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-----Original Message-----
From: Louis Proyect
"I found the articles published by Links fairly odious, especially about
Russian leaders fearful of a Somalia or a Congo on their border."
Kagarlitsky can be criticised like anyone else, but he did not write
this. He wrote "The European Union does not need a zone of chaos on its
eastern frontier, a new Somalia or Congo on its very doorstep."
I would agree that bringing "Somalia or Congo" into the Ukraine conflict
sounds Orientalist and all that, but claiming (rightly) that the EU does
not want a zone of chaos between itself and Russia is entirely correct
in my view, and an analysis of the class interests of the key EU states.
"Chaos" in this case does not have to mean "Congo" but means partition
of Ukraine, civil war, or more serious conflict between the EU and
Russia. The class interests of the Russian state are also against such
an outcome. However, the way you quote Kagarlitsky makes it sound he is
being an apologist for Russia, when not only he wasn't, but he wasn't
even talking about Russia.
That said, I agree that what he wrote about the Caucasus in 2004 doesn't
look great, though I'd prefer to see it in context. But this article,
except for the "Somalia or Congo" bit, seems to me required reading.
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