"Kommersant.ru": “What is more important than geography?”
On November 10, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended an extraordinary congress of the Russian Geographical Society and became chairman of its Council of Trustees. Kommersant.ru special correspondent Andrei KOLESNIKOV reports that Society members had the impression that they were involved in drafting the Society's new budget and formulating the new national idea.
The congress was held at the Russian Academy of Sciences building on Moscow's Leninsky Prospekt. The large conference room was packed with geographers. Here is what one of them told the correspondent:
"Russia can either have an historical or geographical world outlook. This is why we, geographers, ought to have found a place under the sun long ago."
After this short conversation, the correspondent got the impression that geographers felt transformed, after learning that Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief Sergei Shoigu, who was elected President of the Russian Geographical Society the other day, and Vladimir Putin would head their society. In an effort to reinstate the old-time Council of Trustees, congress delegates rewrote the Society's charter.
As the delegates waited for Vladimir Putin, they watched a documentary involving the prime minister and a snow leopard. Putin talked about the snow leopard with a top World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) official in an informal setting behind a table covered with cracks. The conversation took place at night and under trees with rustling wet leaves. The prime minister looked at the snow leopard with restrained tenderness and said: "Good boy. I like him. He is a fighter."
It appears that the delegates were shown the documentary in order to get accustomed to Vladimir Putin's voice who was taming the snow leopard on the screen and the delegates from the screen. They were not supposed to ask any more questions as to why Vladimir Putin would quickly walk in and head their presidium. There seemed to be no other candidacy.
Unlike the snow leopard, the audience seemed to like what was happening to them. Although they seemed like ordinary geographers until yesterday, their new status involved them in important state affairs.
The clock was ticking, but still the prime minister did not show up. Then I heard someone breathing heavily all over the conference room. I thought maybe that was our prime minister gasping for breath, but the announcer suddenly said this was the breath of our Earth. The planet was then displayed on the screen, but the prime minister was nowhere to be seen.
I thought an eternity had passed when he finally showed up. In reality, the prime minister was only 15 minutes late. But we managed to see a real epic documentary during that time.
When Putin appeared, presidium members and the entire audience stood up to greet him. This sometimes happens when a movie star suddenly walks off the screen.
Then I heard: "Esteemed congress delegates and guests" and shuddered. I had the impression that I was attending a United Russia congress because the same words are uttered at every congress by the party's Co-Chairman Sergei Shoigu. But the United Russia congress was only scheduled to open in St Petersburg three days later.
There were fewer similarities between the two congresses. The speaker, the party leader and the conference hall were all the same.
True, Putin who looked into his papers only twice during the opening speech, does not do this at United Russia congresses. It appears that he needed no prompting because his speech was absolutely spontaneous.
"When we speak of Russia, we use the word ‘great' very often and almost unwittingly and also speak about its grandeur."
The prime minister slightly shrugged his shoulders as if he did not agree.
"And rightly so," he added.
Putin explained that a country which wanted to be considered great required a stable political system and a competitive economy.
"There are many aspects. But even a small country can have all these aspects. In reality, a country's scale matters because the lack of such a scale is something different. Other words should be chosen to describe this," Putin said.
(Like a "powerful nation," for example. Not to be confused with a "great power" because the two simply do not compare - Ed.)
The prime minister did not conceal the fact that Russia's expanses made it a great country, all the more so as it was still impossible to notice any other signs of grandeur mentioned by him.
Consequently, geographers had every chance to become experts on Russia's grandeur after this congress. In fact, they could not even dream of this. Good luck was coming their way, and all they had to do was catch it by the tail because the prime minister was talking rather fast.
Vladimir Putin listed various short-term objectives implying a switch-over to an environmentally-friendly economy, a sprawling tourist industry and close cooperation with the media.
A council for cooperation with the media will be established, and the Rossia-2 television channel, formerly called the Sports Channel, will produce and air lengthy National Geographic-style documentaries. Moreover, a national newspaper reflecting this national idea will be printed.
In his short and business-like report, Sergei Shoigu promised to create the required conditions for the top-quality monitoring of the environment and natural disasters. There is no doubting the fact that his Ministry's officials will be able to do this. Moreover, Shoigu's new post does not stipulate any functions other than those of his Ministry because Shoigu never makes unrealistic promises that he is unable to keep.
"We have received an inspired fighter and an organiser of our victories. Yes, it is hard to search for a national idea, especially when one has no idea of geography," Vladimir Kotlyakov, Honourary President of the Russian Geographical Society, told the audience.
Events of the day have already done Kotlyakov a disservice.
"Thirteen seas, 11 time zones and hundreds of ethnic groups! All this requires truly geographical thinking and approaches. Yes, we will continue to talk about the danger of permafrost thaws and the issue of Arctic warming. Will the North East Passage open up? How can the problem of national security be solved? Anyway, geographers will have to tackle all these issues," Kotlyakov said.
Indeed, no one else can do it.
Nikolai Kasimov, Vice President of the Russian Geographical Society, reminded Putin about the rerouting of an oil pipeline from Lake Baikal.
"At first, the pipeline was located 30 km from the lake, but subsequently passed 20 metres from it. Putin eventually had the pipeline rerouted hundreds of kilometres from the lake," Kasimov said.
"Incidentally, when we prepared an unfavourable expert check of that pipeline, we told one of its proponents that he had sold himself to YUKOS," Kasimov said.
That person was sitting in the hall, while Kasimov looked merrily at him.
The prime minister took the floor and proposed several new initiatives. He said state contracts for geographic films could be awarded. Moreover, geography clubs should be reinstated at Russian schools.
A total of 150 million roubles has been allocated for nine state grants in the sphere of geographical research, and geographers themselves will approve the subjects of such research. The delegates sincerely applauded this statement.
This is because the prime minister realises like no one else that it is pointless to start implementing any idea, including a national idea, empty-handed.
Andrei Kolesnikov
