Joseph P Farrell – Yesterday I began this two-part blog on the following important article that many here sent me: the speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the military academy of the Russian General Staff:
Speech of Lavrov at the Military Academy of the General Staff
As I noted yesterday, Mr. Lavrov placed his remarks about the Peace of Westphalia ‘front and center ‘, toward the very beginning of his speech to the academy, and this, I argued, was a strong clue about Russia ‘s long term agenda.
One might summarize that agenda in the form of two propositions: (1) if there is to be a ‘global world order’ then to ensure it does not become a tyranny, it must be based on some ‘congress ‘ system or mutual recognition of the sovereignty of states, coupled with (2) the notion that such states are to be wholly secular, with no one religion dominating, or conversely, excluded.
From the standpoint of domestic policy, this is a logical road for Russia to pursue, for though its religious-cultural heritage is Eastern Orthodox, it has significant populations of Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and so on. And this ‘Westphalian’ approach has been stressed by Mr. Putin repeatedly in his remarks.
But Mr. Lavrov goes on to mention, in this context, something else quite important: the ‘soft power ‘ or ‘culture power ‘ card, and he does so, notably, immediately after mentioning the Peace of Westphalia: Of course, it takes more than just the size of a country’s territory for it to be considered “big and strong” in today’s world. There is also the economy, culture, traditions, public ethics and, of course, the ability to ensure one’s own security and the security of the citizens under any circumstances.