The longer the Russian imperial dream lasts, the harder it will be to awaken this nation. Moreover, it may so happen that they won’t be able to recover from an “overdose” of patriotism.
The Kremlin lives in an illusory world. Intending to go to yet another war with the whole world, following in the steps of the Soviet Union, it clearly didn’t take into account its meager strength. While Soviet economy could be compared with that of the United States, the economy of today’s Russia is only a tenth of the American.
However, the Kremlin continues to crawl into all kinds of cracks in global politics, seeking own benefits. To this end, their so-called “information troops” are widely used, which use information weapons and have already been widely engaged in all high-profile global military and political crises.
Through total ideological, political, and economic mobilization of public resources, the Russian Empire managed to survive under the USSR brand. Moreover, it was even able to create a “transit civilization,” commonly called “Soviet,” which lasted nearly 70 years and left a deep footprint in the history of Russian culture. Unfortunately, this never stopped the process of disintegration, only somewhat slowing it down.
However, thanks to the peaceful nature of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia miraculously managed to stabilize the core of the empire. Many of those who are cursing Mikhail Gorbachev today for the collapse of the country are unlikely to realize that if the process had gone the way as it is now, the subject of discussion would not have long ceased to exist as such.
However, it turned out impossible to ensure stability of the system by the old methods through another total mobilization of society. It turned out that it is impossible to step into the same ideological river twice. Imported and poorly mastered liberalism wasn’t suitable for the preservation of the empire.
Therefore, in early XXI century, Russia has become a “political technology” empire, which is being held off from disintegration not so much by “spiritual staples” it promotes so diligently but rather its cheap tricks.
The beginning of a new and hopefully last phase of the collapse of the empire was marked by a series of military conflicts of “local significance,” which arose almost out of nowhere as the Riders of the Apocalypse. By pursuing war, the empire lives on.
The Russo-Ukrainian war turned out to be so rapid that the majority in Russia (but not in Ukraine) did not even realize that it was, in fact, an act of war. However, history knows examples of both more fleeting and more inglorious wars. The fact that the occupation of Crimea took place without a single shot changes nothing. In addition, other attributes of wartime, especially the political and psychological mobilization of society, are in place in Russia today, even in excessive amounts.
This war, which seems to some as an offensive act, is in fact deeply defensive. The empire does not attack, but defends itself by winning some more time in history.
To slow down disintegration, patriotic morphine was injected into society. Like any drug, it can relieve pain and bring euphoria, but it can hardly be considered a solution. Russia has two options: either it will be forced to consume larger and larger doses of this morphine, moving from one war to another (and sooner or later die from an overdose of patriotism), or disintegrate in the near future.
Source: Theologian Mamuka Putkaradze
