorkovsky or Navalny continue to play "Criminash" and are unlikely to become the source of profound changes in the model of social self-organization if they come to power.

But there are no other options, except for harsh "derashization", capable of really breaking the negative Russian historical karma.

Otherwise, everything will be inexorably reproduced until the final collapse of the peculiar Russian "civilization".

And here the key role should be played by Western countries and China. Yes, China, too, since based on its long-term strategic interests, having such a raw material appendage at its side or under direct control is not as profitable as it seems.

After all, it is better to have a predictable and relatively strong than a weak neighbor with whom you can conduct a profitable long-term policy.

And for the West, a successful "derashization" would mean the final entry of Russia into the system of Western Christian civilization.