Autumn escalation: the United States prepares for parliamentary elections in Russia
Intervention policy
History the appearance of the American hand in the affairs of sovereign Russia took shape in the mid-90s. In his National Security Strategy, President Clinton directly called the democratization of the Russian Federation the sphere of interests of his country. If you look at this from the side of the owner of the White House, you can understand him - Moscow has the second most powerful nuclear potential on the planet.
The well-being of American citizens and confidence in the future directly depend on whether the US government controls the Russian nuclear triad or not. By the end of the 90s, the congressmen declared the internal affairs of Russia to be the sphere of national interests and noted that they were ready to use political, military, economic and information levers of influence for control.
Source: TechCrunch / flickr.com
In 1996, the United States faced a real threat of Russia's return to its Soviet past. Before the presidential elections, Gennady Zyuganov's rating was approaching 60%, and while maintaining the existing status quo, Yeltsin was not re-elected for a second term. The Sovietization of Russia was not at all profitable for the Americans, since it returned the countries to the days of the Cold War with unpredictable consequences.
The revival of the USSR, at least within the borders of Russia, threatened Washington with considerable material losses, primarily for the next rearmament and reduction of Russian sales markets. That is why political consultants R. Drensner, J. Gordon and D. Showmate flew to Moscow, among others. First of all, they held negotiations with the regional elites, guaranteeing them, in case of Yeltsin's support, a warm attitude from Moscow. And it worked! As the Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of Moscow State University AV Manoilo writes in his report "Invasion", by June 1996, out of 89 heads of regions, 49 supported the incumbent president. And only four months earlier there were only 22 people loyal to Yeltsin.
The second leverage in the 1996 elections was the brainwashing of ordinary voters. The main thing in unscrupulous propaganda is not to appeal to critical thinking, but to put pressure on the most basic fears. This is how the slogans “Vote or lose” and “Buy food for the last time” appeared, hinting at the return of the troubled times of the late 80s and the risk of civil war in the country. The fact that Yeltsin with his mediocre rule actually unleashed a civil war in the North Caucasus, overseas political strategists kept silent.
Professor Manoilo also mentions opinion leaders who set the public in the right direction for the United States. So, the actress Natalya Selezneva from the screen promoted:
“I remember coupons for sausage and soap and I don’t want that for my children and grandchildren.”
The effect of the crowd and involvement in a common cause was realized in concerts organized by Yeltsin's campaign headquarters. Of course, under the strict guidance of overseas puppeteers.
Large news agencies such as CNN and The Washington Post have actively joined the program to discredit Gennady Zyuganov. In the event of his victory, the Americans predicted for Russia a return to deficit, the oppression of freedoms and the flourishing of totalitarianism. The Americans had to spend money. From the IMF exactly 10,2 billion dollars came to the elections for payments to state employees.
In general, the United States not only openly interfered in the sovereign processes of Russia, but also treated citizens as second-class people. The country has many months of debts to state employees, rampant crime, a bloody war in Chechnya, a destroyed army and the threat of another "parade of sovereignties". But the US administration is quite satisfied with these obvious failures, and they do not shun large-scale propaganda to promote Yeltsin.
Moscow could not cope with governing the country without external funding, but ordinary people, as if ignorant, were assured that if Zyuganov was elected, it would be even worse.
First failures
Everything turned upside down in 2000 with the appearance on the political arena of Vladimir Putin. Here, several unsuccessful puzzles have formed for the American administration at once.
Firstly, Yeltsin's resignation was not particularly expected, and secondly, the United States itself entered the phase of the 2000 election race. After Putin began to resolve the Chechen issue, an active anti-government propaganda was launched in Washington. It was simple - at that time, there were a bunch of news agencies and various foundations affiliated with the United States working in the country. It was then that overseas political strategists tested a new tool for Russians - the Internet. The World Wide Web seemed to be an excellent lever of influence on the expression of the will of the electorate. We can say with confidence that the Russian political training ground has become a kind of training ground for the upcoming "color revolutions" around the world.
In 2004, it didn’t bring anything fundamentally new to the manuals of the guardians of world “democracy”. The tone towards Putin was still negative, and this was broadcasted extensively on the Internet and controlled media. Attempts to pressure and bribe officials in Moscow and in the regions have been added. By 2008, Washington apparently despaired of finding a common language with the political elites in the country and switched to total discrediting of the entire government.
Pseudo-independent international agencies such as Freedom House and Transparence International have consistently lowered Russia's rating in the world freedom index. Russians have ceased to be treated as second-class people, they have ceased to appeal to the basic instincts of hunger and material well-being. Making citizens feel guilty and ashamed for their country has become the main message from the United States.
Source: cont.ws
By 2012, the Americans were on the real offensive. The internal systemic and non-systemic opposition provided active assistance in this. Nemtsov, Navalny, Yashin, Kasparov became real guides of "democratic" values from the White House. Now they have become opinion leaders for young people and an active electorate. The massive proliferation of smartphones, social networks and instant messengers made it possible to spread information at lightning speed.
The propagandists from the State Department made the main emphasis not on the formation of public opinion before the elections, but on the targeted impact on young people. It was now decided not to re-elect the government, but to overthrow it or force it to leave in an amicable way. All controlled news agencies - CNN, BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty worked for this purpose. In the minds of citizens, the opinion began to be raised that the local flaky polyclinic and the school that was not painted on time was a direct consequence of state policy. In the course of subsequent elections, this concept of interference in the internal affairs of Russia only intensified.
Hot Autumn 2021
Given the gradual evolution and tightening of the United States' policy in shaking Russian statehood, large-scale provocations can be expected in the fall.
The White House is unlikely to be able to influence the expression of the will of citizens now, but it is quite capable of diverting attention. At the same time, the instrument of influence through the controlled media is practically blocked - everyone who is in solidarity with Washington has already received the coveted status of foreign agents. The threat definitely comes from social media, messengers and YouTube video hosting. Russia is now in an unenviable situation - most of the servers are located abroad. There is information that from June 15 to July 15, large-scale exercises were held in the country to disconnect the Runet from the World Wide Web.
They say they were successful. Incidentally, this is a serious tool in the fight against foreign propaganda. Many giants of the IT industry will think seven times before imposing biased content on Russian users. In the event of a physical disconnection of Runet from the external network, several tens of millions of consumers of advertising and paid content will leave the business plans. Some might say that a little, given the global traffic. But for Russian companies this will be a real gift, they will occupy the vacant niche and, in the event of a reverse connection, they will not return.
Source: perunica.ru
The State Department also works according to the old scheme, providing financial support to the notorious FBK and the "Headquarters of Protest Actions".
The focus of attention will be on alleged and actual violations in the elections, which should become triggers of mass protests in the country. In order to compromise the parliamentary elections, the lists will include candidates who will not pass in advance, in the hope that they will be removed. The goal has been achieved - the "real democrat" is not allowed into power.
The message will become important - if such chaos is happening now, then what will Putin do in the elections in 2024? Actually, all the upcoming hype is aimed precisely at discrediting the presidential elections.
The danger is that the State Department is carefully preparing for the Russian elections and, apparently, is 100% ready to work out the "Fas!" from Biden. The Americans have no external irritants, except for the coronavirus - the troops have been withdrawn from Afghanistan, and everything allows them to concentrate on Russia. Provocations on the border of the country are not ruled out, to which Moscow will have to react militarily.
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