The Hawks of Peace: Notes of the Russian Ambassador

by Dmitry Rogozin

Overview

The Hawks of Peace. Notes of the Russian Ambassador is a unique analytical edition where Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin shares his notes on personalities and events that shaped the history of post-Communist Russia, believing that without those it would be impossible to understand the past and envisage the future of his country. Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO until recently, in his political diary Dmitry Rogozin contemplates on the complex relationship between Russia and the West. In his behind-the-scenes account, Rogozin opens up about certain mysteries of political stand-offs, military conflicts of the last two decades, terrorist acts and hostage situations. The book contains unique documents directly related to Chechen Wars, inside information from Brussels on the events in Georgia and other records that have been hidden from the public eye. The Western reader now has a rare opportunity to look at Russian current affairs through the eyes of a Russian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782670117
Publisher:	Glagoslav Publications Limited
Publication date:	04/16/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	370
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Born in 1963, Dmitry Rogozin is a famous Russian politician, statesman and diplomat. Rogozin was the Russian Federation's representative to NATO up to December 2011, and since then has been Russian Deputy Prime Minister.Dmitry Rogozin began his professional career after graduating in Journalism from Moscow State University, having been first in his department's history to present two final theses. At university he worked as trainee correspondent at both the Soviet Central Television and Radio Committee (Gosteleradio) and the mass media agency Novosti as a Latin American correspondent. After graduation, Rogozin joined the USSR's Committee of Youth Organizations, where he soon became Head of International Organizations.From 1993 Dmitry Rogozin actively defended the rights of Russian expatriates in the Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS), the Baltic States and Yugoslavia, participating in the liberation of hostages in Chechnya, in the Moscow theatre hostage crisis of 2002 and in Beslan in 2004.In 2008 President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitry Rogozin as Permanent Representative to NATO in Brussels, and in 2009 promoted him to the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. In February 2011 Rogozin was appointed as Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation to NATO on missile defence, and in December 2011 he assumed the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Russian government.Dmitry Rogozin is fluent in six foreign languages, four of which he mastered during his college years. Having earned his PhD, Rogozin has been working on science and technology policy, particularly on the evolution of threats to national security. Today, he is one of the leading specialists in development of political and technical terminology for the Russian military.The Hawks of Peace. Notes of the Russian Ambassador was first published in Russian in 2010 to great public interest, immediately surpassing its print run of 20,000 copies.

Read an Excerpt

BY WAY OF AN INTRODUCTION

Two and a half years after assuming the post of Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO, I finally succumbed to requests of my new Russian and European friends to share my impressions of the job with them. That’s how this book came to be. In it I describe many events and personalities that have shaped the history of post-Communist Russia from the dramatic fall of the USSR to the recent war in South Ossetia. I’ve covered what I know about the events I consider important and without which it would be impossible to understand the past and envisage the future of the great continental power that Russia is. I wanted to give my readers a rare opportunity to see Russian history through the eyes of a Russian. The outcome is a truthful, if not somewhat wicked, book.

For someone directly involved in the majority of the episodes described in this edition, I have expressed my subjective opinions on some political figures of both Russia and Europe. Some might find these opinions either excessively emotional or politically incorrect altogether. For that I apologise in advance. It is our bizarre Russian way to call heroes and villains for what they are.

I chose the title Hawks of Peace for this book. For some reason, doves traditionally have the reputation of so-called “birds of peace”. Sweet-natured as they are, political “doves” are at times irredeemable cynics, pretending to be on a peacekeeping mission. Of those feathery items I’ve observed plenty in politics and came to a conclusion that it is in fact “doves” and not “hawks” that deliver suffering to nations and the whole world.

It is the hawks — high-flyers, governed by firm principles and active citizenship, strong willpower and unflagging energy — that must be in charge of peace enforcement in our harsh and dangerous time. Only then our children will be able to sleep well at night, for a hawk will not pick out the eye of another hawk.

I sincerely hope that this book will make the reader empathise with the Russian post-modern drama, will allow the reader to discover the secrets of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 when tanks shelled the Parliament and reflect on the terrible two Chechen wars, on the armed conflicts in Transniestria, Bosnia, and South Ossetia, as well as on the terrorist act against the children and their parents in Beslan, North Ossetia.

For chapters of this book I’ve borrowed several titles of some of the remarkable pieces of Russian classical literature, and this is not coincidental. The readers who know and love Russian literature will not fail to detect a resemblance between people and events with characters and plots of the Russian classics.

This book is about man-made good and evil; about ordinary people, their sacrifice and heroism; about the complex fate of Russia that tries to follow her path amidst global political intrigues. This is also a book about Russia’s big mistakes and her first small victories. It is also the story of my life that is so dramatically connected with my country’s history and my people. Every word here is true. I wanted to make everybody aware of what I know.

I would like to present to you my Russia — the only one that I love.

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