Paul
Goble
Staunton, January 13 – “The lie is
the most important ‘cement’ holding the Russian political regime together,”
Moscow commentator Vladimir Gelman says. It not only legitimates the regime in
the minds of its loyalists but also gives its supporters “an indulgence” to
employ dishonesty “to support the status quo.”
Gelman’s observation on this point
comes as a reflection over why Tehran took responsibility for the shooting down
of the Ukrainian jetliner as opposed to why Moscow has not been willing to do
so with regard to its shooting down of the Malaysian airliner over Ukraine in
2014 (facebook.com/vladimir.gelman/posts/2217991324969214).
At
first glance, the reason for this difference might appear to be a superficial
one: Tehran “legitimately controls the air space over the territory of its
country” while Moscow by means of its “Russian proxies” in the Donbass was “acting
illegitimately on the territory of another country.”
But
that explanation is “incomplete and insufficient” given that Moscow frequently
turns to lies to hide behind when it is caught engaging in some illegal or
illegitimate action. One immediately thinks of the doping scandals as a
manifestation of this pattern. And that means the real reason for lying in this
case lies “much deeper.”
According
to Gelman, “it is connected with the fact that the lie forms the most important
‘cement’ holding the Russian political regime together. It seeks with its help
to solve the problems of its own legitimation and at the same time as a payment
for loyalty gives Russians an indulgence for lying in the name of supporting
the status quo.”
And
thus, the Moscow commentator concludes, “the lie is not so much strategic behavior
in response to specific situations as a means of existence of [Russia] as such.”
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