As the bell tolled for the Nazis late in World War II, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (2/25/45) desperately called for the West to turn on Russia and support Germany, as the Russians were building an “iron curtain... behind which nations would be slaughtered.” (Yes, Winston Churchill stole his famous line, and theme, from Goebbels – or maybe he just gave Goebbels an advance copy of his speech.) Today the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Alexei Danilov did his best to channel Goebbels.
Danilov’s op ed today, entitled “Russia’s Internal Decolonization Is an Inevitable Process, which the World Must Accept,” as reported by Ukrinform, argues that there is no other way of dealing with Russia’s neo-imperial encroachments but to dismantle the country. The discussion of “dismantling” Russia should start as soon as possible, as “decolonization” of the Russian Federation is the only safeguard against its neo-imperial encroachments. To wit:
“Russia is a patchwork colonial entity, which is bound together by the bloody paths of genocide, repression, mass killings, and enslavement. But the number of bayonets on which the Kremlin relies is decreasing, while the destructive energy of discontent is growing in Russia. It’s high time for a serious conversation on how to safely dismantle Russia. The sooner the process starts, the faster and more painless it will go.
“Russia, with its autocratic regime, raw material-oriented economy, and neo-fascist ideology, once again failed to pass the civilization test, remaining a territory of continuous violence and evil, a threat to Ukraine and the world. Security guarantees include stripping Russia of a position of an independent actor as a state entity, decolonization of its territories, denuclearization, and de-Putinization of the population.”
Danilov calls, in Ukrinform’s words, for “working out possible scenarios of internal disintegration of the Russian Federation; holding consultations and developing plans to minimize the risks of uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear, biological, chemical, and other weapons of mass destruction; developing a political strategy for interaction with new political territorial entities; drafting an economic model of interaction taking into account the potential and capabilities of new trade entities; establishing contacts and training administrations of national and regional republics; developing the civil society support network; creating and popularizing media platforms to support anti-colonial movements within Russia; working out the system of lustration, search, and extradition to Ukrainian and international law enforcement of war criminals, traitors, and collaborators; implementing the mechanism of war-related damage compensation to Ukraine from the former Russia.”
Danilov defends his bold initiative, in his own words: “Truly large-scale ideas, as a rule, first spark distrust, skepticism, and criticism from various sides, rejection and denial; but gradually, if you are consistent and persistent in advancing your position, the stage of emotional rejection is replaced by that of rational analysis, and later – that of accepting this as a new reality, planning, and implementation.”
Ukrinform summarizes: “If a precedent must be set for the sake of all mankind, this must be done. If it is necessary to find new non-standard approaches and tools, this will be done, Danilov claims.”
