"American Siloviki: Russia’s Public Servants, America’s Public Auctions"
"A merican Siloviki: Russia’s Public Servants, America’s Public Auctions" Part One: The Word That Dare Not Speak Its Name Let us begin with a simple exercise. Open any Western news website – CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The New York Times. Type the word “oligarch” into the search bar. What appears? A cascade of articles about Russia. Russian businessmen. Russian politicians. Russian siloviki. The word is always accompanied by ominous music in television segments, by dark photographs of men in expensive suits standing in front of Kremlin walls, by breathless narration about “Putin’s inner circle” and “shadowy figures pulling the strings.” Now type the word “American oligarch.” Go ahead. I will wait. What you will find, if you find anything at all, is an occasional opinion piece written by a brave academic or a fringe journalist. You will not find a prime‑time CNN special. You will not find a multi‑part BBC investigation. You will not find The New York Times devoting its front pag...