Richard Sakwa > Quotes

“sentimental realism. Putin insisted that 'He who does not regret the break-up of the Soviet Union has no heart; he who wants to revive it in its previous form has no head'.36 Many in”
― Richard Sakwa, Putin: Russia's Choice

“Above all, those with a strategic sense argued that the US had to challenge Russia over Ukraine as a warning to China over its possible ambitions in the South China Sea and Taiwan.”
― Richard Sakwa, Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands

“In Russia's case he identifies three strands: the Atlanticists, favouring alignment with the United States and the West (the bandwagoners); the imperialists, who favour the reassertion of Russia's power in opposition to the West (the balancers); and the neo-Slavophiles, sharing the sentiments of the imperialists but who stress the development of the country's Slavic identity.8 According to Zimmerman, the fundamental divide is indeed between Westernisers and Slavophiles, in a reprise of nineteenth-century debates, with the Slavophiles intent on counterbalancing American hegemony and finding an autonomous developmental path.9”
― Richard Sakwa, Putin: Russia's Choice

“career. This was the minimum price that I was prepared to pay.63 The interviewer followed up with the following intriguing question: 'Does the fact that Lenin gave Finland independence many decades ago give you an allergic reaction? Is Chechnya's secession possible in principle'? To which Putin answered: It is possible, but the issue is not secession. … Chechnya will not stop with its own independence. It will be used as a staging ground for a further attack on Russia … Why? In order to protect Chechen independence? Of course not. The purpose will be to grab more territory. They would overwhelm Dagestan. Then the whole Caucasus – Dagestan, Ingushetia, and then up along the Volga – Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, following this direction into the depths of the country … When I started to compare the scale of the possible tragedy with what we have there now, I had no doubt that we should act as we are acting, maybe even more firmly.64 Putin thus viewed the Chechen issue”
― Richard Sakwa, Putin: Russia's Choice

“Eurasianists, who insist that Russia remains the core of a distinctive civilisation based on the unique mix of peoples who have shared a common destiny for nearly a millennium. There are many strands of Eurasianism, including: a pragmatic Eurasianism that simply reflects the fact that Russia is both a European and an Asian power; neo-Eurasianism, with a more imperialist inflection that denigrates the East as a substantive element while playing up geopolitical factors; an inter-civilisational Eurasianism, focusing on Russia's multiethnic identity;10 and a mystical Eurasianism that sharply distinguishes the mega-region as the spiritual counterpoint to Western degradation.”
― Richard Sakwa, Putin: Russia's Choice