IMAGINE that you are attending a conference (call it Agenda 2010) in the capital city (call it Klow) of a generic ex-communist country (call it Ruritania). The discussion will be mostly about the present and the future. After a night-owl session on “the impact of the economic crisis on regional security”, you will stagger to a red-eye breakfast on “Engaging Russia: how, when and where?” But the cultural programme in the afternoon is resolutely backward-looking. An excursion to admire the beautiful historic buildings includes a chance to goggle at the horrible Stalinist ones. A mandatory stop is something on the lines of “The Museum of Ruritanian Struggles and Suffering”, which shows the country's heroic and horrible past from the dawn of recorded history to NATO membership, via occupation, obliteration and a lot of historical myths.

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