Vladimir Putin: A Social Conservative Leader?
The Russian leader reminded the world of his
original appeal as one of its socio-conservative leaders during an
interview that he gave to the Financial Times late last week in which he
spoke out strongly against liberalism and staunchly defended
traditional values.
Part of President Putin’s original appeal worldwide
was that he was one of the first socio-conservative leaders of a Great
Power in the 21st century, though Trump’s meteoric rise to power and
characteristic showmanship eventually overshadowed the soft power
attractiveness of the Russian leader. As if on cue, Putin took the
opportunity to proudly display his socio-conservative credentials during
an interview that he gave to the Financial Times last
week ahead of the G20. While a myriad of topics were covered during
this extensive discussion, the most intriguing insight that he shared
was about the present state of affairs in the West, which will
undoubtedly attract the attention of the audience in that part of the
world where his international reputation has been under the most
ferocious attack.
Putin explained Trump and his fellow right-wing
European allies’ tremendous popularity as being attributable to the
prevailing notion among the population that “the ruling elites have
broken away from the people”, which has caused “the obvious problem” of
an enormous “gap (developing) between the interests of the elites and
the overwhelming majority of the people.” The response of the European
elites to the 2015 Migrant Crisis,
inspired by “the so-called liberal idea which has outlived its
purpose”, exacerbated this growing divide and brought the situation to
the tipping point where “many people admitted that the policy of
multiculturalism is not effective and that the interests of the core
population should be considered.” Tapping into the veins of populism,
Putin then described Merkel’s “refugee” policy as her “cardinal
mistake”.
He elaborated by lambasting the “open door” policy
for ignoring the problems of illegal migration and narcotics
trafficking, crediting Trump’s controversial efforts to build a wall
along the Mexican border as at least being an attempt to confront this
global challenge. “As for the liberal idea”, Putin continued, “its
proponents are not doing anything”, after which he proceeded to mock
them by remarking that “they say that all is well, that everything is as
it should be. But is it?” He added that “They say they cannot pursue a
hardline policy for various reasons. Why exactly? Just because. We have
the law, they say. Well, then change the law!” Putting his money where
his mouth is, Putin then explained the approach that Russia is employing
to address these threats.
In his words, “we are now working in the countries
from which the migrants come, teaching Russian at their schools, and we
are also working with them here. We have toughened the legislation to
show that migrants must respect the laws, customs and culture of the
country.” All of this is true and actually of immense importance too
because “Be It From Birthrates Or Migration, Russia’s About To Greatly Increase Its Muslim Population”
so it needs to be able to successfully continue assimilating and
integrating “civilizationally dissimilar” individuals into its
historically cosmopolitan society. Speaking of which, that said society
is firmly rooted in strong traditions that emphasize the positive
influence of religion in everyday life, just like the West used to be
like before the advent of liberalism.
Putin thinks that “[religion] should play its
current role” and that “it cannot be pushed out of this cultural space.
We should not abuse anything.” Commenting on the countless scandals
plaguing the Catholic Church, he warned that he “gets the feeling that
these liberal circles are beginning to use certain elements and problems
of [this institution] as a tool for destroying the Church itself”,
which he “considers to be incorrect and dangerous”. Even so, despite his
harsh critique of liberalism, Putin thinks that a balance must be
struck between it and traditionalism since he’s of the belief that
“purely liberal or purely traditional ideas have never existed”. Going
further, he said that
“various ideas and various opinions should have a chance to exist and manifest themselves, but at the same time interests of the general public, those millions of people and their lives, should never be forgotten.”
That last comment is bound to win him some more
supporters in the West, who have grown disillusioned with their mostly
liberal leaders and the disconnect that they have with the majority of
the population. Altogether, Putin’s reaffirmation of his status as one
of the world’s leading socio-conservative leaders couldn’t have come at a
better time since Russia and the US have begun the long process of
clinching a “New Detente”
with one another, so it helps to improve his image abroad and partially
“rehabilitate” him during in the event that this this grand
rapprochement eventually succeeds. As such, it was very important for
Putin to trumpet his socio-conservative credentials and show that he
relates to the concerns of the average Westerner nowadays.
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Andrew Korybko is an
American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship
between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road
global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a
frequent contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is from Kremlin.ru
The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Andrew Korybko, Global Research, 2019
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