Whither Siberia?
Filed under: Russia
Surely one of the most compelling issues in international politics over the next few decades will be the fate of the Russian region of Siberia. As Russia's population gets ever smaller (losing up to 1 million per year) and China's explodes, it seems inevitable that a muscular China, seeking elbow room, will shove Russia aside to an ever greater extent. Is Russia prepared to defend Siberia militarily?
But now Russia scholar Paul Goble offers a fascinating additional side to this question: Where does Siberia itself want to go? If you think the answer is clear, you're mistaken. Ham-handed neo-Soviet policies enacted by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have polarized and alienated the people of Russia's far eastern regions just as Putin has alienated Western Europe and incited new cold war. It begins to appear that the so-called "Russians" in Siberia may actually prefer alliance with China, and certainly independence, to continued subjugation by Moscow. In that case, the question becomes: Is Russia prepared to adopt the tactics of Stalin to keep these recalcitrant "Russians" in the their place?
Reader comments on this crucial question of world affairs (Siberia, of course, is full of oil) are most welcome.
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