Dear CCI Friends,
In the article below, Patrick Lawrence presents his rather bleak assessment of the future when the war in Ukraine ends. After what he refers to as the ‘dead end’ of supposed negotiations between Russia and the US (which, on the American side, have frequently consisted of “social media messages demanding a ceasefire, replete with capital letters and exclamations points, (which) do not count and do not work as statecraft”) Lawrence anticipates a time – a very long time – of Ressentiment.
Ressentiment is a concept that was of great interest to a number of heavy thinkers of the 19th century. What it boils down to is what we at CCI have been anticipating for the aftermath of the bloodiest war in Europe since WWII since the day it commenced: bone marrow-deep bitterness, rancor, frustration and blame among the citizens of Ukraine and Russia – and many in the West as well. These toxic feelings have the potential to poison relations between the countries involved in this war, whether directly or peripherally, for generations to come.
Please read Lawrence’s article, “Trump Dead-Ends Putin,” and let us know what you think. And in the next few weeks we will tell you of our plan to put citizen-to-citizen diplomacy to work, in some small way, to counter this inevitability.
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Trump Dead-Ends Putin – Consortium News
On a far more positive note, please see the video below from the CCI archives titled, “Present! – Charles Heberle: You the People.” Charles joined the CCI Board of Directors in February, but he was involved with the organization and in work in Russia long before. In 2015 he was in the first citizens’ delegation to return to Russia with Sharon Tennison following the Maidan coup. The videoed interview by Mel Van Dusen, also a 2015 CCI delegate, covers his remarkable involvement in ‘teaching democracy’ in Russia in the decade before that. If you have not seen the interview already, please take a look. After the first Cold War ended, the relationship between the former ‘enemies’ could comfortably be called the opposite of Ressentiment. Let’s hope we haven’t lost that connection forever.
Present! – Charles Heberle: You the People
If you have questions or comments about the program, please send them in. Charles has promised to respond to all.
Best wishes to you all for a gorgeous summer!
Paula Day
Center for Citizen Initiatives