A response to the Munich Security Council

Reading what the Saker says in his opinion piece below, I can agree with it in the context of today. 

I cannot really buy this idea of a "civilisational clash" any more than I can buy the idea put forward in the West of a clash between "civilisation" and Islam.  

There is nothing inherent in Russian values that makes Russians more "decent" than people in the West. There are differences, yes, that determine the Russian response.  

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a war going on between an Empire that is wounded and lashing out (resorting to the basest lines) and the East personified by a Russia that is standing by values and codes of conduct that were worked out over 60 years and prevented a conflagration between the two blocs.

Like Alexander Mercouris (posted elsewhere), like Stephen Cohen, like Mikhail Gorbachev, I have not grounds for anything other than pessismism - that the world is being pushed towards war (already being fought by proxy in Ukraine and Syria) - and towards a nuclear conflagration.

Listen to Sergei Lavrov's speech and his response to questions that were stitched up in advance by the organisers of the Munich Conference. As usual, he shows impeccable manners as well as logic - but he is clearly also disgusted with the whole show.

Although I am no longer capable of being surprised by anything, I can still be shocked - in this case by the outrageous attacks on foreign minister Lavrov and the Russian Federation.

----Seemorerocks

Listening to Lavrov in Munich

The Saker

The Vineyard of the Saker,

7 February, 2015

I have to say that I personally don't recall anything quite like what happened today in Munich. For one thing, I detected a tone in Lavrov's words which I had not felt so strongly before. Of course, Lavrov was calm, composed and polite. But this time I also felt an immense sense of digust  on his part for the audience he was addressing and for what these so-called 'leaders' had done over the past decade. In essence Lavrov told them "Putin already explained everything to you in 2007 but you have not listened to a word he had to say - and now are you really happy with the result?". Then came the Q&A and things only got worse.

Frankly, I am wondering whether what happened today was some kind of setup to try to provoke Lavrov or whether the folks who asked questions are just simply terminally stupid. Listening to them, I though that was was witnessing an "intellectual Conchita Wurst" moment: terminally pretentious and degenerate Europeans who are completely devoid of any sense of reality, truth or even basic decency. Even the very thin veneer of European manners melted away when the German reporter began laughing at Lavrov's mention of the UN Charter. I can only marvel at Lavrov's mental control and thank God that he did not make me a diplomat as I felt like punching my computer screen listening to these clowns.

If you look at the Saint George Ribbon on the left side of the page you will see that above I wrote "Russia stands for freedom". I am beginning to realize that this is a rather superficial formulation. On a much deeper level, Russia stands for truth both as a logical category and a moral principle. The western 'elites' stand for the exact opposite of that, they are the embodiment of un-truth in the logical and moral sense. And that chasm was evident in today's face à face between Lavrov has his "western colleagues".

Dishonesty, intellectual and moral, has been elevated to an ontological principle and foundation of the modern western political thought and culture, it is what these societies do best and all they can do. Not only are "right and wrong" gone in a moral sense, they are now also gone in a logical sense. Something both deeply immoral and completely absurd can now be elevated to an axiomatic status and then be used as "the measure of all things".

Yet again and again, I come to the conclusion that what we are seeing here is truly a deep civilizational clash between two civilizational realm who have grown so far apart as to make them virtual extraterrestrial aliens to each other. Lavrov would have had a much better experience speaking to some little green men on another Galaxy, these the people he addressed today in Munich.

I am going to say something which will trigger the usual spike in hate mail and outraged comments, but what I see today is struggle very similar to the one which opposed the Pharisees and Christ 2000 years ago. You could also refer to it as a struggle between "Conchita Wurst vs Saint George". Or "Hizb Shaitan vs Hizb Allah". These are all metaphors for the same reality. And since what is at stake today is really the future of the entire international order you can say that we are living one of the most dangerous and crucial moment in history.

I don't see how this conflict could be resolved by negotiations. On a short-term, tactical level, yes, sure. But fundamentally this is an existential struggle for both sides and only one will be left standing. We might well have reached the kind of historical nexus which will determine the future (or lack thereof) of the entire human race. This is the conclusion I have personally come to.

Now feel free to ridicule me for being over the top - I call it as I see it.

Cheers and kind regards,

The Saker