Left and Right Contexts of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict Interpretation and its Implications for Eastern Europe by Czech Intellectuals
Abstract
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been commented in great detail by Czech historians, political scientists, military analysts, philosophers and many other experts from various perspectives. The debate interpreting the Russian-Ukrainian war and its implications for Eastern and Central Europe has been strongly marked in the Czech academic environment by previous debates between right- and left-leaning intellectuals, regarding the position of Russia and its legacy for the present, especially in the context of the controversy raised by the post-Marxist historian Michal Pullmann, following the publication of his two books The End of the Experiment: Reconstruction and the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia (2011) and What Was Normalisation? (2017); the infamous Vrbětice case, which sparked a sharp diplomatic rift between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation in April 2021, also played a significant role in the heated controversy over Russia's role in Eastern and Central Europe.
Both of these cases, as well as the debate about the common Czechoslovak-Russian (Soviet) past (e.g. the Konev case), the significant influence of pro-Russian disinformation media, and the considerable support for Russia by some political leaders have gradually contributed to a politicized, even ideologized debate, led by a group of right-minded intellectuals (many of them associated with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes). In such right-left context one can follow almost hysterical debate about the role and position of Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe, the impact of the war, threats and strategies for the future, in which, on the one hand, Russia becomes not only a bogeyman, but also a country whose legacy and significance for Czech history should be completely erased from Czech historical memory (for example, the recent discussion about renaming all Prague streets having something to do with Russia), and, on the other hand, a country whose dominant geopolitical position should continue to be respected.
Both of these positions, of course, also have implications for the future settlement of Europe, especially Eastern Europe: with or without Russia. The aim of this paper is to analyse the positions of the two "antagonistic" sides with implications for the future settlement of the Eastern European region.