"As Gulag academy alumnus I do
feel entitled to talk about empire” – Sergey Kovalev told at the beginning of
his speech during the first panel discussion chaired by Wojciech Przybylski. The
debate was to answer the question raised by Giles Scott-Smith’s lecture
concerning the definition of empire.
In Sergey Kovalev’s opinion
Russia is a backwarded empire coming back to the legacy of the Soviet Union or
even the pre-1917 tsarist Russia. Thus Ronald Reagan’s remarks on "evil empire”
remains applicable also to nowadays Russia. According to the debate’s topic Sergey Kovalev ventured to hint that Goliath i.e. Putin’s Russia is always
surrounded by allies. Despite obvious violations of human dignity, they will assist
former KGB colonel who’s been ruling in Kremlin for more than 15 years. These
are journalists and political commenters who turn a blind eye to subsequent lies. "Goliath is
brutal and lies in each and every speech” – Sergey Kovalev said in order to highlight
the contrasting image of David who’s "always alone” joined in an unequal battle
against the powerful forces of the hostile empire.
According to Paweł Kowal,
leadership is the key element of an empire as long it implies imperium – authority or an ability to execute political
will. Nowadays liberal democracy limits the space for true leaders. "Political
authority is supposed to follow opinion polls”. On the other hand, along with
the rise of so called „illiberal democracy”, paleoimperialism gains popularity.
Its best example is Russia or Turkey to some extent. Moreover, it also can be
observed in the political thought of certain parts of Hungarian elite. The
result is a transition from democracy towards oligarchy.
Referring to Wojcech Przybylski remark
reminding the old Polish joke from communist era that the best method for
liberation is to declare a war against the US and then suddenly surrender,
Paweł Kowal stated that after the fall of the Berlin Wall also the American extra-liberal,
postomodern empire lost its previous attractiveness in Europe. Now it seems
that this vague postmodern empire which lacks a clear leadership is losing with
the paleoimperialist project.
Then the floor was given Metin
Bulut who delved into the history of the Syrian civil war. In his opinion the
current events should be seen in a wider perspective as long they are an
example of a side conflict of empires. On one hand there’s Russia who’s
inerested in controlling key pipelines and oil and gas reserves in the region.
On the other hand, US and Western powers share a fear to help moderate Syrian
opposition which usually results in its radicalisation and inclusion into ISIS.
Doubts concerning US’ imperial
position raised by Giles Scott-Smith and Paweł Kowal were challenged by David
Jones. "US isn’t a declining empire - but advancing in different ways” – he said.
While Russia is an „evil empire, paleoimperialist throwback to the past” that
is weak technologically, economically and can project its influence only by
territorial annexation. Quite the contrary, the US is a „neoempire” whose
position is based on money and normative influence that basically can be shortned
to an answer to a question: „what people want to buy, receive or get?”. US
maintains their imperial position since the world war one becaused they „are
still desired, thier guidance is desired”. Refering to the topic of the debate,
David Jones mentioned Jan III Sobieski, John Paul II and Solidarity movement as
examples of David who opposed Goliath.
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