Opinion: 'Israel has become like the Soviet Union in its dying days'
Two decades ago, Russian American anthropologist Alexei Yurchak coined the term “hypernormalisation” to describe the absurd and surreal reality of the Soviet Union during its final two decades.
In that era, both citizens and officials knew the Soviet system was dysfunctional and no longer reflected reality - yet everyone continued as if nothing was wrong.
Few could have imagined that the Berlin Wall would collapse, or that the mighty Soviet Union would disintegrate into 15 independent states, with Russia relying on US wheat imports in the 1990s.
Looking back, it’s easy to identify the broken parts of that system and understand just how surreal and unsustainable - what Yurchak framed as hypernormalised - it truly was.
Now, consider this: 15 medics and rescue workers were recently executed by the Israeli army in Gaza, and after one captured the moment on video - refuting the Israeli army’s official narrative - the world is asking questions.