Paul Robinson — Kissinger and Civilization

I am with Boris Mezhuev over Paul Robinson here. It looks to me like Russkiy Mir (the Russian world) and the West are different civilizationally. Through Orthodoxy, Russkiy Mir is an outgrowth of Byzantium while Western civilization lies with the Roman heritage.

Western civilization also bifurcates between European and Anglo, with Anglo civilization including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The problem is that Russkiy Mir and Byzantium overlap with Western civilization at the periphery and some influence is felt at the core. This is likely way Paul Robinson conflates them when there are essential differences culturally and historically, not the least of which is religious heritage.

The West is Roman Catholic and Protestant, whereas the East is Orthodox. The East considers itself as the true possessor of the genuine heritage of Christianity and the West as holding a bastardized version. (This by itself underscores the considerable significance of the meeting of Francis and Kirill and their joint declaration of mutuality, if not yet unity.)

Moreover, Islam and Christianity have been integrated in the East but not the West. On these points alone the differences are stark, especially in the eyes of the East. Those following The Vineyard of the Saker are aware this from the posting and comment there.

In addition, a key characteristic for the past half millennium has been Western imperialism and colonialism that has spread Western civilization around that world at spear point. Much of the assumption of the superiority of Western civilization is grounded in the dominance of victors. It is a cognitive bias that many do not recognize or acknowledge. That has created a reaction on the part of former colonies, just as parts of Europe are still reacting to the Islamic incursions hundreds of years ago, and Islamic countries are still mindful of the Crusades. 

Americans tend to be unaware that much of the world is still fighting wars long past. I recall an Serbian Orthodox priest at the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia and internecine violence saying, "As Christians we are required to forgive — but not to forget."

The global problem today is idealist foreign policy that wishes to project Western Civilization on the rest of the world as "obviously superior." This is not going to happen peacefully, and the result of American neoconservative adventurism backed by compliant Anglo and European allies is evident in much of the world, where chaos now reigns.

Perhaps it's time to recall Robert Frost's poem, Mending Wall. "Good fences make good neighbors." I am an idealist at heart, but a realist by observation and reason. While I am reluctant to agree fully with Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations, he does make a point that can't just be waved off.

Irrussianality
Kissinger and Civilization
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa