Kompromat

For the 2022 film, see Kompromat (film).

Kompromat
Russianкомпромат
Romanizationkompromat
IPA[kəmprɐˈmat]
Literal meaningcompromising material

Kompromat is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail, often to exert influence rather than monetary gain, and extortion. Kompromat may be acquired from various security services, or outright forged, and then publicized by use of a public relations official.[1][2]

The word kompromat comes from компромат, short for компрометирующий материал "compromising material". Widespread use of kompromat has been one of the characteristic features of the politics of Russia,[3] as well as of other post-Soviet states.[4][5][6][7]

  1. ^ Hoffman, David (2003). The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. New York: PublicAffairs. p. 272. ISBN 1-586-48202-5.
  2. ^ Koltsova, Olessia (2006). News Media and Power in Russia. BASEES/Routledge series on Russian and East European Studies. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 0-415-34515-4.
  3. ^ White, Stephen; McAllister, Ian (2006). "Politics and the Media in Post-Communist Russia" (PDF). In Voltmer, Katrin (ed.). Mass Media and Political Communication in New Democracies. Routledge/ECPR studies in European political science. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. pp. 225–226. ISBN 0-415-33779-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. ^ Wheatley, Jonathan (2005). Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution: Delayed Transition in the Former Soviet Union. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-754-64503-7.
  5. ^ Operation Smear Campaign, The Ukrainian Week (10 September 2013)
  6. ^ Braun, Elisa (14 February 2020). "How kompromat on a close Macron ally went viral". POLITICO. An example of the use of "kompromat"
  7. ^ Choy, James P. (2020). "Kompromat: A theory of blackmail as a system of governance". Journal of Development Economics. 147: 102535. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102535. ISSN 0304-3878. S2CID 225375805.