The boy David has been
trying to poke the Russian Bear into some reaction. He may not get the one he is hoping for. In fact he may well get one that will cause
him endless trouble.
To understand President Vladimir
Putin you have to understand Russia. To understand Russia you have to
understand its history. This is far from
easy given its scope and complexity.
This eight minute clip
from Youtube, the Coronation Scene from "Boris Gudunov" will give you the sense of it. For Boris read Vladimir. This kind of thing is not lost on another Boris
much closer to home.
This
leading scholar did understand Russia, for various reasons. I was one of the first students he tutored. His insights were remarkable. One was that to understand French political
history it was necessary to study closely the 1934 book
"Clochemerle".
He was very right. Also, he was right about Russia. Without a real knowledge of its deep history
you are meat for the bear.
In the nineteenth century upper class Russians admired the English. I doubt if that is the case now.
ReplyDeleteComrade tony Abbot of Australia said he would 'shirt front' Putin
ReplyDeleteAnd a nuclear weaponed fleet arrived as response.