Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his speech at the Valdai Forum in Sochi, sent a signal to compatriots and like-minded people abroad that modern Western ideology is not uncontested, says Adil Kaukenov, a Kazakh political scientist, director of the China Center for Chinese Studies.
Putin said at Valdai that “the world is going through a structural breakdown, the importance of reasonable conservatism as the basis of a political course has grown many times over.” According to him, “moderate conservatism is the most reasonable line of conduct,” and “Russian conservatism is the conservatism of optimists.” He believes that the struggle for equality in the West “turns into dogmatism on the verge of absurdity,” when classical authors are declared backward, “who do not understand the importance of gender or racial issues,” what color of skin or gender should be there. ” All this, in his opinion, “is worse than the agitation and propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.”
“The main addressee of this speech is the domestic public. President Putin, like most Russians, does not share the current vector of development of the West – its ideology. And this ‘non-division’ is very sincere. Vladimir Vladimirovich sees himself as a kind of bastion on the path of preserving certain values and a defender of certain words, such as “mom”, – said the expert in an interview with RIA Novosti.
For example, according to him, the introduction in the West of the terms “parent number one” and “parent number two” causes rejection not only among the majority of Russians, but also, in principle, in the post-Soviet space. As an example, the expert cited Georgia, in his words, “the most pro-Western country” in the post-Soviet space, where plans to hold a gay pride parade provoked a harsh reaction from conservative Christians and led to clashes in which one person died and several were injured.
Thus, according to Kaukenov, the “Valdai theses” of the Russian leader are also addressed to like-minded people outside the Russian Federation.
“To a lesser extent, Putin’s speech was directed to the outside, but this message is also present: that the point of view and ideology of the West are not the only ones, and that Russia also creates certain meanings. Vladimir Vladimirovich, in fact, articulates these meanings that there is a certain one. Rubicon, for which Russia is not ready to cross,” – said the agency’s interlocutor.
At the same time, the political scientist believes that Putin’s speech at the discussion forum runs counter to the existing in the West “irreconcilable discourse of denying attempts to enter the discussion” and the growing cancel culture, according to which an opponent to the ideological mainstream is deleted from all spheres of public life without trial, investigation and opportunity explain your point of view.
For the same reason, the expert believes, the theses of the Russian leader will not receive wide coverage or discussion in the West because of their contradiction to the current social and political system.
“Such things will not even be allowed to be replicated,” RIA Novosti’s interlocutor concluded.