From this distance that post-Edwardian world seems locked in a time of slow serenity.
Privileged scholars in whites punting down the Cam
Horse-drawn carriages in sepia brown trotting down the Mall
Flat-capped men smoking outside the factory gates
Nothing could change their world.
And we?
We thumb our Playstations
Saunter around garden centres
Share the gossip at the school gates
Nothing's gonna change our world.
An interesting comparison with the Cuban missile crisis and
certainly a subject for debate. That was a real Cold War event
when tensions were high after the communist expansion into
Europe after WW2. Paranoia was the order of the day back
when the USSR (as was) showed no sign of giving up its hold
in Berlin, deep in Western Europe. Castro was unpredictable
and his regime hardly less so - and political instability so close
to the USA then was viewed as dangerous indeed., hence the
response by JFK to the secret movement of missiles from
Russia to Cuba. Today's world has moved on considerably
(or so it had been thought!) with the Russian Federation and
its political ideology considered much more flexible and
receptive to freedom of thought, freedom and market forces.
Putin has decided to act as if the old USSR still existed and
clearly identifies with "might is right" while busily stoking up
the fires which he himself has started, using non-existent
threats from "The West". He clearly equates NATO with what
he fears in its members - the freedoms that he seeks to
restrict and control in modern Russia. Paranoia is now re-employed in a world that has evolved far beyond the iron
cage represented by the old USSR and its political demagogues, backed by a ruthless secret police, as often as
not used to kill opponents and rivals for the power they so
desperately craved. Our knowledge of the dreadful gulags and the millions who suffered and died there remain as evidence of that vile reality. Putin has never offered any explanation of
WHY the West would pose a threat or wish harm on Russia
and its people in THIS modern world. That silence speaks for itself.
Let us hope not, Stephen.
I have heard it argued that the West has encouraged Russia into this by its eastwards expansion of NATO. Consider how America reacted when Russia placed its missiles on their doorstep in 1962. Small wonder Russia's not happy.
Ominous indeed, John. Oh, yes.
We won’t avoid events, MC, but let’s hope they aren’t as cataclysmic as those of 1914.
Or, as Harold "Supermac") Macmillan retorted:
"Events, dear boy, events." 😐
Thankyou Greg and John. “Jai guru deva”.
And thanks for the Likes, Clare, Ghazala and Holden.
Brilliant poem, John. I hope that it's not too accurately prophetic, but it could well be...
What an ominous poem this is, John. With its nod to John Lennon, and all.
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John Coopey
Wed 9th Mar 2022 17:16
So much of what you say has merit, MC. And the over-riding consideration in all of this is national self-determination. And there is little doubt that Ukraine wants to stay Ukraine.
But I take issue on a number of points.
Firstly the world has not moved on. Politics remains what it always was and always will, be a dynamic between the conflicting interests of states. As we will inevitably find out as China’s geo-political ambitions increase.
Secondly, I think it is naive to consider the enlargement of NATO eastwards as benign. Perception is paramount. What we see and what Russia sees are entirely different. Certainly, JFK didn’t see Russia’s military influence in Cuba as benign.
If there is one thing we should learn from this sad and dangerous episode it is the importance of defence generally and specifically the exposing of the myth that conventional defence rather than concentrating on “new order” terrorism is redundant ie Russia has not gone away.
And thanks for the Like, Stephen A.