“Patriotism, just like life and the connections with it, is present within one when they are born into this world; it contains pieces within itself that a no sane human can deny and those so-called pieces show themselves in mother language, historical past, historical territories, in the faces of famous figures, literature and so on. The moment a child is brought into this realm, aside from inhaling, having a bed to sleep on, it needs a caregiver and milk to exist, a lullaby to remain calm.”
Vazha-Pshavela, “Cosmopolitanism and Patriotism”, 1905.
After Putin announced that there will be a “demilitarization” of Ukraine, explosions could be heard in Donbas. On 24th of February, 2022, the war was officially declared.
It was always a necessary measure to oust Russia from the global economic cycle, as the passive, non-irritating policies of the West have led to Russia being a vital monetary actor today, playing with the lives of the people and the sovereignty of the countries, with most sanctions barely making any difference.
America, as the “defender” of the democratic agenda, has plunged the world into lost and obscure ideological labyrinths: while recognizing critical race theory and challenging domestic political discourse, it has completely betrayed third world, with Joe Biden being anything but a threat to Putin’s regime and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes taking it to Twitter few days ago, that US intervention in the Ukraine conflict would be tantamount to another manifestation of post-colonialism.
While America is being plunged into chaos, Europe is in no way in better shape:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been at the helm of the cabinet for only three months, following Angela Merkel’s 16 years in office, a whole era, with the former Minister of Finance having little to no experience regarding Eastern European affairs.
As for France, it is currently involved in the presidential campaign, with Macron having to repel two attacks from the extremist far-right leaders.
Boris Johnson, the leader of Great Britain is involved in the classical case of scapegoating, desperately trying to cling to the international crisis, slowly trying to improve the situation with sharp foreign policy positions, while having the problem of legitimacy inside his own party.
To sum it up, Putin has chosen an ideal time to attack.
While the current conflict might not be directly linked to Vazha, the ideas expressed in his work, are: having written his essay “Cosmopolitanism and Patriotism” during the year 1905, the year of Russian revolution, Georgia under its rule was facing a lot existential dilemma. Vazha, being at the frontlines of intellectual liberation, was always an advocate of international ideological integration, ontologically pioneering the idea of globalization, while also firmly believing in the concept of an individual state. According to Vazha, “all geniuses emerged from national roots and were worshiped by a single homeland until the world came in awe of their talent and accepted them as sons, therefore, intellects have found “home” that lies beyond their homeland- the humankind itself,” meaning that he believed in the unity, solidarity of other nations, while also having a strong national identity.
Today, we, as an international society, must be both patriots and Cosmopolitans, as the threat upon us concerns both the legitimacy of individual states and the future of the free world.
The choice is ours.