Neo-Sovietism

Neo-Sovietism is a broad term of reference relating both to existing policy decisions in the former Soviet Union and to a small political movement dedicated to reviving the Soviet Union in the modern world or to reviving specific aspects of Soviet life. Some commentators have said that current Russian President Vladimir Putin holds many neo-Soviet views, especially concerning law and order and military strategic defense.

According to Pamela Druckerman of The New York Times, Neo-Sovietism is simply an old Soviet practice of censorship in which "the government manages civil society, political life and the media." Mathew Kaminski of The Wall Street Journal on the other hand argues that it is more complex. He claims that it is more an effort by Putin to express the glory of the Soviet Union in order to generate support for a "revived Great Russian power in the future" by bringing back memories of various Russian accomplishments that legitimatized Soviet dominance, including the Soviet victory against Nazi Germany. Kaminski continues on by saying that Neo-Sovietism "offers up Russian jingoism stripped bare of Marxist internationalist pretenses" and uses it to scare Russia's neighbours and to generate Russian patriotism and anti-Americanism.

Andrew Meier of the Los Angeles Times in 2008 listed three points that laid out Neo-Sovietism and how modern Russia resembles the Soviet Union: First was that Russia was a land of doublespeak. Meier claims that Russia has deliberately distorted words and facts on various subjects, particularly regarding the Russo-Georgian War at the time by claiming that the United States instigated the conflict and that Georgia was committing genocide in South Ossetia. Second was that Russia was willing to enhance its power by any means possible, including harsh repression of its own citizens with examples being Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Mothers of Beslan. Lastly, Russia remains a land in which "fear of the state -- and its suffocating reach -- prevails" by introducing numerous laws that limit free expression and promote propaganda.

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