Class 5. The Active Measures Long Game
Putin is a former KGB officer and he's drawing from the same old playbook. We should understand it.
Yuri Bezmenov is a kooky cat. His story is fascinating and a bit tragic: Bezmenov defected from the Soviet Union while he was posted as a KGB officer in India, leaving behind a wife and child. He had been posing as a journalist for Novosti Press Agency, a Soviet propaganda outlet (you’ll recall from Class 1 that India was a popular seeding ground for disinformation operations). With the help of the CIA, Bezmenov initially settled in Canada under the alias “Tomas Schuman.” He then spent several years working for Radio-Canada International (which broadcast into to the Soviet Union), until he was dismissed, either — depending on which story you believe — because of his excessive drinking and inability to get along with his coworkers or because the Soviets had blown his cover and had complained to then-Prime Minister Elliot Trudeau.
By the time Bezmenov made his way to the U.S. in the early 80s, he had remarried and had two children — though he eventually divorced, had a strained relationship with his daughter, and continued to struggle with alcoholism until his death in 1994.
During his time in the U.S., became a lecturer on Soviet active measures for the ultra-conservative John Birch Society, which is the origin of the video posted for this week. Needless to say, this helps explain why many of his right-wing views permeate his lecture — from his disdain for the liberal media and homosexuality to his belief that religion (and specifically Christian religion) was the prophylactic against Soviet influence. Bezmenov’s political leanings and personal biases are clearly shaped by his contempt for Soviet ideology and who he perceived were the most receptive audiences for its messaging at that time, i.e., those who he believed had an interest in subverting the existing system.
Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss Bezmenov’s explanation of Soviet subversion theory on this basis: When we adjust his perspective to account for the most receptive audience for Russia’s messaging now, we can see that the same strategy, tactics, and goals are not only in full swing, but more effective than ever — just among different groups than those Bezmenov had imagined as the “threat.” Even more alarmingly, the goals of Russia’s active measures operations align with those of a subset of domestic and political actors in the U.S., making them even harder to combat.
Below, I delve into a few aspects of Bezmenov’s lecture which remain relevant to our current moment, and highlight some ways that the Soviet approach differs from our own.
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