Romantsov: Russia has nothing to build on except imperialism. What remains without attempts at aggression? Nothing at all | iRADIO

Europe tends to either underestimate or overestimate Russia, says political geographer Michael Romantsov, but according to him, the real view of Russia’s functioning is unique. It was a mistake, for example, to assume that the war in Ukraine is already won for Kyiv.

Guest: Michael Romancov, political geographer from Charles University and Metropolitan University Prague. Hosted by Zita Senková

“But Russia is huge, robust, and even Russians are capable of learning. The environment of war conflict is Darwinian, literally life is at stake. And even the Russian army learns and gains competence under the weight of fighting,” reminds Romantsov, who works at Institute of Political Studies of Charles University and the Metropolitan University of Prague.

He also agrees with Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský’s statement that revived Russian imperialism also aims far beyond the country’s western borders.

“They are completely unlimited appetites. It’s always been that way. But the Russian Empire understood that there were others in the world system and it had to communicate with them and make tactical concessions. But Lenin’s Bolshevik regime aimed at a world, global proletarian revolution. Although it was already shown in the 20s that it was beyond their capabilities, that goal was never revised,” the political geographer recalls.

According to him, today’s Russia has the same goals.

“Therefore, we must take into account that, at least in the medium term, we will have as our immediate neighbor in the East a country that hates us, a country that is at war with us. And that is the most important difference between them and us. They know they are at war with us. We are the ones who still think it’s not a war,” he emphasizes.

According to him, however, Russia does not have the capacity to build. “It has huge capacities to destroy and inhibit everything that is going on in the world,” Romantsov is convinced and continues:

“And they don’t have anything else to follow up on. Let’s imagine Russia without military power and attempts at aggression. And what are you left with? Nothing. This is the only ‘legacy’ Russia can work with.”

Russia did not collapse

Not even Russia itself today has the opportunity to build and transform into a modern and innovative country, these attempts have ended, according to the political geographer. But it is not Western sanctions.

“The Russian economy has not collapsed. On the contrary, she is learning to function in an extremely Darwinian environment and has so far managed to block most of the problems. It’s not booming, but the data that the Russian regime puts into circulation look pretty good economically,” Romantsov reminds.

Next year, however, Russia should spend up to 30 percent of the state budget on the military. This is also why Romantsov fears that the current war may drag on for years and pass into the phase of a frozen conflict.

“It will be extremely important how Ukraine or Russia manage to communicate with foreign partners. We see that even Russia is not able to rely only on its own resources today. This will determine offensive capabilities in the future,” he concludes.

Listen to the full interview, the audio is at the top of the article.

Zita Senková, Ph.D

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