Whispers of a Revolution

Very interesting article about Russia and the threat of revanchism. From the Chronicle of Higher Education.

At dinner Vladimir Pavlovich tells a story about a man in a small village who had an ugly daughter he couldn't marry off. One day a matchmaker came to persuade the man that this homely girl without looks or dowry should marry the grand Prince Pototsky. The father was stupefied. But after long negotiation with the matchmaker, he finally consented to the union. Delighted, the matchmaker clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Now the deal is half done." So much of what is happening in Russia today, Vladimir Pavlovich comments, is like that -- "If only Prince Pototsky will agree." Behind the mask of normal conversation, he observes, is a residue of a bitter witticism that made the rounds in the 1930s: A man looks in the mirror while shaving and thinks, "One of us is a traitor."

Read the whole thing.