The Emergence and Ascendancy of Conspiracism in Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 84-109
Author(s):  
Scott Radnitz
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The West ◽  
Conspiracy Narratives

This chapter explains Russia’s transformation from a regime of competitive conspiracism to one of sustained official conspiracism. It demonstrates that Russia’s leaders adopted conspiratorial rhetoric reactively and intermittently, in response to politically resonant events. It took a series of critical setbacks in 2004 and 2005—threats to sovereignty, challenges to Putin’s narrative about rebuilding Russia, and deteriorating relations with the West—to cause the shift. It analyzes four events that took place under differing circumstances and that correspond to relative peaks and valleys of conspiracism: the 1996 presidential election, the 2004 terrorist attack in Beslan, the 2005 anti-privatization protests, and the 2014 Euromaidan protests. Examining conspiracy claims in context reveals that Kremlin officials initially selectively embraced the conspiracy narratives of nationalist pundits and intellectuals. Later, the Kremlin adopted a strategy of sustained conspiracism to proactively frame those threats, a practice that became all-consuming by 2014.

scholarly journals PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF THE BELARUSIAN DIASPORA IN PRESENT-DAY UKRAINE IN PERSPRCTIVE OF THE BELARUSIAN REVOLUTION OF DIGNITY AND FREEDOM

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Iryna Grabovska ◽  
Тetiana Тalko ◽  
Dmytro Tovmash
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Significant Problem ◽  
The West ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Future ◽  
Reform Processes

The problem of emigration to Ukraine of a significant number of Belarusian citizens due to the events of the Belarusian anti-Lukashenko revolution of dignity and freedom, which began in this country in August 2020 after the presidential election, is discussed in the article. It is noted that at the beginning of 2021 the number of those who fled to Ukraine, hiding from repression and persecution by the Belarusian authorities, was already more than 75 thousand people. In the future, the number of Belarusian refugees is projected to increase to 100-120 thousand people by 2021. It is unknown yet which of these people will join the Belarusian Diaspora in Ukraine, which before these events was the second largest Diaspora in Ukraine. And who considers Ukraine only as a territory of transit further to the East, or the West, for example, to Poland. In connection with these events, the Ukrainian state and society faced a series of challenges, problems and threats, to which it will be necessary to find adequate answers. In particular, the authors of the article consider unjustified some warnings expressed by patriotic Ukrainian citizens about the possible growth of pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine due to the arrival and settlement of Belarusian refugees here. It seems logical that people with pro-Russian sentiments would rather immigrate to Russia than come to Ukraine. It is expected that a significant problem for the newly arrived Belarusians may be the understanding and establishment of dialogue and contacts with the "old" Belarusian Diaspora in Ukraine because of its commitment to Lukashenko and sympathy for Russia. It is concluded that Belarusian citizens, active participants in the Belarusian revolution, can become a useful enzyme for accelerating the reform processes in Ukraine and will contribute to further democratic and pro-European movement in this area.

Nazarbayev's re-election will boost Kazakh 'siloviki'

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Strategic Alliance ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Intention To Stay ◽  
The West ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Office ◽  
High Degree

Significance Three candidates competed for the country's supreme political office in the election on April 26. Unsurprisingly, Nazarbayev (74) won by a landslide, obtaining 97.7% of the total votes cast; the official turnout was 95.2%. This is the fifth presidential election in Kazakhstan since it gained independence in 1991. Nazarbayev's triumphant re-election suggests he intends to stay in power so long as his health permits. The prospect of an early succession is, therefore, again indefinitely delayed. Impacts Nazarbayev's re-election and apparent intention to stay in power are positive signs for foreign investors interested in political stability. His win may facilitate implementing anti-crisis measures thanks to domestic stability and a high degree of political centralisation. Kazakhstan's strategic alliance with Russia in the Eurasian Union is unlikely to experience major changes after Nazarbayev's re-election. Astana will continue to pursue a multi-vector foreign policy aimed at good relations with Russia, China, the West and Islamic countries.

Core Europe and the United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 129-150
Author(s):  
Mitchell A. Orenstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Extremism ◽  
The Us ◽  
The One ◽  
Democratic Elections

Core Europe and North America have often imagined themselves to be invulnerable to the Russian influence campaigns that have affected smaller, weaker countries in the lands in between. However, in recent years, that perception has broken down as Russia regularly hacks democratic elections in the West, sponsors extremists, spreads disinformation, and may have tipped the US 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump. The West now exhibits a similar politics to what we observe in the lands in between—with growing political extremism and polarization on the one hand and the rise of cynical power brokers on the other who seek to profit from both sides of an intensifying divide. Increasingly, democratic elections seem to pose a “civilizational choice” between the forces of liberal democracy and authoritarian nationalism on the Russian model.

US Select Committee on January 6 must tread carefully

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Committee Report ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Select Committee ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Midterm Elections

Significance The Select Committee is charged with investigating the “facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol” on January 6. It will need to be scrupulous in its process and findings if it is to deflect charges of partisanship. Impacts The overwhelming of Capitol Police on duty on January 6 will lead to a strengthening of security around Congress. Those who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump will see the Select Committee as complicit. A tightly argued and fully documented final committee report could be released ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Uzbekistan parliament power heightens tensions risk

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Domestic Security ◽  
Security Service ◽  
Democratic Change ◽  
Presidential Succession ◽  
Run Up

Significance Parliamentary elections in December once again highlighted the executive's firm grip on power and an overall lack of democratic change. On January 30, Karimov will turn 77, yet he is still standing as one of four candidates in the upcoming presidential election. Impacts Uzbekistan's relations with the West will not improve markedly because of lack of progress in democratisation and liberalisation. The security service will be a major force in the presidential succession and a potential power vacuum. A tighter domestic security clampdown is likely in the run-up to the March presidential election.

Ahead to '81: A Greater U.S.-Israel Storm

Worldview ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Mark A. Bruzonsky
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Umbilical Cord ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
Middle East Policy ◽  
First Time

Another presidential election looms—and American Middle East policy is again subordinated for about a year to the political circus mandated by American-style democracy.For Israel this American election is more crucial than ever. Economically desperate, Israel relies on an American umbilical cord, now weakening. The Jewish state's political isolation could become psychologically unbearable if U.S. Government attitudes begin shifting even as far as have those of Western Europe—which, for the first time, is a real possibility. Israel's strategic/military position, with or without the West Bank, is largely a function of American arms and perceived American determination. And most crucially, in the longer run, basic American public attitudes toward Israel will bp heavily influenced by the tone and content of the incoming administration.

Journalism, solidarity and the civil sphere: The case of Charlie Hebdo

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Luengo ◽  
Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The West ◽  
The Core ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Civil Sphere ◽  
Cartoon Crisis ◽  
Media Discourses ◽  
Charlie Hebdo

On 7 January 2015, Said and Chérif Kouachi assaulted the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, leaving 12 people dead. The terrorist attack soon became a highly symbolic event, reflecting the core struggle between free speech and religious values that escalated after the ‘cartoon crisis’ in 2005. In this article, we wish to explore media discourses in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in three European countries – Spain, Norway and the United Kingdom. In particular, we investigate if and how journalism performed their role as ‘vital centre’ in the ‘civil sphere’. We find that the patterns of in-group and out-group were carefully constructed to avoid polarization between ‘ordinary’ Muslims and the West in most newspapers. By doing so, most of the newspapers managed to work for the construction of an idealized civil sphere that exists beyond race, nationality or religion.

scholarly journals Islamophobia, Othering and the Sense of Loss: Leila Aboulela’s The Kindness of Enemies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Abkar Alkodimi
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The Other ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
The West ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
Biased Perception ◽  
Terrorist Acts

Muslims’ image in the West had completely changed since 9/11, 2001. This paper uses the textual analysis method to explore Leila Aboulela as a writer with a sophisticated commitment to Islam who strives to counteract the biased perception of Islam and Muslims. Drawing on the views of Wail Hassan, the study focuses on Leila Aboulela’s novel The Kindness of Enemie to examine the author’s concern of Muslims’ image in the west after the 9/11 terrorist attack and its impact on Muslims, particularly the immigrants. It argues that Aboulela uses Imam Shamil as a metaphor to debunk the terrorist attacks that target innocent people under the pretext of Islam, and on the other hand, setting a good example of the concept of jihad. The findings show that Aboulela’s primary concern is to condemn terrorist operations against innocent people worldwide. To illustrate her views, the author uses two contrasted pictures, the historical story of Imam Shamil, who embodies the proper jihadist/resistance vis-à-vis with the current so-called jihadists. The study further shows that those terrorist acts have significantly impacted Muslims’ lives and are the first cause of contemporary racism, islamophobia, and the sense of loss among Muslim immigrants in the west.

scholarly journals Rethinking Islamic Education in Facing the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-147
Author(s):  
Rosnani Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
First Century ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
The West ◽  
World Community ◽  
Unilateral Declaration ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
Ruling Elites

The Muslim ummah, as a world community, faces many challenges at thethreshold of the new century. The fateful event of 9/11 has revealed yetanother facet of the problems plaguing Muslim society: the existence ofradical, or what some media have labeled “militant,” Muslim groups.Despite the Muslim world’s condemnation of the 9/11 terrorist attack, theUnited States considered itself the victim and thus launched its “war againstterrorism” against the alleged perpetrators: the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Iraq,which was alleged to be building weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)and assisting al-Qaeda, became the second target. Iran would have becomethe immediate third target if the international community had supported theBush administration’s unilateral declaration of war against Iraq. But it didnot, for the allegations could not be proven.Unfortunately, this new American policy has not helped to curb aggressionor terrorism; rather, it has caused radical groups to run amok andindulge in even more acts of terrorism in Israel, Palestine, Indonesia, Turkey,Spain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The 9/11 tragedy has caused the West to holdmore negative images of Muslims and Islam and has made life more difficultfor Muslims living in the West. In response, anti-Americanism hasgrown throughout the world, particularly in the Muslim world.1September 11 seemed to provide certain Muslim governments with thelicense to combat terrorism on the local front more rigorously. This actionheightened the conflicts between local Muslims and the ruling governments,as in the case of General Musharraf of Pakistan, who decided to cooperatewith Washington in its “war against terrorism” by providing bases forAmerican forces. After 9/11, Egypt, Tunisia, and Malaysia all receivedrepeated praise from Washington for their experience and seriousness incombating terrorism and joining the alliance against it, despite their trackrecord on, for example, human rights violations vis-à-vis the ruling elites’ ...

One Nation, Divisible

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mugambi Jouet
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Birth Certificate ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
The West ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Western Nations ◽  
Universal Health

The misconception that “exceptionalism” means American superiority stems from how Republicans turned this longstanding concept into a rhetorical weapon against Obama by accusing him of unpatriotically lacking faith in “American exceptionalism” given his “socialist” and “un-American” agenda. These accusations paralleled conspiracy theories claiming that Obama is not really American due to his fake U.S. birth certificate and Islamism. Meanwhile, intense polarization became a major dimension of American exceptionalism’s true meaning. The huge rift between conservatives and liberals under George W. Bush worsened under Obama. It may grow worse following the Clinton-Trump presidential election. Intriguingly, America and other Western nations are moving apart and closer at the same time. While liberal America is mainly evolving in the same direction as the rest of the West, conservative America is an outlier in light of its peculiar ideology, including profound anti-intellectualism, anti-governmentalism, and Christian fundamentalism. Liberal America’s worldview is not simply different from the worldview in conservative America, but also closer to the dominant worldview elsewhere in the West: Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Tellingly, universal health care is broadly supported by both liberals and conservatives in all Western nations except America, where Republicans relentlessly denounce the evils of “socialized medicine.”

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