“I’m back in the U.S.S.R you don’t know how lucky you are, boy Back in the U.S.S.R.”
– Beatles, White Album –
This classic Beatles’s song was about an empire that has long been forgotten by today’s youth, but it is starting to ring bells very loudly in today’s modern world. For what was once a song in the sixties has become an anthem for the modern day crisis that is involving part of its namesake. So how did such a song become a backdrop in today’s world? In order to answer this question, one most go back to the beginning and see how the past events lead up to what is currently happening between Russia, Crimea and the Ukraine.
The history of modern day Russia begins with the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic or U.S.S.R. in 1920s. It was a form of imperial majesty that had not been seen on the Russia front since Catherine the Great. It boasted over 20 nations, which today are independent countries. However, all of this would change when the current Russian president retook power.
Ever since Vladimir Putin has retaken the world’s stage in the political area, he has made it is his mission to reform the Union Soviet Socialist Republic otherwise known as the U.S.S.R. Unlike Lenin or Stalin who by this point would be rolling in the tanks on both the Crimea and Ukraine, Putin is using diplomacy to win back the former terrorties of the U.S.S.R piece by piece. Don’t get me wrong; I think that war is on the horizon and Ukraine will lose if she does not receive international help.
Although, you have to give Putin’s his props for he figured out a way to conquer both the Crimea and parts of Ukraine without shedding one drop of blood. How did he accomplish this feat? The answer to that question is simple: by appearing as the savior to the people and it is in doing so that he proved that the native government of Crimea in this case to be inept to rule over them. This newly formed imagery of himself and his government works both for and against Putin: on the one side, he looks like a competent leader, but on the international side he looks like a bully.
Even with these successes Putin is still far from having the whole pie. He still has to conquer not only the rest of the Ukraine, but also the rest of the U.S.S.R. countries, then he has to some way managed to get the UN and the United States of America to sanction it without any backlash. He also has to repair his reputation both domestically and internationally. Once all of this is accomplished then and only then can he sing a song of victory.
Let’s just hope that it never comes to that because if he is successful in achieving his goal of reforming the U.S.S.R 2.0 version I think that world will not only be taken aback but off of swept off their feet!
Reported by
Nadia Johnson
W.O.W. Radio Blogger
April 18, 2014
