Things are supposed to smell bad in Russia: it is the Russian soul that smells

In Russia, even protesters, dissidents, artists and rock musicians are patriotic - or at the very least, they constantly praise the uniqueness of Mother Russia.

 

Does the rise of nationalism in Russia frighten you? No point in being fearful; there are simply no alternatives to it. In Russia all parties are nationalistic, says Professor Markku Kivinen. He is the director of both the Alexander Institute at the University of Helsinki and the Russia unit of the Academy of Finland.

 

According to Kivinen, the Russians themselves see nothing strange about nationalism. They point out that also in the United States, all politicians praise the greatness of their country: "this great nation", as they are wont to say.

 

In Russia, protesters, dissidents, artists and rock musicians are also nationalists and patriots at heart, and at least they praise the uniqueness of Mother Russia. How can those who think that everything is wrong in Russia be truly proud of their country?

 

The open pride of those brought up by a great power is something that is hard for someone in Finland to understand.

 

But we can try.

 

In Finland everyone knows that they come from a small country with a numerically small and materially poor population.

 

No matter how well things go for us, we easily just shy away.

 

Russians by contrast know that they come from a great and rich country. No matter how badly things are going, they stand with their heads held high.

 

In our politics we remind ourselves of the situation of a small country, while in Russia it is about a large country.

 

If the roads in Russia are in poor shape everywhere, the reason is that the country is just so vast.

 

If something is totally pear-shaped over there, a sufficient explanation is that "Russia is Russia" and it simply cannot be wholly understood.

 

In addition to being large, Russia is quite unique and special, and there is no point in denying it.

 

There is no point in telling a Russian that India is also unique - it will only make him irritated.

 

The Caucasus has been seen over there as having been quite unique throughout history.

 

A new emphasis was put on this in the 1990s, says researcher Katri Pynnöniemi of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wrote in late January that the development and history of the Russian state is one of a kind.

 

Politically the isolation means that Russia considers itself to be neither of the East nor the West. Instead, Pynnöniemi says that Russia sees itself as something all its own.

 

The country's massive size is used to justify the country's strong central government, which is seen as necessary to prevent the place from falling apart at the seams.

 

Who cares if the United States has solved the problem through establishing a strong federal administration - even in this, Russia is special.

 

It makes its own rules.

 

There are many types of nationalists. Putin's party United Russia alone has three different sorts: the hard-line nationalist Nashi movement, which is sometimes allowed to run wild, and sometimes kept in check. In the middle is a group similar to the Social Democrats of other countries. At the other extreme are the liberal western-minded who feel that Russia is similar to the United States - but quite unique nonetheless.

 

In Markku Kivinen's view, Prime Minister Putin and President Dmitri Medvedev are at the midway point on the scale of Russian nationalism.

 

In any case, the starting point for all parties in Russia is that Russia has long been the second superpower in the world, Kivinen explains.

 

Talk about the breakup of the Soviet Union has given people in the West an erroneous impression.

 

The Soviet Union did not disintegrate, nor did it disappear like dust into the air.

 

Russia remained, and it also remains a great power.

 

In the territory of the former Soviet Union, Russia continues to dominate the political stage, and the economic interests, Kivinen explains.

 

It is actively building its own sphere of influence in the Arab countries, for instance. It is playing a true great power game with strategic nuclear weapons. In addition it seeks to integrate with the West by playing the role of a responsible civilised country.

 

Russia is not a totalitarian country, Kivinen points out.

 

"It is an authoritarian hybrid: formally democratic, but something quite different when necessary. Forces that would challenge the elite in power are weak - this applies to the opposition parties, the system of justice, and the media."

 

What is the position of Finland as Russia's neighbour? Finland is not a key focus of attention in Russian foreign policy, Kivinen observes.

 

"We are an easy case for them."

 

Russia is an old empire for which Finland has been a periphery. It can take an aloof attitude toward us - or something even worse: Kivinen mentions a study in which Russians were asked what country takes the most positive attitude toward them.

 

If the respondents are not given a choice of countries, the top country is usually Germany or France.

 

But if respondents are given a list of countries to choose from and Finland is included on it, Finland is always in first place.

 

The cold fact of the matter is that they do not even remember a small country like Finland on their own.

 

"Finland is not important to Russia", Kivinen says bluntly.

 

Which of the Russian nationalist options would be best for Finland?

 

Kivinen feels that it would be most important for us that Russia should remain a peaceful state, and that it would gradually modernise.

 

"They say themselves that Russia will never become a vegetarian state, and that there is no point in expecting that to happen."

 

It is likely that Russia will remain largely similar to what it is now for decades to come, he says.

 

Russia's economic problems are great, its welfare state is poorly developed, and it has serious headaches in its public health system, which cannot be smoothed away in just a few years.

 

And what do the Russians even want? They do not want to be a boring, clean, and orderly country like Finland.

 

"The optimum outcome for us would be that it would become a Norway, which would know how to use the wealth brought to it by energy resources, and would develop into a modern civilised country in 30 years. But this is not something that is on the horizon", Kivinen says.

 

In the old days, Finland's eastern neighbor would always show pictures of large fields of waving grain with tractors and combine harvesters.

 

What is Russia's source of pride now? Nobody knows the answer to that one.

 

Russia has no good brands.

 

Pynnöniemi tells of a Russian economist who feels that in modernisation it is important for a country to have an automotive industry of its own.

 

Not all countries have their own car brand, Pynnöniemi told him. The Russian responded that the resident of a small country cannot understand that a large country does not have such an option.

 

A car brand is necessary.

 

It is certainly true that Finland also wants to be the best in the world at something.

 

It is good for a small power to be known for some product or other.

 

In Russia, the thinking is that as "we are a great power, we need to have products that are known around the world. Nothing less will do", Pynnöniemi says.

 

Russians are now buying foreign consumer goods - not because they would want to take on the appearance of Westerners: they are simply very quality-conscious, and do not trust in the products of their own country. They get the best that money can buy.

 

And they are not ashamed to flaunt their wealth.

 

The best-known Russian brand is the Kalashnikov assault rifle. War is the number one source of pride.

 

"War is the holiest of all. It is still terribly important", says Kivinen.

 

The Great Patriotic War - the Second World War - is discussed intensely.

 

Victory Day, May 9th, is a major holiday for the young as well.

 

The orange and black ribbons of Victory Day, the self-same kind that were on medals of valour in the Red Army, hang on cars in the same way that our cars might have fuzzy dice or Wunderbaum air fresheners.

 

From the point of view of someone from a small power, this seems strange.

 

In Finland it is mainly neo-Nazis who promote the symbol of the Finnish Lion.

 

Fighting a war is something we would prefer to forget. This is not the case in Russia.

 

In Russia war is present. More war veterans have come from Afghanistan and Chechnya. On streets in the capital it is possible to see "samovars" - legless invalids who move around on boards with wheels.

 

"When they are recruited in large numbers to sing patriotic songs in election campaigns, it is quite a stunning sight", Kivinen says.

 

Heroic stories have always been part of Russian culture, whether it be biographies of saints or the Bolsheviks. There is still talk of Russian messianism - about how a small duchy grew into an empire.

 

Multiculturalism is also a source of pride for the empire.

 

Many are surprised when a person singing the praises of Mother Russia turns out to be from Armenia or Udmurtia.

 

However, conflicts between ethnic groups are now a growing cause for concern.

 

Last week Putin announced the launch of a massive programme in Russia to strengthen the unity of the nation. A Russian identity is to be created for ethnic minorities.

 

To that end, houses of friendship and nationalities are to be set up, funding is to be given to projects in schools, in the media, and on the internet.

 

"It will require a lot of money", Kivinen says.

 

Russia puts much value on patriotism, which is a separate subject in schools.

 

Nationalist feelings are also boosted by sports, the church, and the media.

 

It is soft power, as Kivinen likes to call it.

 

History and culture are promoted in Russian homes.

 

In celebrations, ancient songs are sung and traditional foods are eaten. Even though sushi is popular, Russia's own zakuska hors d'oeuvres will not disappear from the table.

 

People in Russia read the classics - they all promote the notion of Russian uniqueness, of the mythical Russia. Nowadays, mandatory books at Russian schools include The Gulag Archipelago by Alexandr Solzhenytsin, which was banned in the Soviet Union.

 

There is certainly also no shortage of entertainment fluff in Russia, and pseudo-sciences are doing well over there.

 

The Russians are self-sufficient in these as well. Nevertheless, it is important to be able to quote Pushkin in speeches, and to speak the Russian language beautifully.

 

The Russian language is the pride of the country.

 

It is a factor that separates people from each other, much as it is in France and Britain.

 

In Moscow, even Gorbachev was seen to be oafish: the Russian that he spoke was not aesthetically pleasing to a sufficient degree.

 

Russian women are also a source of pride - the most beautiful on the planet, they say, and this image is fostered.

 

"Prisons for women have training for marriage. The training includes education in etiquette, the use of makeup, clothing, and the right way to walk", Kivinen says.

 

Women are perhaps Russia's best-known brand in the world.

 

Successful emigrants are also a source of pride in Russia.

 

It is good for representatives of a small power to know how far Russia's borders extend.

 

They reach out everywhere where there are Russians. And they exist everywhere, from New York to Berlin, to the Chinese island of Hainan, where there are so many of them that street signs are also in Russian.

 

Twenty-five million Russians live outside the country. They are not seen as quitters who left their homeland - on the contrary: "Russians see them as their own resource. There are precise lists of how many Russians there are in each country", Kivinen says.

 

Russia defends its own people, wherever they may be.

 

As we all know, Russian officials and the media have taken issue with custody disputes involving couples in which one partner is Finnish and the other is Russian.

 

In the Baltic countries, which have large Russian minorities, relations with Russia are much tenser, usually over perceived slights towards the emigré Russian population.

 

Wherever Russians go, they rapidly form their own networks.

 

Soon there are stores selling Russian foods and a radio station playing Russian music.

 

It depends on how one looks at it, whether or not this is seen as cultural imperialism or the formation of a ghetto.

 

The sense of community is a throwback to rural life. The country would never have survived communism without the establishment of social networks.

 

According to studies, the habit has remained. Kivinen says that the Russians are reigning world champions in network formation.

 

A person from a small power might ask with some degree of cynicism if there is anything that the Russians would not be proud of.

 

In the Kamrat television series by Anna Laine, Russians even defend foul smells.

 

Things are supposed to smell bad in Russia: it is the Russian soul that smells!

 

The Russian economy is in good enough shape for joining the euro, if that were possible.

 

However, there are massive regional differences in the standard of living.

 

In Moscow the salary level of the middle class is at about the level of the Finns, Kivinen says. Also, they usually do not have housing loans: dwellings came as heritage from the Soviet Union when they were privatized.

 

There is nonetheless real poverty in the periphery. The money of the oligarchs has here and there been used to put places into shape.

 

Kivinen speaks of about a small village in which there is a church donated by one oligarch, and an ultra-modern school has been built through Putin's assistance programme.

 

At the same time, there is no bridge crossing the river that cuts through the village.

 

"They don't expect that anyone is going to come along and put things right for them."

 

Moscow has always been a very distant place.

 

Russia is used to massive hierarchical differences. There have always been people there who are massively rich.

 

"During the time of serfdom there were people who had immense fortunes, even compared with today's oligarchs. They owned tens of thousands of people", Kivinen says.

 

There is greater tolerance for injustice in Russia than with us.

 

People have travelled in noisy smelly buses as cosmonauts flew grandly into space.

 

What might have been achieved if the money had been used to help the poor?

 

Ah, but a great power demands great sacrifices.

 

Russians certainly do complain.

 

Even old grandmothers lament that all other countries are depriving Russia of its riches, its oil, and its gas.

 

Only misery will be left.

 

But guess what? The Russians are also immensely proud of their unique ability to withstand pain!

 

"I have seen a Russian weep with frustration in the early 1990s, when the country was doing so badly. But I have never seen a humble Russian", Kivinen says.

 

By Anna-Stina Nykänen

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

 

Kavkaz Center