The Putin-Swift Doctrine
An Analysis of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in the Context of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy
By: Chase Johnson
What do the world’s biggest pop star and the world’s most prominent strong-man president have in common? Apart from impressive physical physique, Swift and Putin’s philosophies on boyfriends and foreign policy tend to overlap. Let’s take one of Taylor Swift’s songs and see how much this holds true. Here is a line-by-line break down of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, matched with a particular dynamic of Putin’s foreign policy…
I give you: The Putin-Swift Doctrine (Feel free to include some background music)
“Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things. Magic, madness, heaven, sin.”
Twenty-five years is a long time. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fifteen newly-independent post-Soviet states have taken many different paths. In many cases Moscow has to tell the former Soviet states “nice to meet you, where you been” all over again. Once the Russian internal house was put in order after the Yeltsin years (kind of), Russia could start projecting itself outward again — looking at what kind of role it wanted to play in its regional sphere of influence. Its approach has been grandiose energy-profit-driven claims of an ideological alternative to the West, one that they believe should be attractive in the post-Soviet barroom meetup.
“Saw you there and I thought, ‘Oh my God, look at that face.’ You look like my next mistake. Love’s a game, want to play?
Now Ms. Swift has been known to publicly lust after her exes, so has Russia. In the post-Soviet sphere of foreign policy, that eye-catcher from across the bar is likely to be one that used to be under Moscow’s control, and lost at a particularly bad time for the capital’s politics in the 90s. Now who doesn’t like to put themselves back together, get in shape, maybe buy some new clothes, and “accidentally” bump into your ex on a night out. Think of states like Georgia and Ukraine like Ms. Swift’s high school boyfriends. They broke up with her for a reason, but they are at home watching her making headlines.
Now, in Mr. Putin’s context, this newly-formed pursuit of the post-Soviet exes has a lot to do with getting Moscow’s honor back, so he will wear his best political suit for the occasion, especially towards the Western-leaning states like Georgia and Ukraine (See the new money, suit and tie below). This complicated game of love and deep trade relationships predicated on former Soviet supply lines has been played by all of the countries who became Mr. Putin’s “next mistakes.” To follow the history of Mr. Putin’s diplomatically romantic conquests, just google search “Post-Soviet Conflicts.”
‘New money, suit, and tie… I can read you like a magazine.”
Critical to the Putin-Swift doctrine of foreign policy is to have local “big men” on the ground with your next target. This means oligarchs who speak your language. In the barroom context Ms. Swift has already decided that the target’s face is attractive enough to warrant an “oh my god,” but she needs a wing-man or woman to get the ball rolling. In the context of Post-Soviet foreign policy, in the hunt for reliable wing-men, the oligarchs — our proverbial new money, comes with expensive tastes in energy companies (and fashion for that matter). However, these people became exceedingly rich in the 90s, and often have enough money to wiggle their way into controlling interests in their countries. For the outside admirer on the prowl like Mr. Putin, these local big men can truly show him incredible things. In terms of returns on investment, I am sure that both Ms. Swift and Mr. Putin can appreciate a sugar daddy to buy them new toys, maybe an occasional fighter jet or mansion here and there.
For a long time, Putin has been accused of taking council from the largest Russian oligarchs, and perhaps even being one himself. When Russian interests start to court oligarchs in Eastern Ukraine, Armenia, or wherever, this team from the Kremlin can truly read them like a magazine, because they are of the same post-Soviet blood. They know how to soak up wealth. This barroom game is too easy for Mr. Putin.
“I’m dying to see how this one ends. Grab your passport and my hand, I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.”
Okay, this line was a little too easy. Not only does this line have a direct reference to death, but Ms. Swift uses the word “passport.” Russia has (c)overtly intervened in Ukraine by rotating flag-less troops in an out for short periods, while they take “vacation days” from active duty. This method has been exposed by the excellent work of social media investigators at Vice News and the Atlantic Council. Also, this particular lyric has yet another reference to the acute manipulation powers of Taylor’s red lipstick and Vladimir’s propaganda machine. With the right amount of social media trolls and state-run media any bad guy can be made to look good for a weekend.
“Cause you know I love the players… And you love the game… ‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far. It’ll leave you breathless, or with a nasty scar”
Here we can see Putin’s approach to NATO and the West. While Taylor is saying that she crushes easily and enjoys the man-hunt, in Putin’s context this is a direct reference to what some analysts are calling the New Cold War. NATO was built for the sole purpose of containing and defending Europe from the Soviet Union. Blank Space is the kind of unspoken, less-than-cordial blunt statement that any potential Swift-suitor probably already knows. NATO is quietly reveling in the fact that a resurgent Russia has given them renewed relevance to expand defense spending, poke around on Russia’s border, and establish training centers in former Soviet states. In a sense, Russia and NATO are each other’s Joker and Batman, at least in perception. They love to hate each other a bit too much, while they paradoxically cannot live without the other.
As for the Post-Soviet states, they are all (Russia included) young and reckless. With sovereignty only twenty-five years young, several civil wars, and few peaceful democratic transitions of power, foreign policy in the former Soviet Union is always “taken too far.” Now this whole “breathless or nasty scar” game is a reference to the policy options of countries at the receiving end of a resurgent Russia and targets of a Taylor Swift on the prowl. States like Ukraine or Georgia who recognize these well-dressed barroom tactics of the Putin-Swift doctrine have suffered destructive wars from pushing back. Those who try to play the “ignorance is bliss” game are always left breathless. Just look at how caught off guard the West was with Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Got a long list of ex-lovers. They’ll tell you I’m insane, but I’ve got a blank space baby, and I’ll write your name”
There is an impressively long list of Russia’s ex-lovers who are telling their new-found Western significant-others horror stories of their Eastern ex. Anti-Russian sentiment in the Baltic states and Poland is at an all-time high.
This blank space (the titular metaphor of the song) is a direct statement to all countries in the Post-Communist space, and a warning to take heed of the Putin-Swift doctrine, lest they want to join the list of conquests. Put simply:
- Georgia / John Mayer
- Ukraine / Justin Bieber
- [BLANK SPACE]
“Find out what you want. Be that girl for a month Wait, the worst is yet to come… Oh no... Screaming, crying, perfect storm. I can make all the tables turn. Rose garden filled with thorns”
Here we have the perfect application of the Putin-Swift doctrine to the present-day case of Ukraine. It was not too long ago that Kyiv was lead by the Russian-sympathetic faction of Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovich took power after a brief flirtation with the West after Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. While Ms. Swift is playing the role of Russia in this analogy, Ukraine — in geopolitical terms — was “that girl” for a month after Orange Revolution leaders were voted out of office. But eventually their conscious (the population), started to call for a break-up with the Russian boyfriend.
SUDDENLY… Euromaidan happens in Kyiv, similar to those epic fights we have with a significant others. As far as Post-Soviet arguments go, this was the perfect storm of screaming and crying. In hindsight, the Russian-Ukrainian relationship from 1991–2014 was a rose garden filled with thorns. The two states had an astronomical trade-portfolio, which made people in both countries rich enough to buy a lot of roses. Also, Russia was the guarantor of Ukrainian territorial integrity as per the Budapest Memorandum, and in return got to place it’s Black Sea fleet in ports in Ukrainian Crimea. Meanwhile Ukraine was the primary transit conduit for Russian oil and gas headed for European markets. The thorns in this rose garden were the numerous “gas wars” between the two, and the high degree of political pressure put on the Yanukovich regime against Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union — the primary catalyst of the Euromaidan movement.
“Oh my God, who is she? I get drunk on jealousy. But you’ll come back each time you leave, ‘cause darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream”
Anyone with exes knows the pain when you see them talking to a new romantic interest, or the way your heart drops when you see their Facebook status change. The same is true for international spheres of influence. Imagine the view from Moscow as your former bread basket (Ukraine) and your favorite holiday destination (Georgia) start flirting with beer and burger toting Germans and Americans. Sometimes we even do irrational things at the sight of an ex flirting with another. Sometimes it is a drink to the face, other times it is an outright invasion of their sovereign territory. All of these previous grandiose claims of deep trade ties, security cooperation, etc. turned out to be nightmares dressed like daydreams for the Post-Soviet states. But our final two lines show why Mr. Putin thinks Post-Soviet states will “come back each time they leave”
We therefore reach the final ultimatum of the Putin-Swift doctrine:
“So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain.”
This is simply what you get when you sign up to date Mr. Putin or Ms. Swift. All Eastern countries and potential Swiftian boy-toys out there better be ready for eternity, or a pretty epic fight.
We also find here the highest level of sarcasm in the Putin-Swift doctrine. Putin knows all too well that former Soviet states love cheap energy and their oligarchs love getting rich. When these states court new western allies that are not conducive to the previously opulent lifestyle, Mr. Putin can clink his tea glass and facetiously ask, “how’s that economic transition going over there?”
And we finally reach the very inner conscious of the Putin-Swift doctrine’s philosophy of love.
“Boys only want love if it’s torture. Don’t say I didn’t say I didn’t warn ya”
For all of their bellicose actions of the last decade, Russia is at least considerate enough to bluntly warn their targeted conquests of the consequences of their relationship (or bailing for a Western European girlfriend.) Mr. Putin seems to truly believe in his ideology and its utility for former Soviet states, no matter where the domestic direction of these countries is pointed. Ask Mr. Putin why Georgia and Ukraine are so hostile towards his actions to remain integrated — Ms. Swift’s wisdom has the answer : According to a resurgent Russia, Georgia and Ukraine only want love if it’s torture. He is therefore willing to take this love with other Post-Soviet states to a destructive level, telling the beat-up exes, through the flames of the relationship’s crash-and-burn phase, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.” In a similar vein, Ms. Swift produced this song — a blunt and clear warning about what future boy-toys can expect.
We have been warned.
