For Putin, Chaos is a Ladder

Joshua Claybourn
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read
Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (left); Vladimir Putin (right)

A New Yorker piece by Joshua Yaffa offers tremendous insight into what Russian journalists think of American Putin-Trump coverage. He writes:

“In advance of Trump and Putin’s first meeting, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, I decided to ask Russia’s sharpest and most experienced political journalists and investigative reporters what they thought of this coverage….

On the whole, said Mikhail Zygar, a political journalist and the author of ‘All the Kremlin’s Men,’ a well-sourced insider look at the cloistered world of Russian politics, the way the U.S. media has covered the Russia scandal has made ‘Putin seem to look much smarter than he is, as if he operates from some master plan.’ The truth, Zygar told me, ‘is that there is no plan — it’s chaos.’”

Part of this “chaos” is driven by domestic realities:

“The most important thing that U.S. reporters should remember, Shleinov told me, is that ‘money is fleeing Russia in all directions, people are trying to invest anywhere they can, to get their assets out before the secret services or their competitors show up and try and take them all.’ On the whole, Shleinov said, a wealthy Russian — even a politically connected one — is likely buying real estate abroad ‘as a place to run to,’ not on Putin’s orders.”

This is only one perspective advanced by one Russian journalists, but it works well within the framework of facts available to us and certainly seems plausible. The Russian economy is in shambles. Its political creed of socialism and autocracy carries no favor on the global stage. Its one-time foe, the United States, has for generations now stood athwart the world as the only global superpower.

Unable to win a fair fight within the context of this existing world order, Putin seeks to sow chaos and hopes to rise up through the confusion. Specifically, Putin’s regime elevates the profile of European far-right leaders and promotes disinformation, propaganda, illicit financing, and covert influence operations. The strategy seeks to undermine democratic institutions and promote partisanship and division through chaos. All of this brings to mind the remarkably applicable speech from Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish in season three of Game Thrones:

Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse.

They cling to the realm or the gods or love. Illusions.

Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.

When things are in disarray it allows Petyr to manipulate the players until he is ahead. Chaos means the great houses of authority overlook his birth, because they need him. It means they are weakened, so they are brought more to his level. Chaos provides opportunities for him to advance, because there are problems to be solved.

Lives will be at stake — lives of your own countrymen, lives of those you love, and your morality will be tested. However, if you abandon the people, abandon those you love, forget your morality, and focus only on the climb, you can achieve power even if you’re starting from a position of comparative weakness.

Petyr is an ambitious man who has seen others take away his goals (primarily, love for Catelyn Stark) just because they had higher authority or more power. He believes he’s better than them, so he pits people against each other in an effort to rise up through their mutual dispute. Vladimir Putin is Petyr Baelish.

To both Putin and Petyr, a world where chaos exists is the only way for them to rise up and achieve what they want.

Ros : And what do you want?
Petyr : Everything, my dear. Everything there is.
- Season 1, Episode 7

Petyr has no qualms about what he destroys while doing so. As Varys notes in season 3, Petyr “would see this country burn if he could be the king of the ashes.” Putin to seems to share that philosophy. He oppresses or jails his political opponents, sends his assassins to murder dissidents who leave Russia, uses state-run media to suppress dissent and stifle the independent press, and mocks the rule of law as he enriches himself and his associates at the expense of the Russian people.

Abroad, Russia deploys an array of tools — from elevating the profile of European far-right leaders to disinformation, propaganda, illicit financing, and covert influence operations. Putin very clearly promotes chaos throughout the West. For him, chaos is his only ladder to more. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade