The Imaginary Russian Threat

Dear Europeans! Whom do you trust: your own eyes or the Children of Baltic Communists who Enlighten you about Russian danger?

I’ve been traveling through Europe rather extensively. Everywhere I see common, hard working people, proud of their work, and ready to enjoy its fruits. None of them has any issue with Russians. None. In fact, they are happy to trade their products, travel, and learn from each other.

Furthermore, there is nothing in current Russian reality that would indicate that Russia is a threat to Europe. What exactly Baltics or Poland or Finland have that Russia doesn’t have. Idiots? Russia has enough of those too. Drunkards? For sure. Mediocre dairy and agricultural products and mushroom from polluted forrests?

In other words, Russia poses zero threat to Europe. Yet, there are politicians. Who somehow go against the common sense of their own population, and in the manner of Clintonistas can say only one thing: Russia, Russia, Russia.

And the people obey. Now EU bans Russian sport, now it stops banking operations, now it does not fly to Russia, now it demands the end of Russian tourism. Why? What’s the point? Who benefits?

It is easy to say, who suffers. Common people in Europe, who can’t earn their money through Russian tourism or Russian oil. And liberal Russian intelligentsia. The group of people who has some money, who actually do not like Russian government, who want to travel abroad and thrive through the economic and cultural exchanges. It is they who are penalized. Can’t say that I feel particularly sorry for these myopic and naive crowd, but still, if you inflict pain on others, there should be at least some rationale behind it.

So who is the elephant in the room here? Who or what drives European elites to persist in policies that are detrimental to common sense, to common economy, and to common logic.

It is illogical because if you don’t issue visas to Russians, why let Israelis roam the streets? Or Americans for that matter? Any European with common sense knows that the likes of demented American leadership, be it Biden or erratic Trump, it is these gun-ho thugs with shiny missiles that threaten world peace, and not Russians. And this is not theoretical. Just look and endless wars and bombing campaigns that US perpetuates.

In other words, I still can’t understand the logic behind this runaway train of Russophobia, which obsessed EU leaders bravely directing toward the abyss.

Is it the same old Cold War that former hippies and former peacenicks want to play in the vain hope of regaining their youth? Is it CIA and its Dr. Strangelove leaders? Is it a plain old red-herring meant to distract common people from the impending economic implosion?

Or is it just a routine, an inertia? Think tanks have to produce policy papers. Newspaper have to disseminate them, politicians have to cite and implement them? Is there anyone in charge?

Despite the endless conspiracy theorists out there, I suspect, it is the latter. The stupid inertia, of the train heading downhill… which neither discouraged population nor the cynical fakers in the locomotive section are able to stop. We are back to 1971, and the Locomotive Breath that can’t slow down.