The Puzzle of Russian Nationalism

In case you haven't noticed, in the past few years, Russia has truely re-emerged on the world stage in the capacity of an energy superpower. While many discounted Russia in the 1990s as a has-been, never to reclaim its crown as a major player in world affairs. However, since Putin has assumed power, the country has undergone an economic renaissance. Moscow currently is one of the wealthies cities in the world, hosting the most billionaires if nothing else. Quite naturally, Russia's resurgence has stroked both the flames of domestic patriotism and Western fears; especially in light of the fact that Russia wants to be accepted on its own terms. Simply put, Russia has always followed its own developmental trajectory. They missed out on the Reformation and the Enlightenment and only caught a whiff of the tail-end of Romanticism. While European Monarchies began adopting constitutions in the 19th Century, Russia only abolished serfdom in 1861 and maintained it's autocratic government up until Revolution was already knocking at its door. Then of course, there was the whole experience with Communism. To a large extent, Russia's faith, whether it be the Orthodox Church or the Communist government, has always isolated it from the rest of Europe. While Russians are racially European, this country is by no means European.

A few weeks ago, I went over to a close friend's apartment to have a few beers. There I met another good friend of his, who worked in a state-run corporation in procurement or something. Now, one of the joys of living in Russia, especially in light of the recent tensions, is getting to listen to a lot of crack-pot, nationalistic, conspiracy theories about America. It seems like a lot of Russians do little else aside from sit at home and mull over their hatred towards America, waiting for the first foreigner to spring on. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, I am that foreigner as my friends are mostly Russian. In any case, within five minutes of striking an acquaintance with this friend, the conversation immediately turned to the Federal Reserve and a barage of standard, run-of-the mill conspiracy theories about it being a cabal, controlled by the Wall St. bankers, etc. Trying to explain monetary policy in English is difficult, but in Russian, it's a nightmare. In any case, the conversation ended up devolving into Russia is a great nation, because Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and since Russians have lived in shit for so long, in the event of nuclear war, they will be able to plant potatoes, thus surviving, whereas their pampered American counterparts will all starve to death.

Anyway, over the weekend, I went out for a few beers with the same friend, and the subject of his friend his job came up. Apparently, Russian state-run corporations have a really interesting process for procuring equipment. Rather than going directly to the manufacturers of equipment, goscorporatsi hold tender with a number of middle man firms, who handle the logistics and everything. These companies generally win tender by paying off the employee in charge of the tender and turn around, buying the equipment for significantly less than they sell to their client. Corruption is nothing new in Russia, and this is just one more example in a litany of abuses. Having lived here for 2 years, I've run across quite a few policemen, members of the FSB and other assorted government officials. These government officials are often the first to proclaim their love of the country, and defend it in impassioned speaches. When I naively protested the absurity of the practice, my friend turned around and said, "C'mon man, who really gives a fuck? All I care about is that my family lives well and those around me live well." So much for a love of homeland.