By Steven Barasch:
Understanding the left is a little more complicated than just labeling them socialists and communists. The further left you go, the more radical and extreme it gets. Those politics can involve violent acts, terrorism, formation of militant groups, genocide, and anarchism. These groups will embrace authoritarianism through Marxism and other communist doctrines. They are anti-capitalists and advocate anti-globalization. Like the extreme right, they have caused political repression, mass killings, using indoctrination and xenophobia to support their positions. Putin’s agenda to use the left against itself is best defined as a trojan horse. Putin’s Agenda for the Western Left needs to be examined.
Enter NATO
The left has always been anti-imperialism viewing the United States government foreign policies and all western democracies as imperialistic. To be clear, the Britannica Encyclopedia defines imperialism as:
“The state policy, practice of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other territories and peoples. Today the term imperialism is commonly used in international propaganda to denounce and discredit an opponent’s foreign policy. International organizations, including the United Nations, attempt to maintain peace using measures such as collective security arrangements and aid to developing countries. However, critics say imperialism exists today; for example, many in the Middle East saw the US-led Iraq War as a new brand of anti-Arab and anti-Islamic imperialism.”
The left has long held NATO as a tool to impose their ideology and economic dominance on other countries. This is especially true since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1999 Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined NATO. In 2004, they were joined by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. What the left refuses to acknowledge is a country who wants to join NATO decides on their own. It must also be understood that wannabe member nations must be democracies and must have economies that are run by the principles of free enterprise. The country must also prove its military can protect itself and also add to the stability of NATO.
The Machine
This is where Putin targets the left. His misinformation and propaganda machine has the left believing how Russia is being encroached upon by NATO. Militarily, NATO is purely a defensive alliance. Of course, there is a political side to this. Putin is afraid losing his or Russia’s (one and the same) sphere of influence. And rightly so considering the tyrannic dictator he is. The post-communist nations of Europe have benefited from NATO’s presence, which has ensured stability and adhered to democratic standards. These nations need to meet NATO standards which include open elections, civilian control of the military, and elimination of ethnic and national disputes. It has forced them to prioritize internal reforms over external confrontations. NATO’s security has thus provided them with the room to do so. By no means is it perfect or without problems.
The Media
Despite its support for gay rights, government transparency, and voting rights in American society, the left has a notoriously soft spot for a regime that violently opposes all three. This is evident in one of their flagship magazines called The Nation not to be confused with The National Review.
The RT network (formerly Russia Today) broadcasts programs outside of Russia, as well as providing Russian, English, Spanish, French, German, and Arabic Internet content. Funding comes from the Russian government it, controlled by the Russian government and provides pay TV and free-to-air channels.
The Nation Magazine’s coverage of Russian affairs should be an embarrassment to the left. Despite the fact that RT hosts neo-Nazis as “expert” commentators. They publish articles defending the propaganda channel; articles pushing the same argument, with identical headlines as those found in white-nationalist publications. Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion and seizure of Ukrainian territory in the Crimea and Donbass in late 2014, the magazine has aligned with Putin’s interests in the modern Russian Federation.
Social media
The graphic above is an example of Putin’s propaganda machine. Russia plays on the widely anti-war sentiment the left is based in. But the graphic has been manipulated. Below is how it appeared when it first showed up on social media.
Another talking point Russia likes to play on (China too for that matter) is how friendly or allied states to the west treat their subjects more gently when it comes to misbehaviors. The inequities are for example Israel and Saudi Arabia as compared to Iran. Racism also plays a part in this. It has been well documented of the differential treatment of African and Indian refugees fleeing Ukraine received from their white counter parts.
Ukraine
After Russia invaded Ukraine, most of the left took a step back condemning the action. Even with their condemnation, they are quick to deflect the invasion’s cause back to all the evils of NATO and its alleged imperialistic aggression since the demise of The Soviet Union.
Below are more examples how Putin targets the left. All the images were found on Russia’s state-run Twitter account called Redfish.
Vladimir Putin has used progressive groups to advance his agenda
Putin is using progressive groups as a Trojan horse to advance his agenda. This is according to a report by the intelligence firm Stratfor (Short for Strategic Forecasting, a service that provides up-to-date geopolitical analysis and forecasts focused on international political, economic and security issues). Putin has been plotting with the left for years to weaken the United States and bolster his own image at home. The report argues that he has been using leftist groups—particularly those focused on issues related to race and identity—to push his agenda and weaken the United States.
The Kremlin has been actively cultivating ties with left-leaning groups in the U.S. for several years. Some of these groups have received money from the Russian government and the Kremlin-friendly National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The Kremlin has also helped fund conferences and events that feature speakers sympathetic to Putin’s positions.
Yet from a report issued by the United States on Human Rights in Russia things are quite the opposite what the Kremlin preaches to the left.
“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: extrajudicial killings and attempted extrajudicial killings, including of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons in Chechnya by local government authorities; enforced disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities; pervasive torture by government law enforcement officers that sometimes resulted in death and occasionally involved sexual violence or punitive psychiatric incarceration; harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons; arbitrary arrest and detention; political and religious prisoners and detainees; politically motivated reprisals against individuals located outside the country; severe arbitrary interference with privacy; severe suppression of freedom of expression and media, including violence against journalists and the use of “ant extremism” and other laws to prosecute peaceful dissent and religious minorities; severe restrictions on internet freedom; severe suppression of the freedom of peaceful assembly; severe suppression of freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on “foreign agents” and “undesirable foreign organizations”; severe restrictions of religious freedom; refoulement of refugees; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; severe limits on participation in the political process, including restrictions on opposition candidates’ ability to seek public office and conduct political campaigns, and on the ability of civil society to monitor election processes; widespread corruption at all levels and in all branches of government; serious government restrictions on and harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence and violence against women; trafficking in persons; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting persons with disabilities, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer persons.”
It should also be noted that every journalist reporting from Russia have to adhere to what that government will allow them to say regardless of what country they are reporting for. Also listen to those who have been released from Russian prisons describe how cruel and inhumane they were treated.
The Bottom Line
The Left should be very cautious as to where their journals, magazines and social media posts are coming from. Fighting for human rights, privacy, the freedom to choose how to live your life, racial and gender equality can only exist in a state that allows it. This includes the right to protest (peacefully) that state’s political and economic direction. All noble fights. Putin’s Russia is not that state.
Also read: How Democracy is Being Challenged By a Lie
Sources:
Does imperialism still exist today? | Britannica
Russia, Ukraine, NATO, and the Left – FPIF
imperialism | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)
Russia – United States Department of State
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-putin-played-the-far-left?ref=scroll
