Russia was the master, and the other republics in the USSR the slaves who did the master’s bidding.
Russia is trying to rebuild its colonial system today, both with hard power — blackmail, intimidation, military action and other muscle flexing — and soft power, the main approach of which is trying to brainwash other countries’ citizens into believing the Russians are their buddies.
You would think that the Kremlin wouldn’t have to bother with soft power in my homeland, Armenia, the country that has become the most shameless example of a Russian colony since the demise of the Soviet Union.
After all, Russia has several hard-power elements at its disposal in its relations with Armenia. One is a military base at Gyumri, that the Russians could use to dispatch troops to depose an Armenian regime that was becoming too independent or quell an uprising against a pro-Russian Armenian regime.
Another hard-power element is the threat of cutting off Armenia’s energy supplies, since Russian companies now own most of the supplies and the means to distribute them, including natural-gas pipelines.
Moscow has learned in recent years that despite Armenia being deep in its pocket, it needs to apply soft power in the country as well as the hard power of implied threats of military action and the cutting off of energy supplies.
After using the hard-power tactic in 2013 of forcing Armenia to drop its plan to join the European Union in favor of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, the Russians have doubled down on soft power — partly to assuage Armenian anger over their anti-EU strong-arming.
Underscoring Russia’s decision to expand its soft-power efforts were two events that stoked Armenian anger in 2015.
One was the Kremlin’s plan to have a Russian solider accused of murdering an Armenian family in January tried in a Russian military court rather than in an Armenian civilian court. Shocked at the vehemence of Armenian street protests over this issue, the Kremlin caved in and agreed to an Armenian trial.
The other prickly issue was an announcement in July that Armenia’s Russian-owned national electric company would raise consumers’ rates by 17 percent the next month.
The backlash against Russia’s dashing of Armenia’s EU plans, its insistence on trying the Russian soldier in a Russian court, and its Kremlin-backed utility’s inability to have its way in Armenia without consequence have helped convince the Kremlin that it cannot take its reconstituted colonies for granted.
Russia is learning not only in Armenia but elsewhere that re-establishing those colonies isn’t going to be easy.
The former Soviet republics have had a taste of freedom for two decades, and most are loath to cede it back to Moscow. This includes countries that have decided on their own to remain close to Russia, such as Kazakhstan, which, although a good vassal, has defied some of Russia’s foreign-policy and economic demands.
So Russia is now employing more soft power than ever to ensure that Armenia remains its most compliant lap dog.
A key soft-power tool is Russian propaganda in the form of “news” broadcasts in Armenia. These give Armenians the Kremlin line on world affairs, including heavy doses of rhetoric against the West.
Expanding its propaganda effort, In recent years Russia has founded websites in Armenia that are mouthpieces for the Kremlin, and has encouraged Armenians to start pro-Russian websites.
Moscow has also encouraged Armenian politicians to praise Russia and denigrate the West, which some are happy to do. Political observers wonder cynically what kinds of rewards these politicians are receiving from Moscow.
Russia’s soft-power campaign has included establishing educational and cultural institutions in Armenia. The most prominent recent example was Moscow State University’s opening a branch in the capital of Yerevan last year.
The Russians run more than 100 language and cultural centers across Armenia as well.
In addition to its soft-power strategies of using propaganda, co-opting politicians and running educational and cultural programs, the Kremlin uses pro-Russian non-governmental organizations to burnish its image in Armenia.
Among the most important NGOs are the Armenian-Russian Union, the Russian-Armenian Support Center for Strategic and Public Initiatives, and the Armenian branch of the Union of Russian Armenians.
Although the Kremlin forced Armenia to join the Eurasian Economic Union, it has established NGOs to try to cultivate grassroots Armenian support for the trade bloc. They include the Eurasian Partnership Foundation, the Eurasian Information League, the Russian World Foundation and the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Rossotrudnichestvo, or Russian Partnership.
The examples I’ve mentioned are only a few of the tools that Russia is pulling out of its soft-power toolkit in Armenia.
Together, these efforts and many more constitute a comprehensive Russian effort to persuade Armenians that the Russians are their buddies, and are looking out for Armenia’s interests.
Only time will tell whether Armenians swallow this deceptive Russian bait hook, line and sinker.
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia. Follow her on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ArmineSahakyann
