What most of us think of as Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid games are actually part of a covert U.S. intelligence project meant to destabilize governments and sow anti-authoritarianism around the world, a top Russian defence official has claimed.
The Moscow Times reports that Andrei Kartapolov included Metal Gear in a list of what he said were US-led efforts at destabilization.
“Internet projects of the American special services, such as … Metal Gear and RuNet Echo are aimed at direct manipulation of the public consciousness, especially among the youth,” Kartapolov said during a State Duma roundtable. The goal, he said, is to use “non-traditional” means to discredit Russia, and to portray it as uncivilized and authoritarian, unwilling to abide by international laws.
RuNet Echo is a project by Global Voices, whose stated goal is to translate and interpret the Russian internet for international readers.
Kartopolov is a general officer in the Russian army, who last year was selected by Vladimir Putin to head up a new directorate in the military charged with promoting patriotism among Russia’s armed forces. He is now a deputy minister of defence.
It goes without saying that it is probably not the case that the Metal Gear series was created by the CIA (or some other, extra-covert US intelligence organisation). And if it was, it’s unclear how the series works to target Russia specifically, or even at all.
![YouTube Thumbnail](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NCK179XrTOM/sddefault.jpg)
I’m not an expert on the Metal Gear series, but the Cold War setting for many of the games’ often baffling storylines serves more as a backdrop for Kojima to wrestle with ideas like memes and the role of private military contractors in international conflict and the global military-industrial complex.
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But there are two clear points that arise from thinking about this: One, that if it were indeed the case that Metal Gear Solid is an American psyop, we probably wouldn’t know; and two, that all this would have made for an excellent plotline in a Metal Gear game.