The
victories of both of these two revolutions testify to both the strengths and
the weaknesses of Ukrainians. Why was the second revolution necessary? Only
because the first did not yield the desired results. Today Ukrainians are to
fulfill their ability to build an effective state. To this day Ukrainian people
is not looked upon as a nation-state that can fend for itself, not by Russia,
and not by the West.
Except the
Revolution of Dignity has significance not only for Ukraine, but also for the
global community. First and foremost this is a revolution of values, just as
the Orange Revolution was. Many thought leaders say Ukrainians are in the front
lines defending the values of the civilized world, standing up for the rights
and the future of everyone else on the planet. If Ukrainians lose, it will be a
defeat for the entire civilized world that has been building a system of global
security for many years in the hopes of a better and shared future.
Instead,
today we have a deep shared disenchantment, similar to the social climate in
Europe at the start of the First World War. The civilized, rational, progressive
world proved itself to be helpless in the face of barbarian actions cynically
fortified with modern technological advances. Technology is neither good, nor
bad on its own. It all depends on the individuals that use those technologies.
A discussion
about the Ukrainian revolutions inevitably leads us to the topic of Russia.
The metaphors of Winston Churchill casting communism as the
regression of mankind, and Ronald Reagan’s casting the Soviet Union as the Evil
Empire, today apply directly to the Russian Federation. Aggression, corruption,
violence, deceipt, domination. These are the primary features of the
“alternative Russian civilization” represented today by Vladimir Putin, a threat to the whole world.
This global
ideological battle is also challenging stereotypes. They are not to be feared,
as they are a part of each of us. Walter Lippmann said that in the desire to
understand the world, people create images in their minds, and later they
modify these images when they receive new information. Lippmann also speaks of
the pseudo-environment which the media helps create.
This global
conflict of values, viewed by the international community primarily as a local
Ukrainian-Russian conflict, deserves to be cracked open and released from its ideological
pseudo-environmental shell. Let’s direct our attention to a few important
hypotheses:
First: Putin’s false history
Russia has not only rejected the rules proposed by a global system of security,
but Putin has misappropriated and
distorted well-understood political terms, fundamentally changing their
meaning, for example, by drawing analogies between events in Ukraine and in
Kosovo; by Russian terrorists in Crimea and Donbas copying Euromaidan tactics (such
as the name “self-defense”, the use of tires for barricades and the
like); by the false mirroring between the Euro-Atlantic world based on rule of
law and the Eurasian world based on rule by force and fear.
Second: Russia’s ‘autocracy, orthodoxy, nationality’
The
Russian state orients itself to the so-called “greatness” of the
Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union, having drawn parallels between
Stalinism and Czarist ideologies under the rubrics of “Moscow – the third
Rome”, and, “autocracy, orthodoxy, nationality”. As a result, today we are not dealing with a
monkey armed with a grenade, but with the danger of a barbaric beast playing
with the buttons of a nuclear arsenal.
Third: Russia faces no unified opposition internationally
Russia is winning the global information war, in as much as Russia is not
facing any unified opposition within the international community. We observe
the impact of journalists who sold out, and of irresponsible politicians
the world over.
Fourth: ‘Cowardly reluctance to look truth in the eye’
The lack
of decisions of the international community relies on a cowardly reluctance to
look truth in the eye. Just because there are no Kremlin leaders with surnames
“Hitler” and “Goebbles” does not mean that the resurgence
of a Russian so-called “sovereign democracy” moving westward over
Ukrainian territories differs from the Nazi Drangnach Osten, as it is
accompanied by very similar xenophobic concepts.
Fifth: Blind xenophobia in Russia
The
acceptance by the West of contemporary Russia as a nation of great literature,
classical ballet and democratically-minded intellectuals is unrealistic as it
misses the dangers of blind xenophobia. According to the All-Russian Center
survey of national sentiment, published in the middle of May, Putin’s approval
rating is at 85.9%. This brings to mind the words of Karl Jung on Nazism as the
collective psychosis of German society between the two world wars.
Sixth: Contempt for international rights and rules
The
apparent successes of a Putinistic Russia rely on the complete indifference to
a civilized world, and on basing success
rely on the principle of “might makes right” and on utter contempt for
international rights and rules that apply equally to all.
Seventh: Ukraine is on a different course than Russia
The
time for the West to distinguish Ukraine from Russia is long overdue.
Everyone has
heard of the kozaks. This phenomenon arose in the 16th century or even earlier in
what is today the Ukrainian oblast of Zaporizzhia. According to the stereotypes
of Ukrainian historical memory, kozaks symbolize freedom and dedication in
service to their people. In my childhood my grandmother said to me, “Remember,
you come from kozaks, you are a free person.” Yet the distorted Russian
mirror reflecting a deformed Ukrainian history presents the kozak as one who
served monarchs, destroying everything that might stand in the way of the
aggressive empire.
The
totalitarian mythology of Putinistic Russia is founded upon specific
stereotypes, thrust into the public consciousness by the state-controlled mass
media. In the absence of free speech, the persistent public nullification of
critical thought leads to the zombification of Russian society through
totalitarian concepts. For example, the former “single correct”
soviet truth now becomes an exclusively anti-western truth. A majority of
Russians in the public sphere are no longer able to apply basic logic and
answer the question why Orthodox Bulgarians, Greeks and Romanians become
members of NATO?
For Russian
political mythology, Ukraine is exceptionally significant. And so, Kyiv is the
“mother of Russian cities”. We note, as distinct from the Russian
positioning of Moscow as the “Third Rome”, a symbol of imperial
power, the Ukrainian historical stereotype treats Kyiv as a “second
Jerusalem”. This is a symbol of justice.
Governing
Kyiv lends legitimacy to the empire calling itself “Russia”, taking
the name from the Middle Ages, when Ukraine called itself “Kyivan
Rus'”. The history of the Russian empire under the name “Muscovy”
dates back only to the 15th century. The discourse of the empire is hides and
refuses to acknowledge this fact. The Russian anxiety – “If we do not
possess Ukraine and Kyiv, then we will not be ‘great’ enough” –
preoccupies Putin, and his entire propaganda media machine.
Russia initiated
a war with Ukraine in its quest for “Greatness”. This fact is to be taken seriously. We need to understand not only what drives the
information wars, but also the imperial mythology and collective psychosis now
entrenched within Russian society. They do not wish to hear and will not
tolerate hearing anything that does not comport with the official discourse and
propaganda. Most Russians wish to hide in the fog of “Greatness”, so
as not to see the depravity, the economic and political problems, the isolation
and violation of human rights in the country where they live.
A great
metaphorical significance in the Ukrainian collective consciousness is found in
the stereotype of the meaning of Maidan. The Maidan is a place where serious
social problems are discussed, where an answers to the key issues that affect
each citizen are found collectively. Maidan symbolizes justice and the strength
to defend this justice. In Kyiv they
say, “Are you unable to find Truth and Justice? Go to Maidan, seek help at
Maidan”. Currently, a special group of lawyers
and political analysts are at work to institutionalize Maidan as a political
entity within the Ukrainian legislative system.
Thanks to
Euromaidan, there are new social and political processes taking place in Ukraine
now. Today we have concerns before us that are dramatically different from
those of Russian political culture. Ukrainians are assembling and coming
together along social and civil groupings based on their rights as citizens.
There is no division or discrimination along linguistic-cultural or territorial
lines. Thought leaders of Crimean-Tatar, Jewish and Russian backgrounds rejoice
repeatedly that they are, indeed, Ukrainian.
The war has
strengthened Ukraine and unified its people. Ukraine is building a new military
structure and a new nation. We truly have tremendous challenges with material
resources, war and corruption, but we wish to establish a just nation based on
rule of law for all its citizens. If Ukraine and Maidan win this war, the world
will be a better place.
Ukraine
needs the support of United States to defend itself. We are not asking for “boots on the ground”. We are asking for the means to defend
ourselves. We are asking for support to
build a strong civil society, to improve our educational system, to rebuild our
country economically.
Thank you for this
opportunity to speak and to meet with you in your capital.
Serhiy Kvit is Ukraine’s minister of education. This speech, “Ukraine and the world: seeking a genuine reality” as delivered at the United States-Ukraine Working Group Yearly Summit on June 19 in Washington, D.C.
