Eurasia note #86: Russian Activist Alexei Navalny Dies, Cui Bono?

Some think his death unnatural, as the West drums for war

• Alexei Navalny's death is a stain for Russia, however he died.
  A reputable political system keeps critics alive, not in the Arctic Circle.
  But foreign intel agencies like MI6, CIA know that too.
  He died just after Tucker opened a window on Russia with his Putin interview.

• He was serving 19 years in a prison 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle on Kara sea.

• Yamal-Nenets autonomous district prison service announced his death on Friday. "The inmate A.A.Navalny felt bad after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness at the correctional colony No. 3 on Feb. 16."

• Mainstream journalists keep their jobs by saying the same as everyone else.

• Many will protect their reputation behind the herd. I put mine on the line with a challenging view based on visiting in Russia over 15+ years since the crisis of 1998.

• Western intel has equal incentive to "offset" the damage done by Carlson's visit.

(2,300 words or about 11 minutes of your company.)

Feb 16, 2024

Facts take a back seat when people want a hero. That's how it goes. We're programmed to need a boogeyman, too.

So I'll be unpopular to question the infallibility of Alexei Navalny. You can't be the soul of the party if you question the host.

I won't besmirch his name, even though he made the infamous insect video - comparing the people of the Caucasus to cockroaches. [1]

He changed his game and switched from ethno-nationalist to anti-corruption campaigner.

He led an organisation that dealt some serious embarrassment to the Putin administration, filming the palatial residences of the Orthodox Patriarch as well as a baroque palace reportedly built by admirers for president Vladimir Putin. [2]

His campaign had some effect. It did prompt cosmetic attempts to clean up corruption and it eventually landed Navalny in hot water.

But Alexei Navalny was never the champion that the Western press portrayed when they made him their darling of the opposition. He barely scraped 2 per cent of the vote in national elections.

Western media — handmaiden of the intelligence services — dutifully chose him because there were few others fit for purpose.

The “girl band” Pussy Riot who splayed their legs and uncovered their bits in museums and, more offensively, churches, were never going to attract support.

Sympathy

The outpouring of sympathy for Navalny is understandable but also predictable. The latter because there are many prominent voices in the West, with a grudge against Putin.

Bill Browder, and investor with an early entrée to Russia due to his father having led the Communist Party USA, is one of them.

“Let’s make no mistake, Putin assassinated Navalny. He did so because Navalny was brave enough to stand up to Putin. He did so because Navalny offered the Russian people and alternative to kleptocracy and repression. This is a tragic day for Navalny’s family but also for Russia.”

I have described the failings of Russia's economic system on many occasions.

The problems include the slow pace of legal reform, adapting Russian law to European. Another is the "oil curse" or Dutch disease — the dominance of the oil and gas sector which crowds out investment and talent because any aspiring professional can get richer more easily with a desk job at Gazprom.

Then there is the heavy hand of police and the security state. This takes a bit longer to explain.

Stasis and corruption

Russia is still reinventing itself after more than 70 years of Bolshevism, which was a combination of its own problems (land mass, logistics, industrialisation on such a scale, a northern latitude and a short growing season) plus imported problems, dispatched by Western bankers (the Bolsheviks).

What is the option for people making a living under onerous regulations, denied visas to the West except via political “charities” of Soros or USAID… was Navalny their hope? Read on.