Old enemies?

“The Russian” as an enemy. But is that really him? The question of enemy images and solidarity.

People my age in Generation Y know the old enemy primarily from old films. "The Russian". Gladly also representative of all the other countries that were part of the USSR, including Ukraine. “The Russian” had to suffice. In 1995, in the absence of new sinister opponents, James Bond had to fight another battle for the well-being of the planet against an evil Russian, albeit a renegade, but what's the big difference for us?
The enemy image has worked for decades, why should we change that?

In the last 30 years, but especially after 9/11, the image of the enemy was quickly replaced with vicious, gun-toting Arabs and transported in pop culture. They had a new enemy image, so they began to cautiously approach the old enemies.
At the state level through economic and political rapprochement, but also the population of the formerly hostile blocs East and West slowly, almost unconsciously, came closer together. The open borders suddenly made contact possible, and it was discovered that the differences were not as big as they had thought for decades. The fact that the people there aren't made up entirely of grim-looking soldiers in fur hats and Kalashnikovs in the snowstorm came as a surprise to some, but people quickly got used to the idea that the common people ultimately want the same things as people in the West. Peace, quiet, a bit of prosperity and a good party on the weekend.
What is actually all the more shocking is how unsustainable this development was.
Putin and his entourage have started a war. For the old, primitive reasons that have probably caused the majority of all wars. Something about hurt pride, something about history, something about money, something about power. Dressed, as always, in unctuous to ridiculous words of honor, justice and salvation.

Difference between Putin and “the Russian”

It is right to stand by Ukraine and it is humane.
One instinctively always leans towards the weaker person and directs one's anger at the aggressor. But that aggressor is Putin, not “the Russian.” In our spoiled arrogance, we are now demanding that the Russian people “demonstrate now and depose the dictator.” The “dictator” factor is often forgotten. Putin doesn't care about his popularity, at least not as much as a Democrat would. He is no longer dependent on poll numbers or election results. The factor that keeps him in power is fear and nothing works better than fear for his own life and those of those around him. It is very easy from our position to make demands on the Russian population. We don't have to expect any repression if we take to the streets. (looking at you, lateral thinker and fighter of the “Corona dictatorship”). The people demonstrating against Putin in Russia have more courage in their little toes than we have in our whole bodies. These people experience very concrete consequences. Russians who want to support people in Ukraine can now expect prison sentences of up to ten years for treason. Demonstrators of any age are beaten and imprisoned. Honestly? I would stay in my apartment, I probably wouldn't have that courage. Russian people per se are not more cowardly or braver than us.
They are people who want to live and they too have the right to be afraid of war and reprisals. We shouldn't forget that before we put out another short tweet in which we demand that “they should do something”. Dictators like Putin can only be brought to their knees at the international level. Doing good business, courting and praising the dictators, inviting him to weddings and curtsying a bit, trying to understand his motives. In doing so, we have only done ourselves a favor, not the Russian population - and certainly not the Ukrainian population. Putin's power has been encouraged and encouraged by us and shows the mendacity of our Western world. We are looking for enemy images, but please no responsibility. Having enemies is good because it legitimizes your own wrongdoing in retrospect.

A look at solidarity

And that brings us back to the starting point.
The “bad Russian” is back and that is being transferred to everything Russian. But we wouldn't be us if we completely lost sight of our enemy image of the last 30 years. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainians because they are in need. But also because they fit us so nicely, have such beautiful blue eyes and are oh so Christian. This does not mean that the desire to help Ukrainian refugees becomes something wrong, helping suffering people is never wrong. But while we help, empathize and get involved, we should also take a moment to reflect on the fact that all conflicts worldwide are products of enemy images and we fuel them every time. Among other things, we now distinguish between good and bad refugees.
Ukrainians are the good guys because the men are defending their country while the Arabs are fleeing. We are only too happy to ignore the relevant differences. Ukraine has been in open war against a Russian invading army for a few days. A civil war has been raging in Syria and Iraq for years with countless regional and international conflict parties. More or less the same in Afghanistan, only for decades. There's not much left to defend. People have been crushed and worn down for decades. And no, not all Ukrainian men are heroic fighters; they are simply not allowed to leave the country. By law. Conclusion from the West: The Russians should now please depose their Putin and the people in the Middle East war zone should quickly put a stop to the decades-long war so that we are not confronted with the consequences of our behavior here.
In our deep racism, we, as always, have no problem distinguishing “valuable” from “worthless” lives.
Ukrainians welcome, BIPOCs continue to be shown the middle finger at the EU border. Legitimized and fueled by major bourgeois media and carefully cultivated by us in our peaceful living rooms. We've come a long way. Our humanism and our “solidarity” only go as far as our enemy images and our embedded structural racism allow.