What is happening to Russia? Experts answer all over the place. Some say it is a return to the Soviet, others say it is the end of Putin. As always in Russia, there is a third side of the coin. I learned long ago in Russian politics the man you see is not the man in control. Putin may purport to be an exception, and it certainly seems that way, but if one takes a historical perspective of things Russian, he is a very strong symbol of that triad of forces that Nicholas I promoted as the formula for controlling Russia; “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality.” It is now beginning to come to an end.

When one stands back and surveys the thousand years of Russian history, even the seventy-four years of the Soviet Union was but a resistant last chapter out of the long story from autocracy to democracy. In my 20+ years of Russian business, I have never hired and worked with such bright, intelligent, loyal young men and women. They today are the in that growing middle class that is leading the change into a real and productive democratis free market. It will take time, no doubt about it. But it is happening and we, the West, should let it happen at its own will and speed, cooperating as appropriate.

A wise man had this to say about change:  It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system [Change.]  For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones. The Prince, Machiavelli, 1513. We should be grateful for this change occurring in a land which has so much to offer the world.

And if you want to learn more about Russia, including some jokes, see  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

Ronald Moe was a committed seeker for truth. Before Ron’s recent untimely passing he had finished his book on the murder of Rasputin and its meaning in the unraveling events in Russian history. “Prelude to the Revolution, the Murder of Rasputin” is now published and ready to be purchased and read.

Ron and I had some revealing discussions about this story over the past years as the murder of Rasputin is generally attributed to Prince Felix Yusupov. Ron presents a different story which involves the British agent, Oswald Rayner. Moe’s work is the result of diligent and thorough research and at the same time his book is readable and absorbing. After his retirement from his political science position at The Library of Congress he followed his passionate and deep research into the last days of the Romanoffs. I am now happy to see that due to the perseverance of his devoted wife, Grace, and friends, that landmark account is ready to read.

For a quick synopsis see Amazon’s Book Description page at http://www.amazon.com/PRELUDE-REVOLUTION-RASPUTIN-Ronald-Moe/dp/1593307128/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323786255&sr=1-5 .

See also http://ronmoe.wordpress.com/

Many are surprised that the Russians like to joke about themselves and their leaders. But I wonder about the February 28, 2011 article in Pravda.ru. It was titled “Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA” Now is that funny or not?

The article reads “The idea to separate Siberia and annex the territory to the United States of America has been engrossing the minds of Siberian separatists for a long time already.” It seems that many, if not all Siberians, may think at times that the Siberian regions with their natural riches live poorly just because they have to give away a big part of their incomes to other territories of the Russian Federation.

The idea, if this is really not a joke, seems to have support in some universities, like Irkutsk State University who recently held a seminar of the US-Siberian Department for Management and “Regionalistic Alternative to Siberia” Public Movement.

With so many of the educated young west of the Urals moving to Europe and America, what is left if Siberia goes east? After all, this article appeared in Pravda, which means “truth.”  With all the political unrest in Russia, like always in Russia, you never can tell.

And if you want to learn more about Russia, including some jokes, see  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

Writing instructors often say that nothing in fiction happens without a stated or hinted reason. Dostoyevsky uses the word “suddenly” seven times in the first five pages of his short story the “White Nights.” In Russian history it is often the foreign ray, or light, or idea, or perspective that drives Russia, sometimes driving it crazy.

But, we generally know that human events do not usually happen suddenly. Like earthquakes, we feel them in a moment, but underneath the causal elements were long before inexorably moving toward the explosion. We, on the surface of things, measuring only what our senses tell us or what we want to believe, feel only the culminating shock.

Some say the Russian Revolution started with the Peredvizhniki, the Wanderers, those artists who revolted against the art establishment in St. Petersburg in the 1860s expressed in their art the tragic realism of the common man. But before that, the change started in the 1830s, with the enlightened writers like Belinsky, Bakunin, etc. More recently, the Soviet Union was crumbling years before the flag came down, but we didn’t know it or didn’t want to know it. The Twin Towers collapsed in 102 minutes. But surely the inertia for that disaster began years before, unnoticed or ignored by our political leaders.

Do things happen suddenly, or are the shocks of life always just an ignorance of predicting clues? If we were smart enough to notice and measure all the tremors of coming explosions, we might be prepared for the resulting shocks. But then life, especially ironic Russian life, would not be judged so eloquently by the masters like Dostoevsky.

Like a Russian River

Russian history,
it seems to me,
is much like a Russian river.

It lays unhappily frozen,
obedient within its constraining banks
for a period longer than it can stand.

Then suddenly,
A warm foreign ray of change
permeates the ice
and the river erupts,
climbing upon itself
moving recklessly down stream
releasing its discontent,
taking everything with it,
the good and the bad—
until it finds its kind of peace
and flows quietly again
with all appearances of normality.

But winter will come again
and how soon
no one knows
for sure.

 Frederick R. Andresen (1996)

For more read “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

 Things “happen.” As an “unintended consequence” of the murder of Gregori Rasputin by Prince Felix Yusupov in December 1916 in St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, first cousin of Czar Nicolas II, one of the handful of conspirators, was sent far out of town and Dimitri ended up in Paris. And who do you think took notice of the aristocrat’s arrival? Coco Chanel! She was eleven years his senior but that didn’t stop either one.

The French perfume business was booming because the scents didn’t last past eleven at night—so they bathed in the stuff.  As I heard the story, Dimitri advised Coco that she should not sell big bottles of perfume for cheap prices, but small bottles for high prices.  Dimitri introduced Coco to Ernest Beaux, a successful Russian-born perfumier from St. Petersburg who had learned his craft from his grandfather who entered Russia in 1812 with Napoleon and stayed there, learning the secrets of Russian perfume. From his grandfather, Beaux insisted that the addition of deer musk would make the perfume last the night. Coco hired Beaux, added deer musk to the eighty-some other ingredients and voila: we have Chanel No. 5. That was 1920. As an unintended consequence of the murder of Rasputin, our lovely ladies today have Chanel No. 5. Ce qui arrive, arrive.

As an intended consequence read “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

It is amazing to an American to read the Russian news and hear all the varied opinions about Putin’s decision to run for the Presidency—as if there has already been a campaign and an election. But that’s the way it is in Russia—for now. And it will take another generation, at least, to make a change to something like a real democracy.

When I asked a Russian friend, wife of a Russian politician, what her husband thought of the Putin decision, therefore automatic ultimate election, she said, “He’s accepted it.” A perfect Russian answer. If you can’t do anything about it, just accept it and get on with life. Some cast the Putin decision as something approaching Stalinism. In their near-sighted perspective, it is in their best interest to do so, creating a friction and engendering patriotism.  It is unfortunate they can’t stand back and recognize the changes in Russia as they inch along and at least not interfere.

In Russia’s one-party system it’s hard to tell from abroad, that the central control is weakening. But, with a thousand year history of autocracy, I suggest patience will have its ultimate reward. It seems to always be three steps forward and two backward. But we should be grateful for progress even if only one step at a time.

Putin, shirt or no shirt, has taken the necessary steps for bring some form of order to things. I am reminded of Dr. Zhivago’s words in Pasternak’s novel: “Just now, I was looking out of the window in the train—I thought, what is there in the whole world worth more than a peaceful family life and work? The rest isn’t in our hands.” That still typifies a large but diminishing population in Russia and Putin has satisfied that generation for now. Change is happening—faster than Putin’s generation may realize. Let’s accept it and move on.

And don’t forget: read “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

The first phone call I received was from Russia. After witnessing on TV the catastrophes of September 11, 2001, my friends and business partners were calling to share their shock and advising me to “stay inside.”  New York, and certainly Moscow, seemed far away—but not anymore. It was all one world.

Now, ten years later, we still mourn the tragic losses in the terrorist attacks in New York, but also we have moved on and must recognize the resulting opportunity and its effects.  It was, in a way, a loud and tragic reminder of ongoing global social change.  “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” wrote Einstein. How have we responded to that opportunity?

The fall of the Twin Towers was a fire that shaped a generation of American youth and shook us all with the fact we are globally one people and that dividing borders are melting away. The American youth learned they were not alone in the world, that other cultures were there to discover and understand. Study about or in the Middle East has grown rapidly since then and Arabic is being learned by many. But, the most important realization is how valuable we are to each other. The meaning of “united we stand” has taken on greater meaning—witness the great citizen help in natural disasters as well as planned ones.

And this reaches across borders, ethnic and religious walls, and tends to unite us all as part of the greater human family. Americans knew at once of the tragic crash in Russia that killed the Yaroslavl ice hockey team and they openly expressed their sorrow. It is a growing sense of brotherhood and trust that is knitting us all together.

  Underlying all this is a growing sense of the value of forgiveness. If we, as victims or friends of victims can lift our thoughts above the mists of hate and revenge, of fear and insecurity, we all benefit. Leo Tolstoy said it, “Let us forgive each other – only then will we live in peace.” With a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to grow out of disaster we become stronger and better people.

 But it signals much more than that. The fact is that good Russian music is being played more and more in concert halls and on the classical music radio stations all over the country. I love it. Even if I was raised on the desert near El Paso, Texas,  I loved Russian music from an early age. Rimsky-Korsakov of course (our kids were raised on “Peter and the Wolf.”) As I write this, Prokofiev’s “Love for Three Oranges,” is being played on our great classical music station here, KUSC. There is so much to enjoy: Rachmaninoff, Borodin, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky – the list goes on and on. So many greats. Such romance, such stories in song and melody. I lived in Russia for six years and what a treat in the evenings.

 So fireworks may end the summer outdoor concerts, the stirring and romantic music from the great Russian composers is heard all over all the time. A KUSC announcer once said, “Russian music, like Russian literature, is always excited about something.” Maybe that is why we like it so much. Nothing boring there.

You can find me at www.en.rian.ru. Go to “Features and Opinions” then “Columnists.” Read the others, too.

And don’t forget “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

For almost a year now I have been writing for the respected Russian news media RIA Novosti.  I and about six others write weekly columns on various subjects. My column is called “Musings of a Russophile” and comes out each Friday. The subject may be a nostalgic epic, usually humorous, like how to take a hot wash down (I can’t call it a bath) when the city turns off the hot water for several weeks in the summer. Or they may be about thoughts on the poet and writer Boris Pasternak  (“Dr. Zhivago”) and my visit to his suburban home and what is story means today. There is even a report from the banya, the hot steam and massage experience. Whew!

 The columns of other writers are about a variety of things, all having to do with Russia, often critical and often cynically funny. Russians are good at laughing at themselves and particularly at their leaders.  I get good comments on my columns, particularly Russians who say I tell it like it is, but with respect and humor. Two of the favorites are “Moscow , a City of Dogs” and “St. Petersburg, a City of Cats.” Both Muscovites and Petersburgers love these, laugh, and say I got it right.

 You can find me at www.en.rian.ru.  Go to “Features and Opinions” then “Columnists.” Read the others, too.  All are good. My latest is http://www.en.rian.ru/columnists/20110812/165710036.html .

 And don’t forget “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman is Russia.”

Boris Pasternak who only wrote one novel, Doctor Zhivago, which was translated into 18 languages and for which he won the Noble Prize for Literature.  I remember the bookcase behind his desk, which still contained some of the books that he loved to read. There was T.S. Eliot, Yeats, Emily Dickinson, W.H Auden, and I was happy to find my favorites, Rainer Maria Rilke and Robert Frost.

My paperback copy of Doctor Zhivago is torn, its dog-eared pages yellowing, and the cover floating free from the pages. Of course to Americans and to me then it was Julie Christy and Omar Sharif, Alex Guinness and Rod Steiger and the unforgettable music of Maurice Jarre. I only read the novel after a lunchtime conversation with girls in my Moscow office. Anya was a beautiful and talented stage actress and who was playing Lara, the lead, in a Moscow staging of “Zhivago, the Musical.” She said Lara was not real, but a ghost, a specter of what every man wanted in a woman and couldn’t have. I re-read Zhivago even today, often to remind me what good writing is all about. He was a genius.

His description of a Siberian winter is matchless, even in translation: “Torn, seemingly disconnected sounds and shapes rose out of the icy mist, stood still, moved, and vanished. The sun was not the sun to which the earth was used, it was a changeling. Its crimson ball hung in the forest and from it, stiffly and slowly as in a dream or in a fairy tale, amber-yellow rays of light as thick as honey spread and, catching in the trees, froze to them in midair.”

But his greatest contribution is his insightful and courageous characterization of the Russian mind during the times of the Revolution and the following Russian Civil War. Returning from the front, hearing many were fleeing to the Caucasus, watching the Russian countryside click by through his train window Zhivago said, “…what is there in the whole world worth more than a peaceful family life and work? The rest is not in our hands.” Again, that sense of Russian fatalism.

Important to me, and to many of my same thought, would be this lengthy speculation of  Dr. Zhivago on a common cause of death at that time, sclerosis of the heart. He says, “I think its causes are of a moral order. The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. I found it painful to listen to you, Innokentii, when you told us how you were re-educated and became mature in jail. It was like listening to a circus horse describing how it broke itself in.”

Pasternak is a hero.

Read it here “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”. Your comments are welcome.