Annals of Neo-Soviet Propaganda in Russia

Filed under: Russia

In October 2005, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who intends to be a presidential candidate in 2008, had offered an olive branch to the West on energy policy. If elected, he'd said, he "would use the huge surplus from high oil prices to improve pipelines." Currently, the Kremlin is hoarding that surplus to leverage its power. He explained: "Such projects would help lower the price of oil and gas on the market" by reducing Russian inefficiency (which is notoriously profligate by industry standards). He said that following such investment he felt that Russia could profitably sell oil at around $25 per barrel. Kasyanov stated: "The world needs to think about alternative sources of energy, but use what we have now." Kasyanov was, of course, making reference to the fact that Vladimir Putin's cold-war polices were provoking the West into looking for alternative sources to Russian fuel, something that could fundamentally undermine and destroy the Russian economy. That's to say nothing, of course, about Russia having to wage a new arms race as the result of that cold war, a race that even the mighty USSR could not afford for long. By removing Western animosity, Kasyanov's plan could radically enhance Russia's position in international politics -- preserve the importance of its energy resources -- all at zero cost to the Russian people.

Click the jump and find out what the Kremlin's youthful propagandists did with this information.

Here's what the crazed Kremlin youth cult "Nashi" ("us Slavic Russians") did with Kasyanov's remarks in their propaganda brochure:

Giving no source for the quotation set forth under Kasyanov's photograph in white print, which is certainly not a verbatim translation of anything that appeared in The Guardian, the brochure claims that Kasyanov had announced his plan to sell oil at a price three times lower than the current market price -- clearly implying he would cheat the Russian people out of 2/3 the value of their oil. Kasyanov, of course -- a man who risks his freedom and indeed life for his country every single day working as part of the "Other Russia" coalition to unseat the KGB regime that is gaining a stranglehold on the Kremlin -- has never suggested any such thing. The brochure makes no mention whatsoever of his plan to invest in the oil sector an thereby increase efficiency and reduce prices while maintaining profits, or of Putin's hoarding Russia's oil windfall and allowing the oil industry to wither on the vine. It makes no reference to the benefits to be obtained by making friends with the West, much less to the horrific escalation of military spending under Putin (far larger per capita than other countries with similar per capita GDP). No mention of international outrage over the Soviet-like show trial of oil maganate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, much less to the costs Russia experiences as a result of standing isolated and besieged when it could be a major player in international affairs at the table of democratic nations. Not a word is said about the risks of pushing the world to find substitutes for Russian oil. Instead of any of that, the blood red text warns that doing so is the main organizing principle of Kasyanov's campaign, implying he is a Western spy, and warns about the consequences of allowing such a demon to take power in Russia.

Make no mistake about it: Nashi is a Kremlin-funded operation. The Kremlin itself is speaking through Nashi. Just check out the cover of Nashi's propaganda brochure:

The brochure proudly proclaims that Nashi is "connected to the President" and shows him walking among them as if he were Jesus Christ in a lumberjack shirt. Just as in Soviet times, it implies the best way for a young person to become successful is to join the cult and leverage its connections to power. You can peruse the rest of Nashi's brochure in English translation here.

Once again, the world is faced with an onslaught of Russian propaganda. Once again, the light of information has gone dark in Russia, and the state controls all significant media outlets. The Russian people are rapidly losing touch with the truth, as lack of financial resources and English skills cut them off from the Internet, the last bastion of hope for Russia. The Cold War has begun again, and our adversary looks shockingly familiar. Hopefully, we have learned enough from our past mistakes that the second battle will be the final one.

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