The New Nobility: Putin and the State Security regime

February 23, 2022 thread

That's Putin celebrating the Day of State Security Worker. Indeed, the domination of State Security "the new nobility" over all other institutions is a particular feature of Putin's regime. Which hadn't been the case in USSR. State security rule is the major innovation of Putin🧵

USSR wasn't run by the state security. It was run by the Party. The Party was the supreme institution controlling all others, including KGB. Party had its cells in every KGB office, which had to control KGB and report on it. KGB activities were checked by the Party commissars

Of course cadre decisions in KGB were done by the Party. Since the cleansing of Beria's henchmen in 1950s KGB was never ever led by career KGB officers. All the KGB chiefs were political appointees from the Party nomenklatura. They were always outsiders, "suits"

Consider Andropov, now regarded as a patron saint of the KGB. What was his track? Firstly, Komsomol of course. Then the Party work in Karelia. Then diplomatic service. Then a secretary of Central Committee of the Party. And only at the age of 53 he is appointed as the KGB Chief

Here's a good illustration of how the Party state is run. You have state institutions which are theoretically powerful. But that's an illusion. All the cadre decisions, all the policy-making is run by a political organisation, the Party. The Party is subject, the rest are objects

The USSR was the best-known and a kinda model Party state. But it wasn't the first. The functional model of such a regime was first built in the Ottoman Empire in 1908-1913 as a result of what is incorrectly called the "Young Turk Revolution". Which is not a very good term

To start with, the name "Young Turks" was invented by French journos. The real name was "The Committee for Union and Progress". Which reflects the vibe and ideology. We represent science and reason, which is the source of our legitimacy rather than "tradition" or "elections"