In the past several years, defenders of Vladimir Putin’s regime—both inside and outside of Russia—have made a habit of accusing critics of Russophobia. Gary Saul Morson has much to say of interest about the origins and evolution of the term, but particularly interesting to me (and perhaps to you as well) is how closely it dovetails with accusations against Jews. The pattern begins with the 1989 book Russophobia by Igor Shafarevich, which popularized the word:
As many have noticed, when all else fails, one can usually unite Russians against Jewish influence, which is what Shafarevich tried to do in Russophobia. Shafarevich quotes several Russian writers, mostly Jews, expressing what he deems irrational hatred for everything Russian.
Russophobes, Shafarevich adds, dream of turning Russia into “a robot” following “a program that has been developed on the other side of the earth. . . . And democracy plays the role of such a ‘program’ . . . that has no organic connection whatsoever with the country.” He develops Augustin Cochin’s theory of how elite groups—a “small people” within a “greater people”—can destroy all traditional values, as happened during the French Revolution. In the Russian case, Shafarevich explains, the “little people” really are a people: the Jews.
Although liberal dissidents of course include many non-Jews, Shafarevich allows, Jewish predominance explains why liberals place such emphasis on “the cult of emigration.” “If we . . . ask, just whose national feelings are manifesting themselves here . . . there can be no doubt as to the answer. . . . The ‘Jewish question’ has assumed incomprehensible power over minds. . . . And apparently the existence of a ‘Russian question’ is not recognized at all.”
Perhaps not unrelatedly, there was an attempted pogrom yesterday in the Russian province of Dagestan—attempted only because there were no Jews to be found.
Read more on Commentary: https://www.commentary.org/articles/gary-morson/russophobia-victim-narrative/