On July 12, The Rising Tide Foundation collaborated with Russia House’s Edward Lozansky (professor of Moscow State and National Research Nuclear Universities/ President of American University in Moscow) in producing a two page advertisement published on the pages of the Washington Times in honor of Russia Day.
The printed two page spread coincided with two op-ed articles authored by professor Lozansky and Rising Tide Foundation director Matthew Ehret. The sister articles can be read as ‘stand-alones’, but work best when read as two chapters of the same story with the first showcasing the historic (and often forgotten) traditions of US-Russia friendship from Catherine the Great’s League of Armed Neutrality of 1776 throughout 1990 which defined the greatest leaps towards liberty in both nations. The second article featured an assessment of the greatest points of cooperation for the future of both nations and the world alike with a focus on space, asteroid defense, arctic development (aka: Polar Silk Road), Bering Strait Rail development, the New Silk Road, and health policy reform.
Ehret’s article entitled ‘Russia and America’s Common Missions’ was published on the Washington Times’ digital platform on June 11 (and can be read here) while professor Lozansky’s article ‘From July 4, 1776 to June 12, 1990′ was published on June 12th and can be read here.
The Importance of Russia Day in World History
On June 12, 1990, Russia adopted a declaration of State Sovereignty, which was soon followed by a new Constitution, new national anthem, new flag, new national name (the Russian Federation) and by 1992 was declared a national holiday by the Supreme Soviet of Russia.
July 12 is considered a bitter/sweet day for many Russians as it expresses a time of great hope and yet great tragedy… and an appreciation for this bitter/sweet historical moment provides a valuable lesson for citizens of both Russia and America who are in danger of making many of the same bad choices under circumstances of systemic breakdown not entirely dissimilar from those faced in 1990.
Professor Lozansky’s short essay featured an autobiographical description of his own experience in advancing Russian reforms throughout the 1980s leading to this historic moment ripe with potential for liberty, east-west friendship and cooperation. Lozansky also showcases the tragic loss of that potential which erupted with the spread of NATO throughout the 1990s, economic looting and era of antagonism and Cold War thinking that continued to drive western confrontation and expansion from 1992 to today’s dangerous world sitting as we are on the precipice of war and economic collapse.
Both authors made the point that although President Trump has the right instincts for ending “forever wars” and establishing friendship with nations like Russia and China, the effects of those positive goals have failed to manifest in any tangible reality up until the present moment. In our current pregnant moment of world history and when so many lives hang on the balance, precious time cannot be lost to small minded geopolitics. As Lozansky states:
“Trump can rightfully blame the “adults in the room,” the “Deep State,” the “Washington swamp,” or the “Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex” – MICIMATT – (term suggested by the former leading CIA Soviet analyst during Reagan years Raymond McGovern) for the failure of his foreign policy but this does not make us feel safer.”
Moving through a world of intense danger and uncertainty, one thing is sure: Things will never be the same.
As the multi-polar alliance led by Russia, China and the evolving Belt and Road Initiative continues to grow on the one side, and the unipolar alliance under NATO pushes for dominance on the other side, it is relatively safe to say that only one will succeed in shaping the terms of the emerging new system which will replace the collapsing world order. Whether this new system will be a recapturing of the lost potential of July 12, 1990 accompanying a new era of friendship amongst nations and cultures or whether it will be an age of division and war still remains to be seen.
Matthew Ehret is the director of the Rising Tide Foundation, founder of the Canadian Patriot Review and author of the Untold History of Canada. He can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com
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