Margaret Thatcher once said, “Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by traffic from both sides” Serving as the United Kingdom’s first female prime minister in the climax of the Cold War, she was derisively given the nom de guerre of Iron Lady by the Russians – but she wore the title in honor, and inevitably helped usher in the collapse of the Soviet Union by seeking peace through strength, resisting aggression without fear, and maintaining the firm belief that any nation that limits freedom destroys its destiny. Close to thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lady Thatcher’s strategy in confronting opponents has ostensibly been forgotten by world leaders – especially in grappling with the leftover of the Soviet Union: Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Comparing today’s Russia to the Soviet Union, there are more similarities than differences. The Russian economy is exhausted – investment is low due to international sanctions, income is stagnant, unemployment amongst youth is high, and the currency has lost close to half its value. Nevertheless, the nation is just as militarily aggressive as during the Soviet era, if not more (i.e. President Putin’s provocations for unrest in East Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, the plane crash of Malaysian Airlines, the invasion of Turkish airspace, and direct engagement in the Syrian Civil War). Instead of direct engagement against Russian proxies, candid meetings with President Putin, and the endurance to have the nation crumble internally – Western leaders are confronting Russia in a manner that further fuels its aggressive behavior.
The Second World War rendered the Soviet Union as the undisputed victor on the eastern front, but glory also had to be shared with its allies – France, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Whereas France and the U.K. received financial resources from the United Stated to rebuild, develop, and grow, the Soviet Union had only one resource – military strength. Europe – divided by the Iron Curtain – was split into West and East. Western Europe was spoiled by the financial capital provided by the United States through the Marshall Plan – the nations rebuilt, economies expanded, and until today, they hold a very amicable relationship with the U.S. On the other hand, Eastern Europe’s love for Russians was not bought, but rather forced. The Soviet Union deployed the Red Army across all Eastern European capitals, vacuumed economic productivity, and shifted everything towards the benefit of Moscow.
Although the Soviet presence in Eastern Europe was strong, half of it was bluff. Moscow understood that it could not curtail uprisings forever, nonetheless, provide for the crippled people of Eastern Europe if it can barely provide for its own. Similarly, President Putin sits on a big bubble of bluff. Today’s Moscow is well aware that the strategy it is using to retain global and domestic dominance is slowly fading. Without a strong economy, the nation resorts to its usual resources: the military. President Putin has reinvigorated Russian nationalism as the last form of utility Russians have in a facing a seemingly hostile world – he has curtailed any form of opposition by constantly promoting state run propaganda to Russian citizens of the faux strongholds the country has gained.
Russia’s status quo leaves it vulnerable to the very policies promoted by Lady Thatcher, but unfortunately, Western leaders are forgoing the opportunity – leaving the country in exile. After all, it was not expelled diplomats that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The world deems that incessant sanctions, a series of vetoed United Nations resolutions, and red lines – which were crossed a few times – as the fathomable approach in dealing with Russia.
Today, Western leaders find themselves to be in the middle of traffic – if not on the wrong side of the road. Having failed to curtail Russian military aggression, the West saw a new form of danger – Russian interference in elections. Moscow has ultimately found a new proxy that it can gain traction over unless the West can stop the Kremlin in its tracks. The use of the internet to influence the minds of a generation that heavily relies on technology has created worry all over the western world – and, so what? If the West continues to fall victim to Moscow’s interference, its democracy will be delegitimized, furthering the agenda of Moscow. The reaction to Russian interference in elections has managed to make President Putin’s bluff bubble even bigger – instead of making Russia internally weaker, Russia is using Lady Thatcher’s policies to make limited democracy its destiny – and it is using it with prior experience.
Relentless in retaliating against invading Argentinian forces in the Falkland Islands, Prime Minister Thatcher reasserted the United Kingdom’s dominance in the world – it was still a global super power, honing the message of resisting aggression without fear. If the hot war of the Falkland Islands did not send the Soviet government a message of interfering in the interests of the United Kingdom, then the Prime Minister’s perspective to the Soviet economy would solidify her as the primary opponent of communism. Lady Thatcher left no reservations for her distaste of socialism – “having the same contempt for socialist policies as the people of east Europe, who have experienced them.” Her development of neoliberal polices eradicated any formation of socialism in the United Kingdom, and eventually spread to the decay and collapse of communism in the Soviet Union – conveying peace through strength, where the fittest of economic models survived, and the weaker disintegrated to make vacancy for the victor.
The Soviet government under Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, faced a declining economy, cantankerous satellite nations in Eastern Europe, and a rambunctious domicile population empowered by the taste of individual liberties of neoliberal policies. Lady Thatcher’s premonitions held true – the fall of the Berlin Wall, followed by the unification of Germany, and the right of self-determination of Eastern European countries – and the Soviet Union collapsed, resonating the firm belief that any nation that limits freedom destroys its destiny.
“The state of world affairs invokes nothing but concerns, the situation in the world is becoming more chaotic,” said President Putin, after the United States launched missiles in retaliation to an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government. Albeit a questionable move by President Donald J. Trump, it is a step in the right direction in reconciling Russia towards non-aggression. A quality of Lady Thatcher is her detachment from mainstream views, with a clear focus on the correct approach to take. The United States asked Prime Minister Thatcher to refrain from a military attack on the Falkland Islands – however, “this lady is not for turning”, as she once proclaimed. The attack on the Falkland Islands, just like the attack the United States conducted on Syria, sends a clear message to any opponents of the global order, like Russia – every action will be met with retaliation.
Loved and loathed in the United States, President Trump does not have the amicable support of most Western countries – but neither did Lady Thatcher. Nevertheless, she earned the title of Iron Lady by those who opposed her, such as the Soviets. President Trump received a similar title from his greatest opponent – China – as Donald the Strong, after his recent visit to the country. Nations like Russia, China, India, and other second world and developing countries, admire the harsh and brash words that President Trump uses, because the people of these countries know authority as such. The United States should not be weary of the unpopularity it has developed with other Western European countries – these countries will never harm the United States and will by default always have to remain amicable. With this approach, where American popularity decreases, it will increase in places it was missing for the longest time – like Russia and China, who need a reminder that no global order will ever replace the United States.
Constituents outside of Western countries do not understand the sensitives and delicacies that are balanced in society – from appeasement to political correctness. Take the example of the liberal policies of Canada’s Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, who was also given a nom de guerre by the Chinese, Little Potato. President Trump has taken on the right approach thus far in containing Russian aggression, but his tactics should not end on Twitter with boastful remarks of how great America is; instead, he should inherit the policies applied towards the Soviet Union and initiate them in relation to Russia. In Lady Thatcher’s very own words, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
