The Old Guard's Nostalgia for Cold War Power

Imagine wanting to start a war in the middle of a global pandemic that has killed at least 339,000 (and counting) of your own people.

Imagine wanting to start a war as the global economy is sputtering and inflation is putting the lives of everyday citizens in a chokehold (that’s right MAGAts, Biden’s inflation is -global-, so the narrative that its his fault is stupid).

Imagine wanting to cause chaos during turbulent times because you are still upset about a collapsed government from the Reagan Era.

That’s Putin for you.

There will be thousands upon thousands of articles concerning NATO, the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and the whys and hows of whatever is about to happen---whether it’s a small little invasion, a civil war between former members of the same union, or an all-out global war that sees Russia battling anyone that tries to get in Putin’s way. What happens next remains a mystery, as we really don’t know what Putin’s endgame is.

But one thing is certain: the Old Guard has to go, all these older leaders from a bygone era have to be removed in one way or another in order for the new millennium to actually begin with new generations of leadership.

The biggest problems plaguing the world happens to be from countries whose leaders have a nostalgia of the politics and geography of the war-laden 20th century. Donald Trump ran on “Make America Great Again,” which appealed to white supremacists infuriated with the progress of minorities (especially Black Americans) while seeking a return to an America that wasn’t trying to constantly fix itself and being content with what it has already become---you know, the Bill Clinton era.

Jair Bolsonaro won his election by reminiscing about a past that had the military controlling Brazil (also because Lula was illegally sent to prison). Brazil was controlled by the military from the 1960s all the way until 1985, which is an era that right-wing extremists like Bolsonaro remembered with rose-colored lens.

It has to be said, but these leaders (along with a Chinese government that refuses to accept its waning influence on its people especially in farther-off regions like Hong Kong and Taiwan) are directly responsible for the cause and the spread of this pandemic----as their faults and their constant urges to remain looking strong caused the illness to make it even to Antarctica.

Their average age? 69, including the main villain of 2022 so far, Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin has been the dictator-esque president of Russia since 1999. But before he served as a foreign intelligence officer in the Soviet Union before its shocking fall and dismantlement. And to this day, he remains upset that the Russia he inherited had none of the power and fear that the Soviet Union possessed during the Cold War even as their economy has grown. Putin sees a Russia that cannot be taken seriously or invited to the table unless they start making noise. This is why we have the incidents of Ukraine, Georgia, Crimea, Kuril Islands, and even parts of the Arctic. Imagine feuding with Canada and the Nordic nations.

But the Russian government continues to behave as if the Cold War never ended, even though most of the world has moved on and has tried embracing the borders given to them after a century’s worth of warfare that hit its peak in the World Wars. Even the United States has seen a Joe Biden presidency that dangerously pulled out of Afghanistan and has all but ended the deadly “drone wars.” Another underrated success story is Germany, who was literally torn in half from 1945 all the way to 1989, and now has become the top economy in all of Europe while shedding almost all of its genocidal past and even bringing in over a million migrants from parts of the Middle East. Angela Merkel deserves all the praise.

Instead of evolving, Putin and his cronies continues to stir up conflicts in a desperate battle to reclaim land that it lost after the fall of its empire. So Ukraine is now in the crosshairs. People will argue its because of NATO’s growth, its because they need to improve their resources, or because Russia feels like they are feeling threatened by European nations. But this is a Russian government that has done next to nothing to improve foreign relations, offer alternative solutions to their grievances, improve its own inner structure, and doesn’t offer other voices an opportunity to represent the nation spanning several time zones and a surprisingly large number of cultures that rivals that even of the United States.

Their solutions are focused on conflict without compromise, conquering without public approval, and a willingness to expand without actually being open to other nations and potential allies. Russian government’s current strategy to maintaining its power and economic strength is to bully their way to the top, cause unrest until they get what they want. Putin’s government represents a dated ideology as opposed to a growing country within its own borders, a Russian people that secretly is growing tired of the shtick, emotions that cannot be made public without the risk of being disappeared or killed.

I do hope that in the future as the Trumps, Putins, and Bolsonaros of the world disappear politically and physically, we can see new leaders emerge with better mindsets, more peaceful mindsets, and a stronger willingness to help each other as opposed to want to constantly one-up and battle each other. We have seen what younger leadership can accomplish, whether it’s the excellent changes happening in cities like Boston, or countries like New Zealand, and it’s a far cry from the warhawks you see from the older crowd of politicians and pundits. The Russian people deserve better, the Ukrainians deserves better, and we deserve better than having to worry about warfare in the middle of a global pandemic that refuses to go away peacefully.

Hope for the best, expect the worst, and pray for a better tomorrow.