Great Power Deprivation Syndrome

Chrenkoff, as usual, has an interesting and thought-provoking post on the younger generation of Russians yearning for the days when Russia was a super-power:

For over seven decades - most of the twentieth century - the Soviet Union was variously respected, feared, hated and admired around the world. She was an integral part of the international system; what Moscow thought and did really mattered. Contrast it with the sorry state today: Russia is still beset by a myriad of problems like she was under communism but without any grandiose consolations: instead she's either ridiculed or ignored by the outside world. No one looks to Russia for inspiration and hardly anyone fears her. It doesn't matter anymore what Kremlin thinks about the liberation of Iraq or some other issue of international importance; the former satellites, meanwhile, peel away one by one, choosing a different, Westernized future.

The young generation, of course, has no personal memories of the "good old days", but they know that it did not used to be like it is today. It's humiliating, because no one likes to be a part of the losing team.

As many of you know, I work with engineering teams in Tallinn, Estonia and in St. Petersburg, Russia. Almost all of the folks I work with are ethnic Russians. Some are old enough to remember Soviet times personally, but many are not. Of those who will talk to me freely about such things, the St. Petersburg Russians overwhelmingly have opinions and mindsets much as Chrenkoff describes: they are patriotic, a bit in denial about the current state of Russia (which, to be fair to them, may simply be a reflection of the fact that in general they haven't had much exposure to the world outside Russia)), they support Putin, and they are bitter about the imbalance of power between Russia and the world, most especially the U.S.

For some reason this is a less predominant attitude amongst the ethnic Russians I know in Estonia. Some of the Russians I know there, especially the younger ones, have much different mindsets. Even more especially, the Russian Jews I know who are from Estonia have much more pro-Western, pro-U.S. positions. I'm not at all sure why this is so; it may just be more and longer exposure to the West has 'corrupted' them (as some of my Russian friends would have it)...