Whataboutisme adalah teknik propaganda yang pernah digunakan oleh Uni Soviet saat berinteraksi dengan dunia Barat, kemudian menjadi bentuk propaganda di Rusia pasca-Soviet. Saat kritik dilontarkan terhadap Uni Soviet, Soviet selalu menanggapi balik "Bagaimana dengan..." (What about...) sambil membeberkan sebuah peristiwa di negara-negara Barat.[1][2][3]
Istilah whataboutery sudah ada dalam bahasa Inggris Britania sejak masa konflik The Troubles di Irlandia Utara.[4][5] Sejumlah leksikografer menyatakan bahwa varian whataboutism muncul tahun 1990-an,[4][6] sedangkan sejarawan lainnya menyatakan bahwa istilah ini digunakan oleh pejabat pemerintah Barat untuk menyebut strategi propaganda Soviet semasa Perang Dingin.[1][7] Taktik ini merebak kembali di Rusia pasca-Soviet, terutama bila menyinggung pelanggaran hak asasi manusia oleh pemerintah Rusia.[1][8][9] Teknik ini mulai digunakan kembali ketika aneksasi Krimea dan intervensi militer di Ukraina tahun 2014.[10][11] Taktik ini pernah digunakan oleh Presiden Rusia, Vladimir Putin, dan juru bicaranya, Dmitry Peskov.[12][13][14]
Para pengkritik Presiden Amerika Serikat Donald Trump menuduh bahwa ia sering menggunakan whataboutisme.[22][23][24]
Etimologi dan sejarah
Istilah Whataboutism berasal dari gabungan dua kata what + about untuk membalikkan kritik ke pengkritiknya sendiri.[1][2][25]
Entri whataboutism di Oxford Dictionary of English edisi 2010[26] dan Oxford Living Dictionaries mencantumkan: "Asal - 1990-an: ketika tuduhan balik diawali pertanyaan berawalan 'Bagaimana dengan —?'."[6] Menurut leksikografer Ben Zimmer, kata whataboutism muncul "kurang lebih tahun
1993".[27]Andreas Umland, ilmuwan politik dan sejarawan Rusia dan Ukraina, mengatakan bahwa istilah ini dipakai pada masa Uni Soviet: "dikenal di era Soviet sebagai 'whataboutism'".[7] Neil Buckley menulis di Financial Times, "pemantau Soviet menyebutnya 'whataboutism'. Ini adalah taktik zaman Komunis untuk mengaburkan kritik dari luar yang menyinggung pelanggaran HAM dengan menyoroti hal serupa di negara pengkritik: "Ah, bagaimana dengan…?'"[13]
Menurut Oxford Dictionary of English, dalam bahasa Inggris Britania, whataboutism sinonim dengan whataboutery,[26] yang (menurut Zimmer) telah digunakan dengan makna serupa sejak konflik The Troubles di Irlandia Utara.[27] Pada tahun 1974, sebuah surat yang diterbitkan di Irish Times mencantumkan "para Whatabout [...] yang menanggapi setiap kutukan terhadap Provisional I.R.A. dengan argumen yang menekankan 'musuh' justru jauh lebih imoral". Kolom opini di harian yang sama memakai istilah "whataboutery" yang kemudian marak digunakan sepanjang konflik Irlandia.[27] Zimmer menulis bahwa varian whataboutism digunakan dalam konteks yang sama dalam sebuah buku tahun 1993 karya Tony Parker.[27]
Wartawan Britania Edward Lucas menggunakan kata whataboutism dalam sebuah artikel blog tanggal 29 Oktober 2007[28] sebagai bagian dari diari tentang Rusia yang dicetak di The Economist edisi 2 November.[29] "Whataboutism" merupakan judul artikel The Economist edisi 31 Januari 2008. Lucas menulis, "propagandis Soviet pada masa Perang Dingin dilatih melakukan taktik yang dijuluki 'whataboutism' oleh agen Barat".[1] Zimmer menulis bahwa Lucas memopulerkan istilah ini pada tahun 2007–2008.[27]
Penggunaan oleh pemimpin Soviet dan Rusia
Metode
Saat kritik dilontarkan ke Uni Soviet pada masa Perang Dingin, tanggapannya pasti "Bagaimana dengan..." sambil menyebutkan peristiwa tertentu di Barat.[1][2][3] Ini adalah contoh tu quoque — menyoroti kemunafikan.[30][31][32] Taktik ini adalah jenis kesesatan logika yang berusaha menjatuhkan posisi lawan dengan menuduh mereka munafik.[33][34] Whataboutisme berfungsi sebagai taktik pengalihan untuk mengaburkan kritik yang dilontarkan lawan.[35][36][37] Teknik ini lantas dipakai untuk menghindari pembantahan atau pembuktian terbalik argumen lawan.[38][39] Taktik ini merupakan upaya relativisme moral[3][40][41] dan contoh kesetaraan moral palsu.[18][42][43]
The Economist merekomendasikan dua metode untuk melawan whataboutisme: (1) "mengangkat poin yang dikatakan para pemimpin Rusia" sehingga tidak dapat disejajarkan dengan Barat, (2) negara-negara Barat sebaiknya lebih sering kritis terhadap media dan pemerintahannya sendiri.[1] Euromaidan Press membahas strategi ini dalam sebuah artikel tentang whataboutisme, artikel kedua dalam seri tiga bagian mengenai propaganda Rusia.[44][45] Seri ini menjelaskan whataboutisme sebagai pengalihan disengaja dari kritik pedas terhadap Rusia.[44][45] Artikel tersebut menyarankan "korban" whataboutisme untuk menolak manipulasi emosi dan godaan untuk menjawab balik.[44][45]
Periode Uni Soviet
Semasa Perang Dingin, pejabat-pejabat Barat yang menanggapi taktik propaganda Soviet ini menggunakan istilah "whataboutism."[1][21] Karena sering digunakan pejabat Soviet, istilah ini muncul pada masa Soviet.[7][46][47] Teknik ini semakin merebak dalam hubungan masyarakat Soviet hingga mendarah daging di tingkat pemerintahan.[25][48] Media Soviet yang menerapkan whataboutisme sengaja mengorbankan kenetralan jurnalistik untuk menodai reputasi Amerika Serikat.[49] Menurut Ottawa Citizen, pejabat Soviet semakin sering memakai taktik ini pada paruh akhir 1940-an untuk mengalihkan perhatian dari kritik terhadap Uni Soviet.[50]
Salah satu bukti awal munculnya teknik ini adalah pada tahun 1947 setelah William Averell Harriman mengkritik "imperialisme Soviet" dalam pidatonya.[51] Respons Ilya Ehrenburg di Pravda mengkritik hukum dan kebijakan ras dan kelompok minoritas di Amerika Serikat. Ia menulis bahwa Uni Soviet menganggap hukum tersebut "merendahkan martabat manusia" tetapi tidak menjadikannya alasan untuk berperang.[51] Whataboutisme semakin luas digunakan dalam hubungan masyarakat Soviet semasa Perang Dingin.[52][53][54]
Sepanjang Perang Diingin, taktik ini sering digunakan oleh tokoh media yang berbicara atas nama Uni Soviet.[55][56][57] Dengan menuduh pengkritik munafik, Uni Soviet berharap bisa mengalihkan isu yang diangkat dalam kritik itu sendiri.[58] Istilah whataboutisme dikenal secara lokal di Uni Soviet untuk mengalihkan perhatian dari kritik terhadap Moskwa.[59] Seiring populernya taktik ini di Uni Soviet, whataboutisme dikenal sebagai klise Soviet.[60] Pada akhir Perang Dingin seiring reformasi hak sipil AS, taktik ini mulai jarang digunakan.[61]
Rusia pasca-Soviet
Taktik ini digunakan di Rusia pasca-Soviet dalam hal pelanggaran hak asasi manusia oleh pemerintah Rusia dan isu-isu lain.[1][8][9] Whataboutisme menjadi taktik favorit Kremlin.[62][63] Strategi hubungan masyarakat Rusai menggabungkan whataboutisme dengan taktik-taktik Soviet lain seperti disinformasi dan tindakan aktif.[64][65][66] Whataboutisme dijadikan propaganda Rusia dengan tujuan mengaburkan kritik terhadap negara Rusia[67] dan menurunkan kualitas percakapan dari kritik yang masuk akal terhadap Rusia menjadi perselisihan sepele.[68] Sejumlah pemimpin Rusia mengadopsi praktik whataboutisme Soviet untuk menghindari refleksi internal terhadap kritik eksternal dan menyoroti kesalahan negara-negara lain.[69] Selain whataboutisme, para pemimpin Rusia menegaskan bahwa aksi mereka diprovokasi Barat dan berusaha mengacaukan kebenaran liputan media.[70]
Meski whataboutisme tidak mengenal ras atau keyakinan, menurut The Economist, orang Rusia paling sering memakai taktik ini.[1] Whataboutisme di dalam pemerintah Rusia berkembang di bawah kepresidenan Vladimir Putin.[71][72][73]Jake Sullivan dari Foreign Policy menulis bahwa Putin "adalah praktisi [whataboutisme] yang cakap".[24]Business Insider membenarkan penyataan tersebut, "tanggapan Putin yang itu-itu saja untuk para kritikus pemerintahan Rusia adalah bentuk whataboutisme".[74]Edward Lucas dari The Economist mengamati taktik ini dalam perpolitikan modern Rusia dan menyatakan bahwa whataboutisme adalah bukti kembalinya mentalitas Soviet di pemerintahan Rusia.[1]
Pada Juli 2012, kolumnis RIA Novosti Konstantin von Eggert menulis sebuah artikel tentang pemakaian whataboutisme dalam hal dukungan Rusia dan Amerika Serikat untuk negara yang berbeda di Timur Tengah.[75]Miriam Elder berkomentar di The Guardian bahwa juru bicara Putin, Dmitry Peskov, menerapkan taktik ini. Katanya, banyak kritik tentang pelanggaran HAM yang tidak ditanggapi pemerintah. Peskov menjawab artikel Elder tentang ribetnya mencuci baju di Moskwa dengan menyoroti sulitnya warga Rusia memperoleh visaBritania Raya.[12] Peskov menerapkan taktik whataboutisme pada tahun yang sama dalma sebuah surat ke Financial Times.[13]
Taktik ini bangkit kembali saat aneksasi Krimea dan intervensi militer di Ukraina 2014.[10][11][45] Neil Buckley menulis di Financial Times, "Ketika beberapa bekas republik Soviet kembali dipimpin sosok otoriter, whataboutisme pun mengikuti."[13]Jill Dougherty menulis pada tahun 2014 bahwa taktik ini adalah "teknik propaganda usang era pemerintah Soviet" yang diteruskan dalam propaganda Rusia, termasuk Russia Today.[76][77] Anggapan bahwa Russia Today menerapkan whataboutisme diamini Financial Times dan Bloomberg News.[78] Taktik ini juga digunakan oleh Azerbaijan. Negara itu menanggapi kritik terhadap pelanggaran HAM-nya dengan mengadakan sidang parlemen yang membahas isu-isu di Amerika Serikat.[79]Trol Internet pro-Azerbaijan menggunakan whataboutisme untuk mengalihkan perhatian dari kritik utama terhadap negara tersebut.[80] Turki juga menerapkan whataboutisme dengan menerbitkan dokumen resmi berisi kritik terhadap negara-negara yang mengkritik Turki.[81]The Washington Post menulis pada tahun 2016 bahwa sejumlah kantor berita Rusia "dikenal luas" karena sering menggunakan whataboutisme.[82] Penerapan teknik ini berdampak negatif terhadap hubungan Amerika Serikat–Rusia pada masa pemerintahan kedua Presiden Barack Obama.[83]The Wall Street Journal menulis bahwa Putin sendiri memakai taktik ini dalam wawancara dengan wartawan NBC News, Megyn Kelly, tahun 2017.[14]
Penggunaan oleh Donald Trump
Kritikus mengatakan bahwa Presiden Amerika Serikat Donald Trump menggunakan whataboutisme dalam responsnya terhadap kritik yang dilontarkan kepadanya, kebijakannya, atau dukungannya terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin negara kontroversial.[22][84][85]National Public Radio (NPR) melaporkan, "Presiden Trump memiliki taktik yang konsisten bila dikritik: bilang saja masih ada yang lebih buruk daripada dirinya."[22] NPR mengamati bahwa Trump mengkritik Undang-Undang Layanan Terjangkau (Affordable Care Act) saat dikritik atas Undang-Undang Layanan Kesehatan Amerika Serikat 2017 (American Health Care Act), "Alih-alih memberi tanggapan beralasan, ia malah melontarkan serangan, tanda-tanda whataboutisme."[22] NPR melihat kesamaan antara penggunaan taktik ini oleh Putin dan Trump, "ketika Rusianya Putin mengobrak-abrik pemerintahan Trump, Trump sendiri sering kali terdengar seperti Putin."[22]
Ketika dikritik atau ditanyai alasan atas perilakunya, Trump sering mengalihkan isu dengan mengkritik Hillary Clinton, pemerintahan Obama,[85] dan Undang-Undang Layanan Terjangkau.[22] Ketika ditanyai tentang pelanggaran HAM Rusia, Trump mengalihkannya ke pelanggaran HAM Amerika Serikat[24][84] dengan taktik whataboutisme persis dengan yang dipakai Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin.[22][86]
Setelah pembawa acara Fox News Bill O'Reilly dan pembawa acara MSNBC Joe Scarborough menyebut Putin sebagai pembunuh, Trump menanggapinya dengan mengakui bahwa pemerintah AS sendiri sering membunuh orang.[22][24][87]Garry Kasparov berkomentar tentang whataboutisme Trump di Columbia Journalism Review: "Relativisme moral, 'whataboutisme,' selalu menjadi senjata favorit rezim-rezim iliberal. Sungguh tragis apabila presiden AS menggunakan taktik itu terhadap negaranya sendiri."[41]
Mother Jones membandingkan whataboutisme Trump dengan Putin dan meminta analisis pakar Rusia Dmitry Dubrovsky dari Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.[73] Dubrovsky menyebut taktik Trump dan Putin serta Marine Le Pen sebagai jalan "untuk merusak nilai-nilai kebenaran yang demokratis."[73]Mother Jones menulis, "Dalam whataboutisme versi Trump, ia sering mengambil sepatah kata dari kritik terhadap dirinya dan melontarkan kata tersebut kembali ke pengkritiknya—mengalihkan tuduhan dan mengurangi makna kata tersebut secara bersamaan."[73]
Analisis
John Austin Baker menulis pada tahun 1982 bahwa whataboutery – praktik yang dilakukan kedua belah pihak saat The Troubles di Irlandia Utara untuk menyoroti hal-hal yang dilakukan pihak sebelah kepada mereka – menurut Uskup Cahal Daly merupakan "salah satu sikap mengelak dari tanggung jawab moral pribadi yang paling lumrah."[88] Joe Austin mengkritik praktik whataboutisme di Irlandia Utara dalam artikel tahun 1994, The Obdurate and the Obstinate, "Dan saya tidak mau terlibat dalam 'What aboutism' ... bila Anda melakukannya, Anda melindungi sesuatu yang tidak bisa dilindungi."[89]
Dalam buku The New Cold War (2008), Edward Lucas menyebut whataboutisme sebagai "senjata favorit propagandis Soviet".[90] Juhan Kivirähk dan rekan-rekannya menyebut whataboutisme sebagai strategi "politteknologis".[91] Konstantin von Eggert menulis pada tahun 2012, "Whataboutisme, dulu familier di kalangan diplomat, politikus, dan Kremlinolog, sudah ada sejak 1960-an. Taktik ini digunakan untuk menyebut upaya-upaya Uni Soviet saat melawan kritik Barat."[75] Tahun 2013, The Guardian menjelaskan whataboutisme sebagai "ideologi dasar nasional" Rusia.[15] Dalam The National Interest tahun 2013, Samuel Charap mengkritik taktik ini, "para pengambil kebijakan Rusia tidak diuntungkan banyak oleh ujaran 'whataboutism'".[92] Wartawan keamanan nasional Julia Ioffe berkomentar pada tahun 2014, "Orang-orang yang mempelajari Uni Soviet pasti mengetahui fenomena 'whataboutism.'"[16] Ioffe menulis bahwa respons Soviet terhadap kritik, "Dan kamu menggantung orang Negro," adalah contoh klasik whataboutisme.[16] Katanya, Russia Today adalah "lembaga yang sengaja didirikan untuk melakukan whataboutisme"[16] dan menyimpulkan bahwa whataboutisme adalah "taktik keramat Rusia".[19][20][93] Garry Kasparov membahas taktik Soviet ini dalam bukunya, Winter Is Coming. Ia mencapnya sebagai "propaganda Soviet" dan jalan bagi birokrat Rusia untuk "menanggapi kritik atas pembantaian, deportasi paksa, dan gulag Soviet".[94] Mark Adomanis berkomentar di The Moscow Times tahun 2015 bahwa "Whataboutisme sangat sering digunakan tanpa malu oleh Partai Komunis sampai-sampai muncul mitologi semu tentang taktik itu."[61] Kata Adomanis, "Pengamat sejarah Soviet manapun akan mengenali segala hal terkait whataboutisme."[61]
Di Bloomberg News tahun 2016, wartawan Leonid Bershidsky menyebut whataboutisme sebagai "tradisi Rusia",[17] sedangkan The National menyebut taktik ini sebagai "senjata retorika yang efektif".[95] Dalam buku The European Union and Russia (2016), Forsberg dan Haukkala mencap bahwa whataboutisme adalah "praktik usang Soviet" dan mereka mengamati bahwa strategi ini "mulai muncul kembali dalam upaya-upaya Rusia mengalihkan kritik Barat".[96] Dalam buku Security Threats and Public Perception, Elizaveta Gaufman mencap teknik whataboutisme sebagai "anti-Amerikanisme liberal versi Soviet/Rusia" dan membandingkannya dengan kalimat khas Soviet, "Dan kamu menggantung orang Negro".[97]Foreign Policy supported this assessment.[98] Pada tahun 2016, kolumnis Kanada Terry Glavin menulis di Ottawa Citizen bahwa Noam Chomsky menggunakan taktik ini dalam pidatonya bulan Oktober 2001 usai serangan 11 September yang mengkritik kebijakan luar negeri AS.[50] Daphne Skillen membahas taktik ini dalam bukunya, Freedom of Speech in Russia, dan mengidentifikasinya sebagai "teknik propagandis Soviet" dan "pembelaan diri era Soviet yang lazim".[40] Dalam sebuah artikel di CNN, Jill Dougherty membandingkan taktik ini dengan The pot calling the kettle black.[21] Dougherty menulis: "Ada sikap lain ... yang sepertinya dimiliki banyak orang Rusia, sesuatu yang dulu disebut 'whataboutism' di Uni Soviet, dengan kata lain, "siapa Anda sehingga berkata seperti itu?'"[21] Di The Diplomat, Catherine Putz berkomentar bahwa saat pemilihan umum presiden 2016, Trump menggunakan teknik ini sebagai alasan dukungannya untuk Presiden Turki Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yang dituduh melakukan pelanggaran HAM.[99] Putz mengamati bahwa ketika The New York Times ditanyai tentang perlakuan Erdoğan terhadap wartawan, guru, dan kritikus, Trump menjawabnya dengan mengkritik Amerika Serikat dan masa lalu kebebasan sipilnya yang kelam.[99] Putz menyoroti, "Masalah utamanya adalah retorika ini mengaburkan pembahasan isu-isu (contoh: hak sipil) oleh satu negara (contoh: Amerika Serikat) apabila negara tersebut tidak punya catatan bersih."[99]
Wartawan Rusia Alexey Kovalev menulis di GlobalPost tahun 2017 bahwa taktik ini adalah "trik Soviet lama".[100] Pengarang Who Lost Russia? Peter Conradi menyebut whataboutisme sebagai "bentuk relativisme moral yang menanggapi kritik dengan pernyataan sederhana: 'Tetapi kamu juga melakukannya'."[101] Conradi mengangkat kembali perbandingan taktik respons Soviet yang diutarakan Gaufman, "Di sana mereka menggantung orang Negro".[101] Di Forbes tahun 2017, wartawan Melik Kaylan menjelaskan meningkatnya popularitas istilah ini saat mengacu pada taktik propaganda Rusia: "Kremlinolog akhir-akhir ini memakai kata 'whataboutism' karena berbagai corong Kremlin sangat sering menggunakan teknik ini terhadap A.S."[102][103] Kaylan mengomentari "kesamaan yang mencurigakan antara propaganda Kremlin dan Trump".[102][103] Tahun 2017, The New Yorker menyebut taktik ini sebagai "strategi kesetaraan moral yang salah,"[18] dan Clarence Page menjuluki teknik ini sebagai "jiu-jitsu logika".[104]Foreign Policy menulis bahwa whataboutisme Rusia adalah "bagian dari pola pikir bangsa".[105]EurasiaNet menyatakan bahwa "kemampuan whataboutisme geopolitik Rusia tak tertandingi,"[106] sedangkan Paste menyambungkan popularitas whataboutisme dengan peningkatan konsumsi berita palsu oleh masyarakat.[107] Setelah penembakan bisbol Kongres 2017,
wartawan Chuck Todd mengkritik arah debat politik, 'What-about-isme adalah salah satu tanda keberpihakan terburuk di kedua belah pihak."[108][109] Di National Review, Ben Shapiro mengkritik praktik ini di sayap kanan maupun sayap kiri; Shapiro menyimpulkan: "Semua ini bodoh. Semua ini membuat kita semakin bodoh."[110] Michael J. Koplow dari Israel Policy Forum menulis bahwa penggunaan whataboutisme berkembang menjadi krisis; ia menyimpulkan bahwa taktik ini tidak memberi keuntungan apa-apa. Koplow mengatakan, "whataboutisme di sayap kanan maupun kiri hanya berujung pada lubang hitam penuh balasan kemarahan yang tidak dapat dihentikan."[111] Di The Washington Post, mantan Duta Besar Amerika Serikat untuk Rusia, Michael McFaul mengkritik penggunaan taktik ini oleh Trump dan membandingkannya dengan Putin.[112] McFaul berkomentar, "Justru inilah argumen yang dipakai para propagandis Soviet selama bertahun-tahun untuk membenarkan beberapa kebijakan Putin yang brutal."[112]Masha Gessen menulis di The New York Times bahwa penerapan taktik ini oleh Trump mengejutkan rakyat Amerika Serikat; katanya, "tak satupun politikus Amerika Serikat pernah menyatakan bahwa seluruh dunia, termasuk Amerika Serikat busuk sampai ke akar-akarnya."[113] Kontributor Los Angeles Times Matt Welch mengelompokkan taktik ini ke dalam "enam kategori pengelakan Trump".[114]Mother Jones menyebut taktik ini sebagai "strategi propaganda tradisional Rusia" dan mengamati bahwa "strategi whataboutisme telah kembali dan berubah di Rusia era Presiden Vladimir Putin."[73]
^ abcStaff writer (11 December 2008). "The West is in danger of losing its moral authority". European Voice. Diakses tanggal 3 July 2017. 'Whataboutism' was a favourite tactic of Soviet propagandists during the old Cold War. Any criticism of the Soviet Union’s internal aggression or external repression was met with a 'what about?' some crime of the West, from slavery to the Monroe doctrine.
^ abcLucas, Edward (7 February 2017), "Trump has become Putin's ally in Russia's war on the West", CNN, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, 'Whataboutism' was a favorite Kremlin propaganda technique during the Cold War. It aimed to portray the West as so morally flawed that its criticism of the Soviet empire was hypocritical.
^ ab"whataboutism", Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2017, diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal 9 March 2017, diakses tanggal 21 July 2017, Origin - 1990s: from the way in which counter-accusations may take the form of questions introduced by ‘What about —?’. [...] Also called whataboutery
^ abcUmland, Andreas (March 8, 2017), "The Ukrainian Government's Memory Institute Against the West", IndraStra Global, 3 (3), ISSN2381-3652, diakses tanggal 23 July 2017, Instead, apologetic Ukrainian polemists regularly react to criticism by domestic and foreign observers with, what was known during Soviet times, as 'whataboutism': What about Polish whitewashing of the past? What about Israel's selective memory? What about crimes by other national liberation movements?
^ abIoffe, Julia (1 June 2012), "Russia's Syrian Excuse", The New Yorker, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, This posture is a defense tactic, the Kremlin’s way of adapting to a new post-Cold War geopolitical reality. 'Whataboutism' was a popular tactic even back in Soviet days, for example, but objectivity wasn’t.
^ abSeddon, Max (25 November 2014), "Russia Is Trolling The U.S. Over Ferguson Yet Again", BuzzFeed News, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, Since the Cold War, Moscow has engaged in a political points-scoring exercise known as 'whataboutism' used to shut down criticism of Russia's own rights record by pointing out abuses elsewhere. All criticism of Russia is invalid, the idea goes, because problems exist in other countries too.
^ abMackey, Robert (19 August 2014), "Russia, Iran and Egypt Heckle U.S. About Tactics in Ferguson", The New York Times, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, officials in Moscow have long relied on discussions of racial inequality in the United States to counter criticism of their own human rights abuses. 'The now sacred Russian tactic of ‘whataboutism’ started with civil rights,' Ms. Ioffe wrote. 'Whenever the U.S. pointed to Soviet human rights violations, the Soviets had an easy riposte. ‘Well, you,’ they said, ‘lynch Negros.’'
^ abcdDougherty, Jill (24 July 2016), "Olympic doping ban unleashes fury in Moscow", CNN, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, There's another attitude ... that many Russians seem to share, what used to be called in the Soviet Union 'whataboutism,' in other words, 'who are you to call the kettle black?'
^Zimmer, Ben (June 9, 2017). "The Roots of the 'What About?' Ploy". The Wall Street Journal. Diakses tanggal 22 July 2017. "Whataboutism" is another name for the logical fallacy of "tu quoque" (Latin for "you also"), in which an accusation is met with a counter-accusation, pivoting away from the original criticism. The strategy has been a hallmark of Soviet and post-Soviet propaganda, and some commentators have accused President Donald Trump of mimicking Mr. Putin's use of the technique.
^ abcdSullivan, Jake (7 February 2017). "The Slippery Slope of Trump's Dangerous 'Whataboutism'". Foreign Policy. Diakses tanggal 20 May 2017. Now something new is happening. The American president is taking Putin’s 'what about you' tactic and turning it into 'what about us?' He is taking the very appealing and very American impulse toward self-criticism and perverting it. It’s simplistic, even childish — but more importantly, it’s dangerous.
^ ab"Power, money and principle - Defending political freedom in Russia and Britain", The Economist, 4 December 2008, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, 'Whataboutism' was a favourite tactic of Soviet propagandists during the old Cold War. Any criticism of the Soviet Union's internal repression or external aggression was met by asking 'what about' some crime of the West, from slavery to the Monroe doctrine. In the era when political prisoners rotted in Siberia and you could be shot for trying to leave the socialist paradise, whataboutism was little more than a debating tactic. Most people inside the Soviet Union, particularly towards the end, knew that their system was based on lies and murder.
^ abcdeZimmer, Ben (June 9, 2017). "The Roots of the 'What About?' Ploy". The Wall Street Journal. Diakses tanggal 22 July 2017. The term was popularized by articles in 2007 and 2008 by Edward Lucas, senior editor at the Economist. Mr. Lucas, who served as the magazine’s Moscow bureau chief from 1998 to 2002, saw 'whataboutism' as a typical Cold War style of argumentation, with “the Kremlin’s useful idiots” seeking to “match every Soviet crime with a real or imagined western one.”
^Trudolyubov, Maxim (15 January 2017), "How Putin succeeded in undermining our institutions", Newsweek, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, The way the Kremlin has always reacted to reports about corruption or arbitrary police rule, or the state of Russia’s penal institutions, is by generating similar reports about the West. Whatever the other party says the answer is always the same: 'Look who’s talking.' This age-old technique, dubbed 'whataboutism,' is in essence an appeal to hypocrisy; its only purpose is to discredit the opponent, not to refute the original argument.
^Taylor, Adam (27 August 2014), "North Korea: Ferguson was a 'disgrace' and the United States is now 'laughingstock of the world'", The Washington Post, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, Of course, this all seems like a big case of 'whataboutism' – an appeal to hypocrisy designed to undercut a critic's argument by pointing out that they have too done things they should be criticized for. It's a 'Tu quoque' or 'you, too' argument, and ultimately a logical fallacy, designed not to address the criticism but distract from it.
^Sabiti, Bernard (28 August 2015), "Mwenda Attack On Obama Beside the Point", Africa News Service, Comtex News Network, Inc. – via InfoTracParameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^Moynihan, Michael (9 March 2014), "How to Justify Russian Aggression", The Daily Beast, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, whataboutism, the debate tactic demanding that questions about morally indefensible acts committed by your side be deflected with pettifogging discussion of unrelated sins committed by your opponent’s side.
^Bennetts, Marc (5 February 2014), "Critics of Russia need not resort to hyperbole", The Guardian, hlm. 30Parameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^"On Kizza Besigye's Election Bid and the Place of Principles", Africa News Service, Comtex News Network, Inc., 14 August 2015 – via InfoTracParameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^ abSkillen, Daphne (2016), Freedom of Speech in Russia: Politics and Media from Gorbachev to Putin, BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies, Routledge, hlm. 30, 110, 296, ISBN978-1138787667
^ abJudge, Michael (22 March 2017), "Q&A: Garry Kasparov on the press and propaganda in Trump's America", Columbia Journalism Review, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, Moral relativism, 'whataboutism,' has always been a favorite weapon of illiberal regimes. For a US president to employ it against his own country is tragic. Trump repeating Putin’s words—and nearly Stalin’s—by calling the press the enemy of the people, has repercussions around the world.
^ abcWhitmore, Brian (6 September 2016), "Deconstructing Whataboutism", The Morning Vertical, State News Service – via HighBeam Research, Deconstructing Whataboutism - In the second part of its guide to Russian propaganda, Euromaidan Press takes a look at 'Whataboutism.'Parameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^ abcdeVideo designer: Ganna Naronina; video script and idea: Alex Leonor, Alya Shandra (5 September 2016), A guide to Russian propaganda. Part 2: Whataboutism (video), YouTube, Euromaidan Press, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017Pemeliharaan CS1: Banyak nama: authors list (link)
^"Why the what-about-ism? - James Comey says the FBI is investigating possible links between Trump and Russia", The Economist, Democracy in America: American politics, 20 March 2017, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, One of the most trusted Soviet techniques during the Cold War came to be known in the West as 'what-about-ism'. Faced with an accusation, for example that the Soviet Union worked political dissidents to death in prison camps, the propagandist would respond: well, what about those black men being forced to work on chain gangs in the South? This was effective, because by the time anyone had explained that the two are not, in fact, morally equivalent, the technique had done its work, changing the subject away from the gulag.
^ abGlavin, Terry (30 November 2016), "Sorry liberals, you're dead wrong about Fidel Castro", Ottawa Citizen, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, What about how beastly the United States has been to the indigenous Hawaiians? What about all the Filipinos killed by Americans? What about the conquest of the northern half of Mexico? What about the ghastly friendships the United States has cultivated over the years in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua? What about the poor Palestinians? What about all the seedy allies the United States is taking on in its so-called War on Terror?
^ abKhazan, Olga (2 August 2013). "The Soviet-Era Strategy That Explains What Russia Is Doing With Snowden". The Atlantic. Diakses tanggal 3 July 2017. Whataboutistm: a rhetorical defense that alleges hypocrisy from the accuser. ... it allows the Kremlin a moment of whataboutism, a favorite, Soviet-era appeal to hypocrisy: Russia is not that bad, you see, because other countries have also committed various misdeeds, and what about those?
^Akyol, Mustafa (7 March 2017), "How Germany accidentally gave Erdogan a boost ahead of key vote", Al-Monitor, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, 'Whataboutism.' This was a term originally coined to describe Soviet propaganda during the Cold War about the “real democracy” in the USSR and the hypocrisy in the West. All criticisms about the Soviet condition would be dismissed by pointing to flaws and double standards in the West, real or perceived, and asking “What about this?” “What about that?” The real issue at stake, that the USSR was a brutal dictatorship, was never addressed.
^Garver, Rob (18 December 2015), "Donald Trump's New Role: Apologist for Vladimir Putin", The Fiscal Times, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, In the depths of the Cold War, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were locked in a global battle of ideas about how governments should treat their people and what political forms were best at delivering peace and prosperity, a particular style of argument became popular and was given the ironic name, 'whataboutism.' ... During the Cold War, whataboutism was generally the province of Soviet spokesmen and their defenders in the West.
^Nikitin, Vadim, "The long read: From Russia with love – how Putin is winning over hearts and minds", The National, diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal 4 February 2016, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, During the Cold War, such 'whataboutism' was used by the Kremlin to counter any criticism of Soviet policy with retorts about American slavery or British imperialism. The strategy remains an effective rhetorical weapon to this day.
^Foxall, Andrew (16 November 2014), "Crimea, Chechnya and Putin's Double Standards", The Moscow Times, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, Those wishing to understand Putin's linguistic gymnastics should look up 'whataboutism.' The term emerged at the height of the Cold War and described a favorite tactic of Soviet propagandists — the tendency to deflect any criticism of the Soviet Union by saying 'what about' a different situation or problem in the West. As Putin's language suggests, the practice is alive and well in today's Russia. Whataboutism is a way of shutting down discussion, discouraging critical thinking, and opposing open debate. It is a key feature of Russian politics these days.
^Taylor, Adam (30 December 2014), "What if North Korea didn't hack Sony?", The Washington Post, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, They are a modern take on the 'whataboutism' deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The logic behind 'whataboutism' isn't to deny your own crimes, of course. It's to say that those accusing you are hypocritical and unfairly targeting you.
^Miller, Christopher (29 April 2015), "Russian media is loving the Baltimore riots", Mashable, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, Russia's propaganda machine got to work exploiting the unrest with what is known locally as 'whataboutism.' In the Soviet era, any criticism of the Motherland — such human rights violations or censorship — was met with a 'what about...' in an attempt to redirect attention away from Moscow.
^ abcAdomanis, Mark (5 April 2015), "U.S. Should Think Twice Before Criticizing Russia", The Moscow Times, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017, Whataboutism's efficacy decreased for a certain period of time, in no small part because many of the richest targets (like the Jim Crow racial segregation laws) were reformed out of existence, but it has made something of a rebound over the past few years.
^Kovalev, Alexey (22 March 2017), "'You're Fake News!': Russia Borrows the Worst from the West", The Moscow Times, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, In Russia, screaming 'fake news' as a response to any criticism has an older relative in 'whataboutism' — a rhetorical fallacy favored by both Soviet and modern Russian propaganda, where Moscow’s actions are justified by references to real or perceived crimes and slights by the Kremlin’s foes abroad.
^Pomerantsev, Peter; Weiss, Michael (2014), The menace of unreality: How the Kremlin weaponizes information, culture and money(PDF), New York: Institute of Modern Russia, The Interpreter, hlm. 5, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, Russia combines Soviet-era 'whataboutism' and Chekist 'active measures' with a wised-up, post-modern smirk that says that everything is a sham.
^Skaskiw, Roman (27 March 2016), "Nine Lessons of Russian Propaganda", Small Wars Journal, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, Russian propaganda destroys meaning. They pursue several tactics including the false moral equivalences of "whataboutism," polluting the information space
^David, Maxine (2 March 2015), "What Boris Nemtsov's Assassination Says About Putin's Climate of Fear", The New Republic, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, A familiar phenomenon for Russian watchers is in full swing: 'whataboutism,' where any criticism of the Russian elite is met with a 'well, what about…' response, framing the critic as a hypocrite representing exactly that which they criticize—sending any dialogue back to the level of squabbling.
^Gessen, Keith (2014), "What's the Matter with Russia: Putin and the Soviet Legacy", Foreign Affairs, 93: 182, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, More broadly, Russian political elites have clearly decided that they will no longer beat themselves up for the sins of the past-after all, other countries have sinned, too, they like to note, in the style of classic Soviet 'whataboutism.'
^Opoka, Iurii, "International Approaches to the Crisis in Ukraine"(PDF), Polish Journal of Political Science, 2 (2): 73, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, three main techniques that are used by Russian propaganda for constructing 'right' agenda for EU’s media: 'what-about-ism' (we can’t criticize Russia, because the West does the same), 'An aversion to moral clarity' ( the truth is in the middle), 'It’s-all-our-fault-ism' (the West has provoked Russia).
^Mandel, Seth (1 May 2014), "Europe - The Vladimir Putin Fan Club: From left to right, they're fronting for a tyrant.", Commentary, diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal 2017-07-31, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, This is another throwback to the Cold War, and one Putin himself is fond of, called 'Whataboutism.' The essence of Whataboutism is to turn any complaint about Russia into an accusation that whatever it might be doing, the West is doing and has done worse. Despite the constant protestations that the Cold War is over, these attempts to turn criticism of the Kremlin back on the critics are often nothing more than a Putin-era version of anti-anti-Communism.
^ abcdeClifton, Denise (20 July 2017), "Childish Rants or Putin-Style Propaganda?", Mother Jones, diakses tanggal 22 July 2017, a traditional Russian propaganda strategy called 'whataboutism' ... In Trump’s version of whataboutism, he repeatedly takes a word leveled in criticism against him and turns it back on his opponents—sidestepping the accusation and undercutting the meaning of the word at the same time.
^ abvon Eggert, Konstantin (25 July 2012). "Due West: 'Whataboutism' Is Back - and Thriving". RIA Novosti. Diakses tanggal 23 July 2017. Whataboutism, once familiar to diplomats, politicians and Kremlinologists, dates back to the 1960s. It was used to ironically describe the Soviet Union's efforts at countering Western criticism.
^"Azerbaijan Concerned About Human Rights -- In The United States". RFERL. 16 January 2015. Diakses tanggal 3 July 2017. The parliamentary hearing appeared to be an exercise in so-called 'whataboutism,' the Soviet-era rhetorical tactic of responding to criticism about rights abuses by citing real or imagined abuses committed by the West.
^Geybulla, Arzu (22 November 2016), "In the crosshairs of Azerbaijan's patriotic trolls", Open Democracy, diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal 2017-09-02, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, Whataboutism is the most popular tactic against foreign critics; 'how dare you criticise Azerbaijan, get your own house in order!'
^Tharoor, Ishaan (6 December 2016), "Turkey condemns state of press freedom in Europe and the US", The Washington Post, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, In what amounts to an official document of whataboutism, the Turkish statement listed a roster of supposed transgressions by various governments now scolding Turkey for its dramatic purge of state institutions and civil society in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July.
^David, Maxine (2016), "Chapter 11 US–Russia relations in Obama's second term", dalam Bentley, Michelle; Holland, Jack, The Obama Doctrine: A Legacy of Continuity in US Foreign Policy?, Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy, Routledge, hlm. 164, ISBN978-1138831223, Indeed, any Western critique of Russian foreign policy is inevitably met with a 'whataboutist' set of comments that point out the West's failings, not least because of the activities of the Kremlin trolls
^ abWeiss, Michael (4 November 2016), "When Donald Trump Was More Anti-NATO Than Vladimir Putin", The Daily Beast, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, In stark contrast with his predecessors for high office, he also regularly traffics in 'whataboutism,' a Soviet-honed method of changing the conversation. Whenever human rights abuses or the trampling of freedoms abroad is raised, he shifts to the real or perceived shortcomings of the United States.
^ abFeldmann, Linda; Kiefer, Francine (18 May 2017), "How Mueller appointment may calm a roiled Washington", The Christian Science Monitor, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, Trump also engaged in 'what-aboutism': 'With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!' he tweeted twice in three hours.
^Leveille, David (January 24, 2017). "Russian journalist has advice for Americans covering Trump". USA Today. when you try to point out those inconsistencies or catch him red-handed lying, there’s no point because he’ll evade your question, he knows that he can just drown you in meaningless factoids or false moral equivalencies or by using what is called ‘whataboutism.’
^Todd, Chuck (21 February 2017), "MTP DAILY for February 21, 2017, MSNBC", Meet the Press – via InfoTrac, Folks, comments like these are reminding some people of an old Soviet tactic known as whataboutism. ... Whataboutism is the trick of turning any argument against the opponent when faced with accusations of corruption, they claim the entire world is corrupt.Parameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^Kivirähk, Juhan; Maliukevičius, Nerijus; Yeremeev, Olexandr (2010), The 'Humanitarian Dimension' of Russian Foreign Policy Toward Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Baltic States, Centre for East European Policy Studies, hlm. 30, 300
^Charap, Samuel (July 2013), "Beyond the Russian Reset", The National Interest, Center for the National Interest (126): 39–43, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017 – via JSTOR, Russian policy makers, meanwhile, gain little from petulant bouts of 'whataboutism' — responding to U.S. statements on human rights in Russia with laundry lists of purported American shortcomings.
^Adamczyk, Ed (20 August 2014), "Authoritarian countries ridicule Ferguson police efforts", UPI NewsTrack, United Press International – via InfoTrac, Writer Julia Ioffe said, in a New Republic article last week, that Moscow authorities typically counter criticism of Russia's human rights abuses with comparisons to racial inequality in the United States, noting, "The now sacred Russian tactic of 'whataboutism' started with civil rights. Whenever the U.S. pointed to Soviet human rights violations, the Soviets had an easy riposte. 'Well, you,' they said, 'lynch Negroes.'"Parameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^Nikitin, Vadim (4 February 2016), "The long read: From Russia with love -- how Putin is winning over hearts and minds", The National, Abu Dhabi, SyndiGate Media Inc. – via InfoTrac, During the Cold War, such 'whataboutism' was used by the Kremlin to counter any criticism of Soviet policy with retorts about American slavery or British imperialism. The strategy remains an effective rhetorical weapon to this day. Whatever threadbare crowds of remaining anti-government activists are still occasionally allowed to protest in Moscow, they pale in the public imagination against the images, repeatedly shown on Russian TV, of thousands of Europeans angrily upbraiding their own governments and declaring support for Putin.Parameter |access-date= membutuhkan |url= (bantuan)
^Forsberg, Tuomas; Haukkala, Hiski (2016), The European Union and Russia, The European Union Series, Palgrave Macmillan, hlm. 122, ISBN978-1137355348
^Gaufman, Elizaveta (2016), "The USA as the Primary Threat to Russia", Security Threats and Public Perception: Digital Russia and the Ukraine Crisis, New Security Challenges, Palgrave Macmillan, hlm. 91, ISBN978-3319432007
^Palmer, James (9 November 2016), "China Just Won The U.S. Election", Foreign Policy, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, the old Soviet whataboutism whenever they were challenged on the gulag: 'But in America, you lynch Negroes.'
^ abKaylan, Melik (2017), "What The Trump Era Will Feel Like: Clues From Populist Regimes Around The World", dalam Cole, David; Stinnett, Melanie Wachtell, Rules for Resistance, The New Press, ISBN978-1620973547
^Page, Clarence (10 March 2017), "How long can President Trump's art of deflection work?", NewsOK, The Chicago Tribune, diakses tanggal 4 July 2017, 'Whataboutism' is running rampant in the White House these days. What's that, you may ask? It's a Cold War-era term for a form of logical jiu-jitsu that helps you to win arguments by gently changing the subject. When Soviet leaders were questioned about human rights violations, for example, they might come back with, 'Well, what about the Negroes you are lynching in the South?' That's not an argument, of course. It is a deflection to an entirely different issue. It's a naked attempt to excuse your own wretched behavior by painting your opponent as a hypocrite. But in the fast-paced world of media manipulation, the Soviet leader could get away with it merely by appearing to be strong and firm in defense of his country.
^Koplow, Michael J. (6 July 2017), "The crisis of whataboutism", Matzav, Israel Policy Forum, diakses tanggal 6 July 2017, whataboutism from either the right or the left only leads to a black hole of angry recriminations from which nothing will escape.
^Gessen, Masha (18 February 2017), "In Praise of Hypocrisy", The New York Times, diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, This stance has breathed new life into the old Soviet propaganda tool of 'whataboutism,' the trick of turning any argument against the opponent. When accused of falsifying elections, Russians retort that American elections are not unproblematic; when faced with accusations of corruption, they claim that the entire world is corrupt. This month, Mr. Trump employed the technique of whataboutism when he was asked about his admiration for Mr. Putin, whom the host Bill O’Reilly called 'a killer.'
Video designer: Ganna Naronina; video script and idea: Alex Leonor, Alya Shandra (5 September 2016), A guide to Russian propaganda. Part 2: Whataboutism (video), YouTube, Euromaidan Press, diakses tanggal 3 July 2017Pemeliharaan CS1: Banyak nama: authors list (link)
Ioffe, Julia (10 February 2017), "Oh, How This Feels Like Moscow", Slate (audio), diakses tanggal 5 July 2017, Ioffe and Elder explain 'whataboutism' and other vocabulary lessons from their time reporting in Moscow.
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