A Responsible Reflection on the October Revolution and Russia

(Baonghean) - As a professional journalist and with love for Russia, author Ho Quang Loi has closely followed every event, pondered, and anxiously waited for rays of hope.

Entering 2017, many scientific and media agencies around the world have planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution. This is understandable because this event has had a huge impact on human life over the past 100 years.

People want to assess the impact of this event on Russia, Europe and the whole world. Vietnam is one of the countries that the October Revolution had the strongest impact on, so the Party and State have planned to organize a solemn celebration.

Journalist Ho Quang Loi's publication of the book "Russia - Journey to the Future" also aims to contribute to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia in a practical way.

Reconstructing the past for “Russia - Journey to the future”

With the book “Russia - Journey to the Future”, Ho Quang Loi cleverly reconstructed the past by rearranging articles written more than a quarter of a century ago. The most distant article was written in 1989, the most recent one was written on October 5, 2017. However, with 64 articles presented in 4 chapters, the chronological order is only relative, the important thing here is the content serving the topic of each chapter. Chapter I: “Changes, shifting stars” - mainly articles written in 1990, 1991; Chapter II: “Chaos” after the shock includes articles scattered over decades; Chapter III: “Stand up and move forward” - articles from 2000 -2012; Chapter IV: “Russia and the global situation” - includes articles from 1992 to 2017.

Journalist Ho Quang Loi - author of the book "Russia - Journey to the Future" presented a book to Ms. Natalya Valerievna Shafinskaya - Director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Ho

With such an arrangement, Ho Quang Loi recreated the last years of the Soviet Union with unpredictable changes, full of fire and anxiety. The vague anxiety became reality when the Soviet Union disintegrated, divided into 15 independent republics. Russia, which inherited the legacy of the Soviet Union, fell into deep crisis, almost chaos. But with the mettle of a country full of potential (both in terms of people and resources), Russia bravely overcame all challenges, returning to being a great power with an important role and position in international life.

Although the events Ho Quang Loi relied on to write his commentary were dry political and military events, with his deep love for Russia, the author still made his writing flexible, attractive, and hopeful. At the book launch (November 2, 2017), Ho Quang Loi himself made this clear: “Because the upheavals in the Soviet Union and Russia in the past 30 years have raised very big questions about the times and the era.

With the responsibility of a journalist, I feel I have to look at and evaluate to find a satisfactory answer for readers about the path Russia is taking. Because of the extremely prominent role of the former Soviet Union and Russia today. Because of the depth of the Russia-Vietnam relationship. And most of all because the Russian soul is so beautiful, the people are so sincere, the literature is so rich, because Russia has a special place in my heart and the hearts of the Vietnamese people.

Since the author has confessed like that, we can only acknowledge and believe that Russia will have a bright future and that the Vietnam-Russia relationship will always be warm.

A “warehouse” of materials to learn, ponder, predict and wait for

With nearly 260 pages, the book “Russia – Journey to the Future” by Ho Quang Loi is a “treasure trove” of valuable documents. Here are not simply facts and figures, but vivid developments in the Soviet Union and Russia over the past 30 years. The book can help readers learn, reflect and make some predictions for the future.

Author Ho Quang Loi at the book launch “Russia - Journey to the Future” - one of the meaningful activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Ho

As a professional journalist and with a love for Russia, Ho Quang Loi closely followed every event, pondered, and anxiously waited for rays of hope. With such a mindset, Ho Quang Loi wrote hundreds of articles, published in many places. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution, he selected 64 articles and published them in a book.

The author has done an important thing: he has linked the events together, put them together logically, made sharp and accurate comments; and boldly made predictions and forecasts. An interesting thing is that some of the predictions and forecasts in this book have been partly proven by reality. Ho Quang Loi's predictions about the future of Russia since the late nineties of the 20th century have come true - Russia has returned to play an important role in the world.

The book “Russia - Journey to the Future” is not only welcomed by Russian patriots, but also by young people who are interested in the theory and practice of international issues. Photo: Nguyen Ho

As the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution, the world's political and social situation remains tense. In such a context, Russia has emerged as a mediator to resolve major conflicts. Interestingly, US President Trump hopes to meet Russian President Putin in Vietnam at the APEC Summit to seek help in resolving the North Korean issue.

Ho Quang Loi was born in Quynh Doi commune, Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province. After graduating from high school, he went to Romania to study French language and literature. After graduating from university, returning to Vietnam, Ho Quang Loi worked at the People's Army Newspaper, then became Editor-in-Chief of the Hanoi Moi Newspaper, Head of the Propaganda Department of the Hanoi Party Committee and is currently the Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association.

Nguyen Ho