GLEB PAVLOVSKY

He was referring to Russian elections. The reasons that elections in Russia are not necessary for legitimizing state power to be used by the current government, is that from the early days of the Russian Czars, the tradition and culture assumed that if there is a threat to "Mother Russia", everyone and everything in the state is at the disposal of the government, no matter who is in power. It is so strongly embedded in the culture that although many Russians want fee elections and the right to choose their leaders, they have no question that the government alway has the right and duty to marshall amm the human and physical resources to protect the state, See Quotation 644072 for more on this imporatnt concept in Russia.

Such a comcept has been shared by most autocratic governments like Nazi Germany, but before and after Germans did not see this subservience to and power of the state as desirable or even necessary. The Vatican has had periods like this. But this Sistema has been a part of Russian culture during the millinium of Czarist rule. It was used andn explicitly made a part of Lennin and the Russian Revolutionaries, and then so heavily used by Joseph Stalin before, during and after WWII. It continued under the Post Stalinist Communist leader and when the Soviet Union fell and Russia became less authoratoran, it was not utilized but it was deeply embedded in the Russian psyche and culture as demonstrated by the fact that Vladimir Putin began t use it as an instrument of his governance.

Actually, his lack of understanding should not have been surprising. Politically and historically, there has been no more complex and arcane area of the world than Russia. See Winston Churchill's quote on that point--Quotation 597728. No one has ever understood the politics and complesities of Russia to any great degree. And the years durinbg which Pavlosky served the Russian Presidents wittnessed a rapid change in all aspects of Rissian life and society moreso than any times except the Russian Revolution and WWII. It will take 100 years or more before theye may be a deep understanding of this period of Russian hisory.

Actually, his lack of understanding should not have been surprising. Politically and historically, there has been no more complex and arcane area of the world than Russia. See Winston Churchill's quote on that point--Quotation 597728. No one has ever understood the politics and complesities of Russia to any great degree. And the years durinbg which Pavlosky served the Russian Presidents wittnessed a rapid change in all aspects of Rissian life and society moreso than any times except the Russian Revolution and WWII. It will take 100 years or more before theye may be a deep understanding of this period of Russian hisory.

Such a comcept has been shared by most autocratic governments like Nazi Germany, but before and after Germans did not see this subservience to and power of the state as desirable or even necessary. The Vatican has had periods like this. But this Sistema has been a part of Russian culture during the millinium of Czarist rule. It was used andn explicitly made a part of Lennin and the Russian Revolutionaries, and then so heavily used by Joseph Stalin before, during and after WWII. It continued under the Post Stalinist Communist leader and when the Soviet Union fell and Russia became less authoratoran, it was not utilized but it was deeply embedded in the Russian psyche and culture as demonstrated by the fact that Vladimir Putin began t use it as an instrument of his governance.

He was referring to Russian elections. The reasons that elections in Russia are not necessary for legitimizing state power to be used by the current government, is that from the early days of the Russian Czars, the tradition and culture assumed that if there is a threat to "Mother Russia", everyone and everything in the state is at the disposal of the government, no matter who is in power. It is so strongly embedded in the culture that although many Russians want fee elections and the right to choose their leaders, they have no question that the government alway has the right and duty to marshall amm the human and physical resources to protect the state, See Quotation 644072 for more on this imporatnt concept in Russia.