Chekism
체키즘
The institutional culture and ideology of Soviet state security organs. Named after the Cheka (ЧК), its core tenets include the justification of repression for revolutionary ends, the romanticization of the 'Chekist' identity, and the complete fusion of party ideology with security-service operational logic. The term was first defined in 1950 by émigré Sovietologist Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov, and became widely known when Vadim Bakatin, the last KGB chairman appointed to dismantle the agency, declared that it 'must be eradicated as an ideology.'
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) Comprehensive article covering the term's origin with Avtorkhanov (1950), Bakatin's usage, the ideological content of Chekism, and its application to post-Soviet Russia.
- wilsoncenter.org Wilson Center analysis of a 1984 Lithuanian KGB training document, showing how 'Chekist traditions' and 'Chekist values' were systematically cultivated in KGB officer education as late as the 1980s.