Andrei P. Tsygankov — Nobody loves Russia: how western media have perpetuated the myth of Putin’s ‘neo-Soviet autocracy’

Calling BS on Western propaganda and setting the record straight.

Russia’s political system has frequently been criticised by Western politicians and commentators, with some observers drawing parallels between the rule of Vladimir Putin and the old Soviet regime during the communist-era. But how accurate are these criticisms? Andrei P. Tsygankov writes that a particular narrative which views Russia as a ‘neo-Soviet autocracy’ has built up in western media sources. He argues that this narrative ignores the reality of Putin’s regime and serves simply to legitimise the identity of the United States and the American-led ‘free world’ relative to that of an ‘oppressive’ Russia.

London School of Economics
Nobody loves Russia: how western media have perpetuated the myth of Putin’s ‘neo-Soviet autocracy’

Andrei P. Tsygankov | Professor in the Departments of Political Science and International Relations at San Francisco State University