Putin and several Russians saw losing Ukraine and letting it fall into the Western orbit as a major blow to Russia's international prestige (Photo Credit: AP)
After the Soviet collapse, many Russian politicians viewed the divorce with Ukraine as a 'mistake of history' as it posed a threat to Russia's standing as a great power.
New Delhi: Russia as a nation and its foreign policy is in debate these days. However, one fact that has evaded discussions so far is whether Russia should be categorised as European or Asian. This question – of course – remains a subject matter with potent strategic implications. In 2022, post-February 24, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Xi Jinping dispensation in China and the Indian government of Narendra Modi are maintaining somewhat a nuanced stance on the war.
Are all these merely in the name of RIC harmony? Perhaps both Xi Jinping and Modi are aware that Vladimir Putin is also sensitive to some of the issues from the past.
Traditionally, the task of making maps has been a European monopoly. The map givers had partitioned Asia from Europe in the Ural mountains. Needless to add, all this did not happen all of a sudden or out of some simplistic innocence.
Experts would vouch that the European mapmakers knew what they were doing. According to scholar Paul Bracken, the Europeans knew "drawing the maps to fit the political climate of their time".
Historically, the major European players, including France, strongly resisted Russia's goal of western expansion. But in the east, Russia's superior military organisation quickly captured the lands of loose-knit tribals. In the process, Moscow created two Russias over the decade.
One was European and modern and dynamic. The other was Asiatic in character and rural-based, and thus perhaps 'ripe' for the civilising effects of Russian rule.
Bracken of Yale University says the Russian-Asian divide actually "even worked its way into American atomic war plans".
It's true in 1991, as the Soviet Union fell apart, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian republics too were cut loose. Thus, he says, "Russia lost its empire and with it its place in the world."
Russia was no longer seen as a 'modern' nation, as was done during the USSR regime. Russia soon began to be looked down on by the west, Europe and the US, and even the Japanese.
True, in an instant, once superpower USSR disappeared. Putin was traumatised by the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. Thus, now that Putin has gone affirmative, he has brought his country into a global debate.
Many Russians agree with Putin and feel resentment and humiliation, but it can't be claimed that the common Russians also want war.
At the same time, there is a peculiarity too. After the Soviet collapse, many Russian politicians viewed the divorce with Ukraine as a 'mistake of history'. Moreover, it posed a threat to Russia's standing as a great power. In fact, Putin and several Russians saw losing Ukraine and letting it fall into the Western orbit as a major blow to Russia's international prestige.
Of course, Putin's success in reviving his 'Russian pride' – if he thinks so – is not all for the right reasons. War can do no good to humanity or any country as such.
A critical question that crops up at this juncture is what the current Russia-inspired global chaos and European crisis actually mean to Asia.
Putin and two other regional players, Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping would be well aware that the military alliances never worked well or mattered much in Asian history.
Distances and tough terrains have made it impractical to send military assistance in time to make any difference.
Therefore, there was never a NATO in Asia. The countries in Asia could not overcome the long historical tradition of nations fending for themselves. But every world war has changed the world. We are almost in the midst of World War III. The 15-day conflict between Russia and Ukraine is slowly dividing the nations.
Notwithstanding their respective issues, India and China have so far walked the middle path, declining to blame a man called Putin for every problem under the sky. Thus, the strong plea made by Indian Prime Minister Modi to return to dialogue and diplomacy makes a lot of sense. The enhanced cooperation from China to India and Russia thus can be a major game-changer.
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