I, Spy?
Channel: Sam Vaknin
Date: 2013-03-14

I have often been accused of spying and resorted to the classical defence of having displayed no interest in matters military. Until I finally understood that reporting what one saw and believed to be the truth is considered an act of treason. Informing the world about the true state of affairs in Russia, Kosovo, or Macedonia was, to Russians, Kosovars, or Macedonians, a deplorable act of surrendering official secrets. This was so even if one's reports dealt with the dairy industry, the state of the telecommunications infrastructure or the relationship between the genders. The "outside" needs to be kept in the dark. CEE and Balkan societies engage in gigantic, informal conspiracies against the "outsiders". An elaborate Potemkin reality is manufactured and laboriously staged to fool each visitor or short term do-gooder. Foreigners who stay longer are expected to conform and assume this bond of silence. Violating it is invenial.

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