Parašiau kai ką ir angliškai – tai bene pirmasis bandymas blogeriauti angliškai. Parašyta 2014 m. balandžio 28 d.
****
Recently, on April 17, Vladimir Putin had his traditional live broadcast Q&A session, which lasted four hours. This bi-annual event by Putin receives a lot of attention inside Russia and abroad. Some highlights of the last one are, for example, available here.
These sessions, though staged, tell us a lot about what the “public” Putin thinks or is prepared to say aloud. We might be outraged by most of the ideas, but actually they make sense not only in Putin’s head, not only in Russia, but for the outside observers as well.
A lot of topics were touched upon during these four hours: inevitably Ukraine, Crimea, relations with Europe and the US, also the Olympic games, the flood in the Far East, a variety of other domestic issues with some awkward (first lady) or bizarre (special guest Snowden) moments.
For me, the most memorable moment happened to be the last minutes of the session after the final “philosophical” question was read: what is it to be Russian? Putin indeed went deep.
We found out that “the Russian person or, on a broader scale, a person of the Russian world, primarily thinks about his or her highest moral designation, some highest moral truths”. That person “does not concentrate on his or her own precious personality” and “does not open himself outward”, is prepared to die “for one’s friends, one’s people or for the homeland”. “Feelings of fellowship and family values”, heroism and sacrifice were also mentioned.
“Of course, we are less pragmatic, less calculating than representatives of other peoples, and we have bigger hearts. Maybe this is a reflection of the grandeur of our country and its boundless expanses. Our people have a more generous spirit.” (Read in English, or watch in Russian.)
These ideas are neither original nor new. Anybody who has read 19th century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky would recognize these ideas immediately. Openness of the Russian soul is the popular stereotype about Russians among both its friends and its skeptics.
The president does not have to be original, but his words are far from random. His image of Russians resonated inside Russia and abroad. It is the message everybody expects to hear; even the most vocal critics of primordialism would expect that from the current Russian president. Putin and his advisers understand that very well and play it to their advantage both domestically and abroad.
People of Russia are sincere, open, and prepared to die for their country, the message says. Its rulers understand and care about this sensibility by trying to restore Russia’s past glory, making Russians feel proud of their country, whatever or how many problems it has. In this way, Putin becomes the paternalistic and trustful leader who cares about the people. This logic then can be easily extended further to “our people” outside Russia’s borders, and their protection. And suddenly this discourse starts making more sense. His people need protection and he is going to provide it everywhere.
This paternalistic rhetoric combined with yet another prevalent narrative – that Russia is surrounded by enemies, especially from the West – creates the space for the assertive leader. The leader who stands up against this bullying, who resists the dominant forces (i.e., the US), who does it resolutely. If you accept such an image of your nation, it becomes not so difficult to accept that particular idea of the leader.
Due to different reasons, such paternalistic rhetoric works for Westerners as well. Westerners love to talk about the irrationality, passion, traditionalism of Russians, about their expansive territory and their uniqueness. These descriptions supposedly explain the actions of a country that is difficult to understand. They put Russia into a special place by treating it as uncivilized, undeveloped, as a country perpetually looking for itself, or as naturally “imperialistic”. Thus, when Putin talks about the nation, we are not surprised. It resonates with what we already know about Russia.
The second message Putin repeats constantly and which he also sent out during his live session is that Western nations were reluctant to understand Russia’s point of view. The West still has difficulties sending resolute messages to Russia or finding workable solutions to the Ukrainian crisis. Russia and its main leader seem immune to many threats: they either ignore the possible economic consequences, or make derisive comments about the sanctions. The West does not understand that Putin uses these stereotypes so that what Russia currently is doing would be accepted as normal. He might be a bad guy but we have an explanation why.
The problem is not that the West is too appeasing. The problem is that Putin is playing a different game. Currently, the biggest opponent for Putin is not the U.S., nor Ukraine, nor the liberals in the West. His main opponent is history. Already in his third term, Putin is getting older; he is already part of Russia’s early 21st century history. He is the stabilizer, the person who brought order to suffering Russia after the turbulent 1990s, who tamed the powerful oligarchs, who strengthened Russia’s regional power, its influence in the neighboring space.
It is a good image to leave behind, but it is hardly memorable or impressive. Recent events (adding the Sochi Olympics to the mix) demonstrate that Putin wants to go down in history as something bigger – as a great strategic leader of Russia, and one who understood its people and what Russians need – the feeling that they are a great, sincere nation that just wants to be appreciated. And they have a leader who has accomplished that.
It is crucial to realize that Russia is not only Putin, his thinking and desires. Putin acts in an environment that makes his actions possible. Thus, another question is how it becomes possible to have such an environment where part of ruling elite just became silent and a large part of the population accepts Russia’s current foreign policy decisions with joy. But that is a question for the next comment.
First appeared in Baltic Scholars for Ukraine – Stanford Libraries tinklaraštyje
Comments 80
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google,
balandžio 19, 2016, 00:52 ¶and found that it is truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels.
I will be grateful if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your
writing. Cheers!
bouwbedrijf de vree
birželio 24, 2017, 12:14 ¶We absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post’s to be what precisely I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content for you? I wouldn’t mind composing a post or elaborating on some of the subjects you write with regards to here. Again, awesome web site!
vasario 7, 2018, 05:54 ¶Thanks on your marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and will come back in the future. I want to encourage you to continue your great job, have a nice holiday weekend!
gegužės 2, 2018, 05:15 ¶I am really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A couple of my blog visitors have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this issue?
birželio 5, 2018, 01:12 ¶We absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content available for you? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome blog!
vasario 20, 2019, 17:49 ¶Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer. It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed information. Wonderful read! I’ve saved your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
vasario 28, 2019, 21:57 ¶Currently it looks like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
kovo 11, 2019, 17:38 ¶looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content available for you?
rugsėjo 16, 2020, 10:42 ¶what you’re using on your blog?
kovo 13, 2021, 05:49 ¶This content is simply exciting and creative. I have been deciding on a institutional move and this has helped me with one aspect.
sausio 14, 2022, 15:08 ¶google
liepos 18, 2022, 10:37 ¶Simply put, this work is fascinating and original. This has helped me with one component of my decision to move into an institution.
rugpjūčio 25, 2022, 09:35 ¶Thank you for this informative blog.
vasario 3, 2023, 07:06 ¶Thanks for the information, I found a lot of interesting information here. Keep sharing such informative post.
vasario 11, 2023, 10:11 ¶This works really well for me, thank you! Facing same issue here. Help is appreciated.
vasario 13, 2023, 12:20 ¶https://www.checkmyrota.net/
https://www.myadvocateaurora.net/
thanks
vasario 15, 2023, 11:45 ¶Your article content is being very much interested, I am very impressed with your post.
vasario 17, 2023, 11:06 ¶https://apps.apple.com/vn/app/dinar-chronics/id164
Thank you for this informative blog.
vasario 22, 2023, 10:30 ¶„Putin’s World“ is a book by Angela Stent that explores Vladimir Putin’s vision for Russia’s role in the world and analyzes his policies and actions through the lens of Russian history and culture.
vasario 25, 2023, 07:12 ¶This is a very informative blog for me. I am very much benefited after reading this blog.
vasario 25, 2023, 11:05 ¶Browser games can keep you entertained for hours. this is probably a hyperlink. it opens up an extremely flaming world of Drift Hunters.
balandžio 7, 2023, 04:50 ¶TellPopeyes survey allows restaurants to get feedback from customers about their dining experience and helps them serve better.
balandžio 10, 2023, 12:06 ¶Thank you for sharing!
gegužės 4, 2023, 09:49 ¶I read this article. I think You put a great deal of exertion to make this article. I like your work.
gegužės 8, 2023, 07:11 ¶Great article. I’ve been checking this blog constantly and I’m impressed! Extremely useful information, especially the last part where wheel spinner made me process a lot of information. I have been looking for this information for a long time. thanks and good luck!
gegužės 22, 2023, 05:14 ¶Start by reading the article carefully and try to understand the main points.
gegužės 22, 2023, 11:01 ¶KDealer Access
It’s great to be here with everyone, I have a lot of knowledge from what you share cashewsinfo
birželio 5, 2023, 10:20 ¶Your article is being very much interesting and useful. Keep it up.
birželio 13, 2023, 06:25 ¶We are quite grateful that you spent some of your time and effort to clarify all of this for us. The kind of blog content that you are referring to has been of great assistance to me.
liepos 7, 2023, 05:19 ¶Thank you for providing such useful information. I’ve been having trouble coming up with many questions about this topic. I’ll stick with you!
liepos 15, 2023, 10:59 ¶What you share has a lot of useful information, very useful to me, and good for the community in general. Please let us know what’s going on. special thanks!
rugpjūčio 1, 2023, 06:40 ¶They must be emotionally and physically strong, and able to be unaffected by what they see, whether in the past or in the future.
rugpjūčio 10, 2023, 06:47 ¶The player’s challenge in Flagle is to guess which country’s hidden flag is in up to 6 guesses. The flag will be divided into 6 puzzle pieces, through each guess, clues will be provided
rugpjūčio 12, 2023, 05:25 ¶The formula used to derive the value of 0.0125%, in this case, is as follows: (1 million / 8 billion) * 100 = 0.0125%. Therefore, 1 million (number of wallets) is divided by 8 billion (total population), and then the result is multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage value. Considering that there are approximately 100 million US dollar millionaires worldwide (1.25% of the population), owning 1 whole bitcoin already becomes quite rare and privileged. These figures indicate the significant economic role of Bitcoin and its position as a high-value digital asset: https://cryptorobotics.co/bitcoin/.
rugpjūčio 15, 2023, 19:59 ¶2013 vlone on sale for you in our vlone store, welcome to buy our high quality vlone now.
rugsėjo 8, 2023, 16:40 ¶I want to convey to you a message: in your leisure time, have fun and engage in activities you enjoy. Foodle is one such activity.
spalio 6, 2023, 10:55 ¶You should file Form 1040 Schedule 2 along with Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR to report taxes not included in the basic tax forms taxuni and zrivo and irs, intuit, turbotax.
spalio 23, 2023, 09:31 ¶You should file Form 1040 Schedule 2 along with Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR to report taxes not included in the basic tax forms taxuni and zrivo and irs, intuit, turbotax.
lapkričio 16, 2023, 04:54 ¶The free version acts as a catalyst for creativity, inspiring the development of new tools and solutions that leverage the power of natural language processing.
lapkričio 20, 2023, 05:07 ¶It is both kind and thoughtful at the same time. This is an extremely interesting blog. The act of linking is one that can be of great benefit. You have been of tremendous assistance to a large number of people who frequent the site and supply them with pertinent information.
gruodžio 4, 2023, 06:55 ¶While electric smoke vapes Products are often considered a less harmful alternative to traditional smoking, they are not without risks. The long-term health effects of vaping are still being studied, and some concerns include nicotine addiction, lung issues, and potential exposure to harmful chemicals.
sausio 23, 2024, 09:30 ¶It’s worth noting the importance of Vladimir Putin’s live televised Q&A sessions, since they reveal insights into his public image and the views he’s ready to communicate. These activities undoubtedly draw a lot of interest, both in Russia and throughout the world.
sausio 25, 2024, 09:13 ¶Çocuk akıllı saati aramasıyla ilgili 21 adet ürün bulundu. Akıllı Çocuk Saati ve saatleri – Görüntülü Görüşme Özellikli – Pembe ·
vasario 20, 2024, 20:53 ¶I appreciate the balanced approach taken in this article.
kovo 9, 2024, 11:58 ¶Thanks for share !!!! My Indigo Card
kovo 22, 2024, 12:22 ¶good post
kovo 28, 2024, 05:59 ¶I’m constantly amazed by the depth of your expertise. Thank you for sharing it with us.
balandžio 21, 2024, 09:58 ¶It’s incredible! We can really benefit from your excellent and helpful post! We really appreciate you taking the time to share with us.
balandžio 26, 2024, 05:53 ¶Your analysis offers valuable insights into Putin’s worldview and the broader dynamics shaping Russian politics and foreign policy.
gegužės 28, 2024, 09:32 ¶VidMate is a versatile video downloader and media player app that allows users to seamlessly download videos from various online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and more. It offers a user-friendly interface and supports high-speed downloads, enabling users to enjoy their favorite videos offline.
birželio 25, 2024, 20:29 ¶Med Spa in Little Elm offers a wide range of high-quality facial services and treatments tailored to rejuvenate and revitalize your skin. Known for providing the best facial treatments in Little Elm, Malkaspa.com Med Spa specializes in deep cleansing facials that thoroughly purify your skin, removing impurities and leaving you with a refreshed and glowing complexion. Their expert team ensures a luxurious and personalized experience, making it the perfect destination for all your skincare needs.
birželio 29, 2024, 05:40 ¶The fitness tracker has helped me stay motivated and active.
birželio 29, 2024, 07:04 ¶AniWorld ist eine erstklassige Streaming-Plattform für Anime-Liebhaber und bietet eine riesige Bibliothek von Anime-Serien und Filmen in allen Genres. Unsere benutzerfreundliche Oberfläche, personalisierte Empfehlungen und Community Funktionen verbessern Ihr Seherlebnis. aniworld.to ist auf mehreren Geräten verfügbar und bietet sowohl kostenlose als auch Premium-Abonnementpläne. Tauchen Sie ein in die Welt der Anime mit AniWorld und verbinden Sie sich mit Fans weltweit!
liepos 2, 2024, 15:13 ¶It’s incredible! We truly benefit from your excellent and helpful post. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us; we really appreciate it. doramasflix .Thanks.
liepos 15, 2024, 21:34 ¶This paper is quite comprehensive and educational, covering a lot of ground.
liepos 17, 2024, 13:14 ¶Ver Lo último the boyfriend cap 7 Sub Español full online en Calidad HD en DoramasVIP.
https://doramavip.com/
liepos 24, 2024, 21:38 ¶Excellent, what a website it is! This web site presents valuable
rugpjūčio 8, 2024, 06:09 ¶data to us, keep it up.
Discover a wide range of apps and games with hipstoreios.com, a prominent third-party app store for iOS devices that provides access to content beyond the official Apple App Store.
rugpjūčio 8, 2024, 08:40 ¶Elettra Tempocasa stellt Ihnen in Italien umfassende Immobilienlösungen zur Verfügung. Um den Elettra Tempocasa Login auf Ihrem mobilen Gerät oder Desktop zu nutzen, laden Sie die App aus dem App Store oder Google Play Store herunter und installieren Sie sie.
rugpjūčio 11, 2024, 15:29 ¶Kinemaster offers top notch video altering with proficient altering apparatuses and astounding elements. Appreciate multi-facet altering with the green screen innovation of Chroma Key.
rugpjūčio 13, 2024, 09:15 ¶I’m obsessed with the fit and feel of this pink palm puff hoodie.
rugpjūčio 18, 2024, 11:36 ¶Thanks for sharing about this!
rugpjūčio 28, 2024, 18:20 ¶Download Insta Pro APK Updated Version For Android. Instagram Pro Developed by Sam Provides Extra Features like Hide Stories, App Lock & Font Styles. https://instapro.net.co/
rugsėjo 8, 2024, 08:43 ¶Your blog taught me a lot, and to have more interesting experiences, you can learn about past video games. Playing with you in the past would be much awaited!
rugsėjo 9, 2024, 09:39 ¶I like the way you made this article. Short but juicy. Thanks for sharing!
rugsėjo 9, 2024, 12:44 ¶XenderAPK.ru: XenderAPK.ru is a platform dedicated to providing users with the latest version of the Xender app, a popular file-sharing tool. With Xender, users can transfer files across different devices without needing an internet connection, making it a convenient choice for quick and efficient file management.
rugsėjo 10, 2024, 14:35 ¶VidMateOld.pro: VidMateOld.pro offers access to older versions of the VidMate app, which is used for downloading videos from various platforms. If you prefer an earlier version of VidMate or need it for compatibility reasons, this site provides a safe repository of past releases.
rugsėjo 10, 2024, 14:35 ¶YodesiTV.ru: YodesiTV.ru is a streaming site that provides access to a wide range of TV shows and movies. Users can explore an extensive library of content from various genres, catering to diverse entertainment preferences.
rugsėjo 10, 2024, 14:36 ¶Dinosaur Game invites you to step back in time to a world filled with danger and excitement. As a mighty dinosaur, you’ll navigate through treacherous terrains, dodging obstacles and collecting power-ups to enhance your journey
rugsėjo 17, 2024, 11:44 ¶In these meetings, Putin’s demeanor conveys not only his own views but also the image he wishes to project to audiences in his home country as well as abroad.
rugsėjo 19, 2024, 13:39 ¶Your insights are always valuable. Thanks for sharing!
rugsėjo 25, 2024, 18:05 ¶I believe that with the information you share, it will bring a lot of value to the readers and I hope that they will absorb the good and useful things.
rugsėjo 26, 2024, 09:09 ¶I came upon another website that was discussing this subject in greater detail a few months ago. If you were able to shed some light on what is going on in the world, I am grateful to you. Certain websites have a clear bias toward aspects such as these. In light of this, what do you believe the general direction of the industry will be?
spalio 21, 2024, 11:01 ¶What i don’t understood is in truth how you’re now not really a lot more smartly-favored than you may be right now.
spalio 26, 2024, 00:07 ¶You’re so intelligent. You recognize therefore considerably relating to this subject, made me
for my part believe it from numerous numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated unless it’s something to accomplish with Woman gaga!
Your own stuffs outstanding. Always handle it up!
This idea brings a refreshing take on the topic and adds depth to the conversation.
spalio 27, 2024, 21:51 ¶Bflix is an online streaming platform that offers a wide variety of movies and TV shows.
lapkričio 4, 2024, 21:09 ¶Thank you for submitting your blog post; we’re excited to accept it and look forward to sharing your insightful content with our readers!
24kbet
lapkričio 12, 2024, 06:39 ¶CapCut is a widely-used video editing app that provides easy-to-use tools like effects, transitions, and music integration. It’s especially popular for creating engaging short videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
lapkričio 14, 2024, 09:48 ¶At https://beyond-memories.com/, we believe in preserving the moments that matter most. Our expertly crafted keepsakes go beyond traditional memorabilia, capturing the essence of your most cherished memories in ways words alone cannot express. Whether it’s a personalized piece of art, a custom heirloom, or a beautifully designed photo album, we transform your stories into timeless treasures. Celebrate life’s milestones with something uniquely yours. Let us help you preserve the legacy of love, laughter, and unforgettable moments—for generations to come. Experience the art of memory-making with Beyond Memories.
lapkričio 19, 2024, 12:32 ¶Komentuoti