Here’s What’s Happening in America, in Six (Mostly) Russian Terms

Opinion|Here’s What’s Happening in America, in Six (Mostly) Russian Terms

We both grew up in Russia in the early 2000s and lived through the country’s gradual slide into authoritarianism under President Vladimir Putin. In our 20s we started working in human rights. Now we live abroad, knowing that a return to Russia would almost certainly mean jail. Over the recent months we have been noticing something worrying: The same markers of authoritarianism we know from our youth have been appearing in America.

Our American friends often struggle to describe what exactly is happening. That’s because, in part, they simply don’t have the language for it. We do. Over decades of facing dictators, Russians have developed a rich vocabulary to make sense of authoritarian reality — a weave of neologisms, coded jokes, doublespeak and Aesopian language.

Some of these terms have already started to crop up in America. Words like “oligarchy” and “gulag” have been pressed into use as people try to make sense of President Trump’s administration. But there are lots more. We decided to write a handy phrase book — a sort of short glossary of authoritarianism — to help Americans name their new reality. Because when we can describe what is happening, it becomes a bit easier to fight it.

Mnogohodovochka

Let’s start with something fun. “Mnogohodovochka” is an ironic Russian term that translates literally as “multiple steps” and usually means “master plan.”

The term emerged online to mock the Kremlin’s need to explain Mr. Putin’s actions, even when they make no sense. State media presents everything he does as part of a brilliant long-term plan that will — one day — bring great benefit to ordinary citizens. “Russia wasn’t pushed back from Kyiv,” propagandists would say in 2022. “It is all a part of a feint.” The country’s military, meanwhile, was decimated.

Now observe how many Republican leaders responded to Mr. Trump’s early moves on tariffs, which would clearly disadvantage their constituencies. Policies were changing constantly, seemingly on Mr. Trump’s whim — creating complete chaos worldwide. But the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, had an explanation. “Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal. You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here.”