I ran across this 80's era lecture by ex-KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov where he described KGB tactics and philosophy in terms of propaganda warfare:
"The Art of Subversion"
(Paraphrasing) "85% of KGB action was not blowing up bridges and smuggling microfilm in Coke cans, or James Bond nonsense. It was Subversion."
He details the philosophical foundation from which the KGB operated, which one would presume, Putin was schooled and practiced in.
It helps make sense of current Russian policies wrt homosexuality and things like the limiting of Russian anti-government bloggers. It was apparently well understood that to bring an enemy country to its knees by exterior forces, a 4 stage program needed to be enacted.
Stage 1: Demoralize a country. Achieved by adding energy to the erosion of religion (the human-spirit connection), the erosion of education, (encouraging people to turn from studies of practical knowledge to more naval-gazing self-indulgent studies), the erosion of pragmatic political structures, the erosion of labor relations, (apparently Marxism and unions were viewed as such an erosive tool), and the erosion of law and order, and others. All this is achieved through the empowering of small oppositional liberal groups. One of the favorites was promoting of the idea of Equality.
Stage 2: Destabilize a country. Achieved by giving real power to the figureheads of the above mentioned movements. This results in a breakdown of communication and compromise between groups, turning disputes into fights which cannot be resolved without conflict.
Stage 3: Crisis. Everybody in the country grows confused and at war with every other element of the country. Exhaustion, low morale, non-functioning social and government structures are the result, leading people to suffering and finally to craving somebody to Save Them; a Strong Leader or Saviour. Two possible results: Civil War, or Invasion by a foreign power which will bring...
Stage 4: Stability. Once their jobs are done, the Marxists and Liberals and Intellectuals are shot and the new hard-line government establishes order, and the people, wearied through the previous stages, accept.
Yuri Bezmenov explains that reversing this program of covert warfare becomes increasingly difficult at each progressive stage. He asks, "Why call on huge resources and the military to reclaim power at Stage 3, when you can simply limit the freedoms of those splinter organizations back in Stage 1?" (Limit the power of bloggers with more than 3000 readers, for instance).
I'm still trying to digest this whole philosophy, -one which obviously didn't work out quite as planned for the Soviets when the KGB was actively pursuing these objectives during the Cold War, and it leaves out the understanding of how Psychopaths play into the process of Ponorization. -Not to mention the reality of 4D interference in human affairs. But it does provide a background picture of the playbook Putin was schooled in, and which colors his understanding and response to events currently transpiring in Russia and the world today.
There was another article in the forums posted back in 2010 about Yuri Bezmenov with some transcripts from an interview with the man and a couple of video links:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,16748.msg145442.html#msg145442
"The Art of Subversion"
(Paraphrasing) "85% of KGB action was not blowing up bridges and smuggling microfilm in Coke cans, or James Bond nonsense. It was Subversion."
He details the philosophical foundation from which the KGB operated, which one would presume, Putin was schooled and practiced in.
It helps make sense of current Russian policies wrt homosexuality and things like the limiting of Russian anti-government bloggers. It was apparently well understood that to bring an enemy country to its knees by exterior forces, a 4 stage program needed to be enacted.
Stage 1: Demoralize a country. Achieved by adding energy to the erosion of religion (the human-spirit connection), the erosion of education, (encouraging people to turn from studies of practical knowledge to more naval-gazing self-indulgent studies), the erosion of pragmatic political structures, the erosion of labor relations, (apparently Marxism and unions were viewed as such an erosive tool), and the erosion of law and order, and others. All this is achieved through the empowering of small oppositional liberal groups. One of the favorites was promoting of the idea of Equality.
Stage 2: Destabilize a country. Achieved by giving real power to the figureheads of the above mentioned movements. This results in a breakdown of communication and compromise between groups, turning disputes into fights which cannot be resolved without conflict.
Stage 3: Crisis. Everybody in the country grows confused and at war with every other element of the country. Exhaustion, low morale, non-functioning social and government structures are the result, leading people to suffering and finally to craving somebody to Save Them; a Strong Leader or Saviour. Two possible results: Civil War, or Invasion by a foreign power which will bring...
Stage 4: Stability. Once their jobs are done, the Marxists and Liberals and Intellectuals are shot and the new hard-line government establishes order, and the people, wearied through the previous stages, accept.
Yuri Bezmenov explains that reversing this program of covert warfare becomes increasingly difficult at each progressive stage. He asks, "Why call on huge resources and the military to reclaim power at Stage 3, when you can simply limit the freedoms of those splinter organizations back in Stage 1?" (Limit the power of bloggers with more than 3000 readers, for instance).
I'm still trying to digest this whole philosophy, -one which obviously didn't work out quite as planned for the Soviets when the KGB was actively pursuing these objectives during the Cold War, and it leaves out the understanding of how Psychopaths play into the process of Ponorization. -Not to mention the reality of 4D interference in human affairs. But it does provide a background picture of the playbook Putin was schooled in, and which colors his understanding and response to events currently transpiring in Russia and the world today.
There was another article in the forums posted back in 2010 about Yuri Bezmenov with some transcripts from an interview with the man and a couple of video links:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,16748.msg145442.html#msg145442
I only get $100 for peddling pro Putin propaganda.... and I thought his secretary's name was Natalya? Who have I been talking to? 
