Ninety Years after the October Revolution -- A Brief Comment
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Today’s posturing over missile defences, Kosovo, Iran, Iraq, and the practicalities of the CFE Treaty clearly suggest that Russia as in the past (especially the Cold War era) always wanted to be considered as an equal member in the club of global powers. Ninety years after the October Revolution, one could conclude that Russia demonstrates a marked continuity in its approach toward the rest of the world. A careful reading of history teaches us that Russia whether in its Tsarist, Soviet or Post-Cold War version remained and remains committed to the ambition of being a strong European power with a droit de regard over its neighbourhood, its “near abroad”. One of the reasons for the Communist Revolution of 1917 was that Tsarist Russia was considered to be the weak link in the Concert of Europe that had, in effect, ruled Europe with its Balance of Power concept since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In other words, apart from creating a worker’