Nina Khrushcheva, a Professor of International Affairs at The New School and great granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, dives into the labyrinth of Russian propaganda under Putin. She discusses how Putin's regime has shifted towards aggressive nationalism and the troubling revival of Stalin's image, reflecting on history's impact on current narratives. Khrushcheva also explores the surprising popularity of Orwell's '1984' as a beacon of hope amidst oppression and the enduring power of literature as a form of resistance in authoritarian regimes.
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insights INSIGHT
Putin's Early Soft Propaganda
Putin initially used soft propaganda showing himself as a relatable, skilled leader loved by the people.
This approach involved personal charisma and non-military images that appealed broadly to Russian citizens.
insights INSIGHT
Hardening Propaganda Post-2014 Crimea
Propaganda hardened after the 2014 Crimea annexation, emphasizing military might and glorifying Soviet victories.
Military imagery and Soviet symbols became pervasive in public spaces, linking current conflict to historic triumphs.
insights INSIGHT
Stalin's Rehabilitation in Russia
Stalin has been rehabilitated as a symbol of strong leadership and victory, overshadowing his brutal crimes.
Statues of Stalin reappear despite historical condemnation, reflecting a curated narrative to bolster Putin's image.
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The Gulag Archipelago is a three-volume series written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, exploring the Soviet labour camp system through a mix of historical narrative, personal accounts, and literary investigation. The book traces the history of the Gulag from Vladimir Lenin's decrees to the era of Nikita Khrushchev, detailing the arrest, conviction, transport, and imprisonment of prisoners. It includes Solzhenitsyn's own experiences as a Gulag prisoner and accounts from other inmates, highlighting the brutal conditions, forced labor, and the psychological and physical suffering of the prisoners. The work is a testament to the human spirit's struggle against evil and serves as a comprehensive critique of the Soviet regime's use of terror against its population[2][5][3].
1984
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George Orwell
Published in 1949, '1984' is a cautionary tale by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism. The novel is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three super-states, with the protagonist Winston Smith living in Oceania, ruled by the mysterious and omnipotent leader Big Brother. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the Party's ever-changing narrative. He begins an illicit love affair with Julia and starts to rebel against the Party, but they are eventually caught and subjected to brutal torture and indoctrination. The novel highlights themes of government surveillance, manipulation of language and history, and the suppression of individual freedom and independent thought.
Laurie Taylor talks to Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City about her research into the propaganda formulas deployed by Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin over the last two decades. As the great granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964, she offers personal, as well as political insights, into these developments, drawing on previous periods of oppression in Russian history. She argues that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has intensified 'hard' propaganda, leading to a pervasive presence of military images in every day life and the rehabilitation of Josef Stalin, the former dictator of the Soviet Union, as a symbol of Russian power. She suggests that lessons from past eras, described by such Soviet classics as Alexander Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, can offer small grounds for optimism and hope, as ordinary people absorb alternative narratives. How else to explain the fact that George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984, has been a bestseller for many years and has seen a surge in popularity since the start of the war in Ukraine?
Thinking Allowed 
