The Washington Obkom — a term from Russian political jargon of the 2000s: an imaginary center of power in the U.S. capital from which supposed "conduits of American policy" in other countries, including Russia, ostensibly receive their instructions.[1] The expression is modeled on the Soviet-era CPSU regional committees (obkomy) — a familiar symbol of directive authority.[1]

Origin and usage

A detailed analysis of the expression was published in March 2007 by Oleg Maslov on the Nizhny Novgorod website polit.nnov.ru ("Independent Analytical Review") as part of his series "Symbols and Signs of the 21st Century".[1] According to his explanation, the Soviet symbol "obkom" — immediately understood without elaboration by anyone who lived long enough in the USSR — was appended to "Washington," itself an independent symbol of power. "Politburo" would not have worked, as it conjured images of "Kremlin elders," while "Central Committee" meant little to the popular imagination. The expression emerged around the turn of the century.[1] According to a later article by Maslov, it gained widespread currency after the 1998 default and was used primarily by the patriotic opposition.[2]

The expression was heard most frequently in January 2006, when the gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine was resolved: commentators attributed the unexpected outcome to the decisive influence of the "Washington obkom" on President Putin.[1] Among those who used it, Maslov names nationalists V. Militarev and K. Krylov, publicist V. Vinnikov, and political analyst A. Tsipko.[1][2] In Krylov's usage, the "Washington obkom" represents the "new masters of the world" with whom the former Soviet republics learned to deal after the breakup of the Union;[3] in Vinnikov's, its power extends across the entire globe. Hence Maslov's conclusion: the expression had become a "symbol of global supra-state power." He also noted the emergence of a related term, the "Brussels obkom," coined by V. Nikitaev.[1]

The author of the analysis himself cautioned that the world cannot be viewed solely through this symbol: "Looking at the world through a symbol simplifies it and makes it more comprehensible."[1]

See also

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Independent Analytical Review — Oleg Maslov, «"The Washington Regional Committee" — a key symbol in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century (Symbols and Signs of the 21st Century, part 6)», March 19, 2007 (archive)
  2. pereplet.ru — Russkiy Pereplot — Oleg Maslov, «Stages of the growth of anti-Americanism in post-Soviet Russia», August 18, 2009 (archive)
  3. litres.ru — LitRes — Konstantin Krylov, «Russians Despite Putin», publisher «Alistorus», 2013, preview excerpt (archive)