Copyright © 2021 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Many Russians will welcome harsh Western actions against oligarchs, Skobov says

Putin addressing his "new nomenklatura" ruling elite. Russian kleptocrats have been parking their stolen wealth in the West since the break-up of the Soviet Union (Image: kremlin.ru)
Putin addressing his “new nomenklatura” ruling elite. Russian kleptocrats have been parking their stolen wealth in the West since the break-up of the Soviet Union (Image: kremlin.ru)
Edited by: A. N.

One of the “most popular” arguments Putin supporters in the West use against the imposition of sanctions against the Russian oligarchs is that this will intensify anti-Western attitudes among Russians and lead ever more of them to unite around the Kremlin leader against the West, Aleksandr Skobov says.

Aleksandr Skobov (Image: kasparov.ru)
Aleksandr Skobov
(Image: kasparov.ru)

But in fact, the Russian commentator points out, “a significant part of Russians animated by anti-Western attitudes do not have any warm feelings for the Putinist kleptocracy.” Moreover, their anti-Western attitudes are in many cases the result of their judgment that the West has allowed the oligarchs to live so well abroad. Consequently, Skobov continues, [quote]“if the ruling circles of European countries decide to adopt real measures against the Russian kleptocrats who have settled among them, this could change the opinion of many Russians about the West to the better” and not to the West as those opposed to sanctions routinely insist.[/quote]

As ever more Europeans especially on the left are beginning to understand, the introduction of “Russian criminal-oligarchic capital” into Western economies “is stimulating the rebirth of the most archaic and reactionary forms of capitalism.” And that shift means the anti-Putin opposition should rethink its relationship to the European left.

[quote]Some Western analysts especially in the United States have focused on the corrupting influence of Russian money on political life; but Skobov is pointing to something even larger, the way in which this massive influx of illegally acquired Russian wealth is corrupting capitalism itself, dragging it back to an ugly and unregulated past.[/quote]

And that in turn means, although the Russian commentator does not mention it, that sanctions even if they hurt some Western capitalists as they are certain to do, will not only send the right signal to the Kremlin but make a serious contribution to the recovery of a more socially inclined public policy in the US and Western Europe.

To the extent that comes to be understood, liberals in the West should welcome sanctions on the Russian oligarchs rather than oppose them and should in fact be the leading sponsors of harsh treatment of the criminal class led by Putin under the old and still true Polish slogan, “for your freedom and ours!

Read More:

Edited by: A. N.
You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!
Total
0
Shares