Russia’s Crimes of Colonialism
By Casey Michel, Aug. 9, 2022, WSJ

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov published an op-ed in four African newspapers last month explaining why he was on a multicountry tour of the continent—and why African nations should support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov blamed
Western sanctions for the food crisis in Africa and asserted that in contrast to the U.K., France, Belgium and other European powers, Russia “has not stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism.”

The idea that Russia avoided colonial expansion has surprising resonance in the West and elsewhere. Russia never had formal colonies in Africa, Latin America or South Asia. But the idea that the Kremlin avoided colonization projects altogether—that it
dodged the “bloody crimes” for which Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese empires were responsible—is as risible as it is ahistorical.

It’s not as though Russia simply appeared as a transcontinental juggernaut, stretching to the Pacific. It spent centuries conquering and colonizing Eurasia, extracting local wealth and subjugating colonized peoples to dictatorship from Moscow and St.
Petersburg. The difference is that other European empires colonized overseas, while Russia colonized overland, capturing adjacent territory.

Too many either don’t know or ignore that Russia was, and remains, a major colonial power. From the Caucasus to Crimea, from the Arctic to the Amur, from the Volga to the Pacific, Russia’s colonial campaigns conquered innumerable nations—decimating
local cultures, bulldozing local sovereignty, and engaging in genocidal practices.

Nor was the Soviet Union—in Lenin’s description, born from anti-imperialism—much different. From mass ethnic-cleansing campaigns decimating colonized nations, to targeted famines aimed at Ukrainians and Kazakhs, to drawing maps of supposedly
autonomous republics that excluded disempowered local ethnic groups, the Soviet experiment was, in many ways, simply a carryover of czarist Russia’s colonial policies. And that’s without mentioning Soviet support during the Cold War for despotic
regimes in African and Latin American nations such as Angola and Cuba.

While former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan and Moldova, gained independence during the Soviet collapse, colonized nations within Russia’s borders, such as Chechnya and Tatarstan, have been subsumed again under the Kremlin’s dictatorship,
forced to provide cannon fodder for Moscow’s imperialism once more.

As the war in Ukraine makes clear, Russia remains a colonial power bent on recolonizing regions that slipped its grip. Most European powers watched their empires collapse, but one European colonial empire remains. And only one European empire now
threatens genocide, and potential nuclear war, if it isn’t allowed to reclaim a colony it lost.

Saturated in propaganda and the idea that Russia remains a benevolent force, many Russians would be shocked by the idea that Moscow is no better than the Portuguese in Angola or the Spanish in Mexico. It’s a symptom of Russia’s “imperial innocence,�
�� as scholars Erica Marat and Botakoz Kassymbekova have described it—the belief that “Russia did not attack and colonize, but liberated and saved the colonized.” It’s also a handy defense when photos and footage emerge of war crimes, mutilation
and attempted genocide in Ukraine, all linked directly to Russian forces. After all, if the Kremlin fights only to save populations from Western imperialism, then the Russians must be fighting Ukrainian imperialists to save an oppressed population.

But it’s long past time for Russians to familiarize themselves with the colonial crimes of their past and their present. Without the realization that Russia was and is as guilty as the colonizing empires of the past, there will be no end to the madness
in Ukraine. Until Russia has fully decolonized, Russia will threaten global stability and security.

There are signs that an awareness of the need for Russian decolonization is starting to dawn in Washington and other Western capitals. But the rest of the world—including Russia itself—must recognize Russia for what it was and still is. Colonization
may seem a throwback to previous centuries. But when a colonial empire and a colonial war are staring us in the face—and when men like Mr. Lavrov tell us to look away because there’s nothing to see—the least we can do is stare back, recognizing it
for what it is.

Mr. Michel is an adjunct fellow with Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative and author of “American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-crimes-of-colonialism-putin-ukraine-war-empire-eurasia-lavrov-africa-soviet-union-11660076835

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On Friday, August 12, 2022 at 9:35:24 AM UTC-7, David P. wrote:

Russia’s Crimes of Colonialism
By Casey Michel, Aug. 9, 2022, WSJ

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov published an op-ed in four African newspapers last month explaining why he was on a multicountry tour of the continent—and why African nations should support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov blamed

Western sanctions for the food crisis in Africa and asserted that in contrast to the U.K., France, Belgium and other European powers, Russia “has not stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism.”

The idea that Russia avoided colonial expansion has surprising resonance in the West and elsewhere. Russia never had formal colonies in Africa, Latin America or South Asia. But the idea that the Kremlin avoided colonization projects altogether—that

it dodged the “bloody crimes” for which Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese empires were responsible—is as risible as it is ahistorical.

It’s not as though Russia simply appeared as a transcontinental juggernaut, stretching to the Pacific. It spent centuries conquering and colonizing Eurasia, extracting local wealth and subjugating colonized peoples to dictatorship from Moscow and St.

Petersburg. The difference is that other European empires colonized overseas, while Russia colonized overland, capturing adjacent territory.

Too many either don’t know or ignore that Russia was, and remains, a major colonial power. From the Caucasus to Crimea, from the Arctic to the Amur, from the Volga to the Pacific, Russia’s colonial campaigns conquered innumerable nations—

decimating local cultures, bulldozing local sovereignty, and engaging in genocidal practices.

Nor was the Soviet Union—in Lenin’s description, born from anti-imperialism—much different. From mass ethnic-cleansing campaigns decimating colonized nations, to targeted famines aimed at Ukrainians and Kazakhs, to drawing maps of supposedly

autonomous republics that excluded disempowered local ethnic groups, the Soviet experiment was, in many ways, simply a carryover of czarist Russia’s colonial policies. And that’s without mentioning Soviet support during the Cold War for despotic
regimes in African and Latin American nations such as Angola and Cuba.

While former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan and Moldova, gained independence during the Soviet collapse, colonized nations within Russia’s borders, such as Chechnya and Tatarstan, have been subsumed again under the Kremlin’s dictatorship,

forced to provide cannon fodder for Moscow’s imperialism once more.

As the war in Ukraine makes clear, Russia remains a colonial power bent on recolonizing regions that slipped its grip. Most European powers watched their empires collapse, but one European colonial empire remains. And only one European empire now

threatens genocide, and potential nuclear war, if it isn’t allowed to reclaim a colony it lost.

Saturated in propaganda and the idea that Russia remains a benevolent force, many Russians would be shocked by the idea that Moscow is no better than the Portuguese in Angola or the Spanish in Mexico. It’s a symptom of Russia’s “imperial

innocence,” as scholars Erica Marat and Botakoz Kassymbekova have described it—the belief that “Russia did not attack and colonize, but liberated and saved the colonized.” It’s also a handy defense when photos and footage emerge of war crimes,
mutilation and attempted genocide in Ukraine, all linked directly to Russian forces. After all, if the Kremlin fights only to save populations from Western imperialism, then the Russians must be fighting Ukrainian imperialists to save an oppressed
population.

But it’s long past time for Russians to familiarize themselves with the colonial crimes of their past and their present. Without the realization that Russia was and is as guilty as the colonizing empires of the past, there will be no end to the

madness in Ukraine. Until Russia has fully decolonized, Russia will threaten global stability and security.

There are signs that an awareness of the need for Russian decolonization is starting to dawn in Washington and other Western capitals. But the rest of the world—including Russia itself—must recognize Russia for what it was and still is.

Colonization may seem a throwback to previous centuries. But when a colonial empire and a colonial war are staring us in the face—and when men like Mr. Lavrov tell us to look away because there’s nothing to see—the least we can do is stare back,
recognizing it for what it is.

Mr. Michel is an adjunct fellow with Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative and author of “American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-crimes-of-colonialism-putin-ukraine-war-empire-eurasia-lavrov-africa-soviet-union-11660076835

Excellent post, thank you.

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XPost: soc.culture.russian

Russia's Crimes of Colonialism
By Casey Michel, Aug. 9, 2022, WSJ

Mr. Lavrov blamed Western sanctions for the food crisis in Africa

After the righteous tantrum about the alleged link between the Ukraine and global food crisis, a notable fact is that the ships loaded with grain that have recently left some Ukraine's ports as part of the Erdogan-brokered
'deal', are shipping the grain to Europe and Asia, - but not in the regions where people are truly suffering of hunger <https://archive.is/RPxIs>

The claim that the Ukraine's grain is extremely important, was a falsehood
from the beginning, and now, when supplies from there are "unblocked", they will need some more excuses why it doesn't solve the global food problems.

The idea that Russia avoided colonial expansion has surprising resonance in the West and elsewhere. Russia never had formal colonies in Africa, Latin America or South Asia.

Informal too, not only "formal". As I posted before <http://bit.ly/2Lo8Dnt>, the west-European colonialism was linked with the maritime routes since the 15th century. Russia was apart from that, it was landlocked at the time.

But the idea that the Kremlin avoided colonization projects altogether-that it dodged the "bloody crimes" for which Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese empires were responsible-is as risible as it is ahistorical.

The most bloody colonialist crimes had been committed in the North America
and Australia, which essentially led to genocide of the indigenous peoples
in these regions. It's notable that colonization activities in these places were dominated by the WASPs: the English ("Anglo-Saxons") and similar kind.
And one more notable fact is that nowadays these atrocities are "carefully" disguised by the notorious myth that all the natives died out due to deadly epidemics.

Modern populations in the South and Central America, where colonization was dominated by the Spanish and Portuguese Catholics, have natives integrated
in their majorities through mixing, in stark contrast to the North America.

| <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas>
| --------------------- Part
| Country Indigenous Indigenous
|
| Canada --- 1.8% ------- 3.6%
| USA ------ 1.1% ------- 1.8%
|
| Argentina 2.4% ------- 27%
| Brazil --- 0.4% ------- 12%
| Mexico --- 7% --------- 62%
| Paraguay - 1.7% ------- 95%
| ...

It clearly shows the fact that namely the WASPs ("progressive" Protestants) were, in real fact, the most racist (non-mixing) as well as the most brutal
in their action to clean up the land from the indigenous peoples.

And now they have invented this plausible "epidemics" excuse.

It's not as though Russia simply appeared as a transcontinental juggernaut, stretching to the Pacific. It spent centuries conquering and colonizing Eurasia,

Just factually wrong. The ignorant writer just doesn't know that the main Russian expansion happened not over centuries but in a rather short time
since the late 16th century and throughout the 17th century. And the
extremely fast speed of that expansion would make an acute thinker suspect
that it wasn't quite a "conquest" the way one could typically imagine it.

extracting local wealth and subjugating colonized peoples to
dictatorship from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In the 17th century, there was no St. Petersburg yet btw. The early 17th century was the so called Time of Troubles when many Russia's regions were living on their own, without central government, and the very existence of Russia as such was under big question. Along with that, the expansion to
the east was still going on rapidly, without plans and commands from the "dictatorship in Moscow". At the very same time when the Russian volunteer militias struggled to drive the Polish invaders out from Moscow, the
Russian Cossacks established new cities in Siberia and were already close
to the Mongolic area. And the Manchu were preparing to conquer the Ming.

And one more curious fact is that at the same time, the avid English were making plans to invade Russia through Arctic, to establish their colonial "protectorate" in the northern Russian lands <https://is.gd/2E6HrB>.

And I brought this historical fragment to show the fact that the Western knowledge of history is usually very schematic and cartoonish, and most of their hateful drivel on Russia is based on ignorant wishful fantasies.

The difference is that other European empires colonized overseas, while Russia colonized overland, capturing adjacent territory.

The difference isn't only this. While those European empires sought to
either genocide out all the indigenous in favor of settlers (like in the
North America) or to keep their colonies as "resources", exploiting them accordingly (like in Africa and Asia (India)), Russia sought to somehow integrate the incorporated lands and peoples into its main self. That's
the reason why the European empires have lost their colonies while Russia remains Russia (and the Europeans are extremely jealous about that).

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