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Frank Visser, graduated as a psychologist of culture and religion, founded IntegralWorld in 1997. He worked as production manager for various publishing houses and as service manager for various internet companies and lives in Amsterdam. Books: Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion (SUNY, 2003), and The Corona Conspiracy: Combatting Disinformation about the Coronavirus (Kindle, 2020).

Putin's Essay on Ukraine

Integral World Podcast #11

Frank Visser / NotebookLM

This is an informal, AI-generated conversation by Google's NotebookLM, based on the essay "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" written by Vladimir Putin in 2021.[1]

Hey everyone, ready to go deep on something? I know, I know, you're probably thinking, not another Ukraine Russia thing, but trust me, this one's different.

Different how?

We're getting into Putin's head, like really in there. We're looking at how he himself justifies what's going on.

Ah, so you're talking about that article he wrote back in 2021.

The one and only on the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians. Bold title, right?

Very deliberate and very much setting the stage for what was to come.

Exactly. It's not a battle. field rant. It's well, it's almost scholarly, you know, trying to make a historical case.

Oh, absolutely. He's laying out a very specific narrative and to understand it, we got to go way back. Ancient Rus to be precise.

Ancient Rus. Now, that rings a bell vaguely. Yeah. But I have a feeling Putin's version might be a little, let's say, edited.

You could say that. He really hammers the shared heritage thing. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, all from the same root, common language, economic ties.

And let me guess: lots of emphasis on the Orthodox faith.

Bingo. He even makes a big deal about St. Vladimir, you know, bringing Christianity to the region almost like it was destiny tying these people together.

Clever using religion to back up a political claim makes it seem timeless, almost sacred, you know.

Very effective. And then he moves on to the rise of Moscow, presents it as the rightful heir to ancient Rus, consolidating the lands, fighting off outsiders.

Classic hero stuff. But every hero needs a villain, right? Who's the bad guy? And story.

Lithuania, specifically their alliance with Poland and conversion to Catholicism. He paints it as a betrayal leading to the oppression of Orthodox Russians.

So shared heritage isn't enough. You got to have an enemy to really bind the group together. Classic us versus them stuff.

And to really drive home that reunification idea, he brings in Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Cossack leader from the 1600s.

Oh yeah, Khmelnytsky. Now he was a force to be reckoned with. Weren't the Cossacks pretty independent though?

Fiercely. But Putin spins Khmelnytsky's alliance with Moscow as a voluntary return to the motherland. He even points out that the Cossacks called themselves Russian Orthodox people back then...

Emphasizing that shared identity again. Makes sense for his argument, but was it really that simple? Were there other things going on that he's leaving out? I mean, the Cossacks weren't known for just rolling over for anyone.

Right. There's definitely a lot of nuance being glossed over. The Cossacks had their own goals, their own internal politics. It wasn't just a straightforward reunion.

So, some historical cherrypicking going on, as expected. What happens next in Putin's timeline? Does he keep pushing this unity narrative?

Oh, absolutely. He downplays any differences between Ukrainians and Russians, talks about how they contributed to the Russian Empire together, even uses that term "Malarussians", which has some loaded implications, to describe Ukrainians helping develop Siberia and other regions.

"Malarussians" always struck me as kind of condescending, like "little Russia". They weren't really equals, wouldn't you say?

It's a loaded term for sure. And then we get to language, which is really interesting. I mean, Ukraine has its own distinct language.

How does he square that with this one people idea?

Yeah, that's got to be tricky.

He does this kind of balancing act, acknowledges the Ukrainian language, but frames it as enriching Russian culture, not a sign of a separate identity.

So, you can have your language, but it's still all part of the Russian family.

Basically, he even brings up Taras Shevchenko you know, the Ukrainian national poet, to make it point.

Shevchenko.

Yeah.

But wasn't he all about Ukrainian nationalism?

He was. But Putin points out that while Shevchenko wrote poetry in Ukrainian, he wrote his prose in Russian. Trying to blur those lines again.

So acknowledging Ukrainian culture while denying its claim to nationhood. Having it both ways.

Exactly. A bit of a contradiction there. And of course, Ukrainian nationalism can't just exist on its own, right? Got to blame someone for it.

Right. Who's the scapegoat this time?

The usual suspects. Polish and Austro-hungarian. influences. It's never about Ukrainians wanting their own destiny, always about outside forces manipulating them.

The blame the foreigner tactic. Effective but not exactly honest. So, I've got shared heritage, a common enemy, now outside agitators. What's next in Putin's historical justification?

And this is where he shifts from the past to the present, framing post-Soviet Ukraine as a pawn in a western game, a tool to weaken Russia.

So, we're moving from historical revisionism to straight up conspiracy theories. Now, what proof does he offer for this, hard evidence?

He's light on the specifics. Lots of vague accusations about the West cutting economic ties, pushing anti-Russian sentiment, NATO expansion. All very ominous, but not much in the way of actual proof.

More about stoking fear and suspicion than building a solid case. Playing to that audience that already distrusts the West, I guess.

Right on the money, feeding into those anxieties, making Russia seem like the victim surrounded by enemies. And this is where that whole anti-Russia idea really takes center stage.

Ah, yes. The infamous anti-Russia. Refresh my memory. What exactly is this entity supposed to be?

Basically, anything that looks like Ukraine trying to be its own thing separate from Russia, that's anti-Russia. And he makes it sound terrifying. Like more dangerous than nukes.

Hold on. Seriously, comparing a country trying to chart its own course to weapons of mass destruction, even for Putin, that seems extreme.

It's a deliberate escalation of the rhetoric. He's not just saying he disagrees with Ukraine's policies. He's presenting their existence as a threat. And then we get to the Donbas and the gloves really come off.

The Donbas, right, where the fighting between Ukrainian forces and those Russian-backed separatists has been going on since 2014. How does Putin explain that whole mess?

He blames the 2014 Maidan revolution. For those not familiar, that's when those huge protests in Ukraine ended up ousting the pro-Russian president Yanukovych.

Major turning point. Showed the world just how much Ukrainians wanted to get out from under Russia's thumb.

Exactly. But Putin twists it, calls it a western-backed coup, all violent and illegitimate, which forced Russia to step in and protect Russian speakers in the Donbas.

Protect. Didn't he annex Crimea right around the same time? That doesn't sound very protective to me,

Right? The actions don't really match the rhetoric. And he throws around some pretty loaded language to demonize anyone who opposes him. Neo-Nazis, genocide, stuff that pushes those emotional buttons, especially given the history of the region.

So, historical revisionism plus emotional manipulation equals justification for whatever he wants to do. Classic propaganda playbook.

And it works. It shuts down any real discussion about Ukraine's legitimate concerns or, you know, the actual complexities of how he got here.

Through it all, he's just erasing Ukrainian agency. They're either puppets of the West or brainwashed by this anti-Russia. No room for them to actually want something different.

Completely. It's a very colonial mindset, you know, like he can't grasp that Ukraine has its own history and culture totally separate from Russia, centuries of it.

And not to mention the suffering they've endured under Russian rule. Can't just brush aside the Holodomor, the Soviet repressions, the annexation of Crimea, with some vague talk about shared heritage.

Exactly. Deep wounds that need to be acknowledged, not dismissed. But that doesn't fit his narrative. He needs Ukraine to be the lost child that needs to be dragged back home. For its own good, naturally.

And that brings us to this word he keeps using, partnership. Like, the only way Ukraine can be truly sovereign is in partnership with Russia. But from what we've been discussing, that sounds a lot more like forced assimilation than any kind of equal partnership. What does this partnership in Putin's mind actually look like for Ukraine's future?

Well, if Crimea and the Donbas are any indication, it's not pretty. Limited autonomy if they're lucky, outright annexation; if they're not, crackdown on disscent, controlled information, and no say in their own place in the world.

So much for sovereignty. Seems like Putin's idea of partnership really means: you do what I say.

Exactly. He may say nice things about respecting Ukrainian culture, but only if it fits into his narrow definition of what Ukraine should be. Conditional respect at best.

Important to remind our listeners, we're deep in Putin's perspective here, but there's a whole other side to this.

Couldn't agree more. To really grasp this conflict, you got to listen to Ukrainian voices, read analyses that challenge Putin's version of history, get the whole picture.

Do your own deep dive, so to speak. Don't just take one person's word for it.

Exactly. Be critical thinkers. Be aware of biases. Talk to people who see things differently. That's how we build understanding.

And I think it's worth paying attention to the language we use, too. Words matter.

Let's avoid the ones that play into Putin's narrative, or dehumanize Ukrainians.

Absolutely. The way we talk about things shapes how we think about them. Let's choose a language that recognizes Ukrainian agency, acknowledges their suffering, but doesn't feed into hatred and division.

Because this isn't just some abstract political game. Real people are caught in the middle of this. Families, lives, futures, all disrupted by this. Can't forget that.

Right. And we can't let ourselves become numb to it. Just accept it as the way things are. We got to speak up, hold our leaders accountable, push for a better way forward.

Well put. Ready to shift gears a bit. In the last part of our deep dive, we're going to zoom out a bit. Look at the bigger picture of what Putin's doing with this historical revisionism, what it tells us about where he wants to take Russia and how that fits into the whole global scene. Okay, so we really dug into Putin's perspective. I'm sensing some pretty clear themes here, wouldn't you say?

Definitely. And those themes are key to understanding not just what he's done, but what he wants to do. This article wasn't just him geeking out on history. It was laying the groundwork for his whole agenda.

Right. So, it's bigger than just some historical grievances. What's the end goal, the big picture in your view?

Well, I think it comes down to power. Putin wants Russia back on top. A major player on the world stage. He sees the Soviet collapse as this huge loss, a humiliation almost, and he wants to undo that.

And Ukraine is central to that plan, it seems. But why Ukraine? Why not focus on, I don't know, boosting Russia's economy or making alliances elsewhere? Why this fixation on controlling Ukraine, even if it means going to war?

Because in Putin's mind, Ukraine isn't just another country. It's a fundamental part of Russia's historical and cultural sphere, like an extension of Russia itself.

So any attempt by Ukraine to break way is like a personal attack on Russia's identity, on its very essence.

That's how he sees it. And that kind of thinking is dangerous because it makes compromise almost impossible. It creates this US versus them mentality that justifies any level of aggression.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Right. The more Putin pushes this idea of Ukraine as a threat, the more he justifies his own actions and the cycle just keeps escalating.

Exactly. And meanwhile, the Ukrainian people are the ones caught in the crossfire. They've made it very clear they want a future independent of Russia, but Putin seems determined to ignore their will, their agency.

Because he's stuck in this historical determinism mindset. Like the past dictates the future no matter what the people living in the present want. He's trying to force this mythical unity, even if it means crushing Ukraine and destabilizing the entire region.

And that brings us to a pretty bleak outlook. As long as Putin holds on to this vision of a Greater Russia, any move Ukraine makes towards independence will be seen as an act of war, a provocation.

So what's the way forward? Is there a way out of this cycle of conflict? What can we as individuals do to counter this dangerous narrative and push for a more peaceful solution?

It's easy to feel helpless, but I think awareness is the first step. We need to understand the history, the nuances, not just the simplified versions we get from the headlines.

So do our own research, learn from a variety of sources. Really try to grasp the complexities.

Exactly. And be critical of what you read and hear. Question everything. Look for biases. Seek out Ukrainian voices. at the whole picture.

We've got to be informed citizens, basically, not just passively consuming whatever's fed to us.

Right. And then talk about it. Have those tough conversations, even with people who disagree with you. Understanding can only come from dialogue, from being willing to listen and learn from each other.

And maybe we need to be more mindful of the language we use, too. Words matter, right?

Absolutely. Let's choose words that recognize Ukraine's right to exist, to make their own choices. Let's acknowledge the suffering they've endured, but avoid language that dehumanizes anyone, or fuels hatred.

Because at the end of the day, this isn't just about politics or territory. It's about people, real people whose lives are being torn apart by this conflict.

And we can't forget that. We can't allow ourselves to become numb to the human cost of this war. It's on all of us to speak out, to hold our leaders accountable, to demand a better way forward.

Well said. I want to thank you, our listeners, for joining us on this deep dive into Putin's world. We've covered a lot of ground, but remember, this is just one perspective. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep pushing for a world where peace and understanding prevail.

REFERENCES

[1] Vladimir Putin, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians", en.kremlin.ru, July 12, 2021.