Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia

The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (Антиглобалистское движение России) is a Russian government-funded[1] anti-globalization astroturf organization, consisting of a single member, Alexander Ionov (Александр Ионов)[2] and two "Honorable "Members", Bashar Hafez Al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[3]

The dismal science
Economics
Economic Systems

  $  Market Economy
  €  Mixed Economy
  ☭ Socialist Economy

Major Concepts
People
v - t - e

A Calexit ballot initiative, sponsored by Yes California ("CalExit"), has received financial aid from and partnered with AIGM.[1] AIGM has a Calexit "embassy" in Moscow.[4] Yes California is itself an astroturf organization, the president of which is Louis J. Marinelli. Marinelli is a US citizen from New York living in Russia. He admitted to voting for Donald Trump.[5] Both Marinelli[6] and Ionov[7] suggested that California might follow the Crimean scenario in which Crimea voted for independence before being immediately annexed by Russia. This should be cause for concern for any Californian thinking about independence since Russia actually had a military fortFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in what is now California from 1812-1842. In 2017, Marinelli indicated that he would be seeking permanent residence in Russia and that the current petition would be withdrawn.[8]

Russia has also funded other astroturf secession movements in the United States, including in Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The largest secession group in Texas, "Heart of Texas" (txrebels), turned out to be a Russian front with >225,000 followers on Facebook as of summer 2017 before it was removed by Facebook. The Facebook page was xenophobic, nativist, and anti-immigrant; it had many posts targeting Muslim immigrants and refugees, liberals, LGBT activists, vegetarians and Hillary Clinton.[9][10]

The stated aim of AIGM is "against the global dominance of transnational corporations and supranational trade and financial institutions",[11] but is more likely specifically against the economic dominance of the United States and the EU.

Curiously, despite being funded from the Russian government (or perhaps to distract from the obvious astroturf of the site), there are three news feeds from radical partner organizations on the main webpage: Black Agenda Report, Fight Back News, and Rsf.ie News (Republican Sinn Féin).

References
  1. Advocate's Russian ties cause concern in state secession movement by Melody Gutierrez (February 3, 2017 Updated: February 3, 2017 10:08pm) The San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. Our Team The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 5 Feb 2017 01:17:26 UTC)
  3. Honorable "Members The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:33:03 UTC)
  4. 'Calexit': Yes California movement opens ‘embassy’ in Moscow The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:31:01 UTC)
  5. How to Make California Great: Secede, With a Little Help From Putin: A leader of ‘Calexit,’ the Golden State’s independence movement, sees Trump—and the Kremlin—as a boon by Leonid Ragozin (December 7, 2016, 5:00 AM PST) Bloomberg Business Week.
  6. California to leave US under Crimean scenario 20.09.2016 Pravda.ru
  7. California dreamin': California Secessionist movement opens first "embassy" — and it’s in Moscow by Alec Luhn (Dec 21, 2016) Vice.
  8. Louis Marinelli's Farewell Statement by Louis Marinelli (April 17, 2017 1:37 PM) Yes California.
  9. How Russia Created the Most Popular Texas Secession Page on Facebook: When is a Texan not a Texan? by Casey Michel (Sep 7, 2017). ExtraNewsFeed.
  10. How the Russians pretended to be Texans — and Texans believed them by Casey Michel (October 17, 2017) The Washington Post.
  11. About December 22, 2016. Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:32:51 UTC)
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