The Russian ‘Coup’, Jean Baudrillard & the Fog of War
Nigel Wilmott who was for many years the letters editor of the Guardian, reminded on twitter that events in Russia on Friday and Saturday could be seen very much in the same framework as the late French theorist Jean Baudrillard, saw the first Gulf War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulf_War_Did_Not_Take_Place
His view was not that the war didn’t take place but rather how it was depicted was more a construction of the media than reality.
One could of course read endless media reports about what Prigozhin was or was not up to, Ditto Putin. We know of course that Prigozhin served time in jail (a good while ago) then built a catering empire and is now central to the Wagner group of provisional soldiers fighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
What we really don’t know is what he was up to on Saturday, as Alex Callinicos rightly tweeted. There is no significant independent media in Russia, and although individuals did post on social media they obviously had only insights not the whole picture. There are more independent sources in Ukraine but they would be unlikely to know what Prigozhin was doing. Most UK outlets reported views manufactured in the Pentagon and the White House. In Baudrillardian fashion these are based on what the US hoped might happen rather than what was really happening.
The fog of war indeed and while Baudrillard was criticised for his view of the first Gulf War his perspective works better here.
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