The Neglected Dimension of Ideology in Russia ’ s Political Warfare Against the West
“ political warfare seeks to induce the desire for surrender — in opposing peoples . At the strategic level , political warfare seeks to corrode the entire moral , political , and economic infrastructure of a nation , particularly by affecting governmental decisions … Political warfare aims to weaken , if not destroy , the enemy by use of diplomatic proposals , economic sorties , propaganda and misinformation , provocation , intimidation , sabotage , terrorism , and by driving a wedge between the main enemy and his allies ” ( Kintner and Kornfelder 1962 , XIII ).
The way political warfare was practiced by the Soviet Union was a program of ideological subversion as explained by the Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov . According to Bezmenov , the ultimate goal of Soviet ideological subversion was “ to slowly replace the free market capitalist society , with its individual freedoms in economic and socio-political spheres of life — with a carbon-copy of the ‘ most progressive system , and eventually merge into [ a ] one world-wide system ruled by a benevolent bureaucracy that they call Socialism ’” ( Schuman 1985 , 5 ). This approach of subversion is also known as “ active measures ” in Soviet terminology . According to Richard Shultz and Roy Godson , active measures “ are employed to influence the policies of other governments , undermine confidence in the leaders and institutions of these states , disrupt the relations between various nations , and discredit and weaken major opponents . This frequently involves attempts to deceive the target , and to distort the target ’ s perceptions of reality ” ( Shultz and Godson 1984 , 16 ). In practice , active measures amounts to political covert action , namely the creation and use of political front organizations , the recruitment of “ agents of influence ,” the financing of certain sympathetic political parties and individuals , the dissemination of propaganda at a grassroots level , and the use of fabrication , forgeries , and disinformation designed to increase public suspicions and distrust of their governments .
Active measures are long-term campaigns that are expected to last years , if not decades , in order to produce a cumulative corrosive effect on targeted societies . Active measures being “ a major component of Soviet foreign policy , were incredibly well-resourced ” ( Abrams 2016 , 7 – 8 ). The Soviets used their political front organizations and propaganda to undermine Western values and morality in order to pave the way for socialism . Similarly , the West was also “ weaponizing ” information and culture to push back against harmful communist influences in Western societies . This ideological battle “ was fought in classrooms and on college campuses , in journals and books , and in radio broadcasts , television programs , and the silver screen , and , of course , in the courts , and it involved the use of a plethora of catchwords and images ” ( Echevarria 2008 , 15 ). It was a total cultural and political battle for the minds of men , if not their souls . Then the Cold War ended and seemingly with it the ideological struggle .
It has been subsequently claimed that ideology and other “ grand narratives ” are effectively dead after the collapse of communism and the rise of the postmodern val-
29