Silicon Bites #118 - The Brains Behind Putin's Postmodern Dictatorship and the Export of Autocracy

Edition No118 | 27-03-2025 - Surkov is a useful path to understanding the perverse and contradictory heart of contemporary Russia. Exploring a recent interview Vladislav Surkov conducted with L’Express reveals a secretive, complicated and controversial man. He is known as Putin’s Rasputin, the Grey Cardinal of the Kremlin or the Puppet Master. Sourkov is the shadowy adviser who inspired novelist Giuliano da Empoli to write The Wizard of the Kremlin. He can be considered the 'architect' of the Russian political system but who has distanced himself from the man he served for two decades, Vladimir Putin. No one knows what Sourkov is doing today. In the L'Express interview he avoided the question. 1. He is one of the architects of the post-truth worldLong before Donald Trump weaponized the term ‘fake news’, Surkov was honing his art. Today, Moscow is using Surkov’s techniques to sow political confusion in democracies throughout the western world. A former associate said: “That’s a fashion created and nourished by Surkov: this flavour of post-modernism. Nothing is true. There is no truth. There are alternative truths.”2. He rose from nowhere to become the power behind the throne in Putin’s RussiaHe invented 'Sovereign Democracy', a system in which the illusion of democratic choice only had one outcome: the continuation of Putin’s rule. One former colleague said of him: Vladimir Putin owes much of his success to Surkov's machinations.“At the ends of his fingers he controlled the threads of so many political structures. Those structures were so complicated that only Surkov knew where everything was: the opposition, the political parties, MPs, the governors, the creation or closing of political movements or NGOs, the church, the media, civil society...” ----------LINKS:https://www.lexpress.fr/monde/europe/exclusive-vladislav-sourkov-the-kremlins-wizard-russia-will-expand-in-all-directions-as-far-as-god-WWIE5OJMPVHJ5KTTAHNLE4WPME/?cmp_redirect?cmp_redirect=truehttps://www.ft.com/content/1324acbb-f475-47ab-a914-4a96a9d14bachttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39342784-almost-zero----------Easter Pysanky: Silicon Curtain - https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/easter-pysanky-silicon-curtainCar for Ukraine has joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this special Easter season. In peaceful times, we might gift a basket of pysanky (hand-painted eggs), but now, we aim to deliver a basket of trucks to our warriors.This time, our main focus is on the Seraphims of the 104th Brigade and Chimera of HUR (Main Directorate of Intelligence), highly effective units that: - disrupt enemy logistics - detect and strike command centers - carry out precision operations against high-value enemy targetshttps://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/easter-pysanky-silicon-curtain----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------