A Theory on Post-Soviet Psychological Warfare to Help Defuse It

Bolstering American Liberality and Its Unifying Mythos Counters Cynical Post-Truth Messaging

(updated Sept. 2023)

We’ve lived through some wild times these past few years, friends. Left and right, Americans have been on the receiving end of intentional psychological warfare designed to ignite conflict and knock Western Liberal governance down a few pegs in the eyes of the world.

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As Russian autocratic leadership wages hybrid world war against the USA and its allies, in an attempt to alter the world order, they lean on Russia’s advantages. Without dominant military or culture, Russia relies on corruption, ideology and its considerable expertise in population control and mass psychology gathered over decades of brutal Soviet oppression.

Controlling media and information centers as well as surveillance and informant networks throughout their empire, the KGB conducted population control research within the USSR and its colonies that is fundamentally unethical, perhaps evil. That KGB never disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union — the Chekist security elites in post-Soviet Russia carried over, even more empowered today than the Soviet era. The KGB evolved into the FSB and from it emerged Putin. He’d risen the KGB ranks as an officer stationed in communist East Germany in close collaboration with their Stasi secret police. The unethical insights of these Chekist mobsters running Russia have led to effective psychological warfare and disinformation campaigns against the USA — these have worked to turn us against one another as they propagandize and corrupt us.

In the chaotic car-bombing filled days of Russia’s 1990s that began with the fall of the USSR, infamous Russian neofascist, Alexander Dugin, wrote in his Foundations of Geopolitics, eerily foreshadowing Russia’s strategies for revenge on the West:

It is generally important to introduce geopolitical chaos within American daily life experience by encouraging all manner of separatism, ethnic diversity, social and racial conflict, actively supporting every extremist dissident movement, racist sectarian groups, and destabilizing the political process within America.

Today, we might listen to the decent voices that have lived and studied the toxic impacts of Soviet psychological manipulation to glean valuable insights.  Exiled Russian opposition leader (and former World Chess Champion) Garry Kasparov argues Trump brought with him Soviet-style post-truth politics and psychological manipulation in his rise surrounding the 2016 elections. Meanwhile, post-Soviet authoritarianism scholar Sarah Kendzior reminds us consistently on her Gaslit Nation podcast that living under such leadership’s whims amounts to mental manipulation analogous to living with an emotionally abusive partner. 

The games Trump and Putin play push us to believe our domestic political partners are unreasonable and unfit via vile post-truth propaganda that promote self-reinforcing psychological traps. These attempt to convince Americans we fundamentally oppose one another in ways that cannot be solved by debate and compromise. Pushing false but psychologically appealing notions, this messaging suggests factions threaten, hate and inflict hardships on one another. Eroding notions of truth and truthful communication, this post-truth influence pushes grievance, fear, dishonesty, bad faith and retribution. All of these corrode Liberal self-governance. All promote strongman leadership as a means to maintain order.

Unfortunately, the attack is now deeply entrenched in our politics, especially on our right wing, carried forward largely by co-opted Americans. MAGA extremism is now widespread, has captured the Republican Party and experiencing an increasingly dangerous mass psychosis, thoroughly disconnected from reality by a firehose of falsehood. Pro-Ukraine activist Andrea Chalupa argues:

We’re dealing with a whole new science and psychology because the disinformation is separating families. That's been going on in Ukraine for years with the Kremlin disinformation. You have relatives in Russia—Ukrainians are getting their homes bombed and the relatives in Russia are like, “Oh, that's not really happening.” And so it's a crisis that the whole world is dealing with, and we're forced to figure out how to live with this and protect ourselves from it because it takes lives…

(Authors note April ‘24: Factions on the left in the US have become increasingly authoritarian also, as demonstrated by acceptance of Hamas’s barbaric terrorism)

The mind viruses Russia injects into our system attempt to wedge us and convince us we are unable to compromise, a potent collective illusion. And logically, if we are unable to compromise within the bounds of our Constitutional system, then there is no alternative but to act outside it — domination and authoritarianism must emerge.

Playing on our biases and grievances, this psychological warfare divides, co-opts and conquers. The post-Soviets use their authoritarian psychological insights to push propaganda through information silos of the internet. There, they feed us messaging that appeals to our own struggles, problems and fears to close our hearts and turn us against one another, to believe the worst motivations drive one another. Co-opts and plants magnify these efforts. As such, different factions move farther and farther apart, less able to communicate with a common set of facts. More and more, we increasingly inhabit a frightening wilderness of mirrors. In this confusing post-truth world, it is extraordinarily difficult to find truth. So, cynicism builds, with increasing levels of unresolved conflict continually being stoked. It tends to cause us to despair and lose hope when it is hard to tell what is real and whats rank propaganda. It is scary and disorienting. The fear and confusion, especially when sustained, tends to cause us to close our hearts and our minds, to distrust and to radicalize.

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Manipulator Petyr Baelish, from HBO’s Game of Thrones demonstrates the corrosive nature of ascribing worst motives in domestic conflicts

The most legitimately aggrieved factions in America get the most worked over as they are the most ripe for manipulation. These groups can most easily be driven into psychosis by these masters of tyranny, in turn acting irrationally in a manner that threatens others, creating a vicious cycle of backlash. These are the MAGA faithful — mostly white, working class and rural, and the BLM faithful — mostly black, poor, and urban. Both groups have legitimate grievance over our government and society not serving their interests. No one needs to be reminded of our racially-based, slavery-filled past or our current debates over systemic racism. Other issues might unite these groups, but remain mostly unaddressed by our leadership, with long stagnant wages, partially driven by gobs of cheap, illegal foreign labor competing for lower-income jobs. US labor standards have fallen behind many other developed nations. United, these groups might be a potent political force for labor interests to reverse these trends. Tyranny, however, pits these groups against one another.

These groups are so ripe for manipulation because it is far easier to swallow far-fetched propaganda and conspiracy theory when they serve to explain why one didn’t get something one deserved. People tend to seek such answers naturally, and the post-Soviets know this, standing ready to fill those voids.

As one side radicalizes and lashes out in anger, this radicalizes the other. I see this first hand on either side. My ‘little brother’ from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, a sweet and decent young black man living in West Philly with his Mom, had a difficult time without siblings during Covid isolation in 2020-2021. It did not help he was fed rank radicalizing propaganda, and also enduring Trump’s insults regarding racially-based police brutality while tethered to his screen for months and months.  I was shocked when I heard him repeat conspiracy theories about the government and secretive racist organizations of white people. I was stupefied and angry to hear it, later learning he was manipulated online, on Youtube and internet forums. He is a gentle soul and not violent. But I have no doubt this malign infuence dramatically increased the violence and instability of the race rioting during the summer of 2020. It is not reported nearly enough that African Americans have been a primary target of Russian propaganda, the #1 demographic targeted in the 2016 elections according to a US Senate investigation. Russia has a history of poking US racial tensions and exploits the scarring of our original American sin.

Whats more, co-opts and plants also exacerbated the chaos and damage of the rioting, particularly with false flags from the Boogaloo extremist movement, specifically radicalized to inflame US civil war.

Taken together, these created massive, destabilizing violent conflict in our streets. This insecurity deeply radicalized America as we watched our screens during Covid isolation. 

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When factions lash out in irrational rage, it tends to threaten and radicalize others. For example, to many of us on the left side of US political psyche, President Trump’s constant bullying, insults and lies as he held power over us felt very much like an abusive father or spouse. In turn, this instigates anger and resentment, but also radicalizes with the notion that our political foes are not reasonable or interested in serving mutual concerns. Like a defiant teenager unfairly criticized, the tendency is often to shut down communication, to stop listening and talking and become passive-aggressively defiant.

Other factions, aggrieved, feeling silenced and ignored with greater and greater frustration, while also being told convenient, political lies to magnify grievances, many experience feelings of invalidation and grievance. These lead to increasingly aggressive behaviors for the invalidated and aggrieved emotions to find outlet. So, as some factions becomes more passive aggressive, this fuels the other to become more aggressive.

Taken together, the cynicism and bad faith bullying in domestic leadership promoted an unfortunate psychological framework that reinforces itself in a wicked spiral, pushing each side to the most extreme ideological positions possible.  It is now horribly entrenched in our politics.

To help interrupt the terrible cycle, one might demonstrate faith in rational debate rather than trying to silence perceived verbal attacks with no perceived merit. To do so, one must demonstrate willingness to listen. Also advisable — attempting to persuade still-reachable parties on the other side of the aisle, remembering compromise is not only acceptable, it is critical. The threat of fascism is real, and compromise to address grievances is a necessity in order to defeat it within our Constitutional system.

If experiencing feelings of frustration and emotional invalidation, one might moderate the impulse to lash out in anger. Instead, focusing on communicating the rational basis for arguments in nonthreatening fashion is a far healthier format. In doing so, one should consider the rational basis for that argument may not be strong on evaluation. Consider that underlying assumptions may be false or manipulated.

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Understanding the psychological basis of those ideological extremes is also helpful to undermine and dispel them. Pushed primarily online, this propaganda attempts to convince us of simple answers to intractable injustices that make domestic opponents appear hostile or dangerous.

Boiled down, these arguments attempt to convince the left that the right is responsible for the injustice of the natural world — original sin more or less. For example, our nation’s quite noble Liberal founding is untenable and invalid, because it institutionalized slavery, an abusive system of labor that has existed as long as Humankind. Therefore, the social order is fundamentally immoral and our right wing opponents, racist and primarily in the corporate and security/police spheres, must be suppressed with state power or violence. 

Conversely, cynical arguments attempt to convince the right that the left is responsible for all the injustice emerging from modernity and tech development, so much so that the social order is near collapse. As such, the left wing corrupting the natural social order must be opposed by state violence or vigilante suppression, primarily in their typical domains of education, media and justice. For example, the left wing is responsible for new tech allowing for sex change and gender transition. Available to our children in a manner it was not to us, this dislocation amounts to the left wing corrupting our children via educational institutions and media, so they must be forcibly suppressed.  

These are, of course, too-simple generalizations — convenient psychological traps that unfairly place blame of the unfairness of our world on necessary parts of society and psyche. Nonetheless, such arguments are often convincing.

Anti-authoritarian scholar Hannah Arendt makes a key observation regarding cynical political lies:

Lies are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes or expects to hear.

Putin, Stalin, Hitler and Trump have all masterfully exploited biases and knowledge gaps to convince the public of falsehoods and push extreme ideology, as have many other politicians and media outlets left and right.

Because this psychological warfare pushes citizens into dynamics analogous to dysfunctional relationships, there are analogous solutions to help unwind the effects and break from the toxic spiral. Family crises are often resolved in family or couples therapy. There, mediators encourage participants to truly listen to one another leading with compassion, to believe decent or understandable motivations drive one another, even if it does not seem so on the surface. US citizens might help restore political functionality with similar attitudes and understanding. 

Citizens will need to demonstrate to one another they are not too ideologically pure to address the other side’s grievances, even if they seem absurd. Citizens must first accept feelings are real, a critical part of conflicts, and therefore cannot simply be rejected, especially by those unable to feel them.

This world is going up in flames
And nobody is gonna to take the blame
Don't tell me how to live my life
When you never felt the pain

-Charles Bradley

One core example is trans rights. This new issue emerging on the heels of gay rights successes took many Americans by surprise. Even many progressive friends have confided to me they feel this push for trans rights has been over-eager and rushed. And clearly, this controversy is being exploited by fascists (including Putin himself.) 

The psychological nexus of sexuality, gender and childhood that underlies the trans debate wades into some of our most basic core beliefs as people. It leads back to deeply different, deep-seated notions about sex education and the innocence of children. Ultimately because of fears about pedophilia, children’s safety and innocence and in keeping with parents’ rights to direct their children’s decisions, many are fundamentally opposed to their kids being exposed to trans-friendly education at this time. 

To help resolve the conflict, progressives should consider the viewpoint that many conservatives have — this push for trans rights has come on so fast, and so on the heels of the gay rights push, that our society has not had adequate time to digest these shifts. Therefore, it is premature to determine reasonable and fair accommodations on an issue that impacts only a very small minority. Other psycho-social phenomena affecting adolescents like cutting, bulimia or suicide have viral qualities. Many conservatives have fears trans acceptance may be similar. So, exposing children to these ideas might cause some to jump aboard without a fundamental need to do so — engage in this behavior that is perceived as difficult and risky. As such, gender transition might ultimately be unsatisfying and counterproductive.

These concerns while valid have led to  “don’t say gay” state legislation that has suppressed interests and choices, especially of more liberal enclaves. This is meaningful suppression particularly for the children of gay couples whose teachers are now chilled from even mentioning such parents. 

Conservatives might consider the viewpoint many progressives have, that freedom over one’s body, and how one presents one’s self is essential in any nation that calls itself free. If conservatives are truly concerned with the government staying out of citizens lives, then they should agree that bans on trans education and treatments are dangerous government overreach.

So, one means to demonstrate earnestness and ability to compromise to meet mutual concerns, is to promote national legislation that takes perceived worst and most forceful outcomes off the table. If conservatives are worried progressives will force trans acceptance everywhere and progressives are worried conservatives will deny trans acceptance everywhere, then there is room for compromise. Such compromise might mandate educational choices regarding sex education and trans accommodation be made at the most local level possible. Or perhaps parents might be given the choice of whether their children will be exposed to trans-friendly or more traditional programming.

These are not the only solutions of course but are reasonable ones that address both sides core concerns without giving either everything. Perhaps not as satisfying as any would like, these move the ball forward allowing families where this is a core issue to have choice on some level — freedom. It will not help every trans child of course. But if the alternative is such dysfunction we slide into fascism, consider how many would be helped. In time, when there is more information about the outcomes of various formats, a more universally convincing path will present itself. Those convinced they are on the right side of history should be comforted that their perspective will eventually win over a critical mass in a free society.

Listening, re-examining our own positions for cynicism and restoring earnest debate are all key to restoring healthy political life in our great nation. Addressing grievance and finding compromise to put out the fires of conflict will help to blunt this attack — although leadership not citizens bear primary responsibility for this.

Citizens might also help blunt these attacks by restoring important reference points in the confusing wilderness of mirrors, to demonstrate common cause and love for this place we share. Leaning on our shared mythology and symbolism, we can help communicate with those who we’ve lost some shared set of facts. I encourage everyone, left and right, who loves their country, to show it to everyone, even if its currently a total mess. Flying an American flag helps communicate common cause. Not a factional variation, but the original stars and bars.

The American Dream is also a potent myth, and one predicated on our free liberal system striving towards meritocracy. Even if far more dream than reality, this hopeful sense of justice and opportunity is a compelling message for many and one that many have lost over decades of income stagnation. Citizen might try to communicate to one another they value this dream, how much it is worth saving, restoring or creating for as many citizens as possible. 

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Hybrid world war is upon us. As demonstrated in the clever Blurry in the USA mashup music video posted above, the whole world watched, shocked, as American cities burned. This psychological warfare has important repercussions for the world order, which the USA upholds.

Bridging our divides to become a functional political nation once more is critical — the world and our children depend on our defeating fascism, as we depended on The Greatest Generation the last round. United, our nation is the most formidable of all times because our Liberal governance empowers and motivates more people, sharing wealth and power more fairly than the authoritarian alternatives. Our system is imperfect and corruptible as we are as humans. It needs work and defense in this moment to fend off corruption, tribalism, fascism and oligarchy. Our Liberal Republic, the greatest political experiment of all times, also strives towards justice and equality of opportunity, even if it is not always a straight-line path. 

Rallying around the flag, talking up the fundamental goodness of the American Dream and our freedoms, approaching different-minded neighbors with collaborative attitudes, engaging in healthy debate with respect for differing opinions — these are some ways we might prove to ourselves and the world that Liberal democracy still functions better than the strongman goons that would rule over us without it.

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