ABSTRACT
Tough war hero at Boris Yeltsin's side during the August Coup, hardtalking champion of Russia's national interest, Russian Vice-President Aleksandr Rutskoi epitomises in so many ways the image of the afganets as political warrior prepared to surmount any obstacle, tackle any injustice. This myth was persistent and pervasive. In part, at least, this was because it drew on a rich folk tradition of superhuman individuals standing out against the grey tide of life, from the bogatyri, the heroes of Russian folk myth to Stalin's communists who, in the official propaganda, could 'storm any bastion'. There is enough truth in it not to discount it out of hand, but it has to be put into perspective. Cause and effect, for example, are not always that easy to connect. Consider the saturation of the British House of Commons with Oxbridge graduates. It is not enough to say that an education at Oxford or Cambridge makes you more determined to get into politics. What we can say, though, is that one way or another that background has a variety of effects: it may make some people more likely to turn a vague interest into a firm ambition; it may provide the background and the contacts to get you into parliament; it may raise sights onto national politics instead of the equally necessary but less glamorous local council. Of course, the parallel cannot be taken far: getting to Oxbridge requires qualifications where Afghanistan largely consumed those lacking in any pull or diplomas, and an Oxbridge education is rarely described as an experience of suffering and betrayal. Assessments of the afgantsy in politics must be cautious when dealing with them as a group rather than
with individuals; General Rutskoi's real strength, for example, was that he made use of his Afghan pedigree, but then managed to break away from it and find new causes, alliances and bases of support.
