The Council on Foreign and Defense Policy is ready to participate in ideological work

The Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP) showed on Wednesday its readiness to take part in ideological work with different groups of the population, which until now has been most actively carried out mainly by the internal political bloc of the presidential administration. Under the auspices of SWOP, experts tried to agree on what the “Russian dream” is and how to make it a state ideology. Chairman of the Council Sergei Karaganov noted that ideology “needs to be imposed on the state,” political strategist Dmitry Vydrin noted the importance of language as a geopolitical factor, and sinologist Vyacheslav Rybakov expressed hope that in order to realize the Russian dream, it will not be necessary to once again create a “new man” – he will cope “ improved real”. By the end of the three-hour discussion, the speakers still had not decided what the Russian dream was, but agreed to meet more often.

On Wednesday, the HSE hosted a round table “State Ideology? From the Russian idea to the Russian dream” with the participation of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP). The event was announced as a discussion at which philosophers and political scientists would try to determine what the Russian dream is – and whether it is enough for a state ideology. At the end of the meeting, a “textual material” was promised, where all the ideas expressed would be summarized and announced to the general public, but the invited journalists, just in case, were asked to agree on all quotes “in order to avoid their incorrect interpretation.”

Opening the event, honorary chairman of the SVOP Sergei Karaganov stated the need to “impose a more or less understandable ideology on the state, government and society.” The political scientist is confident that Russia cannot exist successfully without a state ideology, although “there is active resistance to its designation.” Mr. Karaganov emphasized that now – “during war” – it is necessary to realize ourselves: “We must raise the banner of new humanism, that the homeland must be loved and protected.” He also outlined the values ​​that Russia needs – “not conservative, but simply normal, human: women love men and children, men love women, and everyone loves Russia.”

Let us recall that on June 13, Mr. Karaganov published an article in the Profile magazine, “A difficult but necessary decision,” in which he discussed the use of nuclear weapons as an opportunity to “protect humanity from a global catastrophe.” “This is a morally terrible choice – we use the weapon of God, dooming ourselves to grave spiritual losses. But if this is not done, not only Russia may perish, but, most likely, the entire human civilization will end,” the article says. The publication caused a heated debate. In particular, experts from the Center for International Security at IMEMO RAS Alexey Arbatov, Konstantin Bogdanov and Dmitry Stefanovich, in an article for Kommersant, criticized Mr. Karaganov’s position, warning about the possible catastrophic consequences of any use of nuclear weapons. However, all participants in the round table held on Wednesday expressed, if not a desire for a less catastrophic future, then at least a desire to imagine such a future.

Thus, Russian political scientist, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and former adviser to four of its presidents Dmitry Vydrin considered that he noted that another name would be better suited to the event: “State ideology – to the Russian dream.” Because “state ideology is a dream expressed in state narratives.” Mr. Vydrin said that as a resident of Crimea he knows very well: “people see the world not so much with their eyes as with their words.” Therefore, language is “one of the most important geopolitical factors.” “In European parliaments they constantly ask who annexed Crimea to Russia, hinting at “polite people” and “little green men,” said the ex-deputy. “But it was Pushkin, Lomonosov and Griboyedov, whose streets are in Yalta, and the language which formed the peninsula.” Separately, Mr. Vydrin presented the “dream classification,” noting that it should have a reasonably balanced “structure, size and resources.” “A material dream will not last long, it will reach its goal faster, but will be deflated, so the dream must also be spiritual,” he noted, warning that a dream has “not only creative, but also destructive power.” And “the inability of people to realize their dreams leads to, at a minimum, color revolutions.”

The chief researcher at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, sinologist Vyacheslav Rybakov, focused on the importance of ideology for political elites – since “they are the ones who must bring it to the people.” In July of this year, Mr. Rybakov published his text on this topic in the magazine “Russia in Global Affairs” entitled “The Image of the Desired Peace and Bureaucracy,” some of the theses of which he reproduced to the audience. Appealing to the history of China, he noted that “an official cannot be forced to be useful – he must want to do it himself.” That is why civil servants need an ideal to which they themselves must strive, explained Mr. Rybakov. He complained that “Russian culture, before European ideals poured in, did not have time to develop its own secular approach.” But “in the middle of the 20th century, Soviet science fiction writers began to create a world in which one would like to live,” who, “for all their fight against God, found themselves in the mainstream of Orthodox culture,” the scientist said. At the same time, Mr. Rybakov is confident that today’s Russia needs “not to create a new person, but to improve the real ones a little and adapt them to implement all projects.” This, in his opinion, needs to be done with the help of artistic means, without which “all these meetings will remain just a get-together.”

Sergei Karaganov believes that “with the beginning of the war, the West completely ceased to influence Russia, but instead a vacuum was created that needs to be filled” – and this has “no more than 10–15 years.” The 71-year-old political scientist told his colleagues that the influence of television is enough for this: “With the advent of a family, everyone starts watching it,” and the views of young people in general should “not be given a damn, because they don’t influence anything and the main thing is that they follow us Adults”. After the event, Mr. Karaganov repeated in a conversation with a Kommersant correspondent that “working for young people is a wrong strategy, although a very popular one.” Nevertheless, the political scientist urged not to forget about young people completely.

It is interesting that none of the speakers found words for a comprehensive or even approximate expression of the Russian dream – however, the options were “give birth to eight children” or “end the war with victory and take Kiev.” As part of the search for a dream, it was proposed to discuss whether “we really need a capitalist economy.” But there was no unity in views on the dream. Without being distracted, they listened only to Sergei Karaganov – and he periodically reminded that drinks were waiting for everyone at the end of the event (the day before the political scientist had a birthday). The meeting ended with an agreement to “meet more often in this format.”

Polina Yachmennikova, Ivan Tyazhlov