Controlling the diaspora, Kremlin style

Russia has a lengthy history of compatriots abroad reaching back to the 19th century and stretching into the Putin era. Russians have endured centuries of repression, from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union, forcing millions to leave.

Escape from that tyranny has produced the world’s third largest diaspora, estimated at some 25,000,000 currently. This is soon to mushroom with Russia’s easing of its dual citizenship policy – some estimate at least a 5,000,000 additional Russians in the West, without even having to speak the language.

It’s a resource that the Kremlin knows it can manipulate and/or harass to advance its interests. A change to the Russian constitution would give Russia “the right to use any force to protect the lives and property of its citizens abroad in cases where the host country cannot or does not want to provide them with the protection to which they are entitled”. But there are other aspects to the diaspora-Moscow relations.

Observers say that this change in dual citizenship legislation is supported by the Russian diasporas abroad. In addition surveys have shown that Putin’s popularity with expatriate Russians exceeds that of Russians at home.

Analysts say there are plausible reasons for this. Many Russians feel guilty for leaving their land of birth. Those who are opposed to the government’s shift toward autocracy and leave certainly are not saddled with any sense of remorse. But leaving the homeland, especially for adversary countries such as Britain or the U.S., with other motives, has been a theme within Russian propaganda. These non-dissident emigrants are made to feel as if they have betrayed the country.

Thus those seeking a better future for their children, or feel trapped in economic stagnation, or not being able to fulfill their ambitions, have not expected to be called traitors. But propaganda has instilled in their subconscious that they have been disloyal to their country. They are made to feel that they have abandoned their homeland, not for moral reasons, but for personal benefit.

Forums, organizations, congresses are established so that Russians abroad can make some formal contact with their heritage country. Most of these associations express support for the Kremlin’s foreign policy. All three main organizations in Canada have openly backed Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and have complained when the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Central and Eastern European Coalition have protested against the local Russian organizations’ activities which idolize the Soviet past. One of the groups is backed by several Soviet veterans’ associations. It’s said that by backing current Russian foreign policy, expat Russians feel absolved of any act of betrayal.

Most of the organizations of Russian expats centre around cultural identification and language retention, with celebrating historical events, assisting newcomers to cope with settling in etc. Many immigrants are helped to establish themselves by the Russian foreign ministry. Russia gets the benefits of ex-pat lobbying efforts. Even though most of their activities involve ethno-cultural themes, members do accept this political reality.

One notes that the two national organizations in the U.S. and Canada that denote themselves to be the main voices of the local Russian-speaking communities, are both involved in promoting Russian foreign policy issues and also have similar names – the Congress of Russian Americans and the Russian Congress of Canada. The former has been involved in spreading conspiracy theories related to the “deep state” notion and also publicly supporting Donald Trump.

Emigrants in a desperate situation usually see the country to which they ‘escape’ as a place of solace and relief. This for Moscow is unacceptable. The Kremlin values the scholarly research which has shown that before immigrants consider themselves comfortable in adapting to a new country, they often feel resentment toward and rejection by their hosts. Although this reaction is temporary, Moscow knows how to exploit its occurrence, to isolate them psychologically from and to hinder any possibility of Russians adopting the ideology of their host country. The use of expat organizations is to create a nostalgic, patriotic milieu and keep the new Russian immigrants emotionally attached to the country they left.

(To be continued)

LAAS LEIVAT