6 WHATABOUTISM

This article is another excerpt from the book by Barrington Roy Schiller (#BarringtonRoySchiller) titled “ESPIONAGE, INTELLIGENCE, RUSSIA, AND ME.: Spies, Lies, and Russian Misinformation.?“

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNR3ZTTN

Paperbackhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CNS4VKDB

Should you engage with Russian trolls online or visitors and bring up the subjects of Human rights or Russian aggression, be prepared for a masterclass? in public diplomacy? from Russia and these Russian invasions to be dismissed with “Whataboutism” and "othering."

Remember, Russians have been fed the “Russian World” since birth, and that includes being the victims of Western hegemony, so they are ready for you. ? ?The Russian people are no different from others when it comes to being told negative things about their country, its leaders, or where they live. They don’t like it!

The UK seems unique because it is almost a civic responsibility to criticise our politicians and civil society. It is so unique that we have dedicated a corner of one of Central London's parks as a speakers’ corner for people to stand and openly criticise whatever they don’t like.

Brits travelling abroad, however, should not try this in the USA as they will quickly tell you where to go back to if you criticise the USA. And those living abroad should realise that much like my children, I can blame them, but don't you dare! The same goes for Russia.

Those in any corner of Russia standing on a soapbox and speaking, expecting just to be mocked as they criticise Russian policy on any matter, will soon find that speaking truth to power is not appreciated in the Russian Federation, so they will quickly find themselves imprisoned and taught a lesson in Russian “justice” in this one-party State where public political opposition is not appreciated or tolerated.? As a result, any media freedoms are strictly State owned. So, if the State-owned media says, “All Ukrainians are Nazis, so we must invade to protect Russian speakers who are being oppressed, then that is what must be true”, and all media and internet algorithms will feed them only the viewpoints that pander to that particular State confirmation bias.

One of the tools that the State does arm its population with, though, is “ Whataboutism”: a rhetorical defence that alleges hypocrisy from the accuser.“ (Khazan, 2013). If you speak to a Russian, you will rapidly learn that “whataboutism” and “othering” that are drilled into Russians in kindergarten and that International Relations students are like chess masters in using this Public Diplomacy technique.

Lecturers and professors you meet at conferences may not use it, but believe me; they humour you to be polite.?They will be following the dominant discourse of their parents and just hiding either their shame if they think you are right or their anger if they have to listen to another arrogant Westerner spouting his imperialist views at them again so that they get what they want. Their media has engaged in ”othering” for all their lifetime, and for the Russians, it is a definite case of them and “Us (the others).” Or, as they like to call us, “The West.” "Othering is?perceiving?or?portraying?someone or something as?essentially?alien?or?different.?"?1865,?James Hutchison Stirling

??It works as follows: You say “invasion of Crimea,” they say, “What about Iraq? and the Serbians, who predominantly get their news from Russia, say, “What about Kosovo.”

You say, “What about corrupt politicians in Russia?” and they contrast with, “What about crooked Hilary?” and an American president charged with multiple crimes, and so on.

You say police state; they say,?“What about George Floyd and police brutality in the USA.”

?

You say, “lack of Minority rights,” and they respond with, “What about “Black lives matter.”

You say RT is state-controlled, and they say the BBC is state-owned.

There is always a “whatabout” for any point you try to raise, occasionally leaving you to question your country’s media presentation. After all, “what about the Native Americans protesting against the oil pipeline going to their ancient burial grounds??Why wasn’t that more reported?

You may not follow Russian mainstream media, but you’ll be surprised how well they follow yours.

The only problem is that the Russian Public diplomacy machine, with its warehouses full of trolls producing for “Kremlinwood” (and they say GCHQ), is too big and relies on the short memory of its audience as whataboutism can be contradictory, so relies on distraction rather than in-depth analysis.

Regarding Kosovo, Dmitry Medvedev says:-

1) “ Kosova Independence violates Serbia's sovereignty and is a violation of international law” (Dimitry Medvedev, Feb 2008)

but then he contradicts himself when Medvedev wants to use Kosova to justify Russia’s intervention in Sth Ossetia, Georgia, and he says: “In international relations, you can not have one rule for some (Kosovo) and another rule for others (Sth Ossetia) (Medvedev, August 2008)

There seems to be no problem even producing?2 “whatabouts” out of the same situation or even 3 when Medvedev is picked up on it and then claims that Sth Ossetia is a good type of Kosova. “Kosovo is a special case; South Ossetia is a special case “ (Medvedev, August 2008). According to him, it is not appropriate to compare (whatabout) the two.

However, the one who really counts then uses Kosova again in a “whataboutism” to tell us that Crimea is just like Kosovo:” Crimea’s secession from Ukraine was just like Kosova’s secession from Serbia” “Vladimir Putin, March 2014).

Are you confused about Kosova? It provides an excellent example of “Whataboutism, ” and confusion is precisely the aim. To ‘whatabout” the West to recognise Kosovo is terrible, but it is good when Russia wants to justify the annexation of Crimea. So "Whataboutists" can’t lose, and you won’t care enough or be informed enough to argue further!

For foreigners, it is?“If Kosovo is unique, then so is Crimea, so what about Kosovo? What is it that the Russians find so helpful about Kosovo? Those who have lived in both countries understand that Serbia sees itself as Russia’s little brother, and for the Serbs, Kosovo is as much a part of Serbia ideologically and religiously as Wales is a part of the UK. Additionally, Russia has never bombed Belgrade, and most Serbian newspapers tow the Kremlin line; perhaps the EU should ask itself whether this cuckoo may be too big for their anti-populist agenda.

The men and women on the Serbian autobus are just as adept as the Russians at ”Whataboutism” and disparaging views about the Imperial US who led NATO to bomb their beloved Belgrade and to leave cancer-causing depleted Uranium from the bombs NATO dropped.

“Whataboutism” has nothing to do with facts. It is more akin to mass conspiracy theory and comes from the birthplace of populism. It drives the listener to disregard their argument and tune in solely to the emotional part of the brain and, as such, is a highly valued state public diplomacy tool designed to get us to forget our rules and play by theirs.

Now, though, we don't need to go so far as Russia, Serbia or Kosovo. We have had our not-so-cold war called “Brexit,” and “remainers” and “leavers” engage happily in polemic firing otherisms and whataboutisms at each other, with each side being armed by social media algorithms reinforcing and giving a positive bias to what they already believe with no hint of academic research or fact-checking.

Whataboutism and othering have seen significant growth in the UK since 48% of the British population who bothered to vote chose not to accept the decision of those who did and, like every punter buying a beer, know how to run the pub better and claim that they were missold as if the democratic election system was ever fair of perfect. It's not; it's just that the alternative is far less attractive for the typical person.

However, the good news for those who like speeding with no insurance or an expired driving license is that I was once with my father-in-law, and he was stopped by the police in Russia 3 times in one day, and $US20 each time solved the problem. Russian police are paid very little, so those speeding are seen as an excellent way to top up their salaries. The following week, he rolled his car in a 30mph (50 kmh) residential zone, yet he still continues to drive.

Ever since politicians realised that they could speak directly to populations of other nations and their own through social media and after the so-called Arab Spring called it "Public Diplomacy," the man on the street has believed that he now knows as much about diplomacy, and governance as do the qualified insiders who are involved daily in actually running and protecting the country. As a result, “illiberal democracies “ have learnt how to block “unwanted” messages on their available internet URLs, so Russians only see what social media the State wants them to see despite proxy servers.