The Global South and Anti-Western Sentiment
Explore the impact of anti-Western sentiment in the global South and how it is often mistaken for Russian soft power. Understand how people in the world are less exposed to pro-West propaganda and more exposed to anti-West propaganda, leading them to side with anyone who challenges the West.
Philippe Lemoine
I'm a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell. I'm also a research fellow at @CSPICenterOrg. I write about stuff. "At least he's pretty smart." (@bechhof)
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I think what people call Russian soft power is more the result of anti-Western sentiment in the global South than the result of Russian soft power per se. It's pretty shallow and doesn't really help Russia in any meaningful way.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 8, 2023 -
A lot of people in the world wish that someone would take us down a peg for both good and bad reasons, which they know about because they're less exposed to pro-West propaganda and more exposed to anti-West propaganda, so they automatically side with anyone who challenges us.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 8, 2023 -
People in the global South are simultaneously more likely to see through our bullshit about the "rules-based international order" and also more likely to believe ridiculous anti-West nonsense, but true soft power requires a deeper sort of influence that is not purely negative.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 8, 2023 -
This is a very good example. NATO intervention was based on evidence-free claims and, although Western governments constantly lie about this, we 100% violated resolution 1973 and fucked the Russians over this. https://t.co/jzXU9JpEtm
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 8, 2023 -
But people in Africa believe we overthrew him because he was about to create a new pan-African currency that was going to replace the Franc CFA and magically turn Africa into an economic paradise once the evil French and Westerners could no longer exploit it or whatever.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 8, 2023 -
Frankly, I wish this was why we overthrew him, but it wasn't. We overthrew him because of a media-induced hysteria and because we're governed by morons who do stupid shit without thinking about the consequences to get nice headlines and feel good about themselves.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 9, 2023 -
The idea that France uses the Franc CFA to exploit Africa economically is just really dumb, but a lot of people in Africa believe it and think it explains our foreign policy. This kind of theories provide fertile ground for pro-Russia propaganda but it's very superficial.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 9, 2023 -
Crucially, Russia didn't create that theory and others like it about how the West exploits the rest, but merely benefited from the fact they're widely believed in Africa, though again in practice the fact that a lot of people in Mali support Russia isn't doing it much good.
— Philippe Lemoine (@phl43) March 9, 2023