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The Puppet Master
“That’s a fashion created and nourished by Vladislav Surkov: this flavour of post-modernism. Nothing is true. There is no truth. There are alternative truths.”
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Long before Donald Trump weaponized the term ‘fake news’, Vladislav Surkov was honing his art. He invented 'Sovereign Democracy', a system in which the illusion of democratic choice only had one outcome: the continuation of Putin’s rule.
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This is the story of the most powerful man you’ve never heard of. A Russian that turned reality inside out He can spot an ex-spy with presidential potential and help turn him into a world leader. He creates opposition movements out of thin air. He’s got a nation’s news directors on speed dial. Billionaires seek his advice. He’s even got his own little war. He’s at the heart of the standoff between East and West. Some even credit him with pioneering the concept of post-truth politics. Yet few even know his name.
_______
Long before Donald Trump weaponized the term ‘fake news’, Vladislav Surkov was honing his art. He invented 'Sovereign Democracy', a system in which the illusion of democratic choice only had one outcome: the continuation of Putin’s rule.
_______
This is the story of the most powerful man you’ve never heard of. A Russian that turned reality inside out He can spot an ex-spy with presidential potential and help turn him into a world leader. He creates opposition movements out of thin air. He’s got a nation’s news directors on speed dial. Billionaires seek his advice. He’s even got his own little war. He’s at the heart of the standoff between East and West. Some even credit him with pioneering the concept of post-truth politics. Yet few even know his name.
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Published March 1, 2019
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About the author
Vladislav Surkov
6 books13 followersVladislav Surkov was born Aslambek Andarbekovich Dudayev in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic and later changed his name to Vladimir Surkov. He is a Russian businessman, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and was a close advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Under the pen name Dubovitsky, Surkov has published a number of works of science fiction, including the “gangsta fiction” novel Okolonolya (“Near Zero”). Surkov initially denied that he was the author of Okolonolya and wrote a preface to the novel stating, “The author of this novel is an unoriginal, Hamlet-obsessed hack.” Surkov was subsequently discovered to be, in fact, the author.
He is one of the Russian government officials recently sanctioned. The Guardian quoted his reaction: “The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”
Under the pen name Dubovitsky, Surkov has published a number of works of science fiction, including the “gangsta fiction” novel Okolonolya (“Near Zero”). Surkov initially denied that he was the author of Okolonolya and wrote a preface to the novel stating, “The author of this novel is an unoriginal, Hamlet-obsessed hack.” Surkov was subsequently discovered to be, in fact, the author.
He is one of the Russian government officials recently sanctioned. The Guardian quoted his reaction: “The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 29, 2019
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...Description: This is the story of the most powerful man you’ve never heard of. He can spot an ex-spy with presidential potential and help turn him into a world leader. He creates opposition movements out of thin air. He’s got a nation’s news directors on speed dial. Billionaires seek his advice. He’s even got his own little war. He’s at the heart of the standoff between East and West. Some even credit him with pioneering the concept of post-truth politics. Yet few even know his name.
He is Vladislav Surkov. His background is in theatre and PR. He has a taste for Beat poetry, American rap and postmodern theory. But his politics are 100% Russian, and they’re spreading. Surkov invented Russia’s ‘managed democracy’ – where authorities arrange not only elections, but the results as well. He guided Vladimir Putin to his current unassailable position atop Russian politics. Now, Surkov is focussed on Ukraine, where the separatist movement he helped create continues its bitter war on Europe’s eastern flank.
The Puppet Master is a series that gets to the bewildering heart of contemporary Russia by exploring the fortunes of this secretive, complicated and controversial man. Reporter Gabriel Gatehouse speaks fluent Russian and has access to a vast cache of leaked emails from Surkov’s Kremlin office. Using these, plus archive and sources gained over a decade of covering Russia and its wars, Gatehouse goes in search of the man pulling the strings. The journey is by turns dramatic, surprising and surreal, ranging from the battlefield to the theatre and the Kremlin itself. The destination? The post-truth world we inhabit today.
April 2, 2019
From BBC Radion 4:
Reporter Gabriel Gatehouse gets to the bewildering heart of contemporary Russia by exploring the fortunes of the most powerful man you've never heard of: Vladislav Surkov.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
Reporter Gabriel Gatehouse gets to the bewildering heart of contemporary Russia by exploring the fortunes of the most powerful man you've never heard of: Vladislav Surkov.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews