When youâre talking countries, itâs the big one, geographically at least. Even after the end of the Cold War, and the loss of territory the Soviets called their own, weâre still talking about the largest country in the world by square mile of land. Itâs not unique in spanning two continents. Turkey also has that distinction, but nothing comes close in matching its sheer scale.
Growing up of course, The Soviet Union was presented as the bad guy, a tale that juvenile me eagerly lapped up. I went into Rocky IV with as much Western motivation as anyone I also read a lot of Tom Clancy as a teenager and had no problem with his largely idealised world of American good guys and Soviet bad guys. I read those books post-perestroika, but the red menace of the Soviet Union was real enough for me.
After 1989, I had high hopes for Russia rejoining the world stage, unburdened with both its previous ideological constraints and a bit of separation between Russia and the crimes of the Soviet Union. I wasnât alone. Nearly everybody did. After forty years of living under the spectre of mutually assured destruction, everyone was happy to see a friendlier Russia, even the US.
So why arenât we now? What are the current tensions about? We can skip major differences in ideology. Russia now operates in a market economy, a nominal if obviously abused democracy. Communism has withered away. The West need not fear waves of Bolsheviks coming from the East seeking to conquer. Is our present enmity and willingness to make them a bogeyman a result of reducing Russian influence on world opinion? Simple racism? Putin?
Some initial posers. What is the Sotonians position on Russia?
Pap - perhaps one answer to your question can be found in how massively motivated Russians here in the UAE were to get ANY other Passport back in the Noughties.
Equally as Phil alludes Image was always the key Cultural stereotype - if a girl wasntât clad in Gucci & driving a Ferrari then she wasnât âhappyâ
Smoke and mirrors a lot of it.
But then on the other side, as Democracy has proven to be so utterly fucked in the âWestâ in recent months/years, Russia has actually been doing a pretty good job of being âThe Oppositionâ to Western Arrogance - certainly more effective than Corbyn
It can of course be simply that the west is SO fucked up that Russia is now able to (re) build the network of ties they had before Glasnost. No doubt also ensuring they have good markets for their Heavy Industries.
A country that is driven by money is how I see it. The more money you have the more power you have.
Iâve seen more and more Russians on package holidays over the years and they think that they can chuck money to get what they want. Generally they do because the workers want it.
As far as I am concerned Russian money has spoiled Dalian in Turkey, I visited there 15 years ago and it was unspoilt and there werenât that many hotels. The tour guide told us they werenât allowed to build hotels either to preserve the area.
Roll forward 15 years and the place is covered in luxury hotels built by Russian money.
THe people that stay in Russia are probbaly lovely people but the people that can afford to leave are the most arrogant tossers you can ever meet.
Iâll be honest with you, Iâm finding it harder and harder to know what is the truth anymore that Iâm happier drinking wine and whiskey and waiting for the end.
I like this report of the Russian UN envoy addressing the UK envoyâŠ
âDonât you dare insult Russia!â
Russian social media users are criticising the âundiplomaticâ language used by their envoy to address his British counterpart at the United Nations.
Russia vetoed a UN Security Council vote on Wednesday that would have condemned the suspected chemical attack in Syria last week.
Vladimir Safronkov, Russiaâs Deputy Ambassador, told UK envoy Matthew Rycroft: âLook at me! Donât turn your eyes away. Why are you looking away?â, adding: âDonât you dare insult Russia ever again!â
Users pointed out that in the address, he used the informal âyouâ in Russian or âtyâ, which is only used when speaking to small children, friends or family. This is in contrast to the more polite and formal âyouâ or âvyâ.
One anti-Kremlin user tweeted an image depicting Safronkov as a âgopnikâ - a pejorative Russian term similar to âchavâ.
Dirty nouveau riche. But as theyâll be paying. at least in part, my wages next year Iâll reserve judgment until I see what end of year bling I get given.
Backward gaff on race and sex, pretty backward place really, never fancied going there, a couple of mates work there and say go under the skin of the wealth and its a desperately poor backward shithole.
As I say backward, Chechnya is a self governing place though (Federal republic), a satellite yes man of Russia (like Bulgaria used to be), predominately Muslim, backward.
I also read a lot of Tom Clancy as a teenager and had no problem with his largely idealised world of American good guys and Soviet bad guys. I read those books post-perestroika, but the red menace of the Soviet Union was real enough for me.
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