KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov's warning to America (1984)
The more shocking/interesting aspect of this interview, for me, is to hear how the KGB (and its successor organization(s) in Russia, I imagine) would work <i>over multiple decades</i> to "subvert" the people of a country, in four stages -- demoralization, destabilization, crisis, and normalization:<p>1) demoralize the people of a country over a period of "at least 15 to 20 years;"<p>2) destabilize the country's institutions over a period of "2 to 5 years;"<p>3) precipitate a crisis that would normally unfold over a period of "up to 6 weeks;" and<p>4) normalize the new state of affairs.<p>Whether the KGB and its successor organization(s) could have or might have been successful is of course <i>debatable</i>, but no one can deny this kind of persistent effort to subvert another country's people over such a long horizon is... audacious (words fail me).<p>In particular, I find the idea of a long-term government-sponsored program whose goal is to "demoralize" people a bit upsetting: It stands directly against the <i>let's-roll-up-our-sleeves, we-can-do-it optimism</i> for which US entrepreneurs have long been known around the world.