Managing the future – and the message

Kalashnikov, whose real name is Vladimir Kucherenko, and who calls himself  “an empire citizen” and “a man from another reality” is a former reporter turned writer who has published about ten books, all of which contain strikingly nationalist and anti-American ideas. The books contain a mixture of excited descriptions of old Soviet weapons and political views that are bordering on pure fascism. Just the titles of his works can give the uninitiated reader an understanding of what they are about – “Empire’s Broken Sword”, “Orc’s Wrath”, “Battle for the Skies” and, the most transparent, “Forward into the USSR”. In all his works, Kalashnikov praises Soviet military might and claims that the Cold War was lost because later Soviet and modern Russian leaders betrayed their country, for which he repeatedly calls them “worms on the throne”.

In the very beginning of his letter Kalashnikov openly stated his opposition to Russian authorities and to the current political course. But he also wrote that he was ready to put these differences aside if the authorities agreed to work with him for the sake of Russia’s future.

The letter that grabbed Medvedev’s attention, however, dealt with innovations – both in technology and in state structure. First, the blogger said that Russia should establish a governmental agency for innovations – the analogue of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Second, he suggested that the Russian government should finance the building of a Futuropolis – a communal town somewhere near Moscow. The Futuropolis is to be equipped with dome homes, innovative communication systems and agricultural technologies – all works of Russian inventors. Kalashnikov did not dwell on the subject of why the inventors could not find private investors for their projects and needed tens of millions US dollars in state funds.

The news about presidential attention to the futurologist’s letter was run on Russian television, after which virtually all media ran stories on Kalashnikov/Kucherenko and the man became famous. It would be fair to say, however, that Kucherenko’s career as a journalist was quite successful – the man was accredited in the governmental pool of Rossiiskaya Gazeta – the official daily of the Russian government – and after that worked as a deputy chief editor with the Stringer newspaper – a marginal edition that lobbied the interests of influential security officials from Yeltsin’s administration. Thus, if Medvedev was unaware of whom Kalashnikov was, it must have been a serious blunder by the presidential aides.

On the other hand, Kalashnikov reacted to the attention in a calm and manageable way. The man gave numerous interviews in which he continued to promote the futurist inventions but mentioned neither his political ideals (a caste society with a powerful leader at its head) nor the burning hatred towards capitalist society and the USA.

All of this made the Kalashnikov story a powerful move in promoting the current Kremlin view of internet-enhanced civil society. Medvedev advertised a bright and unusual figure, and an unquestionable patriot. At the same time, Kalashnikov’s near freak status assured that there was no competition in patriotism with the president. And finally, even being the freak that he is, Kalashnikov was smart enough to behave correctly after he had been noticed.

The only possible flaw in the scheme is the possibility that many Russian citizens who may have had something to say about their country’s future could now choose not to offer it – simply not to be associated in any way with futurologist Kalashnikov.

Kirill Bessonov, RT