In 1968 I moved to Naples to work in a Mobil Oil Refinery planning. To break the invisible wall between “foreigner” and local people, I decided to enrol myself in a Russian language course, at the time of cool war, only available in Italia-URSS Association. I met a very nice Russian teacher, wife of a communist deputy, and studied the language for all the year, meeting also nice people generally young girls and boys from lyceum and university. Fresh of my ancient Greek lyceum study, it was very simple to approach the structure of the language with its special form of verbs, most difficult to write it currently. From that period on I was travelling in Soviet Union, with all the bureaucratic difficulties, but very interesting human experiences, and than following the historical turbulence, in Russian Federation and crossing all Siberian cities. Frankly speaking I don’t understand why Europe doesn’t want to return in Russia, an historical empire where they were speaking French in the capital, studying German philosopher, building beautiful castles with Italian architects and producing for the world wonderful literature and classic music and ballet. Western world survived to Nazi Germany thanks to 20 million Russian dead, and immediately after forgot everything; understandable the fear of Communism, but after 1989, after Berlin wall fall?
Ten years of terrible troubles has been the democracy gift to Russia: most families lost again everything through high inflation, chaotic approach to privatisation, establishing of a new dominating class of wild capitalist, receiving free of charge the enormous State asset, with no assistance from famous Western economies and politicians, celebrating the “end of history” and the victory over Communism. But Russian people are resilient, a lesson with deep roots in their history, and not motivated by money, but from the Russian identity and past glory. Geopolitical inertia it’s here at maximum level, not transforming the country in an economical one only like Germany or USA. Notwithstanding all these human tragedies, Russia remained the enemy, the easy enemy for the conservative fragmented powers of high USA bureaucracies and capitalist, flirting and making money preferentially with China, of which now after twenty years they are afraid of. Also this it’s understandable, but why Europe? London collected more than 300 billion from Russian oligarchs, Germany restarted its Drang nach Osten policy, Italy remained the fourth industrial partner as during Communism, but no one tried to break up really the wall against Russian , restarting the common coordination and growing historically present for centuries.
During Obama presidency, the final provocation of a professor (!): “You Russia can be a regional power”, an enormous amount of energy to Russian people and its historical conscience and dignity to restart new presence in all the world, a USA strategic error in pushing Russia to China, historical and anthropological nonsense, fruit of the traditional American ignorance of history and geography. An error America is just starting to pay now and for the future, remaining only to their billionaire to escape in virtual Metaverse and Space. Europe must find a new posture and cultural framework to understand Russia, which is not of Mr Putin, it’s here for ever with a population resisting to any difficulties to reaffirm their historical role in the civilisation process of all humans beings.
