Flaw in "everything was fine if not that damned Putin" narrative

Of course, this is a lie and a distortion of facts. In reality, the Russian Empire didn’t collapse in 1991—it only went through its second 'incomplete' breakup.  

But it was convenient for Americans that the empire’s disintegration didn’t go further, so they convinced themselves—and much of the world—that after 1991, Russia had truly ceased to be an empire, at least for a while.  

"Everything was fine—if only it weren’t for that damn Putin."

At the same time, Americans today insist on seeing the Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, and other peoples as part of the Russian Federation—just as they wanted to see Ukrainians remain part of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1991.

That is why the false notion of Russia within its 1991 borders as "never an empire" (except perhaps in the form of "phantom pains") is spread with almost obsessive persistence—even by leading and generally intelligent American authors. This is not reality; it is what they prefer to see, deliberately ignoring anything that contradicts this view.  

This, in fact, is the true "political will"—both of American intellectuals and the U.S. political establishment. And changing it will require a great deal of effort from many, including us.

Source

About the author: Oleksiy Panych, philosopher, member of the Ukrainian Center of the International PEN Club, blogger.  

The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.