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Putin Proves Propaganda Works in Russia
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
December 17, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
When he
took office from Boris Yeltsin May 7, 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin
remained true to his KGB past, dismantling Russia’s free press, honing his
message through the Kremlin’s Itar-Tass TV and radio and Pravda newspaper. Today’s
poll released by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs and Research
showing that Putin enjoys an 81% approval rating giving an X-Ray into the
Russian mind. Used to years of isolation, scarcity and deprivation, Putin’s
become Russia’s new tsar, a kind of benevolent despot to the Russian people. With the Russian ruble and stock
market tanking 50% since Putin seized the strategic Crimean peninsula from
Ukraine, the beleaguered Russian people see military conquests as a victory for
Mother Russia, precisely because things are so bad at home. Western nations can’t fathom that
the more misery in Russia, the higher Putin’s approval ratings.
Putin delivered his extended year-end press conference yesterday, putting
his prodigious smoke-blowing skills on display.
He danced around all the key questions asked by journalists about how his
decision to invade Crimea has alienated Russia on the world state. But like the Palestinian situation,
the public doesn’t want the facts, only a predigested distortion, blaming a
common enemy for Russia’s problems.
Putin seeks any chance to blame the U.S. for Russia’s economic woes, only
reluctantly admitting to the Russian people the European Union also backs
sanctions against Moscow for invading Crimea and stirring unrest in Southeastern
Ukraine. Whatever Russia’s
hardship, Putin blames it on U.S. economic sanctions, not obvious crashing oil
prices that rob Russia of precisous revenue.
Putin’s become such a household name that Russians see no other option
for leadership.
History is on Putin’s side, living through foreign invaders, all trying
to pillage and plunder Mother Russia.
“The Russian people have a sense that they are under sanctions, they are
a fortress under siege,” said Maria Lipman, an independent Russian analyst. Having seen Putin on Russian
government TV since 2000, there’s no one else on the horizon to takeover Russian
leadership. “This kind of mentality
is disseminated consistently and steadily by Russian television: Who else is there to rely on except
Putin? Putin is seen as the savior
of the nation, and I think he sees himself in this fashion,” Lipman said,
cautioning the West that no matter how bad things get, the Russian people will
stick with Putin. Putin’s created
the same kind of infallibility seen by the Vatican, Russian tsars and other
monarchies, leaving him the only viable Russian leader.
Putin’s 81% approval ratings prove that seizing control of the free press
and Russia’s opposition parties has left him with a virtual monopoly on
political power. “There is a total,
effective, monopolistic propaganda campaign, and if there is an information
monopoly, how can you talk about ratings?” said Georgy Sataroy, a former Kremlin
advisor who heads a research institute studying corruption. Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, there’s been very little to celebrate in
Russia. Seizing Crimea whipped up
much-needed nationalism in Russia. “A source of pride for the overwhelming majority of Russians since the victory of WWII,
but that was already 70 years ago,” said Lipman, drawing attention to Russia
backing of Putin’s invasion of Crimea.
Whatever the costs to the Russian economy, Russians back Putin because he
flexes Russia’s military might.
Blaming the U.S. for Russia’s
problems gives Putin convenient cover for now while the Russian economy heads
South. Promising to pull it back
over the next two years gives Putin some wiggle room while Russian citizens are
forces to dial back their lifestyles.
No longer participating as much in the global economy, Russian under
Putin has retreated into its Stalinist past.
President Barack Obama’s move to help rescue the Cuban economy by opening
up trade relations could undermine Putin’s influence in the Western Hemisphere,
certainly Cuba. Putin’s
stranglehold on factual information carefully filtered to the Russian public
leaves in complete control for the foreseeable future. His references to the U.S. trying to de-fang and de-claw the
Russian bear resonates with his backers.
Making the U.S. the scapegoat goes along way in preserving Putin’s
credibility.
Harking back to the Bolshevik Revolution and beginning of the Soviet
Union, Putin understands controlling the message keeps the rebellious public in
check. Russia’s biggest problem in
winning WWII was the highly brainwashed state of the German people. Controlling the airwaves helped Hitler send the German military on a suicide mission, all
built on false promises. Putin’s reliance on a strong, well-armed Russian army keeps the military ahead of his
defiant rhetoric. Locked in Russia
due to a crashing ruble, Russian citizens seeking mobility through European
travel won’t find relief anytime soon.
While continuing to blame the U.S. for economic woes, the Russian public
will eventually sour on Putin when they realize his policies have cramped their
lifestyles. Once a thriving part of the global economy, Putin has turned Russia into another pariah
state.
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