Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 5, Number 1, Spring / Summer 2020 | Page 77

A New Russian Realpolitik: Putin’s Operationalization of Psychology and Propaganda
cal goals and fulfill societal motivations
and ambitions is a holistic and complementary
approach. This research highlights
and examines exploitable and
malleable elements of specific psychological
theories and the active measures
that reinforce them.
Data points from journalistic
interviews, peer-reviewed academic
journals, specific subject-matter books,
and relevant congressional testimonies
were gathered and discovered. The data
exhibiting Russian leadership’s capitalization
and exploitation of specific psychological
theories and the application
of propaganda and active measures in
its efforts to amplify and anchor these
political-ideological frameworks were
thematically coded. These developed
categories were linked through the process
of axial and causation coding; inductive
and inductive methods formed
meaningful relationships.
Successful Post-Soviet
Resurrection
The post-Soviet reality left millions
dazed, confused, and in
search of a new identity. For
those who lived under the former Soviet
banner, the general consensus was
that “the end of the Cold War was Russia’s
equivalent of the Versailles Treaty
... a source of endless humiliation and
misery” (Aron 2016, 1). From the chaff
and the political confusion of an early
Russian experiment with Western
democracy, an unsuspecting ex-Soviet
spy emerged, who was immediately
tasked by a crippled and directionless
Russian society to recover the economic,
political, and societal clout was
needlessly squandered by a rigid and
uncompromising ideology. While the
West turned its attention to new strategic
priorities in the Middle East, Putin
effectively tapped into a historical and
societal identity, exposed and exploited
intergroup realities, and capitalized off
emotions related to the downfall of the
Soviet Union. Doing this, Putin carefully
and deliberately massaged a security
and political apparatus in his image.
This refined vehicle of influence and
authority was repeatedly employed to
amplify and reinforce Putin’s distinctive
and successful blend of power politics
and constructivist realities.
To date, Putin has attained a
string of domestic and international
successes. He has not only regained a
firm and controlling hold on internal
information sources and mediums,
but has seemingly quelled the chaos
and the various insurgent “color revolutions”
at the Russian doorstep. The
Russian leader has “liberated” entire
Russian enclaves in Crimea in Eastern
Ukraine, ensuring his portrayal as the
true protector of the Russian people.
In Chechnya, he personally led a successful
anti-terror campaign he deemed
equivalent to the perceived noble and
required Western crusade against Islamic
terrorism. In addition, for many
proud Russians, the Putin-directed
“humanitarian intervention” in Syria
is portrayed as legitimate and necessary
due to a perceived lack of any appropriate
and moral Western response
(Crosston 2018).
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