In most instances, neo-bolshevism represents a dead-end for the protest movement, since the conditions necessary for its triumph simply don’t align. But on those rare occasions when war, or some other catastrophic event brings down the regime, and the neo-bolshevik sects are presented with the opportunity for a successful coup, it invariably ends in a civil war and a new dictatorship, sometimes even more cruel than the one it’s replaced. This comes from the very nature of neo-bolshevism, which believes it’s essential that only a small section of the population should seize and hold power. Is this the revolution that awaits Russia? Is such a victory over the current regime worth dying for?
An alternative to neo-bolshevism could be a protest coalition: a multi-party, multi-faceted, protest; a collection of various political groups. Of course, a coalition is not the best form of organisation in a war. But the basic principle of a coalition is this: better to unite sooner, than allow the situation to become worse. Uniting the opposition creates the conditions for a change of regime before the moment of complete collapse arrives. The price of the fall of the regime is measured in the number of lives victory will cost. And we cannot be indifferent to what this final price will be.
A coalition is always a compromise. A coalition brings together radical forces, less radical forces and even those who may lean towards cooperating with the regime. Neo-bolshevism is inevitably radical. Yes, it also seeks compromises, but only tactical ones, designed to achieve a particular result and then they’ll deal with these “hangers-on”. This is why all historical unions that the Bolsheviks have formed have always ended badly for their temporary allies. The principal slogan of a coalition is in direct contrast to that of the neo-bolsheviks: “all who are not against us, are with us”. We don’t want the result of the revolution to be post-revolutionary ruin, but a post-revolutionary democratic state, governed by the rule of law.
If someone is prepared to make compromises before the revolution, they’ll be ready to make them after the revolution, too. But someone who refuses to make compromises ahead of the revolution will be even less likely to agree to them after it, and will become a revolutionary dictator. In time, a revolutionary dictator becomes simply a dictator, and a new revolution will be needed in order to get rid of them. This is the vicious circle that Russia has been living in for more than a hundred years. And if the most radical revolutionaries are not prepared to unite with those who are neither radical nor revolutionaries, then that simply means that the ground will be prepared for an eternal Putin.
Of course, there are different kinds of compromises, too. We need to strike a happy medium between the kind of single party structure that leads to neo-bolshevism, and the sort of multi-party structure that results in a mere talking-shop where nothing is done. There will be times in the revolutionary process where we will need military leaders. But alongside them there must be an organ of power which gives legitimacy to the leaders’ revolutionary authority and that prevents them from rising above the revolution and society.
The creation of a revolutionary coalition is the most important task of the opposition, notwithstanding its unpopularity among the protesters. In reality, a coalition will bring closer the sort of revolution that the majority of the protesters want to create and, most importantly, this will guarantee that the revolution will not end up in a new dictatorship. Compromises will be possible and essential in order to create a coalition. As well as having a radical centre, every successful revolution has to have broad and less radical support around it. That is what links the revolution to the people. Without this, success is impossible to achieve.
Chapter 3. How to Expand the Protest:
Underground or In Emigration?
Protest is a subtle and complicated issue.
On the one hand, it’s impossible to create it or artificially encourage it. It arises all by itself and proceeds under its own steam. Protest leaders have to follow this momentum carefully and try not only to move with it, but anticipate each next step, so as always to be in the right place at the right time.
On the other hand, in order to be in a position to do this, it’s essential to be in a state of permanent readiness, by maintaining links with the people and being fuelled by their energy, whilst passing on the right ideas to them. And leaders may have to be in this state of readiness – while being unable to act – for a long time. Years. Maybe even decades. It’s not easy to do, both psychologically and purely technically.
Naturally, the question arises: where should the leaders be while they wait for the protest to gain sufficient strength to launch into its political orbit? This is a difficult question to answer today; and tomorrow it will be even more difficult. We’ve witnessed how, in just a few years, the regime in Russia has gone from being shamefacedly authoritarian to being openly fascist; and then, as if this were not enough, it has blatantly embraced Nazism. I should add that my use of these terms is entirely nominal, because we’re talking here about something purely Russian, something that’s grown out of the country’s history; therefore it can be compared only superficially with what we know from Europe’s experience of fascism and Nazism. This will have a multitude of consequences, but one of the most important from the practical point of view is that in this new situation the possibilities for legal political activity will be at the very least severely limited, or they may even disappear completely.
It is vital to be aware of this now and adjust our thinking appropriately. Many of the legal and semi-legal institutionalised methods of protest have already disappeared. Those media platforms that could more or less freely criticise the authorities have been shut down. For the Russian secret services, the internet has become the kind of battlefield that short-wave radio was during the Cold War. The regime is trying to drown out “the voices”, [one of the principal foreign radio stations that broadcast into the USSR was Voice of America; others included the BBC, Radio Liberty and Deutsche Welle – Tr.] and the people (or, to be more precise, an ever-decreasing active segment of the population) are trying to come up with new ways of obtaining the truth. The opposition is facing the same fate as the dissident movement, forced by repression to the very fringes of society.
There’s no single view amongst the opposition as to where and how to carry on the struggle under such conditions (some even tried to avoid looking into the future that’s now come to pass). All talk tends to focus on two options: emigration or going underground. There are those who consider that the only way to oppose the regime is to leave the country. Others, though, suggest that the sole way of maintaining the link with the protest movement is to stay in Russia.
As is often the case, both groups are right in their own way. It’s essential to fight this neo-totalitarian dictatorship with all available means, both underground and in emigration. So rather than argue about where the real opponents of the regime should sit, we have to think how best to unite the forces of all those who are working for Russia’s future, both inside and outside the country. The best place for a member of the opposition is where they can be of maximum help for the cause at any given moment.
We have to begin by looking at modern-day reality. In the era of global electronic control, the possibilities for illegal underground work are greatly restricted, not only compared to what the situation was like in Tsarist Russia, but even compared to the Soviet Union (although at the time it seemed that such possibilities could not be more limited). In order to be hidden from the view of the secret services nowadays, members of the opposition have to demonstrate all the skills of secret service agents. In reality, this is extremely difficult. By its very nature, the underground is a path that only a very few exceptional individuals can follow. You have to have a natural inclination for this sort of life and show no emotion. From the outset you have to be prepared to spend a huge amount of your life in prison, or even to die for the sake of an idea. Talk of having a “wide underground movement” is simply utopian.