For centuries, the English sought to increase their power and prestige by conquering territories on the European continent. During all this time they were only a second rank power in the great theater of European Nations. European destiny was decided by Spain, France and Germany (the Holy Empire). England was just a background character. And yet the English continued to stumble upon a fixed idea which prevented them from making any progress: to restore the Angevin empire of yesteryear...
Then a key event occurred: Lord Cobham created a think tank that would later be called "Cobham's cubs". These English lords, among whom will be the famous William Pitt, determined that the English destiny did not lie on the Continent because they had understood a simple thing: England does not have the assets of a continental power… but that of a maritime power.
With a small territory rather poor in resources, with a weak population and rather limited means, England could never compete with the French, so strong in their agriculture, their population and their wealth. It was a lost cause. But England was well defended thanks to its geography (you have to cross the Channel to conquer England) and could boast of being an impregnable fortress since it is on an island. Moreover, this state of affairs placed England in a superb position: she could build for her security a superb navy which could bring English power where she wanted it.
Once the Cobham's Cubs took power, they succeeded in reorienting English foreign policy in this direction. And in less than 100 years, the United Kingdom became the first world power. England had become richer than ever via its many colonies, it had endless finances and unparalleled striking power.
It was so simple... You just had to understand what was holding England back and understand what their real advantages were. Thus the creation of the British Empire required the abandonment of the continental Empire.
Russia must now achieve the same feat. It must abandon its ruinous imperialist ambitions to rebuild itself on a new model which will be more favorable to it. I will therefore explain in this article how Russian imperialism weakens us so much and we will soon study what the new conception of Russian geopolitics should be.
The Impasse of Imperialism
Imperialism is the will of a country to dominate other Nations. In History we can of course mention the Roman or Persian Empires, but we must not forget the Colonial Empires such as the French or British Colonial Empires. Each time the approach was to submit a weaker state to monopolize its resources while showing its own population that our Empire is strong and brings civilization to less developed peoples.
Thus the 19th century was a century of paradoxes… Many countries sought to become Empires to obtain prestige (such as the German Empire for example), while other States sought by all means to free themselves from the yoke of their oppressor (eg the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, Serbia, etc…). The 20th century meanwhile gave way to ideological empires… People spoke of the “Free World” opposed to the Axis or even the socialist world.
Today's Russia, and a fortiori the Russians, have a deep nostalgia for the Great Russian Empire. They long for a time when Russia was feared, respected and a civilizing force. When you look closer you quickly realize that these are more myths and legends than facts (just think of how the brotherhood of socialist peoples was maintained by force of arms in Budapest and Prague to realize that the ideals were only there to legitimize brute force). But still Russians have this deep feeling that something has been taken from them, that they have been denied their place in the world.
And I say this knowingly, because I also think that: Russia has still not reached its true potential. Russia is destined to be great, I have no doubt about that.
But here is the difference between the citizens of New Russia and those who still support the power in place: we no longer want easy solutions to achieve excellence. We know, from our personal experiences, that respect is earned, fortune is accumulated and prestige is conquered by hard labour. You have to work, and a lot to achieve your goals.
But no. Russians always fall into the same trap: someone convinces them that they are already great (so there is no need to make an effort in order to improve) and that they just have to take what they want because it is owed to them (so there is no need to respect others, you just have to steal and take). And yet we know that easy solutions never lead to anything good. To give an image, it's a bit like someone who wants to get rich but doesn't want to go to long and expensive studies and prefers to steal their neighbor's car. Except that they then end up in prison… This is what the Russian people have been doing without stopping for almost 200 years now.
If one takes stock: Russia wanted to dominate the Slavic world and to “liberate Constantinople” in 1914 and this resulted in the fall of Tsarism, Civil War, Famine and Revolution. Then she wanted to dominate the world and promote Revolution all over the globe only to crumble in a catastrophic economic crash and the dislocation of her Empire into 15 States. And now Russia again wants to “create a multipolar world with its area of influence and its traditional values” through War, lies and the use of force? What did Nietzsche say already ? “What is madness? Repeating the same thing and hoping for a different result”.
And besides, why would it work? If the world's second largest economy, with a population of 300 million and advanced technology (the USSR) could not prevail against the whole world, why would today's Russia , 10th (barely…) economic power in the world with 140 million inhabitants and barely sufficient technology, succeed today?
But there is another aspect to understand in the current problem… The fact that Russia's imperialist ambitions have never been its real objective but only its means of maintaining power. The Russian elite do not give a damn about creating an Empire or dominating the world. What she is doing is telling her people that she is doing it to stay in power. So it's not about actually making Russia Great, it's just about pretending to do something about it in order to stay rich and rob the country (and if Ukrainian children die for nothing, that's the cost of keeping one’s yacht and palace).
It is a terrifyingly effective trap… If it suffices to say to the American that he is free, to the French that he is cultured and to the Italian that he has invented everything, it suffices to say to the Russian that he is great and that he fights against the whole world for his glory, to deceive him… The opium of the people… And the opium of the Russian people is to make them dangle their never satisfied ambitions.
Because deep down, the Russian people know that something is wrong. That he has been lied to for a hundred years. Before it was “a Victory for the Tsar and we will all be powerful and respected”, then it was “The Proletarian Revolution will give us all palaces”, then it was “In 1980 we will all live in Communism” to tell us today “Let's hold out another 10 years and we will dominate the world”. And each time the Russian people fall for their false promises and waste their time, blood and life. Still more mess. But at the top, they live well at least.
And each time we are told about a decadent West, which has lost its spirituality, or which is mired in oligarchy and theft, which no longer develops... It's not that the West hasn't problems to solve and faults to address, but it's still been a hundred years since we were promised its coming collapse while it is Russia that collapsed each time. While the West is “decomposing” Russia has already seen three of its dreams shattered, its power diminished and its population devastated…
I almost want to say “Aren't you fed up?” Each time you say “We were lied to but now we understand and we will not fall back into the trap!”. Then they modify the trap for you here and there, they change the colors, they change the song, and the trap works again!
We must change course urgently for Russia. For the path of Imperialism leads to failure. And here are some concrete examples drawn from history:
Germany
At its birth (in 1871), the German Empire was the largest country in Western Europe, it was highly industrialized and equipped with a strong army, it could largely claim to be the equal of the French and British Empires. But its colonial Empire in Africa was very small. So Germany developed a jealousy vis-à-vis the French and English (and even Russians and Americans for that matter). Germany wanted to prove to the whole world that it too was a Great Power and jumped at the opportunity of the First World War to prove it (there are of course other reasons for the German engagement in this War but the essential is there: to defeat the Entente to dictate German conditions for Victory). The result: the collapse of the German Empire, reparations, Treaty of Versailles…
So at this moment a greater hatred was born among the German people. Lulled into the illusion of the supposed “stab in the back” of the Jews, Germany considered that it had been robbed of its victory and its place in the world and that it had been humiliated. She wanted to take revenge and destroy the West and the communist East. She then began the Second World War and fought against everyone almost alone. Result:
Loss of a large part of the territory
Division into two Germanies for 45 years
Military occupation by foreign armies
Disarmament
Humiliation over generations
An economy completely ravaged and destroyed (in certain regions return to the plow and the well without electricity)
It is only after more than half a century of humiliation, begging for forgiveness, restructuring of the economy and establishment of a new political model that Germany has come back to the fore and … reached the goals she had set for herself. Germany is now the unavoidable economic power in Europe, it is on the verge of rearming and is dictating its will to the world.
All that had to be done was to abandon Imperialism and military conquest to get there…
Japan
In the 1850s, Japan was horrified. The Americans forced them to sign unbalanced trade treaties and to open its borders. It was afraid of suffering the same fate as neighboring China (being dismembered and humiliated). After a long internal reform and a Civil War, the Japanese Empire was born.
Its ambition: to dominate Asia and not submit to the West. Feeling humiliated, Japan created a myth of the superiority of the Japanese over other peoples and the fact that they have been kept on their knees for fear of seeing them dominate the world.
The Sino-Japanese and World Wars followed. During these Wars, the Japanese commited unspeakable atrocities (Nanking massacre, experiments on human beings, famines, etc.), destroyed their own nascent democracy and engaged in an unwinnable conflict against a giant: the US. Through propaganda and lies, the Japanese junta sought to hide the truth from the people about its own abuses and military failures on all fronts.
Thus the average Japanese was convinced that Japan is winning the War and that the Japanese soldier is a model of humanity who brings peace and salvation to Asian populations exploited by Westerners. Result:
Loss of part of the territory
Military occupation by a foreign army
Disarmament
Humiliation over generations
An economy completely ravaged and destroyed
Use of the atomic bomb on its territory
It is only after more than half a century of humiliation, begging for forgiveness, restructuring of the economy and establishment of a new political model that Japan returned to the front of the stage and ... achieved the objectives it had set itself. Japan is now one of the essential economic powers in Asia, it is about to rearm and it dictates its will to the world.
All that had to be done was to abandon Imperialism and military conquest to get there…
The specificity of the current situation
The greatest concern, of course, is that these success stories came after military surrenders and externally forced reforms by the victorious Allies of the War. This scheme is not applicable to Russia in the sense that no one will occupy Moscow and the conquest of Russia is impossible due to Russia's nuclear arsenal. And it is sad to note that Germany and Japan succeeded in their strategic re-orientation not following a Revolution but by means of an occupation.
But the conclusion remains: imperialism has the effect of destroying the power of the country, not of strengthening it. Any state that has renounced imperialism has succeeded where the use of imperialism has failed to achieve its goals of greatness.
Russia can do the same, but it can only do so through a Revolution and therefore through a profound questioning of what it is and where it is going. And for now she is going to another bitter and possibly even fatal failure. That is why I will now explain what must be done.
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