Mikhail Bakunin Quotes
Powerful states can maintain themselves only by crime, little states are virtuous only by weakness.
Bakunin, Mikhail. The Political Philosophy of Bakunin: Scientific Anarchism. Edited by G. P. Maximoff, Free Press, 1953, p. 343.
This was a warning to Saudi Arabia that the United States might seize the oil fields. At the time we were not getting enough oil for domestic needs and the military in Europe and in Vietnam. The King arranged to secretly supply oil to the United States while maintaining to the other Arab countries that it was maintaining the boycott of the West.
The great European powers were attending an International Congress—Summit Meeting of the heads of government and their diplomats to deal with the crisis of Tsarist Russian military expansionism. None of the other European powers of the time wanted or could afford war so Russia could only be thwarted by Great Britain. There were many in England who thought that the British should not even attend and should send troops immediately. The Queen and the Royal Family were among those. At the Congress Disraeli, who had much personal affection for Queen Victoria, wanted to reassure her. 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. If the Congress did not succeed the mainland of Europe would have been at war. Disraeli obtained everything England wanted. See Russian Ambassador Prince Gortchakoff’s observation.
On the United States’ competition with China:
See Benedict Spinosa for an earlier absense or war view. Also, JFK more recently.
The US Congress passed the Magnitsky Act which allowed parties to sue in American Courts, Russian companies and individual wrongs committed against Russian Citizens in Russia. (The Russian prison system controlled by some corrupt powers in Russia had killed Magnitsky for exposing some massive corruption of some Russian officials. Although morally justified, legally the act was an interference in another nation’s internal affairs.) The Russians then banned the adoptions which actually hurt them far more than the U. S., but it was a retaliation which to maintain their dignity and sovereignty the Russians felt was necessary. It is an excellent example of the lack of predictability and reaction to various foreign policy moves. Retaliation could take any form, related or not, proportional or not, rational or not.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary socialist and social anarchist tradition. Bakunin's prestige as a revolutionary also made him one of the most famous ideologues in Europe, gaining substantial influence among radicals throughout Russia and Europe.
