... as if (a twenty - foot tall) Lenin - Book Review.

On Conspirator (Rappaport, Basic Books, 2010.)

There are many good books, including this one, published about Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin,) and his spouse who survived him by years (Nadezhda Konstantinova Krupskaya,) though most of them examine his entire life starting with childhood through his passing in after the Russian Civil War.  This text by Helen Rappaport gives a portraiture of only his pre - revolutionary resume as a brother of Aleksandr who conspired against the Tsar and was executed, up through his re - entering Russia as allowed by the Germans to pass through Switzerland and other territories.  Almost in parallel with the death of Aleksandr was Lenin's time as a student at university in Kazan and where he was involved in student demonstrations that got him expelled from law school.  The deaths of Aleksandr, his father and sister, all happening within a short time of each other, and with his exodus from university, Lenin started to travel abroad.  It is important to note the text illustrates prominently his provincial location within old Russia at this point (1888 or so) and his life of intrigue and growing influence that began in rural Russia, his ideas about travel abroad and its educational qualities, his meetings with Swiss communists, and other pursuits including his study of Karl Marx in exile that captivated generations of Russians.  Saint Petersburg was a likely hotbed of leftist ideas against the Romanovs, not only due to the location of the opportunistic opposition within Russia, but the town was quite easily reachable in Russia from most European capitols.  Of these, and outside his time in Siberia, Lenin resided or visited virtually all the important ones, especially Prague, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Krakow, Brussels, and of these, he naturally liked Geneva where the communists abroad were led at the time by Georgi Plekhanov, another name to remember. 

Lenin's greatest achievement apart from the leader of the worldwide communist movement, in life and in his passing, was the overall successful publication of underground literature, including the newspaper Iskra, or "The Spark," which made the authorities of the time very wary as the Okhrana deliberately intercepted this publication in the mails several times.  Lenin worked feverishly on all publishing projects, much like some people work feverishly on the same sorts of material today.  He might have lived longer had he been more patient with himself, though no one like me really shares that opinion.  The drama of this time that Ms. Rappaport illustrates very well is the political gamesmanship of the communists as led by Lenin abroad and then at home that concentrated on literary propaganda, spying, organised criminal activities, and other communist party actions of the day that resulted in the ouster of the Tsar and his family, popular dissension against the Russian royals, and the vengeance against them that resulted in their deaths after a new government had come to power.  Not all of this is examined comprehensively, nor is the actual importance of the war in revolutionary times; and the book ends with the story of the Lenin train leaving from Switzerland with its destination as the Russian capitol, a trip that took place within the sinister framework of the conquered German territory at the time.  This book seemed important to me as it illustrated the frenetic character of the communist leadership in pre - revolutionary days, the overall purpose of communism on a multi - national scale as a foundation for political success, and as a movement affected by and perhaps determinative of the chaos in Eastern Europe early in the 20th century. 

THS

Political Life of Tony Blair

Either, or.

Tyranny and “anti –“ tyranny.

In the story of the Michael Khodorkovsky trial, and that of Platon Lebedev, it is important given Mr. Khodorkovsky’s talk at Khamovnichesky Court, Moscow; on November 2, 2010, that ‘in Russia’ the goals of the new generation of business people who have built up the country again are not necessarily congruent with those of the centrist and now dominant officials in the realm.  The business people who ran Yukos and its related businesses, and they made a tidy sum at it, worked privately to promote economic activities and the development of that society, especially in the Far East.  The disagreement between the judiciary and Mr. Khodorkovsky with Mr. Lebedev is the state considered much of what Mr. Khodorkovsky was doing to be its business, including the spending of petro – currency it intended to use in the treasury, but that was going to build up one or another region in the country.  

Mr. Khodorkovsky is apparently accused of manipulating people, money and the system, all of which were in flux in Russia during the time of Yukos, and developing his own economic and political fiefdom.  That some good came of the economic and oil booms in Russia is inarguable, and one cannot argue as to the benefits of the ends.  Mr. Khodorkovsky is dealing singly with issues that befall developing sectors in developing economies everywhere:  Growth can be unmanageable, and while Mr. Khodorkovsky was an excellent boss in view of this, the Russian government is arguing he clearly was not.  The trial itself has been, from what I have followed, instance after instance of finger – pointing and name calling, and no one has been able to speak freely about what the operations of the business in this ‘anti – trust’ case were really like, or other pertinent issues.  The court sessions become a profile and precedent of poor interpretation of facts on the one hand and legalistic and oppressive regulation on the other, both parties suffering this and other difficulties in a problem circumstance for everyone. 

In his speech in this court case on November 2, the defendant used the past imperfect tense many times.  It is important to understand this as an appeal to the court to apply the same standard of justice to the operations of the state in this process, in its inventories, checklists, and internal debates, etc., that it has applied to statutes applied against Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev in penalty or penalties against them and any other accused.  The Russian system of justice, probably with its tendency to “nod” to the prosecuting attorney and the judge in fierce enforcement of many statutes, might entirely not have heard this plaintive appeal.  That this is the tradition is highly unfortunate, and one this case challenges the system to begin to reverse.  This is perhaps why the defendants have attempted to highlight the historical context of the trial.  It is unfortunate this tradition dates to the Okrana (sp?) and the courts of pre – revolutionary times, up through Beria and so forth, and why many Russians in this case themselves have cause, especially in view of a prosecutorial decision in this case, to again view their patrimony as unfortunate, and a gain for the state at the expense of, again, common people or those who represented them or stood in their shoes to help their cause.  

... and yet, today in South Africa

F.W. de Klerk & Nelson Mandela  - May 1990 (courtesy U.K. Guardian)

Not only is the country of South Africa important in the scheme of the human rights issues in mind with everyone today, but turning the recent history of that country over and over brings to mind some certainly unresolved items of which the following:  a.  The South African transition to majority rule has gone quite smoothly compared, for example, to what is happening in Zimbabwe or even Mozambique; b.  In what ways does the new regime there continue to defeat the argument of the Afrikaans assuming for so long the "white man's burden," and then relinquishing it to the blacks.  Due to these two items and more, and their international political and cultural influences, is South Africa a safe place today where one might travel and even stay for a while or emigrate?  People like me have a hard time posing this question as the only ideas we have about Africa are from literary dogma and the press.

It is also interesting to note that the Afrikaans continue to have a role in South African society, even though many of the native peoples just wanted them out.  There are and have been things wrong with colonialism for a long time, and this is why it is not any longer practised by anyone.  Some western powers still have control of island nations and so forth, but the actual colonial period entered into its sunset when water transport became motorized and when some other things happened (like WWI.)  One might note here the Afrikaans, again, were not colonial really in that they believed in the eventuality of the blacks ruling their own territories without the kind of oriental chaos they had experienced when settling that land.  It becomes clear upon any study of Africa the blacks knew of other lands, not mystical to them, but as those of subjugators; and they only really had an interest in maintaining the status quo of a very organic society that dated back many years.  The institutional introduction of Occidental institutions and polity at the time of the colonial empires was a huge shock to the native South African population and they staged a long - standing revolt.  That westerners were the first to really settle in Africa engendered future contemptibility and when the communists began propagandizing the native peoples there during the period after WWII, the political climate was rife with vulnerabilities that were exacerbated and exist to this day.  Part of the credence of the ANC and its merits was the future promise to make the country productive and to preserve its institutions that were not overwhelmingly racist.  This led to the beginning of better prospects for African nations as far as foreign aid and international legitimacy were concerned among other things.  All this due to the relationships between personalities like F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela; see your Cambridge history.

Egypt, again taking another administrative turn.

Hosni Mubarak and Anwar Sadat

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:  This editorial by Fouad Ajami (The Foreigner's Gift, 2007) clearly and distinctly explains the place of Egypt in the modern world and its veteran leadership as they enter the arena of political maturity and face the dangers of anarchy in the 'near abroad' - the world of islamic influence, and the 'far abroad' - the western world as led by the United States.  Mr. Ajami writes here in appropriately incriminating prose on the subject of Ayman al - Zawahiri of Al - Q'aeda who was an Egyptian terrorist and then was involved in the assassination of Anwar Sadat during a 1981 parade ceremony.  Under Sadat, Israel had completed talks with Egypt to allow international recognition of Israel.  To see how important this was, take a look at the Hamas charter.  Zawahiri had other colleagues who were involved in the 1993 New York World Trade Center terrorist blast including another Egyptian, Omar Rahman.

It is noticeable by the editorial that the Egyptian regime is the origin of at least some violence on our Homeland and in conspiratorial ways.  On the other hand, Hosni Mubarak, the current Egyptian head of state, has effectively done away at home with the types of terrorist shenanigans that dominate the headlines in other international regions.  This bitter truth, that many arab terrorists come from different backgrounds in western - friendly countries such as Egypt is something in need of a remedy that will last like the current regime has.