Putin’s Russia: Too Perfect of an Enemy for the West

Many in the West see pro-Putin folks as misled victims of an almighty Russian propaganda machine, and since those folks (pro-Putin) incapable of independent thinking, they need a strong leader to lead them and tell them how to think. They are “Putin-admirers”, “Putinists”, “Russian-minded” and so on. Amazingly enough, Western mainstream media even seem to believe that the possible next president of the USA is one of them. The point of the label is suggesting that these people cannot think freely. 

But I think that the totally opposite is true. I would argue that many who side with Putin are simply totally fed up with Western lies, political correctness, forced consensus, gay parades, minority rule, narcissistic culture that admires only money and success, and so on. Working class people, who have no access to prosperity anymore, are told that they are evil national-minded losers if they don’t accept an imported cheap labour-force (immigration) that kills the future of their children. And because there’s a lot of "either with us or against us" attitude in Western thinking nowadays, many are willing to abandon the Western way of life and culture. Its foundation is dead.

The West is a combination of the Bold and Beautiful and a Zombie movie. It is slowly turning into a total nightmare. And that’s why many of those who don’t want to narrow their worldview see Putin as a ray of light in the darkness.

Not as an infallible leader, but as a human being, flesh and bones, with a similar mindset, and with a vision and an alternative for a better world. The huge difference between Putin and many national-minded leaders in the past and present is that Putin thinks globally, even though from the Russian point of the view. And that’s why he poses a real threat to the current US-oriented world order, as he’s clearly the person who’s capable of going against the grain. There’s no doubt about this (check, for example, his legendary 2007 Munich speech). And to underline this capability, Russian policies are now supported by a strong military message, which is a necessity for any kind of independence.

Putins unexpected popularity also in the West is partially caused by Western inability to understand the real nature of Putin’s Russia. The West has not understood that Putin presents an alternative for their frustrated citizens. That’s why the West opened Pandoras box when they initiated geopolitical games with Russia.

The West needed a threat, as they always need artificial threats to survive. Western culture has developed on the basis of wars and catastrophes, and if there’s no war in the horizon, then it must be created.

This time, the West wanted something much bigger than any war on terror or climate change. As China is still looming behind the curtains (even though tensions grow day by day, the strong economic bond between China and West makes things difficult for war-mongers), Putin’s Russia is an ideal threat, a perfect enemy. Something really dangerous, something that can destroy the US with her nuclear arsenal. And indeed, Putin has fulfilled that promise with occasional, only little veiled, warnings of using Russia’s mighty nuclear arsenal if needed. But has Putin’s Russia been a bit too perfect of an enemy? And would it be for real this time? Instead of the controlled chaos and a regional war, has the logic of a major war already swung into motion? Without any notice? Does anyone know? 

The real danger lies that the strong diplomatic efforts of Kerry and Lavrov don’t signal any change in the strategy of US - only a change in tactics. And finally, if there´s no other choice left, then it would be the military solution. Given that Russia’s military capabilities have turned out much stronger than expected, then the military solution must be devastating. 

What a nightmare for the West. I can hear those whispers in the Western corridors of power: "Cant´t we get rid of Putin just like we did with Gaddafi? You know, that "we came, we saw, he died" approach?" "No, it´s impossible. What we didn´t realize at the beginning was that Russia is not Libya." "So what should we do now?" "Well, we should expand NATO closer to Russian borders. Finally Russia will have no other choice than surrender. They have no guts to defend themselves." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely, you know, our military is the most powerful in the world and we are an indispensable nation." "But those SU-34’s look pretty intense in Syrian skies. I mean, where´s that old rusted Soviet stuff you mentioned before? And are we really indispensable? I´m not so sure about that anymore? I mean, so many are turning against us." "Don´t worry too much. Those who are against us are only brainwashed by the Ruskies' propaganda." "But..." "Will you shut up now! We will just nuke the Ruskies if they don´t start to behave. That´s it.”

But what if Russia doesn´t want to behave as expected? That´s the question that should have been asked years ago. Today’s Russia has no reason to do such. The hostile West has only managed to make Putin and Russia stronger. For example, have you noticed how the picture of Putin has changed recently? Funny, it´s mostly because of the US election, since Putin´s Russia is used as a weapon to attack Trump. But all these claims about hacking the servers of Democrats, and claims that Putin can manipulate the elections in favor of him, make Putin look like an almighty leader who can control everything in the world - and if Trump will be elected (I hope he will), that would happen because Putin wanted it to happen. You see, it´s not God´s will anymore, but Putin’s will. Western propaganda has managed to present Putin as a God! What a great achievement! Western propaganda has failed totally because it´s so far from reality. Nobody takes it seriously anymore. So, it´s not Putin’s fault if the West is going to lose this battle. It´s because of their inability to see reality.