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22.12.2005

Russia gets ready for the elections in 2008

   

Gagik Ter-Harutyunyan 

The logic of today’s world-order more then ever urges for the policy of a self-governing state to be adequate to the challenges issued to it. In this sense the Russian strategy in 2005, which seems to be the reaction of the failures of the past yeas, deserves special observation. Among them must be singled out the coup d'etat in Georgia and Ukraine: It is known that as a result these countries carry out accentuated anti-Russian policy. Moreover, in the context of presidential elections in 2008, “revolutionary” developments are not excluded in Russia as well.

“Color revolutions” especially revealed the superiority of Western manipulation technologies and serious omissions in Russian informational policy (in the wide sense of that term). For confronting such technologies Russia is not only lacking efficient measures to spread propaganda bat also the ideological grounds for such propaganda are not clarified.

The present developments have come to prove that the Russian political elite seem to have understood the importance of informational policy and try to improve the terrible plight of the field.

Changes in informational field

During the last few years the number of articles blaming Russia and Putin administration has strictly increased in the global informational field. That country and its people are presented in the darkest colors and “KGB colonel” Putin is pictured to be a fascist and the follower of Stalin. The analyzing of such publications prove that the political line adopted by Russian Federation (RF) present administration doesn’t correspond particularly to the US interests, that’s why an expansive informational war is waged against Russia. As the director of the Russian program of the US “Defense information center” N. Zlobin writes “after the collapse of the Soviet Union the attitude of the US elite to Russia didn’t change sharply as it happened in 2004… the overwhelming majority of that elite is sure that Moscow has imperial ambitions which are expressed at least in the territory of the former Soviet Union». It is characteristic that not only the foreign but also a part of Russian mass media speak against Russian national interests (in the terminology of informational wars it is called “war against the own nation”).

To improve the situation in 2005 Russian authorities founded three telecasting stations one after another. The first one broadcasted in English “Russia today” as a state telecasting station and is envisaged to show the Russian image in abroad to the best advantage. The head of the station is 24 years old Margarita Simonyan, it has a budget of $30 million. The second one is the military-patriotic “Zvezda” founded by the Defense Ministry aiming at advertising the one-time attractiveness of military forces for the Russian society. The third one is “Spas” telecasting station for the realization of which work such popular people with national orientation as Natalya Narochnickaya, Alexander Dugin. This station pursues goals of ideological-spiritual character: It is characteristic that “Spas” is financed by a famous banker and industrialist Genadi Lisak who is also a fanatic orthodox. The last circumstance is not by chance as in the newly forming Russian ideology orthodoxy has an importante role.

Making the above mentioned steps Kremlin tried to raise its competitiveness in the informational field. We can’t judge about the results yet, as the mentioned telecasting stations have just begun their activity. Let’s point out that in the informational field Russia is not alone who tries to struggle against the American superiority. France and Venezuela have also funded telecasting stations pursuing the same goals.

An attempt to keep the non-governmental organizations under control

It is known that the carriers of “revolutionary” ideology are different non-governmental organizations (NGO). NGOs have an important role almost in all the fields of social life. According to the information provided by the UN there are more then 27 thousands international NGOs in the world. It is obvious that NGOs not always have a constructive character.

In the State Duma of Russia have recently been enacted law amendments on “public unions” and “non-profit organizations” by the first reading (370 were for and only 18 were against). The fact that in Russia there are more then 400.000-600.000 NGOs the considerable part of which, according to mass media, are financed by foreign and mostly by the Western countries speaks about the urgency of the problem (there is also some percentage of so called “Muslim NGOs”). As a result of these amendments the authorities will have wide competences to keep the NGOs’ financial and political activities under control. It is supposed that from now on, as a result of the possible amendments in the laws, even the NGOs which have international status must be reregistered (this function will become strict) as a Russian juridical person, and the foreigners with permanent stay in Russia have no right to found a NGO. The ones who introduced the bill as well as Putin himself said that some NGOs serve as a tool to reach their political goals in Russia for the other countries.

The tough attitude adopted by Russian authorities to the NGOs in not new. The law enforcement authorities have recently conducted investigations concerning to some of them. In mass media are widely circulated the names of “British council” and “Peace corps” organizations the latter one is blamed in intelligence activities. It is worth mentioning that during one of the disputes relating to the new laws on NGOs the FSB director Patrushev blamed USAID, who “began realizing plans directed to change the state system and to take the whole informational field in Russia under control”.

Today some NGOs have really turned into important political factors. Whereas a part of them have very law reputation. For example “The National Endowment for Democracy” (NED), which is one of the stuff-station of neocons are accused of an attempt to organize a coup d’etat in Venezuela in 2002, and the head of the famous Freedom House, CIA ex-director James Wооlsey urges to begin the fourth world war against “Islamofascism”. We can continue to bring such examples, but today it is already obvious that many NGOs are more like special task detachments or sectarian groups.

The draft on NGOs adopted by the Russian Duma has raised wide international response. It became not only the subject of discussion in international mass media, but also was a subject of negotiations during the last Putin-Bush meeting. The Western organizations allocated in Russia also complain against the bill: a few of them, for example “Ford Foundation” and “Human Rights Watch” have announced that they will close their offices in Russia. The pressures made on the executive authorities made them review the bill: on that occasion the president Putin said that the approaches of “European partners and Russian NGOs should be taken into account.

Regardless the fact how the disputes on the bill will finish, it is obvious that Russian authorities began appreciating the role and importance of NGOs. They want not only restrict the activities of undesirable NGOs but also establish “their own ones” and use them in solving their problems both in Russia and abroad: in particular $18 million were budgeted by the state “to strengthen democracy” in other countries. Of course this sum can’t be compared with great sources provided to support the NGOs in the West, but it is obvious that Russia tries to acquire up-to-date political technologies.

However all the efforts made in the domestic domain by the authorities will be in vain if the problem of securing the continuation of Putin’s political line in Russia is not solved.

The problem of the successor

As it is known Putin has lately made some changes in the staff. The head of the presidential staff Dmitry Medvedev (who is sometimes called “vizier” in the political elite) has been appointed the prime minister’s first deputy, and Tyumen’s governor Sergey Sobyanin took this position in Kremlin. By another order Sergey Ivanov was also appointed to the position of the prime minister’s first deputy keeping his high post of the Defense minister.

These changes gave way to various discussions. According to the commentators these appointments pointed out the names of the people (first of all considering Medvedev) who may possibly substitute Putin in 2008. Of course, Medvedev and Ivanov are in Putin’s “close circle” (by the way Medvedev’s class mate Dmitry Kozak as well) and may be possible successor. It seems that S. Ivanov has better chances to become a president. At the moment he is the only high official who makes announcements on strategic problems except Putin.

At the same time, taking into account the ability of Putin to make sudden decisions (let’s remember the Prime Minister Fradkov’s appointment) it is still difficult to say whom he will point out in 2008. Let’s also take into consideration that the president’s team by all means will try to “keep” him in the highest political governing system in this or that position. For example, it can’t be excluded that Putin may be suggested the position of the chairman of the State Council of course by means of extending that body’s jurisdiction by making changes in legislation beforehand.


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