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Pardon my French, but Russian anti-Americanism?
By Peter Lavelle
MOSCOW -
Many people have commented on the increase in
anti-Americanism in Russia with the advent of "Iraqi
Freedom". The Russia media, with Kremlin consent and
direction, have turned anti-Americanism into a popular
cottage industry, serving up a fare of cheap
infomercials with the clear intent of shaping public
attitudes toward the war - not unlike their US
counterparts. However, this is where the comparison
ends.
While some Americans are pouring French
wines down the toilet and eating "freedom fries" and
"freedom toast" - maybe even "freedom kissing" - Big
Macs are as popular as ever among Russians who can
afford a visit to Mickey D's. What is called "Russian
anti-Americanism" - as opposed to disapproval about a
particular point of US policy - has a lot to do with
what it means to be Russian and little to do with what
the United States is concretely doing. To be
"anti-American" means, implicitly, to be "pro-Russian"
and to identify with the country and/or ethnic group,
depending on one's degree of political sophistication
and the vulgarity or refinement of one's nationalistic
sentiments.
A strong sense of Russian
self-identity has yet to fill the vacuum left by the
collapse of the idea of Soviet identity, and strong
identification with one's vaguely qualified
"Russianness" in the face of adversity has the character
of a defensive psychological reaction. There are many
good reasons for Russians not to like the United States,
but what is called "anti-Americanism" in Russia is
really often an umbrella phenomenon encompassing dislike
for many other nationalities that are regarded as a
threat to Russian national identity in a quickly
changing world. Moreover, we must distinguish between
heart-felt feelings of hostility to the United States
and transient passions fanned in an unsophisticated way
by government propaganda. Differentiating between
attitudes toward the war in Iraq and attitudes toward
the United States in general would most likely flesh out
just how much progress (or lack thereof) President
Vladimir Putin and his people have made in creating a
sense of Russian identity.
We are told that
public-opinion polls show that an overwhelming majority
of Russians hope for a defeat of the United States by
Saddam's Iraq. This may or may not be true. But is this
really full-blooded anti-Americanism, or just a negative
opinion to the single event of the war against Iraq and
encouraged by the media? This is not something that
appears to matter to the Kremlin: keeping as much
international attention as possible focused on Russia as
long as the war lasts - with an eye toward getting a
seat at the table in the postwar settlement - is the
goal, and an anti-American stance looks good to most of
the world and appeals to populist sentiments at home.
Public opinion in Russia remains something of a
black box. Beyond some hardcore members of the Communist
Party and an occasional member of Russia's two
liberal-conservative Duma factions, Yabloko and the
Union of Right Forces, Russians are, for the most part,
politically homeless. The Kremlin's power bloc in the
Duma - United Russia - functions as a parliamentary
caucus interested only in knowing what the right answer
will be when it is asked to participate in an "opinion
poll" sent to them by the Kremlin or when it is time to
pass legislation. This is the bloc that hopes to
represent the majority of Russians in the next
parliament. It is also a political grouping the former
and now-disgraced US president Richard Nixon would be
proud to have: the "silent majority" is appreciated by
the powers-that-be only because it is silent.
Russian public opinion exists in the shadow of
Putin's ambiguous attempt to democratize the country as
well as his tempered interest in empowering civil
society. At the end of the day, democracy and civil
society are only welcomed by the government if they
coincide with the desires of those in authority -
something that is hardly unique to Russia, but which has
a peculiarly engineered quality here.
Today,
Russians are being delivered a controlled media message
warning of the dangers posed by the United States.
Yesterday, the national bugaboo was the evils of Islamic
fundamentalism. Tomorrow, it will most likely be unnamed
international forces attempting to shut Russia out of
the postwar Iraqi settlement. It is always the same
dance; just the music is different. Enemies will always
be found when Russia's authorities believe the country's
interests have been slighted or when the fear of a
development of public opinion not subject to state
control arises among the elite.
Recent calls
among Russia's Muslim community for a jihad against the
United States demonstrate just how unsophisticated
Kremlin "political technology" can be when it comes to
domestic affairs. The media campaign against the United
States has created the conditions for Russia to set its
own house on fire. This is why the Kremlin's anti-war
message has been toned down - protesting the war
internationally was almost cost-free but, at home, the
same message has created dangerous preconditions for
domestic strife.
On the whole,
"anti-Americanism" is really Russia's political elite
trying to apply its tried and tested top-down strategy
of social engineering to create the public opinion it
wants. This is particularly apparent under Putin and,
with election season almost upon us, we can expect still
more attempts at populist manipulation of public
opinion. This is a strategy that will probably pay the
Kremlin dividends when it is time to go to the ballot
box, but it is not enough to cement society into a solid
and meaningful whole. Every Russian this writer knows is
against the war in Iraq. Most also have mixed feelings
about the United States - especially under the Bush
administration. What I sense when talking about this war
with them is an open questioning of where Russia should
fit into the world George W Bush's United States appears
to be forcing on everyone who inhabits the planet, not
blind America-bashing.
In any case, the
"anti-Americanism" of most Russians - when it comes to
actual dislike of the United States, and not opposition
to a single event or a general suspicion of outsiders -
is a reflective, nuanced one. Unlike the crass attitude
many Americans have toward the French, many Russians can
sit under the Golden Arches munching a Royal de Luxe
(Quarter-Pounder) while disagreeing with the war in Iraq
and even pondering to what extent the United States is
actually good or bad for their country.
One
thing is clear: most Russians are against the Iraq war,
but the Kremlin has done nothing to convince anyone why
the war is anti-Russian. This is because what is Russian
remains very unclear, and official anti-Americanism does
not help the citizens of the Russian Federation to
answer settle the question.
Peter
Lavelle is a Moscow-based analyst and author of the
weekly e-newsletter Untimely Thoughts. He can be
contacted at plavelle@rol.ru.
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