© New Eastern Outlook
Russia has no future. The British Isles do. Long before the last serving of fish and chips has passed into gastronomy history, Blinis and Pelmeni will have been stricken from all the languages of Earth. At least, this is what Owen Matthews, the author of the book Stalin's Children, believes. Sadly, he is not alone in his ludicrous and addictive hate of all things Russia.
Spectator's ViewSomebody, please stop me! Morning research has inextricably led me to another media analysis โ this time on the weekly British newspaper
The Spectator. The title of Matthews's story will help you understand how a geopolitical analyst can't seem to get off of Western news. "Putin may seem confident - but Russia's future is bleak," is problematic because it is entirely based on a dark fantasy. Matthews, after whining about Mr. Putin running things in Russia some more, launches into a spew about the Ukraine military operation. In his vent, the British son of Ukrainian S.S.R. parents belches a familiar Western strategy burp - the idea that Ukraine ever had any chance of winning a conflict against Russia.
It's counterproductive to hover over this "made" British journalist for long. As many in the service of the liberal elites freaked over the new multipolar order, Matthews has made the rounds for his lords and masters. During the Bosnian war, he was a mouthpiece from Budapest, Sarajevo, and Belgrade. He also ran interference in the Second Chechen War, as well as in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan - the usual places propagandist altar boys get sent. The most significant difference between Matthews and a cadre of corporate-owned contemporaries is he's one hell of a lot better at slicing and dicing the Ukraine situation. On Russia? Well, let's just say he has to play his role according to direction most of the time.
Like all the other stories we've read about Putin, the Euromaidan, Ukraine, Russia, and the state of West-East affairs, all the familiar bell tones are there.
Ideas like new Russian imperialism, Russia's weak army, Putin's destroyed economy, and even a Russian brain drain exodus are there to rivet the willing idiots tuned in. I assume the Russian mafioso, former Yukos oil boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and other Western-backed privateers are the "best and brightest" to whom the
Statesman story refers. The magazine's paywall prevented me from diving deeper into this latest Russophobic rant. The exciting thing here is the question that arises from observing so many talented writers being sucked into the dark wormhole of elitist illusion. Aha! You say? We are onto something much more profound than painting paid propagandists.
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