25.07.2024, Moscow.
It is very good that Russia is strengthening relations with Vietnam and North Korea, and it is very good that within these relations there is an appeal to the former Soviet past, but at the same time we need to take into account the existing trauma in those societies that believed in us after the collapse of the USSR, which cannot simply be neglected, said political scientist, philosopher, the leader of the Essence of Time movement Sergey Kurginyan on June 29 on the Conversation with a Sage program on the Zvezda radio station.
It is very good that today Russia’s dialogues with North Korea and Vietnam, which were already planned in 2000, are coming to the fore, Kurginyan emphasized. But it must be understood that these are ideological countries in which communist ideology continues to exist and is of crucial importance.
As an example, Kurginyan described one personal memory of getting to know Vietnam, which impressed him very much. He happened to be passing through Vietnam, returning to Moscow from Laos. And there, in the airport lounge, he was approached by a Vietnamese man, perfectly dressed by Western standards, who was waiting for a flight to New York. The foreigner, in perfect Russian, said that he knew Kurginyan as a Russian political scientist, as well as about his activities during the communist era. They talked about various topics until the Vietnamese’s flight was announced.
“He comes up to me and says: ‘I can’t believe it, it’s like in a dream!’ Soviet Union is no more, I run a large oil company, you are an expert. What have you done?! What have you done… I’m sorry!’ And then he leaves,” the philosopher described the end of the conversation.
This Vietnamese man was an absolutely pro-Western person, the political scientist emphasized. And there is a deep cultural and other subtext in all of this, which Kurginyan experienced in India, China and a number of other countries. “It is the Soviet trauma in the societies that believed in us, which you can’t just take away,” Kurginyan emphasized.
“It is very good that we are strengthening relations, it is very good that within these relations there is an appeal to our former mutual heritage, which by definition is Soviet (yes, and it cannot be anything else). All this is wonderful, and, as mathematicians say, ‘necessary, but not sufficient,’” Kurginyan said.
In mid-July, Vladimir Putin visited Vietnam and North Korea. During his visits, he signed strategic cooperation agreements with the leaders of both countries.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
