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Color Revolutions: Who and Why Takes Advantage of Border Disputes and Historic Resentments?
Ask Lada 4. Color Revolutions: Who and why takes advantage of border disputes and historic resentments?
All posts in this series will appear under CATEGORY: Ask Lada
In response to my latest article Greferendum Domino Effect? Revolution Coming? The Future of Europe and Eurasia?
Lada, Thanks for the info on the Finnish-Soviet war. I really knew/know nothing about it. Just part of the radicalization and lead-up to WWII, obviously instigated by the usual suspects. But what historical grievances might have been involved were outside my ken. Maybe it is just nationalism. No matter how nice and decent the Russian Empire or USSR were, some groups wanted their own country. And now Finland is just a colony.
The reason I brought up the borders of the USSR was not to be anti-Russian. I know that Russia subsidized the other regions. But intentionally mixing cultures and leaving things up to Moscow had all kinds of side effects, which we are seeing today. It seems to me that the borders needed to be straightened out before letting the USSR go away. Besides the Ukrainian mess, many other regions could have been straightened out under Soviet rule and they weren’t. A big Armenian area is next door in Georgia. Georgia had Abkhazia and half of Ossetia. Ethnic Russians were stranded all over the place and are now discriminated against. This is a big deal. I read a comment from someone in the Crimea who said he basically had a bad view of Russia for the last 23 years. They betrayed all the Russians before, and didn’t care about them at all for 23 years. Now they might lose their base, and they talk about the Russian World and a Russian Spring. He thought that this was a big cause of all the Nazis inside the Ukraine who come from the historically Russian part of the Ukraine. Anger and a feeling of betrayal. Obviously, I have no idea, never having even visited that part of the world.
So we need to look at the recent past to not make the same mistakes. Many intelligent and well-meaning people downplay or even try to ignore or suppress nationalism, but it is a real motivation for many people. For better or for worse. In my view, it isn’t so simple as “a bad guy from far away came here and gave them cookies to kill their cousins”. With the collapse of Communism and the spirit of internationalism in it, people needed something to believe in. The corrupt oligarchs could offer nothing, and the fallback position was an ugly kind of nationalism, not just in the Ukraine, but also in countries such as Georgia. We all need positive visions and models. This is true of so many things, whether in our personal lives or with big things, such as the EU.
Ask Lada 4
Opening thoughts
This comment brings up many important issues and questions. I tried to respond as fully as possible, leaving some of the things implied. You can glean deeper into the issues by revisiting ESR 3: OLIGARCH WARS.
Some of these issues, such as mixing different nationalities in one large umbrella culture, are a norm for large unions. Look at the EU, or USA, for that matter. We were mixed in one country, therefore, we will resent that country forever, does sound awfully immature and silly, don’t you think? Humans are a very social species, they are supposed to interact with each other closely – and yes, mix.
That said, the USSR was absolutely meticulous in providing the platform for unheard-of self-expression to small cultures, which would have been suppressed, and probably disappear entirely, as part of any other country. USSR went as far as creating alphabets and writing systems where they didn’t exist, subsidising art and literature in national languages and having mandatory national language study in republics, whether students wanted it or not. For example, USSR created alphabet and writing systems for many small tribes of Siberia… and for Mongolia.
Yes, there was no writing system in Mongolia before 1920s. The land of the great conqueror Genghis Khan, who created a huge empire, subduing Russia, China and Persia – and no writing system? No monuments of any conquests built, just scattered illiterate nomadic tribes? No books commemorating and glorifying such conquests? No legends? Hard to believe, right? This is why there is a serious doubt such empire ever existed and the Mongol-Tatar yoke ever happened in Russia. History, as I said many times previously, was re-written.
As much as I am an internationalist, even I feel the USSR might have gone a little too far… Celebrating diversity and multi-culti was the USSR’s ‘cult’ of sorts. You thought US or EU invented political correctness? Absolutely not! It was the USSR all the way – the West just stole the idea. As a linguist and international relations analyst (a couple of many hats I wear) I can attest to this first hand.
When USSR fell apart, all this support of local cultures backfired on Russia, due to the violent and disgruntled super-nationalistic minorities within such cultures, and due to the well-known international forces that had one goal in mind: destruction of the Russian World to free up space for the global takeover.
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That said, we do have a global resurgence of nationalism, religious extremism, militarism and fascism. This is the sign of this PERIOD 8, as I call it. Therefore, there is nothing extraordinary in the fact that tensions flare up in the former Soviet republics. It’s part of the period we live in.
Meanwhile, it has to be understood that these tensions will always emerge where the weakest links reside. By seeing where tensions flare up, we know where the weakest links are. They are historically known, these weak links. Caucasus, Balkans, Middle East – no surprises. Ukraine and Moldova should have been expected too.
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Paul, I don’t think I ever said it was some bad people who gave out cookies on maidan that caused the Ukraine coup. The ‘bad, cookie-wielding people from across the big pond’ simply used the situation skillfully to their advantage. Said another way: there is an old CIA/MI6 playbook: How to create color revolutions. It is the opinion of some very good analysts that this playbook hasn’t changed (it was only perfected) since the beginning of the 20th century. Why change what works wonders?
That’s how all these color revolutions we have observed, were created. Be it France to unseat De Gaulle, or Hungary in 1956, or Georgia, or Egypt, or Serbia, or Ukraine… It’s the same exact playbook. That’s why it was so easy to predict from the start that there would be cookies on Kiev maidan (or lavash, as in Armenia) and mysterious snipers, and innocent victims promoted all over Western MSM.
What this playbook targets is this: it capitalizes on the deep-seated resentments and anger of the volatile and immature part of the population. Extreme nationalism is part of the resentment and dissatisfaction due to the collapsing standard of living. This is why there was no nationalism in the USSR – the majority lived reasonably free (yes, free – in a sense of personal freedom to be yourself and live according to your tradition), was reasonably satisfied and well-occupied. There will be more about that in my upcoming video: Brezhnev’s Passport: Who Really Ruled the USSR.
The movements to change things and the local power grabs began only after Gorbachev destroyed the structure that worked. Gorby’s intention may have been to reform and rebuild on the new level, however, in his naiveté he had no idea who and what he was dealing with internationally. You can’t try to negotiate in good faith, you can’t try to build cooperative relations with those countries that have one exclusive goal: to destroy your country. This is why most Russians consider Gorbachev a traitor and criminal. However, I think this is too simplified of a view. He genuinely thought he was building a new, cooperative world with the West – the world without confrontation. But along the way, he and his wife fell for the trappings of Western materialism, aka, very subtle bribes.
The urge to build a world without confrontation is one of the quantum predetermined, genetically embedded characteristics of the Russian people. It stems from the fact that Russia serves as The Great Planetary Balancer (see PREDICTIONS). This is why Gorby behaved that way, this is why Stalin didn’t believe Hitler would attack the USSR, this is why Putin is doing everything to prevent the big war.
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Nationalistic element is always present in the background of any society. But color revolutions are only possible when there is a lot of dissatisfaction with individual’s life due to high unemployment, lack of certain freedoms, enclosed society with lack of prospects and poverty. Dissatisfaction with one’s lot in life and lowly anger and jealousy towards someone who is doing better is then channeled in a specific way.
The more ignorant and brainwashed the population – the easier it is to do so.
Students, and generally young people, are always those who serve as main cannon fodder for carrying out color revolutions.
There is a number of reasons for that: young people often feel their parents didn’t do a good job and want change at any cost, however poorly thought out; students congregate in colleges and can be brainwashed easier together, after which they can be manipulated in a certain way; certain arrogance, lack of wisdom and ignorance of youth that makes them think they know everything; preponderance of fire (physically aggressive) energy that doesn’t find satisfactory outlet in productive activities – and gets directed towards destruction; higher unemployment and much extra time among youths; low wages and need for money, making it especially easy to buy young people.
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‘The big Armenian area is next to Georgia’. Nope, the Armenian-populated area called Nagorny Karabakh is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There is an ongoing conflict between the two, both considering Nagorny Karabakh their own for different reasons. Meanwhile, Karabakh is in the position of Donbass and Pridnestrovie. The conflict continues flaring up periodically, kept in check by the UN-mandated Russian peacekeepers stationed there. Nagorny Karabakh leans towards Armenia.
The real resolution of this issue will only be possible when both Armenia and Azerbaijan become parts of the new Eurasian Union. This is why various forces in Azerbaijan and out will do everything to prevent this from happening.
My prediction: it will eventually happen anyway.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia were former autonomies within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, attached to Georgia by Stalin. They seceded de-facto as soon as the USSR fell apart. You have probably read my extensive article about the 2008 Georgia/S. Ossetia war, where I talk about all that.
Presently, both S. Ossetia and Abkhazia are slowly integrating into the Russian Federation, first unofficially. Populations of both unrecognized republics wanted to do it right away, feeling rightly that only Russia can provide them with protection, but are forced to live in a limbo for a while, due to resistance from Georgia and the West.
It’s not the first time small cultures want Russia to protect them. Armenia was once in this situation; Georgia once begged for Russian protection against Persia and Osmanic Empire, and acceptance into the Russian Empire – and look how diligently now they try to force their neighbors in S. Ossetia and Abkhazia into oppression; Ukraine once begged to be accepted into the Russian Empire, same with Finland, as discussed in previous article. How interesting that when the shoe is on another foot, those who were oppressed and begged for help in the past, now happily become the oppressors and bullies!
A very similar to S. Ossetia/Abkhazia situation exists with Pridnestrovie and Gagauzia (Moldova), but it’s complicated by the fact that the latter have no borders with Russia. Of course, the worst of conflict exists between Donbass and Ukraine.
Prediction: All these territories and former republics will need to learn to balance their own nationalistic interests with living and functioning cooperatively within a large union. As a matter of fact, we are in the period when everyone on the planet is learning to balance personal needs with those of the global society. Humans are now learning to balance their national needs and preferences with the needs and demands of the entire continent, union, or federation to which they belong.
A balance of rights and obligations is key. In all this Russia is playing the crucial role as the The Great Planetary Balancer.
Going deeper: balancing personal with the needs of all.
Does Russia owe or is Russia owed?
Paul, my personal view on all these ‘betrayal resentments’ is probably known to you. I will reiterate.
We all have personal history of some sort. You probably heard me say that I had relatives on both sides of the Russian Revolution and Civil War – Reds and Whites – some of whom lost fortunes fighting against the Bolsheviks, and others did well in the USSR. I write about such set up in GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure), partly based on my family history.
In 1991, I would be one of those who got stranded in Ukraine, just like my sister and her family, if I didn’t know to emigrate before it happened. My sister had a hard time in Nikolaev, a typical Russian city tragically stuck in Ukraine’s backyard. Nikolaev, same as Odessa, Donbass and Crimea, was and continues being neglected and humiliated by Ukraine authorities and ‘real Ukrainians,’ aka, ukro-nazis.
There is so much more to my personal story, such as: how at least one member of my extended family was touched by Stalin’s repressions and how many members of my family were lost to the Great War.
Point is: we can make personal dramas out of everything and anything in life, brewing in our own misery and resentments, thinking someone OWES us the world, while we owe nothing back, and forgetting how much that country – Russia/USSR – gave us. One of the best educations; amazing culture and art, including books, movies, theater, sport, dance, songs; tons of freedom to develop and grow; completely safe, crime-free, natural environment; peaceful and nice, non-stressful atmosphere, where it was easy to breathe.
The rest is up to us: we have the inner power to make a life for ourselves we desire. And yes, sometimes it’s hard.
My sister and her family moved to Moscow the first chance they got in the ’90s. At first, they were considered illegal aliens, having only Ukrainian passports, while ethnically being Russian. Was it unfair and humiliating? You bet. But they had no resentments – they just kept their heads down and worked out all the bureaucracy issues, obtaining work permits, passports, establishing families in Moscow. My nieces can’t think of a better place to be. Same goes for many other people I knew in the USA, who first emigrated, but later returned to Russia, and who now live happily in Moscow or elsewhere in Russia. The list includes some very close relatives and friends.
To that I could add that those people I know from various countries who bought some nice vacation properties in Odessa, are now having a problem getting into Ukraine to visit their property, as transportation between Russia and Ukraine is shut. Moreover, real estate in Odessa fell precipitously after the 2014 ukro-nazi coup and the May 2 burning on Kulikovo Polie. They can’t sell their properties either.
I chose to live in the West at the time because of my career and family situation. As far as I am concerned, Russia has been doing soooo much for the world, without getting nearly enough in return. I personally feel I owe Russia everything, while Russia owes me nothing. This is why I write and speak up about the truth concerning Russia, asking for absolutely nothing in return from Russia. Someone has to explain all this to the people in the West.
I know you read my Earth Shift Report: OLIGARCH WARS, where I built an extensive case around psychological resentments and abandonment issues on the part of Ukrainians and other former republics after the collapse of the USSR. While this resentment exists, it’s incredibly childish and un-evolved. Humans are a very funny species. We can create resentments out of thin air and brew in such self-righteous resentments and anger for generations. Humans love blaming someone else for their problems, don’t they? It’s so much easier than taking responsibility for own actions.
This myopic tunnel vision, where some un-evolved souls see only their small point of view and are unable to expand their horizons, is one of the tragedies of mankind in general. This is how wars start and countries fall.
It’s easy enough to know if there is a legitimate concern and truth behind any such resentments and color revolutions, or is this an induced from abroad whim of a small, aggressive minority. Use my Quantum Calibrations of Consciousness System, as described in my videos. The scale is based in part on Dr. David Hawkins ‘Power vs Force’ Scale of Consciousness, but going much further. See videos here:
Here is an example of how this can be done. Just last week we saw how the attempted ‘electric maidan’ color revolution in Armenia failed because people understood what mess Ukrainians made out of their maidan, and refused to be someone’s guinea pigs.
As John Kennedy, US president many Americans tend to respect, said: “Think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Another American whom I personally respect, called Mohammad Ali, once said that we have to pay the rent for living on our planet. We take a lot from our Mother Earth, and we owe her back. Same with Mother Russia.
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To answer your question: no, it was impossible to straighten out all conflicts and rectify borders on the post-Soviet space. It’s naive to think that centuries-old inter-tribal historic conflicts with unclear and fluid borders for generations, could just be assigned in a straight line on moment’s notice. This is how UK and other colonial powers did it in Africa and America. India and Pakistan were also divided this way, clashes between them ongoing till recently, as a parting gift from the disintegrating British Empire. Stalin, Lenin and Khrushchev did some of that experimentation too, resulting in big problems later. The Middle East has seen some crazy redrawing of borders, resulting now in terrible inter-cultural conflicts.
In Yeltsin’s defence, not only he had the volatile situation in Russia to deal with, but he also naively thought that the USSR would be re-build on different principles soon. Therefore, he didn’t worry about borders too much. It didn’t occur to him that local feudal/nationalistic/oligarchic interests would take over almost immediately, aided by foreign powers who craved the Russian World’s resources and destruction. Again, in his defence: he was born and lived his whole life in the USSR, where all these things were alien.
While USSR was strong and stable, any inter-tribal conflicts were kept very successfully in check by virtue of mutual trade and unifying Russian culture. If there were national security considerations, borders could be redrawn (right or wrong). This especially concerns Caucasus, Moldova and Ukraine. Once the USSR was gone, these old conflicts flared up again.
Border settlement and rectification would be absurd and couldn’t happen in principle on moment’s notice when the country was already disintegrating. It often takes centuries to settle border disputes, and they still keep brewing unless a lasting compromise can be found, such as a large umbrella union. Unions serve as containment factors for border disputes.
France and Germany settled some of their border disputes only after EU was formed. That’s actually why some glorify EU as a means of bringing lasting peace to the European continent for the first time in millennia. There is some truth to that; EU did that – but only before it succumbed to the dark agenda of the NWO and Transatlantists. Let’s recall that both world wars have started in Europe and it’s understandable that EU citizens want to avoid a repeat of the same at any cost.
Also look at Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, India and Pakistan and their long-brewing border disputes.
Prediction: the ongoing border disputes between India, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, etc., will be put to rest as all these countries join SCO, Eurasian Union and the New Silk Road project. The BRICS already helped smooth out the long-brewing border dispute between India and China. Russia in all this, just like in the past, has been acting as that glue that helps keep peace and deflects conflicts. This is part of Russia’s global role as The Great Planetary Balancer.
Prediction: In addition to all the above, and most importantly, most former Soviet republics (including Ukraine and the Baltics) either never were successful independent states, or never were independent states within bloated borders they had as Soviet republics. In OLIGARCH WARS (and my various articles) I described how borders were given to republics based on political expediency at the time. Unfortunately, later, these republics refused to release territories they were assigned for the purposes of the USSR, now considering them their own.
Due to the fact that it was Yeltsin in power at the time, there was no one to address these complex issues. The existing legal system was torn out with its roots in the ’90s. The new legal structure, both in Russia and Eurasia is only now being re-built. There is still a lot to do. The mess created by the split wouldn’t have been possible to clean up quickly by the wisest person alive at the time.
It’s only possible now and it is being done – by Putin and his team. It will be a very slow and careful process so not to create a new mess. It has to be done right, based on principles of equity and taking into account interests of many newly emerged little countries, but without giving away any of the Russian interests and power.
The issue of borders among former Soviet republics will be settled by mid-2020. It will only be possible, yet again, as part of Eurasian Union and other Eurasian organizations. The alternative is perma-conflict. There is no other way.
By mid-2020, the world will look very different, some countries will be called differently, and borders will be different, too.
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