Can the events that have taken place since the 9-11 attacks help to explain the planet’s aversion to Russia’s invasion of Georgia’s separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia?
Apparently so – at least to some of those who live in that nation straddling 11 time zones.
For Russia’s Novosti News service, Andrei Vavra starts off this way – not unlike the narrative in many foreign press articles we have seen looking back at the event:
“The tragedy of September 11, 2001, when two planes seized by terrorists were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, united Russia and the United States – the world’s two most powerful nuclear states – against a common threat. From that moment we thought that a new world order and a new era of international cooperation had begun, with the great powers standing shoulder-to-shoulder, fighting to build a safer and more equitable world.
But it turned out that becoming friends ‘against’ something is much easier than working together ‘for’ a noble goal. It turned out that there are more things that divide us than bring us together. Today there is no more talk of standing shoulder-to-shoulder together. Now is the time of mutual resentments and mutual recrimination, mistrust and irritation.”
Fair enough, one might say – we can see where Vavra is going with this – George W. Bush, the invasion of Iraq, etc. But this is Russia we are talking about here. Vavra goes on – explaining why in this new climate – the world has once again wrongly turned Russia into a ‘pariah’:
“What happened in the seven years that have passed since that day? It’s obvious that the world has not become safer, more stable and comfortable place to live. … The counter-terrorist alliance has begun to crack. First in connection with Iraq and then because of Iran. Contrary to the position of our country, the West recognized the independence of Kosovo. New lines of division have appeared in the world. In Europe, the United States is preparing to deploy anti-missile systems close to Russia’s border and our closest neighbors, Georgia and Ukraine, have been invited to join NATO. Russia is suspected of nurturing insidious plots and is portrayed as a country hostile to the Western world and its values.
Today, after Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia, the world seems to be entering a long period of cool relations between Russia and the West. The West has not supported our decision to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, because the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity are very painful issues. We have not received strong international support. The global community, unfortunately, is not molding its policies to suit us.”
A truly Russian perspective on September 11 and the world we live in.
By Andrei Vavra
Translated By Igor Medvedev
September 11, 2008
Russia – Novosti – Original Article (Russia)
MOSCOW: The tragedy of September 11, 2001, when two planes seized by terrorists were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, united Russia and the United States – the world’s two most powerful nuclear states – against a common threat. From that moment we thought that a new world order and a new era of international cooperation had begun, with the great powers standing shoulder-to-shoulder, fighting to build a safer and more equitable world. A world contrary to the one predicted by Francis Fukuyama and his “End of History” – a world with another, far more interesting quality.
But it turned out that becoming friends “against” something is much easier than working together “for” a noble goal. It turned out that there are more things that divide us than bring us together. Today there is no more talk of standing shoulder-to-shoulder together. Now is the time of mutual resentments and mutual recrimination, mistrust and irritation.
In short, our expectations, dreams and forecasts have been proven wrong. That is why this anniversary of September 11, 2001 is an occasion to ponder why our dreams, which seemed so within reach seven years ago, have failed to materialize.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of how the world perceives our nation.
Founder and Managing Editor of Worldmeets.US