Now that Africa is becoming one of the clear priorities for Russia not only in geopolitics, but also in the economy, the communities of Soviet and Russian graduates can provide serious assistance and support to Russian companies, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.
One of the important topics for the Valdai Discussion Club is the analysis of national identity (in the general sense of the term). Recently, the Club held a special expert discussion on this topic.
An important role in the formation of identity is played by historical memory, when the events and symbols of the past become an incentive for the self-determination of civil society today and its projection into the future. Thus, images of the past are transformed into images of the future. At the same time, it is natural that balance must be observed between the past and the future (and the present too). Otherwise, such an approach can devolve into an obsessive exaggeration of the past. This will by no means contribute to the consolidation of public opinion on the most important issues of civic identity; it will only cause irritation and generate sarcasm among society. However, when such a balance exists, the memory of a shared historical heritage may well become an effective mechanism in the formation of a modern value policy.
These issues of connection between the past and the future are also important with respect to foreign policy. Here they project the identity of Russia outside, linking it with the semantics of the past – not least the Soviet past, due to historical proximity. This issue occupies a special place with regard to Russia’s relations with African countries. Here, the memory of the Soviet legacy is one of the key ideological and, to some extent, even value elements for modern Russian politics. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that here the Soviet legacy is an important element for Russia’s identity in Africa, and for its overall image today.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that the question of this connection between the past and the future became one of the key topics for the Russian-African conference of the Valdai Club, which was held in St. Petersburg on the eve of the Second Russia-Africa Summit. Our conference became a kind of final synchronization of watches before the summit, and the analysis of the Soviet legacy played an important role here.
During the conference, the Valdai Club experts discussed how to make the Soviet part of the Russian identity in Africa a genuine working tool amid today’s conditions. Because, if we only talk about the merits of the past, without applying its experience to the present and future, then the image of the past will remain just a beautiful illustration in ideological rhetoric, a kind of idealised formula for another variation on the theme of “Paradise Lost”, and nothing more. Over the years and as the generations change, this image, on the one hand, will increasingly become overgrown with historical myths, and on the other hand, it will gradually cease to have any real impact on the current situation.
Therefore, it is important that historical memory be transformed into a living link between the past and the future. With regard to the specific conditions of Africa, graduates of Soviet and Russian universities in these countries can and should act as such a living link. The number of such graduates in those African countries that collaborated with the Soviet Union is quite large. In a number of countries, their number is in the thousands, and in some places, it is in the tens of thousands. Accordingly, in their totality, they represent a fairly significant resource of human capital, which, as a rule, is positively disposed towards Russia and is ready for cooperation and interaction. Representatives of African alumni also spoke at our Valdai Club Conference. They talked about their problems, and about how their interaction with Russia could be improved amid the current conditions.
One of the questions raised by the graduates was that certain economic projects implemented, again, by Russia in African countries are quite often carried out without contact with the graduates. Specialists for the implementation of these projects are also brought from Russia. But at the same time, on the spot, in a number of cases, you can find graduates of our own universities who speak Russian, have the necessary qualifications and may well be involved in cooperation in the implementation of these projects. However, no one thinks about them. Naturally, here we are not talking about graduates applying for the positions of general directors, by no means. But it is quite possible to find mid-level specialists among them, and at least invite them to apply when engaging in the selection of competitive personnel. This requires the coordination of work with graduates at the state level (through both Rossotrudnichestvo and the economic ministries), and through it at the corporate level. Otherwise, it turns out that the Soviet Union and Russia taught a student, he returned to his country, and Russia forgets about him. Then he remembers it at best once every few years, when the next summit is held.
Now, amid the current geopolitical conditions, when Africa is becoming one of the clear priorities for Russia not only in geopolitics, but also in the economy, the communities of Soviet and Russian graduates can provide serious assistance and support to Russian companies. But it requires coordination.
Another problem that is gradually erasing the memory of the Soviet legacy in Africa is related to the media policy and information presence of Russia in Africa. In Soviet times, radio broadcasting was one of the key achievements of our then “soft power” on the continent. At that time, Radio Moscow broadcast in many African languages, and what is extremely important from the point of view of access, on long waves (AM). Therefore, the availability of information about the USSR for those who wished to receive it was quite high. Now the situation has changed radically. Broadcasting in national languages, if not completely curtailed, was sharply reduced. In addition, what remains of broadcasting has been switched from AM to FM over the past decade. This means no direct access and dependence on local repeaters and satellite equipment. Not all of them are ready to broadcast Russian shows, both for commercial and sometimes for geopolitical reasons.
The same applies to the reception of television signals from RT. A Valdai Club reader from Mozambique wrote in his letter that after the imposition of Western sanctions against RT, communication satellites over Africa, which are overwhelmingly Western, simply turned off its signal. As a result, in Mozambique and, I think, not only there alone, access to RT broadcasts is now blocked. It is clear that the situation can be partially corrected through broadcasting via the Internet, but only partially. As a result, neither the image of the real Russia, nor the image of the past comes to Africa firsthand.
Now it is clear to our African partners that Russia is once again a geopolitical adversary of the West, and that Russia is once again talking about anti-colonial solidarity. And all these approaches are quite shared by Africans. But at the conference, they stressed that in its practical work in Africa, Russia should actually promote these principles in its daily projects. Because here it is the memory of the Soviet legacy that sets the bar for a very high standard; it is important that we comply with it.
In general, the images of the past can become a serious help for the future, both in the sphere of domestic civic identity and identity directed outward to other regions of the world, in particular, to Africa. It is clear that systematic work to integrate all the best that has been accumulated in history into modern practical activity is of key importance, and not just nostalgic admiration of the past.
