Anatol Lieven has learned nothing since the days of the Russian imperialist wars on Chechnya and its savage crushing of the right to self-determination of the Chechenn people.. His book "Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power" (1998) also made a big deal of the Russian losses in the first Chechen war and how this hurt Russian power. But the book regretted that loss of power, said that Russian military losses meant that Russia didn't pose a threat to anyone, and said Russia needed a revived patriotism.
The first Chechen war ended with a settlement and a very restricted amount of Chechen independence. The truce didn't last long, and Chechnya was soon overrun in the second Chechen war that began in 1999. Surprise, surprise (presumably to Lieven at least): the Russian military was strengthened by the experience of the Chechen wars, and this led to continued interventions in its neighbors. But this is all forgotten when it comes to considering what's happening now and the prospects for the present war against Ukraine. It's useful that Marv Gandall posted about Lieven's views, as Lieven's views reflect on the thinking of part of the American bourgeoisiem and also part of the left -- indeed, such thinking seems to be regarded as almost anti-imperialist by some. So let's look at Lieven's stand in 1998. You can judge for yourself if his basic standpoint has changed: "His concern is with Western policy towards Russia; he doesn't want the Western powers to create a backlash in Russia by refusing it entry to the big power club. Thus there is nothing at all [in his book] about Russia's failure to recognize the right to self-determination having created the bloodbath in Chechnya; and even less than nothing about what stand the workers of Russia should have towards the policies of their exploiters. Lieven's concern is simply to regulate the relations among the big powers, and Chechnya is not a big power. He opposes those unregenerate Cold Warriors who want to continue the struggle against Russia into the present, but his standpoint is simply that Russian imperialism is as legitimate as Western imperialism. As for the Russian bourgeoisie (not his term, of course), which he repeatedly denounces as "compradors", he simply wants them to become patriotic." See Joseph Green: "Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power - Lieven's apology for Russian imperialism", June 2000 https://www.communistvoice.org/24cChechnyaLieven.html Marv Gandall: > > A few days ago, I posted the comments of Anatol Lievan and a Quincy > Institute > colleague on this issue. They acknowledge that "the Russian army has > suffered > enormously in this war" and detail its losses but they do not jump > to the unrealistic > conclusion, based more on wishful thinking, that the Ukrainians > should keep fighting and > dying until they "win". As Lievan and Episkopos noted: ... > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#40606): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/40606 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/117669483/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
