Enlarge image
Vladimir Putin in a TV address on February 24, 2022
Photo: Handout / KREMLIN.RU / AFP
are we at war
We have been all along.
Putin just reminded us of that in his speech on Monday evening.
To understand what is happening, we need to separate what has been termed a "hybrid war" in relation to Russia - a mix of political aggression, economic pressure, military action, and cyberattacks - from a "political war."
Moscow is waging this against the so-called West for longer, not in the hope of preparing a confrontation with it, but to demoralize and distract it to such an extent that, out of surprise, the ability to act arises when Russia violently expands its spheres of influence geostrategically.
The American historian and diplomat George F. Kennan, referring to Clausewitz, described political warfare as “using all the means at a nation's disposal, without war, to achieve its national ends.
Such operations are both overt and covert.
They range from overt measures such as political alliances, economic measures (as ERP), and "white" propaganda, to covert operations such as clandestine support of "friendly" foreign elements, "black" psychological warfare, and even the promotion of underground resistance in enemy states. «
To understand that this political war is already underway, we have to look at Putin's speech on Monday night and learn about one of his most important rhetorical and political strategies:
maskirovka
.
Translated: camouflage or masquerade.
This Soviet-era military-strategic model encompasses a complex set of tactics of camouflage and deception, used both in diplomatic negotiations and in the (sometimes Potemkinian) positioning of armed forces.
It's about leaving the opponent in the dark about one's own intentions and goals, about disinformation and surprise.
Lying, denial, unpredictability are an essential part of the
maskirovka
if it is to succeed.
more on the subject
War in Ukraine: This is how Europe wants to react to Putin's attackBy Markus Becker and Ralf Neukirch, Brussels
Do you remember the armed, uniformed »green men« without national emblems who appeared in Crimea in 2014 and first presented themselves as »self-defense« to the Russian-speaking population?
Although their connection to Russia was obvious, Putin denied it, declaring with the stoa of a man aware of his informational superiority: "There are many military uniforms."
This ambiguity made international behavior more difficult - it was not possible to react adequately diplomatically or militarily to a staging of the ambiguity.
Weeks later he admitted the Russian order - because he wanted to admit it, as a gesture of his own strength.
This is
maskirovka
.
This theatrical choreography of demonstrations of power and spreading fear, think of the nuclear exercises in Belarus, the call for the evacuation of the civilian population from Donbass, accompanied by denials and a general dismissal, illustrates the political potency of this communicative kabuki.
The idea of "political warfare" now helps us to reclassify these deceptions and change our perspective on them: we should not interpret the informational deconstruction as a prelude to a possible war, but as a military attack in an already ongoing political war.
In his televised address he demonstrated that he could replace truth with power and that he could shape the claimed reality according to his own ideas through pure declaration without any form of restriction.
It the disruption, by a masquerade openly flaunted.
Putin, for example, emphasized "that modern Ukraine was created entirely by Russia, more precisely by Bolshevik, communist Russia." And further that this process began "almost immediately after the 1917 revolution."
more on the subject
Russia's attack on Ukraine: shock announced by Severin Weiland
In this historical revisionist classification, Putin does not recognize Ukrainian statehood and denies its history, which begins before the 19th century.
Derived etymologically, Ukraine means "border area, military border, mark" and the Russian ruler makes it clear here that he apparently wants to take the name literally.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov got the message.
He warned on Tuesday that difficult times were ahead for the country and accused Russia of trying to revive the USSR.
A few hours later, Putin asserted that he was "not aiming for empire rebuilding."
His speech, in the guise of historically compelling logic, consciously revealed his ambition, the aim of which goes far beyond post-Soviet nostalgia.
Accordingly, the conflict is not only a geostrategic one, but a political one in the struggle for reality: It is based on the fact that Putin does not see Russia as it is, but as he sees it - and wants to enforce his vision of reality.
This is certainly one of the reasons why reality star Trump was so enthusiastic about this show.
There is no declaration of war, but it is not necessary either, because in this political war we have been informed time and again with every communicative action by Putin that it has long been underway.
And now, as of today, in the combination of hybrid and political war, it is: a horror.