An
artist's rendering of Russians sent back to Russia in July for spying.
Russians
were shocked at their incompetent command of spycraft.
Vedemosti, Russia
The Silver Lining
Behind the Downfall of Russian Spycraft
"Children
today dream of Gazprom or joining the president’s administration, so there is
no reason to worry about a shortage of exceptional 'human resources' - real pragmatists
who won't be converted to another belief system or attracted by the imagined
virtues of the less-pragmatic West. Then we’ll see who gets the last
laugh."
The exposure by the United
States of an eleven-person intelligence network that allegedly worked for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, suggests that modernization is badly needed - and
not only in Skolkovo [Russia's
leading business school]. Foreign intelligence, which during the Cold War was
the pride and ultimate achievement of passionate young men with fire in their
eyes, today has fallen hopelessly behind both technologically and in human
terms.
Morse Code and disappearingink would surprise only the main characters of the
film Burn after Reading. And the incentives to serve the motherland that were
a part of Stirlitz’
difficult field - as well as in most other spheres - are in short supply today,
which pushes the romance of espionage out of the ambitious dreams of those who
ace the Unified State Examination for more pragmatic concerns; oil, gas and jobs in
the Medvedev Administration, for example. For those who are over 36, spies were
teen idols (members of the profession thrilled 7 percent of this group), while
those under 35 are far less impressed by the heroism of Stirlitz (2 percent,
according to a Public Opinion Foundation
poll from August, 2008).
In Soviet times, a diplomatic
career, and even more so, a career as an undercover intelligence agent, had a
magnetic attraction, allowing one to serve the motherland without waiting in
line for sausage while eating real foie gras (if one wasn't saving for a new
apartment, of course.) Today a man with connections and without too many
scruples can make money more easily in Russia, and not over the hill. A senior Foreign Ministry official
testifies to this: “The salaries offered for service abroad are small and cannot
be raised; and now the Foreign Ministry is opening regional offices - not for
diplomatic positions, but for technological work - hiring which is done in
the regions themselves. Because people there are satisfied with the wages and
enthusiastic about the possibility of going abroad. This isn't enough for Muscovites
anymore. And the diplomats as well - the new generation - are mainly from the
regions. There are very few Muscovites … even going abroad on Foreign Ministry
assignments is no great gift anymore, because afterwards, it's impossible to
live in Moscow. One simply can't save anything.” *
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
It seems that the heroes of
the current spy scandal confirm this observation. None of them studied the
field at the Russian Federation Academy of Federal Security Service, or the
Academy of Foreign Intelligence. Among them, there are no graduates of the
elite Moscow State Institute of International Relations, or the Institute of Asia and Africa at Moscow State
University - and in any case,
diplomas from these universities are much more profitably converted into a
position with Norilsk Nickel, for
example, which, assuming the post entails travel abroad, involves trips only to
exotic islands. [Norilsk Nickel is the world’s largest producer of nickel and
palladium and one of the leading producers of platinum and copper].
One of the detainees
graduated from Amur State University, and
another from the Peoples' Friendship
University of Russia. Graduates from prestigious universities are pursuing
completely different careers than before. The former advisor to one of Russia's
most senior officials describes the career path of some of the greatest
heroes of our times:
“You pay a bribe and enter
the FSB Academy…Then enter regional government and work on the ground; within a
year you've earned enough to live on for the rest of your life, have made a reputation for
yourself in the government apparatus, and in another year, return to some fat
commercial institution where you finally solve all of your financial problems
for good, and then you can move into the government sector. Now that you're a
proven, competent cadre, you are trusted, and a bright future lay ahead of
you.” Where is abroad in all this? Better to buy and master all things Russian!
The diminishing prestige and
professional standards in the difficult trade of espionage does, of course,
sadden some. This is a sort of collapse of the Soviet dream: a house and car,
but not among our native birch trees. Rather, somewhere in the midst of
decaying capitalism.
But if one looks at things
without hysterics from another perspective, the scandal can be seen in a
positive light. From a purely pragmatic point of view, this confirms the
economic theory of comparative advantage. It's worth dispensing with the
spy-related romance of hidden parachutes and transmitters and do what we do
better than anyone else. No need to spend time perfecting spy technologies and
paying for the lifestyles of secret agents. This is an area in which matching
the CIA and other intelligence agencies will be difficult for a long time to
come. The best approach is to make acquisitions and master sectors in which we
have no competitors - using the energy market and market in general as
instruments to achieve our goals.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
In this case, it is first of
all considerably easier to ensure that the nature of our operations remain
concealed. Petroleum and gas pipes are traditionally perceived as industrial
artifacts, and not as elements of a secret weapon. Secondly, this “secret
weapon” could be deployed almost anywhere - and without the use of expensive
methods of resident spy airlifting. The client
himself invests in the construction of pipes or gas- and oil-producing
capacity. Third, children today dream of Gazprom or joining the
president’s administration, so there is no reason to worry about a shortage of
exceptional “human resources” - real pragmatists who won't be converted to
another belief system or attracted by the imagined virtues of the
less-pragmatic West. Then we’ll see who gets the last laugh.
*This interview was part of
a study on the Russian bureaucracy, conducted by the author and Svetlana
Glinkina of the RAS Institute of Economics, Evgeniya Gvozdyeva and Natalya Aparyna of Kemerovo
State University and Karin Kleman of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute
of Sociology; complete results of the study will be made available in the book
Power and Market (Russian Political Encyclopedia ROSSPEN, 2010.)
