A Question of Character

.....which is, we are assured by many moderns, irrelevant and part of the bad and flawed past. Nevertheless, it lies at the root of misunderstanding the actions of such nations as China and Russia. Yes, nations, like the individuals of which they are composed, have a character. That character doesn't change with the label of the decade, or of the century.

China's character is fundamentally ethnocentric; the name of the nation, which may be rendered phonetically "Chung-kuo" means "Middle Kingdom." This doesn't mean halfway, it means it's seen by its people as in the center, just as in the Ancient Middle East, e.g., when Herodotus reported that the Persians considered all other peoples civilized by their strict geographic proximity to Babylon. In the case of China, other nations are barbaric and fundamentally inferior, and fall away in that inferiority strictly by their closeness to the Han (Chinese). Such a philosophy is reinforced by the simplest of expedients. Let's consider the current Olympic Games. Any activity in which the Chinese do not medal is considered irrelevant, unworthy, or simply ignored. Anything in which they do medal is considered irrefutable proof of cultural and racial superiority. All such actions are characteristically Chinese, and are displayed and recorded in their culture for centuries, and have nothing to do with any labels like "Communist," "Democracy," or any of the rest of Western socio-political terminology.

Russia's character is fundamentally paranoid schizophrenic. All other nations are regarded as fundamentally untrustworthy, and having at best negative, and at worst sinister motives toward Russia. All Russian interaction with other nations may be understood in this light. Consider the current invasion of Georgia. Many journalists are currently using terms to describe the Russians lying about a cease-fire while continuing their military operations against Georgia such as "inconsistent." No, they're not being inconsistent. They they are lying to buy time, in a very calculating manner that is perfectly consistent with the way Russians have acted for centuries. Then those nations opposing them will be faced with the fait accompli of the Russians basically occupying and controlling Georgia, and completely unable to field any force of their own to oppose Russia. Thus Russia's policy of paranoid expediency will have been vindicated -again. A Russian would not be resentful if his country were described as having a "cynical foreign policy." He would only display bewilderment...."What other kind would we have?" People only become confused by thinking about any "new, improved, post-Soviet Russia." No: there is only Russia.

End of story.