Two deep currents prevail in Russian culture. One reflects universalism in the ways by which human existence is accounted for, the values that it sustains, and the civilization that it aspires for and aims to build. The second embraces nationalism and considers the Russian identity as the ark that provides security and ensures salvation for people whose ethnic roots are Slavic.
Both currents are well established. Frequently they coexist in the same person. Both “together” have found their best expression in artists who rightly achieved their greatest recognition in the West, like in literature with Dostoevsky and Soljenitsin. But even the classical poet and novelist Pushkin, venerated in Europe as a “universalist” poet, falls into this pattern, as can be seen from his texts against “the slanderers of Russia” or about the Baltic peoples.
So Pope Francis did well when in Malta to warn against the excesses of nationalism, which in a way have led to Putin’s war in the Ukraine. However I have my doubts concerning what the Pope also seemed to imply: that the basis of nationalism has become anachronistic.
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GENERATIONAL CHANGE
It is quite natural that public and social endeavour proceeds via generational change among those who are responsible for such endeavour. God forbid that it could be otherwise although obviously, members of the generations whose time has come to make way for their successors hardly feel comfortable with how matters develop.
Change – especially in the political sphere – cannot always be managed transparently and clearly. Complications and coincidences may occur to overturn all prior calculations.
Many moons ago, when I was studying enterprise management, we would spend whole sessions discussing how succession issues and the reorganization of responsibilities among top personnel arise and are dealt with by the major private US companies. The challenges and problems are hardly so different from those that arise in a political scenario. As necessary as renewal is, it can still create difficulties just as much as it does give rise to opportunities. In any event, it has to be carried out.
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DIVERSIFICIATION IN EUROPE
It is still not clear how Europe will be diversifying its energy sources. For the EU to reach the targets it has set for the programmes intended to eliminate climate warming, coal has to be phased out. The same applies for the use of underground oil though supposedly this will be done at a slower rate that for coal. Similarly for energy generated by natural gas, and here again the rate of change should be slower than for fuel oil. There is disagreement regarding whether and how nuclear energy should feature in anti-cliimate warming programmes.
Meanwhile given Putin’s war in the Ukraine, it has become imperative to reach another target. Europe should cease its current dependence on Russian oil and gas for its energy needs. Plans to bring this into effect are being laid out.
Europe’s commitments in the energy sector carry with them tough choices that will all bring problems in their wake. In reality, it does not seem like there’s one unified programme that has been agreed for implementation.