From Russia with love

SHS students learn all about Russian nationalism and President Vladimir Putin.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130923/NEWS02/709219957

Published September 21, 2013 in the Rutland Herald From Russia with love: SHS students learn all about Russian nationalism and President Vladimir Putin By Christian Avard Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — What makes Russian President Vladimir Putin tick and how will his country’s hard-line stance on a recently passed anti-gay law affect the upcoming Winter Olympics in Russia? According to University of Vermont Professor Kevin McKenna, it could hurt Russia’s image internationally, but it may boost his popularity among Russians. McKenna, a Russian language, literature and culture professor, spoke to 40 students Thursday at the Springfield High School library. Putin, a former KGB officer, served his first term as president from 2000 to 2008 and is serving a second term from 2012 to the present. Putin has been prominent in the news in recent months and McKenna discussed his rise to power and why he is in the international spotlight. “Putin’s desire is to return today’s Russia to the level of visibility and prominence the Soviet Union held prior to 1991. (The Russians) loved that,” McKenna said. According to McKenna, Putin’s greatest interest is to host a successful Winter Olympics next February in the Russian city of Sochi. The last time Russia hosted the Olympic games was in 1980 at Moscow. Putin would like to duplicate the same success Moscow had 34 years ago. But a controversial anti-discrimination law that Putin signed in June has caused an international uproar, one that the Russian president was trying to avoid. According to McKenna, the law prohibits individuals, groups or organizations “to advocate or propagate information addressed to youth with respect to sexual preference.” McKenna believes the law will not only impact Russia’s image abroad but also strengthen Russian nationalism. “Most Russians are fiercely nationalistic,” McKenna said. “What Putin has been advocating is that only the purists and positive values of anyone and anything Russian ... and there is a phenomenon for the last 40 years that associated homosexuals with prison populations.” A Russian polling firm showed 75 percent of Russians support the anti-homosexual law. According to McKenna, the poll doesn’t reflect what Russians believe but is based on the experiences they have when a new culture is introduced to a nation with a strong sense of nationalism. “What we see in Putin we don’t like. We tend to place more value on liberties and freedoms, whereas Russian people place a far higher value on something different — security,” McKenna said. “Liberalism has not fared well in Russia today. In the Russian mind-set, it was the liberals in the 1990s that brought in capitalism, democracy and destroyed Russia. So many Russians understand those in terms of their experiences, not in terms of what capitalism is and not in terms of what democracy really is.” SHS senior Amanda Battiest said she wanted to learn more about Russian civil rights. Instead she learned more about how Russians interpret their own experiences and the laws that guide them. “I think it’s true that a lot of Americans misinterpret the spirit of the law, but the important part is the implications,” Battiest said. “We can infer they’re implying it and I think that’s the issue. We’ll handle it eventually.”