My girlfriends family was concerned last night. They parked their cars inside protected yards, where there is less of a chance that they get damaged if a riot breaks out. Most of Moscow was excited before the game and one could only imagine what would have happened if the Russian team would have lost against Holland. The Netherlands played bad and shortly after 2 AM Moscow turned into a big wild party. No matter where you went, people were celebrating their team and their new national pride. “Rossia” shouts could be heard from Tverskaya, my neighbors apartments and on any Moscow street, even in these little protected yards where my girlfriends family parked their cars.

Russians are flying high these days. They won the Ice Hockey world championships, St.Petersburg won the UEFA Cup, then the Russian singer Dima Bilan won the European Song Contest and now they are in the half finals of the European Soccer Championships.

“Who flies high, falls deep”, is a saying which the old greeks already described in their Icarus mythology. The atmosphere here is heated up and the expectations are unreal, although the Russian team had been able to keep up with it so far.

Its summer in Moscow. The air is warm and humid and the occasional heavy thunderstorms are moving over the city. The cities mood is heated up as well and it feels like just prior to a thunderstorm. Nobody knows if its going to be a soft one that brings a relief or a fierce storm, with much lightning and destruction. Its sort of a YIN & YANG situation (just not very much balanced) with nothing between black and white and nobody knows if it will turn either way.

One thing is clear, Russia did a good job in the EM 2008 so far. No matter if they win a title or not, they can be proud of themselves, but that is not enough for the Russians. They want it all! They feel they need it. They want to be accepted by the international community again and especially by their European neighbors. Did I say accepted? I meant respected or some may even want to be feared. This goes far beyond soccer and sports. Its an old deep complex, which was much supported by a (past) decade of ignorant behavior against Russia by the US and most of all the arrogant Europeans.

No matter how this EM will end, I see storm clouds on the horizon and they are moving from East to West. This storm is fueled by a patriotism which is more and more turning into nationalism. Some Russian politicians are using this patriotism to unite Russians (what else do they have?) and to divert from the countries main problems. The Europeans and the US seem not to understand the situation and with their current behavior they are not helping to disarm this nationalistic approach. They just push Russia more into the brown swamp (and isolation), instead of giving it a hand and pulling it out of the dirt. The outcome is unpredictable, but dangerous one way or the other. Russia may fail and break down, but it can also get its act together and become that strong dangerous global player, it wants to be. No matter what, it is dangerous and the West should recognize this and finally do something about it.

Most of these people are not soccer fans. They are fans of their country. They are proud of their country and they use little occasions, such as a soccer game to celebrate their country. This may seem normal for many of us, but it worries me. Patriotism is ok, although I feel its not fitting into our new global world. Nationalism is dangerous and was/is often abused by ruthless politicians.