The Washington Obkom (Russian: вашингтонский обком), literally the "Washington Province Party Committee", is a pejorative term used in Russian media and speech to imply that many crucial decisions by political elites of Russia and some other post-Soviet states have been and are agreed with and/or taken in the United States.[1][2][3] The term incorporates two incompatible symbols of power: "Washington D.C." as the symbol of the US administration, and "obkom" symbolizing the power of the Communist Party.[4] According to Russian political analyst Oleg Maslov Washington Obkom is one of the key hybrid political symbols in the 21st century Russia.[4] The term is mostly used by various types of Russian nationalists but occasionally is used by the figures of democratic opposition, e.g. by Garry Kasparov.[5] The political term became popular after the 1998 Russian financial crisis that triggered a wave of Anti-Americanism in the post-Soviet Russia and had its peak of Internet usage in January 2006 after the Russia–Ukraine gas dispute of 2005–2006.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Юрий Гиренко: Обком закрыт (in Russian). Vzglyad. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  2. ^ Litovkin, Dmitry; Elena Shesterina (28 March 2007). "Вашингтонский обком" действует (in Russian). Izvestia. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  3. ^ Chuksin, Nikolay (December 2005). О Вашингтонском обкоме (in Russian). Иванов+Рабинович. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  4. ^ a b Oleg Maslov «The Washington Obkom» — the key symbol of Russia in the early 21st century (Symbols and Signs of the 21st Century — Part 6 // Independent Analytical Review (in Russian).
  5. ^ a b Maslov, Oleg (18 August 2009). Этапы роста антиамериканизма в постсоветской России (in Russian). Retrieved 19 November 2009.


Categories