The Fall Of The Berlin Wall And Russia’s Image Abroad
On the day of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, many are asking what the fall of the Berlin Wall really meant for Russia and the rest of the world. I was three years old at the time when the Wall came down, but as I grew up to know the fall of the Berlin Wall was supposed to mean the end of the old ways things used to be: a beginning of new Russia – more liberal and free thinking. But, did the fall of the Berlin Wall really have any effect on how Russia is being perceived abroad? Has its international image improved, stayed the same or worsened ever since that Wall came down?
I was randomly browsing the English website of the Russian news agency RIA Novovsti, when I came across a little survey banner, prompting users to take a poll on what Russia’s image abroad is -- 44.5% of the respondents said “mostly good”, 33% said “mostly bad” and 22.5% said “unclear.” Given that the poll was done in English, I presume people of all the different backgrounds took the survey. So, I found it interesting that the respondents were somewhat split on what Russia’s image abroad was. I definitely think that the poll reflects the general confusion about Russia in the world today. But perhaps, as a young democracy of less than 20 years, it is only now reaching the maturity level required to start doing some serious self-reflection. And, when it will itself figure out how it wants to be perceived, perhaps everyone else will have an easier time understanding it too.
