Ivan Lyubimov - about ideology

in The Moscow Times Economist Ivan Lyubimov writes :

“As for Russia, it is difficult to imagine what kind of global ideology it can offer today. To do this, it does not have the means of influence or control - technology or cultural achievements, economic or military power. It also does not have a picture of a future that is attractive to the world population, nor does it have a plan for building such a future. The USSR offered the world a socialist system, where labor should triumph over capital, and humanity should achieve universal equality. Russia, on the other hand, can offer a very vague picture, based on only one idea: the influence of the United States needs to be reduced. How else such a world of the future will differ from the world of the present is unclear...

Moreover, if the USSR was the leader of the bloc, then the Russian regime is given a minority stake in the modern anti-Western bloc. There is not much on offer to him in the global ideological menu.

The core of this bloc is China, with which Russia is most closely related by the internal goals of the ruling elites. These goals are banal and obvious - the elites do not want any control over themselves from society. They crave personal sovereignty, are tired of the threat of democratization, and believe that such a threat is easier to neutralize together. This is a reactive alliance that is formed against the existing threat to the elites, and not for the improvement of society.

The ideological basis of this union is an abstract authoritarian state, supposedly capable of managing and economic development better than political competitors and, in general, any economic agents.”