Those who missed her interview on CBC Radio last week might welcome this report from the Bulgarian paper Trud (February 10):
Russian President Vladimir Putin is destroying his country’s future with his neo-imperialism, political scientist Nina Khrushcheva, granddaughter of the former Soviet party leader Nikita Khrushchev says.
“Putin wants Russia to be an empire once again, and that has largely obscured his perception. He says he wants to modernise Russia, but ever since he’s been in power – for the last 15 years – he has reverted the country to the year 1612 and the times of the Polish-Russian War. Today Poland has been replaced by Ukraine….
“I think Russia is still too big to help itself. A country with nine time zones can never become truly mature…. Russia must separate itself from its territories….
“That is certainly a sad conclusion, but Russia must decide which path it wants to take. Perhaps one day Ukraine, Moscow and Saint Petersburg will form a federation like the [Medieval] Kievan Rus’. Perhaps in 50 years? Who knows. But as long as Russia clings to the grandeur of an artificial empire, in my view it will never have a bright future.”
This lends itself to an uncomfortable parallel. Would it at all be conceivable to imagine that one day somewhat similar reasoning could be applied to what is now known as Canada? Who would nowadays even think of such an outrageous folly? ‘Leaping forward’, could Stephen Harper’s granddaughter, perhaps, be heard uttering ‘I think Canada is still too big to help itself..’? That is assuming, of course, that at that time any such territorial metamorphosis could even be entertained outside the tutelage of the United States.