I was listening to an interview on protests in Georgia (the country) at the end of April.
This article skips over the full weight of this seemingly innocuous (heck, even seemingly valuable!) disclosure law for organizations with 20%+ foreign funding, but the key is that Russia in 2012 used a similar law as a wedge to disrupt civil society.
So locals know it's a dogwhistle. It invites *more*, not less sowing of disruption in favour of foreign interests.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/17/georgia-russia-how-dream-of-freedom-unravelled-foreign-agents-law
Something Adam Curtis described in one of his docs has stuck with me for years:
One way Putin's Russia solidified was through investment in political action groups across the spectrum. The key was to discourage citizens from feeling they could trust any initiative for change to be genuine. That's how you keep people in line: Believe me! Everyone else is lying to you!
It's been a good tactic for many operators (including Russia with other countries!) ever since. And we just aren't ready for it.
@MLClark For centuries, Russian culture has been to value collective security over individual liberties. They don't have the tradition of liberalism that we have in the west. Change has always been scary for them, even if the status quo is miserable.
I can't remember the specific doc, but in one a Russian woman is interviewed in the 90s, and asked what she thinks about her future. I can't remember if it was in general or where she saw herself in a few years, but she radiated annoyance with the very query. Who could think about "the future"? What a question. There was only survival in the moment. It was an arrogance and an insult to talk of the future with people living as she was. The world looks very, very different to some.